Her Husband's Christmas Bargain

by Margaret Mayo

  ‘We have a lot of time to make up,’ he murmured, honing in on her thoughts.

  Megan smiled, her eyes softening and warming. ‘And you propose doing it all at once?’

  ‘I intend to try.’

  ‘How do you suggest we cope with a spirited child tomorrow if we have no sleep?’

  ‘Uh oh!’ He slapped a hand to his head. ‘I’d forgotten. I’d imagined spending the whole of Boxing Day in bed. Edwina bringing us up our meals while we did our best to catch up on the missing years.’

  ‘Think you could manage?’ she taunted, her eyes alight with wicked pleasure. She had never in her wildest dreams imagined that this was how the holiday would turn out. And the most amazing thing was that she didn’t mind. She was actually enjoying it. She had shut out of her mind the fact that all too soon Luigi would be back at work and this honeymoon period, if she could call it that, would be over. She was taking every minute as it came and making the most of it. It was the wrong time of the month for her to conceive, so she wasn’t even worrying about that.

  Luigi couldn’t believe his good fortune. He hadn’t even had to work on Megan; she had fallen into his arms as naturally as if they had never parted. Elation filled his very soul and there was no doubt in his mind that she would now move in with him and they would become a proper family.

  It would change his life. He was a father! He wanted to shout it from the rooftops. And what a gorgeous little girl she was. Megan had done a brilliant job bringing her up so far, and now he would be here to help. Long hours would be a thing of the past. Charlotte needed him. And he needed Megan!

  Hungrily he reached for her again but she had fallen asleep. He smiled and with his arm across her body he too drifted into the world of the unconscious.

  They were woken by Charlotte’s highly excited voice. ‘Mummy, wake up! It’s snowing again. Daddy, it’s snowing. Come and look.’

  As they were both naked under the bedcovers they waited until Charlotte had turned to the window before Megan dived for her dressing gown and Luigi whipped a sheet off the bed and tucked it around his loins in double-quick time.

  They were laughing as they joined Charlotte and it pleased him that his daughter had made no comment about finding them in bed together. It meant that she’d accepted him unreservedly as her father, and as Megan had welcomed him with open arms too the future looked good.

  The snow fell more heavily than the day before and began to stick to the ground. It was so rare to have a white Christmas, thought Megan, that it had to be a good omen. In fact she was glad that she’d let Luigi persuade her to join him.

  Later in the day they snowballed each other and made a snowman and Luigi let his hair down more than Megan had ever seen before—except in bed, of course. There were no inhibitions there. He was, if anything, a better lover.

  There was the faint niggling doubt in her mind that he had gained extra experience with other girls, but she swept it away—it was her fault if he had—and if he had enhanced his sexual prowess then she ought to be grateful. The many different ways he’d pleasured her had been utterly fantastic. She only had to think about it to experience a resurgence of the feelings that had danced excitedly inside her.

  Her eyes sparkled whenever she looked at him and Luigi gave her slow, intimate smiles that told her he knew exactly what she was thinking. ‘Later,’ he mouthed and Megan hugged the precious thought to her. She couldn’t wait. It was like a replay of when they first met and couldn’t get enough of each other.

  Before he had become a tycoon and work was more important!

  She dismissed the thought as immediately as it entered her head. Luigi was a father now, he had a different set of responsibilities. He wouldn’t let Charlotte down.

  Neither of them could wait for their daughter’s bedtime. Luigi followed Megan to the bathroom and watched her bathing Charlotte. What an amazing mother she was, so gentle, with a glow about her that touched his heart. But his fingers curled into his palms when he recalled how she had cheated him out of seeing his daughter born, of sharing the first few precious years of her life, even preparing for the birth. Not that he was going to let that spoil his pleasure this evening.

  He’d been looking forward all day to making love to Megan. She had matched him step for step last night and judging by the way she kept looking at him, her beautiful eyes full of passion and desire, she was quite willing to allow him into her bed again.

