Chapter 11
THE NEXT MORNING WAS unseasonably warm, and after having a piece of toast, an apple, and her sole coffee for the day, with no sign of Raf, Elodie changed into a swimsuit and padded out to the pool.
The sky was a perfect blue for as far as she could see, and the water was delightfully refreshing as she stepped into the water.
Her body was awash with sensations already, her nerves stretched almost to breaking point by the dinner she and Raf had shared not too far from where she now swam.
After the start of their conversation, which had been heavier than Elodie had intended, Raf expertly navigated them onto easier topics, and before their dessert was presented, they were laughing about baby names, coming up with the most ludicrous combinations they could imagine.
By the time Elodie realized how utterly exhausted she was, she was having a really good time. The powerful sexual pull between them was still there, but there was also something else—pleasant companionship. She was just enjoying sharing a meal with Raf, talking to him.
It was the last thing she’d expected.
She fell into bed bone weary, and yet, for a long time, sleep didn’t come.
Their evening had replayed through her mind again and again, especially the way he’d held her, then kissed her, the way his eyes had held hers, so when sleep had finally claimed her, it was little wonder that Raf had been in all of her dreams.
She’d woken frustrated. Full of need and knowing she couldn’t act on it. Knowing she wanted the impossible, given the complications of her pregnancy.
To let something physical happen with Raf would threaten everything they’d pledged: to do what was right for their baby. No matter how much she wanted him to kiss her again, she couldn’t let that happen.
With that commitment lodged firmly in her mind, she swam slowly from one end of the pool to the other, tapped the coping and then turned, to swim back the other way.
She did several laps before she saw him, and even that was quite by accident.
Her eyes had been chasing the lines of the villa, admiring a stunning hot pink bougainvillea with its hungry shoots spurting over the walls in explosions of colour.
Just the sight of it made her happy. But as she tracked its growth, she caught a hint of movement, and realized Raf was standing at one of the windows, hands on hips, attention focused squarely on Elodie.
Her lips parted and her pulse burst through her veins.
Everything went all technicolour, and all she could hear was the gushing of her pulse in her ears, like the ocean, thundering to shore.
Beneath the water, she was aware of the way her nipples hardened, tingling, begging for his touch, as memories of the way he’d kissed her breasts on that night they’d slept together tormented her.
Slowly, she lifted one hand, clearing her throat as she waved a small gesture of greeting.
His response was to turn on his heel and disappear from the window, leaving her frowning, and wanting, even more than she had been that morning.
He had no idea how he was going to do this.
Just the sight of her walking into the pool in a bikini had almost given him a heart attack.
He’d been moving from one room of the house to the other, intending to do some work, and instead, he’d found himself standing, staring, dumfounded at a window, as he just watched her swim one lap after another, each stroke lithe and sensual, her command of the water enough to make his whole body catch fire.
What the hell was it with this woman?
When she’d seen him, it had been like an oil line had been ignited. Flame seemed to burst from her to him and back again. Did she feel it, too? He thought he’d detected something, in the hint of pink in her cheeks, but he had no idea.
Elodie was the one who’d walked out on him that morning—that was telling. Looking back, knowing what he knew now, he wasn’t sure if he would have been strong enough to do the same, had their positions been reversed. Not without taking her one last time.
That’s what he’d woken up wanting then, and it was what he’d woken up wanting today.
So, the sight of her in a barely there bikini was a fast track to being completely undone.
He stalked through the house rather than return her wave, almost as if he could undo the impact of having seen her. He shut the door to his office firmly, metaphorically closing the door on thoughts of Elodie, and forcing himself to work.
To his surprise, it actually worked. He stayed locked in his office for the better part of the day, his mind straying more often than he would have liked to Elodie, wondering what she was doing, where she was, if she was okay, before reminding himself that they had a month to get to know one another.
That it was all about their baby, not them.
He had no business drooling after her like she was his. Because she wasn’t. And he didn’t want her to be.
Except that thought didn’t ring true, and he wasn’t coward enough to ignore that.
Of course, he felt a connection to the woman.
She was pregnant with his baby. After everything he’d gone through with Marcia, that meant something.
Perhaps even more to Raf than many other men.
