‘Not for the reasons you’re thinking.’
‘I’m not talking about money, Lily.’ He wasn’t—that much at least he didn’t have to tell her. Even if it had been a marriage of convenience, money had long since ceased to be the issue. ‘You’d have stayed because you felt you had to, out of duty, because, morally or legally, you considered yourself my wife.’
‘No.’ She shook her head, closed her eyes on his piercing glare, terrified of revealing the true depth of her feelings, scared of revealing the truth.
‘Lily.’ His hand released hers, cupping her face now, daring her to look at him, but still she refused. ‘I’d rather have died alone than have someone looking after me out of duty.’
‘Promise?’ She shuddered the question out, forced her eyes open to take in his confused reaction. ‘Promise me that you’ll remember that feeling, promise me that you’ll be honest with me now.’
Confused, he nodded
‘I’m pregnant.’ Hunter’s face was absolutely still. Not by a flicker did he divulge his reaction. ‘And, like you, I’d rather be alone than have you stay out of duty—I couldn’t stand it.’
‘You wouldn’t have to.’ He took her hand, sat up a bit in the bed, and even if he was sick, he was still the strong one. ‘Lily, a baby isn’t going to make us work, a baby isn’t enough reason to be together.’
‘I know,’ she gulped, hating the truth but grateful for his honesty.
‘Unless that’s what we both want.’ She felt her heart stop in her chest, honesty a breath away, and she was scared to take it, so Hunter did it for them. ‘Unless we both actually want to be together.’
It was the worst moment to think of her appearance, but good old vanity attempted to prevail, reminding her of her puffy eyes and running nose, reminding her that even on a hospital bed with a thousand tubes attached she was still facing the most beautiful man she had ever seen and showing him the most fragile, vulnerable part of her heart.
‘You don’t believe in love,’ Lily pointed out.
‘Neither do you.’ Hunter smiled. ‘Philistine.’
‘And you’re way too controlling.’ Lily clutched at straws as he dragged her back in. ‘I don’t know if I want to spend my life—’
‘I was scared of losing you.’ His simple admission stopped her in her tracks, his honesty the revelation she needed. ‘I was scared of you balancing on a chair at that bloody house, scared of you driving around, scared of anything that might take you away from me. I know I was very wrong. I just didn’t want anything to happen to you.’
‘The way it did to them?’ Lily offered, because she knew what he must have been feeling, just had never considered it might have been related to her.
‘I’ve lost or damaged everyone I’ve ever loved and I couldn’t bear to it to happen to you. Couldn’t bear the thought of you getting hurt. Couldn’t bear the thought of you leaving, but at the same time I couldn’t cope with the thought of you staying, only to end up looking after me.
‘I love you.’ Hunter said it very slowly and very clearly so there was absolutely no room for doubt. ‘I love you because you’re funny and kind and good. I love you because, whether or not you love me, you’d have looked after me even though that truly terrified me. I love you because for the first time in my life I actually wanted to come home…’ He was staring right at her as he spoke. ‘For the first time in my life I actually felt as if I had a home.’
‘You really love me?’ she checked, and he laughed.
‘I love you because even when I’m saying it over and over, you still don’t believe it. God, Lily.’ Exasperation crept into his voice. ‘I’m lying here telling you all this like some blubbering idiot and I don’t even know how you feel. Isn’t that proof enough?’
‘You know how I feel,’ Lily shot back. ‘Why else would I have put up with you?’
‘Oh, I can think of a few reasons—because I’m loaded, because I’m brilliant in bed, because you’re pregnant and feel that you have no choice…’ He was joking, sort of, but he was also letting her in, allowing her to glimpse his fears. Both of them were being honest for the very first time, and it felt wonderful.
‘They’re not reasons to stay, Hunter, they’re excuses.’ Lily smiled, treated him to a short, sharp lecture just as she had the night they’d met.
And he confronted her, just as he had the night they’d met.
‘Stop evading the issue.’
‘I’m not.’
‘So what’s the real reason you’d be staying?’
She took a deep breath, held it for a moment before diving into the giddy world of being Hunter Myles’ s real wife, before saying the words she truly thought she never would.