  And he was not disappointed. From the very moment he slid his arms around her the years they had spent apart dissolved into the mists of time. She was his again, completely, urging herself against him, her hunger as deep as his own.

  She kissed him with the sensuality that only a woman deeply in love could give. And it amused him to let her take the lead—for now! She touched and kissed and stroked, enjoying the fact that she could arouse him by a simple kiss, or the lightest touch of her fingertips, her actions becoming more and more urgent until in the end he could contain himself no longer.

  ‘No more,’ he growled, laying her on her back and positioning himself over her. Then he took her, instantly and fiercely, and her cries of pleasure matched his as the intense joy of making love filled their hearts and minds. It was a long time before their sweat-slicked bodies stopped writhing in the aftermath of exquisite pleasure, before their breathing returned to normal.

  ‘That was quite something,’ he muttered hoarsely. ‘Lord, am I glad I found you again.’

  Megan didn’t answer. She had her eyes closed and a blissful expression on her face. In fact he had never seen her look more beautiful. Every feature was softened, and her skin had a lustrous glow. She looked like a woman who was extremely satisfied. He was sure now that she wouldn’t walk away from him again.

  They made love twice more before falling asleep in each other’s arms. And for the first time in his life Luigi didn’t feel the urge to be up at dawn and at his desk. He had a woman at his side whom he had almost lost; he wasn’t going to risk it again. He would go, eventually, and he would work sensible hours, but for the moment Megan was more important.

  Except that it didn’t work out like that.

  Halfway through the morning he and Charlotte were snowballing each other once again, when Megan, who had gone indoors for a handkerchief for her daughter, marched out of the house with her face as black as a thundercloud and slammed the phone into his hand. ‘A call for you.’

  He frowned. ‘Who is it?’

  ‘Find out for yourself,’ she snapped, and taking Charlotte’s hand she dragged her protestingly into the house. He faintly heard her say, ‘Come on, let’s get packed, we’re leaving.’

  One half of him wanted to chase after her, find out what was going on, the other needed to know who was on the other end of the phone. Whoever it was had clearly upset his wife.

  ‘Can I speak to Luigi, please?’ The woman’s husky voice still echoed in Megan’s ears.

  ‘May I ask who’s calling?’

  ‘Tell him it’s Serena,’ came the sultry answer. ‘And hurry please; I haven’t got all day.’

  Serena! So she was still on the scene! The thought sent her sick to the pit of her stomach. ‘How dare you speak to me like that?’ retorted Megan. ‘I’m not one of his servants.’

  ‘I don’t care who you are,’ riposted the woman. ‘I want Luigi.’

  ‘You want him, do you?’ snapped Megan, unable to keep the anger out of her voice. ‘Then it’s bad luck you’re having because he’s not available.’

  ‘I think Luigi will be available if you tell him who I am.’

  ‘You think you’d take preference over his wife?’ It crucified Megan to think that Luigi had jumped into bed with her while still carrying on an affair with his PA. But she wasn’t going to let Serena know that.

  ‘He and his wife are long since parted,’ sneered the other woman. ‘He’s a fool not to have divorced her. How she could walk out on him, I have no idea. He’s—’

  ‘Actually she’s walked back i
nto his life,’ rasped Megan. ‘You’re speaking to her right now.’

  There was a long silence.

  ‘But I’ll still get him for you, if that’s what you want,’ she added, her voice sickly sweet. ‘Just one moment.’ And she didn’t stop to listen to what else the girl had to say. She was sick to the bottom of her heart as she walked out of the house and tossed the phone to him.

  His eyes said it all. He was torn two ways. And it told her what she needed to know. If he truly cared about her, if he truly wanted them to get back together, he would have ignored Serena’s call and followed her. Instead she heard him speak softly into the phone, turning away so that she wouldn’t hear.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  ‘IS SERENA still working for you?’ Megan didn’t really want to know and yet she couldn’t stop herself. She wished she could take the question back because it made her sound jealous, and why should she be? As Luigi was no longer a part of her life she couldn’t care less how many women he was involved with.

  Liar!