He wanted to reach out and grab hold of their baby with both hands.
Not Elodie. Surely his desire for her was partly shaped by the biological imperative of their situation?
Except, no. He’d felt this even after that night. He’d wanted her again. She’d tested his resolve even before he’d known about the child they’d conceived.
But he shut the thought down rather than give it the freedom to run and focused on his work instead. In work, he found solace, and strength, and a connection back to himself.
It was late in the afternoon when his phone began to ring, and he saw his cousin Dante’s face on the screen. He grimaced, surprised, in a way, it had taken him this long to follow up. More than twenty-four hours? That was positively snail-pace for this family.
“Hey,” Raf said, as he answered, his voice a little husky from disuse.
“How’s it going?”
It sounded casual, but Raf knew Dante wasn’t meaning it that way. “All good here.”
“Still in Italy?”
“For the foreseeable. What’s up?”
“I have to tell you, the majority wanted to turn up on your doorstep.”
Now that was more like it.
“They’re worried.”
Raf crinkled his forehead. “My past behaviour notwithstanding, I can take care of myself.”
Dante didn’t speak straight away. After a moment, he said, “I suggested you come home this weekend. With her.”
Her.
The word breathed through Raf like both a calling and a torment. “Come on, Dante, you can’t be serious.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“I’m trying to win Elodie over,” Raf said on a husky bark of laughter. “Feeding her to the wolves is not going to cut it.”
He stood up, moving to his window, looking out over the sensational view towards the valley. The sun was low in the sky, but it still looked warm out there.
“What’s the game plan?”
“What do you mean?”
“Are you getting married?”
Raf ignored the strange pounding in his chest. “If I have an announcement along those lines, you’ll be the first to hear it.” It wasn’t a rejection, and Raf heard that with a frown. Why not just tell Dante that marriage definitely wasn’t on the cards?
“You’re already in Italy. Why not come for dinner? You don’t have to stay long. Let the family meet her. She’s going to be the mother of your child. That makes her a part of us, no matter what happens with the two of you.”
Raf closed his eyes. That was true. Famiglia è tutto.
It was his uncle Gianni’s favourite saying.
Family is everything. It didn’t matter if that family was by blood or marriage, it was simply family.
The fact that Elodie was the mother of Raf’s baby made her family, too.
There was no way she’d be able to avoid meeting them all.
“I won’t bring her this weekend,” he said, slowly. “It’s too soon. We both need time to get our heads around this.”
“You’re worried we’ll scare her off.”
“Frankly, yes.”
“Come on, Raf. We’ve all done it.”
“You’ve all brought home partners. Elodie is not that for me. She doesn’t know if she’s even prepared to stay in Italy, to stay living with me—,”
“But that’s what you want? That’s what you’ve offered?”
Raf’s eyes travelled the horizon. It was so like Dante to keep pushing until he got the answer he wanted. “I would like us to raise our child together, yes.”
“But not in a relationship?”
“As far as I know, that’s not a prerequisite.”
“No.” Dante sounded unconvinced though.
“Look, this is exactly the kind of question I don’t want her to have to answer, and with you lot, I can’t give her that guarantee. So, until she and I are on firmer ground—,”
“I can promise you, we’ll treat her with kid gloves.”
Raf grunted, showing his skepticism.
“I’ll make sure of it,” Dante said. “Bring her home, let us meet her.”
“I’ll think about it,” was all Raf agreed to.
“Excellent. I’ll let them know.”
“And Dante?” Raf spoke quickly, before his cousin could disconnect the call.
“Yeah?”
“Make sure no one shows up here. I’m serious about this. I feel like if I make one wrong move, she’ll bolt, and that’s the last thing I want.”
“Because of the baby?”
“Of course, because of the baby,” he answered, a little too forcibly.
“You should know, more than anything, what this kid means to me,” Raf continued, then winced, because Dante had buried his first wife, and child, some years back.
Which wasn’t what Raf had been referencing, yet it undoubtedly came across that way. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—,”
“It’s fine,” Dante’s voice was raw with emotion though. “I do understand. Of course I do.”
“I just have to play my cards right. I can’t bear the thought of Elodie trying to take the baby away from me—I have to make this work.”