Except not once had he mentioned love.
Was she ready to accept being a rich man’s mistress if it meant having Fletcher in her life for at least part of their child’s upbringing? Would parenthood bond them together beyond the sexual desire that could be all too short-lived?
‘I thought you’d like the blues,’ he pressed. ‘It’s your colour.’
‘Everything is beautiful. I love the blues,’ she said, waving to the mats and the matching cushions on the lounges. Though she wasn’t sure how a baby would fit in here. This was clearly not designed as a family residence, more a marvellous showpiece for high-flying career people or celebrity socialites. She wasn’t sure she fitted in here, being neither, but Fletcher did, and she could probably weave her own life around his.
‘I’ve negotiated a short-term lease until the sale contract goes through. We can move in right now,’ he said with an air of determined purpose. ‘In fact, my gear is already in the master bedroom. We can fetch yours tomorrow.’
It was one push too far for Tammy. What he’d already set in place was incredibly impressive and persuasive, but if he thought she would discard the life she’d worked for to suit his time-table, he could think again. ‘I’m due to work a shift at the hospital tomorrow, Fletcher. On Tuesday and Wednesday, as well. Thursday is my next day off,’ she said, her eyes fiercely denying him any authority over her.
His eyes narrowed into hard probing slits, assessing the strength of the line she had just drawn. The air between them began to seethe with tension, but Tammy refused to back down on this point. He could shower her with all the material possessions in the world. She would not surrender her whole life to him for his convenience.
‘There’s not much give in you, is there, Tamalyn?’ he said with biting irony.
She felt her cheeks bloom with heat. ‘Not much take in me, either,’ she fired back at him. ‘You won’t find me an expensive mistress to keep.’
His mouth curled sardonically as he walked towards her. ‘We’ve moved past the live-in lover proposition. We have a completely different situation to deal with. You’re expecting my child.’
She gestured around her in confused appeal. ‘Then what is this all about?.
He caught her hands, threading his fingers through hers and gripping hard as he lifted the locked contact up between her breasts and his chest. There was a dark fire in his eyes, burning a challenge directly into hers.
‘We get married, Tamalyn,’ he said in a soft, infinitely dangerous tone. ‘Isn’t that what you want most of all?’
CHAPTER ELEVEN
TAMMY stared at him in horror as her mind reeled from what he meant. Marriage…an ambition. Achieving it by deliberately getting pregnant. Nothing to do with love. Nothing…
Her face went cold, clammy. She wasn’t conscious of her blood draining from it, wasn’t conscious of blacking out, falling. The next thing she was whoozily aware of was being carried. She struggled to understand. ‘What…?’
‘You fainted,’ Fletcher said tersely, setting her down on the edge of a bed. ‘Put your head down between your knees, Tamalyn.’
She did as instructed, shocked that her body had shut down on her. The only time she’d fainted before was when she’d got her first period. Was she bleeding, having a miscarriage? There was no feeling of wetness, no draggy feeling in her abdomen, just dizziness in her head.
‘Deep breaths,’ Fletcher commanded.
The moment of panic receded. She took deep breaths and the dizziness receded, too. Fletcher had seated himself beside her, his arm around her shoulders, holding her, keeping her pressed down.
‘I’m okay now,’ she choked out.
‘Sure?.
‘Yes.’
He stood her on her feet, one arm still around her shoulders in strong support as he flung the doona on the bed aside and pulled pillows into a heap for comfortable back support. ‘You sit here and rest.’ He lifted her into the position he’d arranged and tucked the doona around her. ‘I’ll go and fix you something to drink and eat.’
Tammy was grateful for the time alone to take stock of the situation and decide what she should do. It was very seductive having a strong man looking after her, caring for her needs, and right now she felt too weak to get up and go anywhere.
Fletcher had carried her into what was obviously the master bedroom. It was incredibly spacious. A wall of glass showcased the view again and the blue-and-white decor was repeated—thick white carpet on the floor, and the doona was blue silk, printed with beautiful water-lilies. On the white bedside tables were fascinating lamps shaped like silver trees with crystal leaves in shades of blue and pink and green and tiny light globes set in the branches. She wondered what they would look like turned on at night.
The desire to spend the night with Fletcher—take what she could—rolled through her like a tidal wave of need. But she couldn’t marry him, knowing how he saw it, and wishing wouldn’t make it any different. It was impossible to overlook the slur on her integrity, impossible to live with him unless there was respect on both sides.
He strode back into the bedroom, carrying a plate of raisin toast and a glass of orange juice. Tammy’s pulse instantly quickened at his air of determined purpose, his dark gaze scanning her face with sharp intensity. ‘You still look too pale,’ he observed as he set the refreshments down on the bedside table.
‘I won’t marry you, Fletcher,’ she stated decisively.
‘Oh, yes, you will,’ he fiercely retorted, his eyes stabbing into hers as though he’d pin her to a wall until she agreed to it. ‘You’re light-headed right now, not thinking straight. Eat, Tamalyn. Then we’ll talk.’
‘You believe I planned to get pregnant,’ she fired at him, refusing to be dominated or intimidated, though the force of his will was making her feel weak and shaky.
‘No, I don’t,’ he shot straight back.
‘Then why did you say…?’
‘Never mind what I said.’ He cut the air with his hand, wanting the issue dismissed.
‘I do mind. I mind very much. It’s not my ambition to marry you.’
His eyes seethed with black resentment at her stubborn attitude. ‘I don’t know what the hell drives you,’ he bit out angrily. ‘I’ve never met a woman even remotely like you. But we are going to have a child and we have to consider—both of us—what’s best for the child. And right at this minute—’ he shook a finger at her ‘—it’s best that you eat. So do it!’