  It wouldn’t have mattered before she slept with him, but it did now. He had treated her as though she were the only one. No, that wasn’t strictly true. He had made her feel as though she were the only one. A big difference! It could be that he was an artist at it. How did she know what he was like these days? His main aim at the moment was getting custody of his daughter. And if the mother came as part of the package then he was home and dry. A ready built babysitter while he was free to work his long hours and continue his affair.

  Megan was furious by the time she’d worked all this out and had already packed before confronting Luigi. She had seen him out of her bedroom window talking into the phone. She had observed the way he stood, the way he moved his head as he listened, the way he moved his hands—as though he was touching Serena in his mind’s eye. It all suggested that he was speaking to a woman who meant a great deal to him. It even looked as though he blew her a kiss when he finished.

  ‘As a matter of fact, yes, she is,’ he answered easily. ‘But you don’t need to worry your pretty head about her.’

  ‘I don’t?’ Megan retorted, her tone so sharp that it was a wonder it didn’t slice into him. ‘She made it sound pretty clear to me that she was number one priority in your life.’

  ‘In my business life,’ he pointed out. ‘Serena’s my PA. You know that.’

  ‘Really?’ Megan allowed her finely shaped brows to ride smoothly upwards, her grey eyes totally disbelieving. ‘Is that all she is? It wasn’t the impression I got. And if you believe I’m going to move back into your life when she is clearly a part of it then think again. All I can say is thank goodness Serena rang because now I know exactly where I stand.’

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous, Megan,’ barked Luigi. ‘Serena means nothing to me. You and Charlotte mean everything.’

  ‘I wonder if you’d be saying that if I hadn’t walked out on you?’ she accused. ‘I wonder whether fatherhood would have made you change your lifestyle? Somehow I don’t think so. You feel cheated, yes, and because Charlotte’s lawfully your daughter you want her, but that’s as far as it goes.’

  ‘Are you suggesting that the last two nights meant nothing to you?’ he demanded, his brow thunderously dark, his whole body taut with suppressed emotions.

  ‘All they’ve done,’ she riposted smartly, ‘is remind me of what an expert lover you are. But good sex is all it was. It didn’t mean anything.’ She’d been love-starved, that was what, and she had enjoyed it, but it went no further than that.

  His dark eyes flashed. ‘I don’t believe you.’

  ‘Believe what you like,’ she tossed back, ‘but I’m out of your life for good. Serena’s welcome to you.’

  ‘You’d ruin your daughter’s happiness?’ he accused. ‘Her life as well, by depriving her of the father she’s just found? Whom she needs, I might add, as much as she needs her mother.’ His eyes were glacial, as hard as the ice that had formed in the cracks in the paving outside.

  Megan hadn’t looked at it from this angle. Would it be bad for Charlotte? Or would it be better to make a clean break now before her daughter really got to know Luigi? She knew the answer even before she began debating it. Charlotte needed her father. It was that simple. She’d been so happy when she discovered she did have a daddy after all. It would be cruel to deprive her of him now. Except that she didn’t want a part-time father for Charlotte. Nor indeed a father who bedded other women!

  ‘I’ll stay on two conditions,’ she told him stonily, reluctantly.

  ‘And they are?’ he demanded.

  Who would have thought, Megan asked herself, that a few short hours ago they’d been making love? Where had all the pleasure gone? They were facing each other like two sworn enemies out for the kill. She lifted her chin. ‘Number one, that you cut your working hours. And number two, there are no other women in your life.’

  ‘Done,’ he said easily and far too quickly for her peace of mind.

  ‘I’m serious,’ she countered.

  ‘And so am I. You and Charlotte mean everything to me.’

  ‘And Serena?’

  He gave a tiny shake of his head, as if to say, Why do you keep questioning me about Serena? ‘She’s my right hand,’ he told her calmly. ‘I can’t cut her out of my life, she virtually runs it—on a business level, of course,’ he added when he saw the accusing glint in Megan’s eyes.

  ‘And was business the reason she rang now?’ charged Megan. Because it hadn’t seemed like that to her. The woman had sounded sickly possessive.