‘I’m staying because I love you.’
EPILOGUE
‘I THINK Cory’s getting a tooth!’
Emma’s voice carried from the lounge to the kitchen where both Hunter and Lily were frantically trying to prepare a gourmet meal in a matter of minutes while Emma nursed her nephew. Somehow they had to cover up the fact that they’d forgotten that they had asked Jim and Emma to come over for dinner tonight.
Chaos was the norm these days—delightfully so. This was home now. No catered dinners. No working to the housekeeper’s schedule. It was chaotic bliss.
Hunter, thanks to finally mastering the art of delegation, was home far more often, only Lily was working now. Her studies were complete, she had a small but steady stream of patients. Just another busy couple juggling the demands of one small baby and two careers—and it was wonderful.
‘Is he sleeping through the night yet?’ Emma called.
‘Is she referring to you or the baby?’ Lily grinned before cheekily calling back the answer to both questions. ‘If I’m lucky I manage four, maybe five hours!
‘Open this,’ she added, handing a jar of sauce to Hunter, who was pretending to be offended. ‘There’s some garlic bread in the freezer.’
‘I hope you haven’t gone to too much trouble…’ Both women’s voices trailed off as Emma wheeled into the kitchen and surveyed the chaos, clearly realising they hadn’t gone to any trouble at all.
‘Em, we forgot.’ Hunter actually winced. ‘Sorry! You know, new baby and everything…’
‘That’s OK.’ Emma attempted a martyred expression but it dissolved into a burst of giggles. ‘Actually, we both forgot, too. We only remembered we were supposed to be coming over for dinner half an hour ago!’
‘Why don’t we ring for Chinese?’ Hunter suggested, but Emma wrinkled up her nose. ‘Or Indian.’
‘Pasta would be great,’ Emma broke in. ‘Actually, I’m a bit off my food—were you like that, Lily?’ Emma’s cheeks were flaming. ‘When you were pregnant?’
‘God, no.’ Hunter answered for her. ‘She ate like a…’ He didn’t finish, realisation hitting at the same time Jim joined Emma at the kitchen door and handed him his son. ‘You mean…’
‘That’s what we’ve been trying to tell you since we got here, but you were too busy rushing around, fixing dinner. We’re having a baby!’ Emma’s face was shining. ‘It was confirmed this afternoon. I’ve had a scan and everything and it turns out that I’m ten weeks pregnant!’
‘And you’ll be OK?’ Hunter checked. ‘I mean, with…’ He took a breath then forced the words out. ‘What with your injuries and everything?’
‘I’ll need a Caesarean section,’ Emma explained softly, ‘and I might not quite make it to term, but apart from that the doctor’s pretty confident it will be a normal pregnancy.’
He hugged her, held little Cory in between them and hugged his sister. And Lily knew how big this was for him, knew because he’d told her that he was scared it might never happen for her—knew that with this wonderful news they were moving ever further on. And when Emma and Jim drifted out to the lounge, Hunter confirmed what she was thinking, stared down at his son for the longest time before looking over at Lily.
‘I wanted this for her.’ Hunter attempted to voice wha
t he was thinking. ‘When we had Cory…’ His voice thickened with emotion. ‘I just wanted her to know some of the joy.’ And this time Lily didn’t drag it out of him, just helped him along, guilt a visitor rather than a companion in his life now.
‘She’s doing great, Hunter. Both of you are doing fine. Your parents would be really proud.’
‘Do you reckon?’ Normally he’d have waved her words away—his parents and their appalling relationship, still a minefield where they rarely ventured—but, staring down at Corey, it was Hunter prolonging the conversation. ‘I really don’t know how they’d feel if they were alive, but this much I do know…’ Blue eyes looked up from his son to her, the three of them locked in an endless circle of love. ‘I’m proud. Proud of you, proud of me…proud of us.’
ISBN: 978-1-4268-0814-2
CONTRACTED: A WIFE FOR THE BEDROOM
First North American Publication 2007.
Copyright © 2007 by The SAL Marinelli Trust Fund.
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Contracted: A Wife for the Bedroom Page 15