  ‘Of course! Which reminds me—’ he shot back his cuff and looked at his watch ‘—I’m needed. I have to go. And when I return we’ll go to your house and collect the rest of your stuff. You will be here?’ he added when he saw the doubt in her eyes.

  Megan realised with a pang that she had little choice. Charlotte’s future security and happiness depended on it.

  As Luigi drove to his office he felt faintly uneasy. He wasn’t completely sure that Megan would still be there when he got back. On the other hand, the fact that she’d sounded jealous of Serena had to be a good thing. If she was jealous then it could mean that she still had feelings for him. It could be to his advantage, except that he would have to tread a fine line. He couldn’t afford to let Serena upset Megan.

  Serena was excellent at her job, he didn’t know what he’d do without her, and he sometimes rewarded her by taking her to dinner or the theatre. That Serena fancied herself in love with him he was fully aware, but the feelings weren’t mutual. Even though he had lost all hope of Megan returning he’d never wanted anyone to take her place. He kept his lady friends at a distance and usually they got the message—except for Serena. He wondered exactly what she had said to Megan. Perhaps he should ask her?

  But the opportunity didn’t present itself. He ran his whole empire from a top floor suite of prestigious offices in London’s regenerated dockland area, where the views on a clear day were far reaching. Today he didn’t have time to look out of the windows. A problem had occurred at one of his IT companies where a disgruntled employee had fed a virus into a software programme that had been released for Christmas. It had already begun to reveal itself and he needed to recall all copies before any real damage was done.

  It was after eight by the time he arrived home. He had phoned Megan from his car on the way, half-expecting her to be gone, relieved when she wasn’t, and not surprised that she sounded angry.

  He found her curled up in a chair in the sitting room, so deeply engrossed in a book that she didn’t hear him enter. Except that the book was upside down! He smiled faintly and spoke her name and she looked up with a very creditable start.

  ‘So you’ve finally torn yourself away from Serena,’ she accused, her magnificent eyes flashing daggers at him. Their usual grey had become a soft amethyst, reflecting the colour of the purple sweater she wore. He had noticed this before—whichever colour she wore, her eyes seemed to change with it. It fascinated him.

/>   ‘I did explain on the phone,’ he told her patiently. At least he hoped he sounded patient. She didn’t make it easy for him. What he would like to do was give her a good shake—except that it would get him nowhere. But patience never had been one of his virtues.

  ‘And was it only this morning that you promised to work less hours?’ she continued. ‘Such a short memory you have. Why am I surprised?’

  ‘There were extenuating circumstances,’ he reminded her sharply. ‘Weren’t you listening when I—?’

  ‘Oh, yes, I heard everything you said,’ Megan cut in with exaggerated calm.

  ‘But you don’t believe me? Well, you’d better because it will be spread all over the newspapers tomorrow. We’ve already had several reporters sniffing around. This could ruin the company.’

  ‘And do you know who did it?’

  ‘Actually, yes. Before leaving he bragged to one of his colleagues that he would bring the company to its knees. It’s a pity he wasn’t taken seriously. It’s going to be one big headache for the next few days, weeks, months maybe.’

  ‘Meaning you’ll be working all the hours God gave again?’

  ‘I’ll try not to.’ But he could see by her expression that she didn’t believe him, and he couldn’t answer in all honesty that he wouldn’t. He was a hands-on type of guy who never believed in passing the buck. ‘Let’s go and collect your stuff. I’ll instruct Amy to keep her eye on Charlotte.’

  ‘At this hour?’ she demurred, slowly uncurling her legs and sitting up straight. Amy was the maid, a giggly brunette girl who was always willing to please.

  Luigi wondered if Megan had any idea how gorgeous she looked. Her face was bare of make-up and she could have passed for eighteen. His male hormones stirred and he wanted to take her to bed, but he forced sanity to prevail. ‘Why not?’

  ‘Of course, you’ll be working late again tomorrow,’ she scorned. ‘It’s now or never, isn’t it? Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to—’