âThis marriage. Itâs not going to be easy. It wonât be impossible, itâs just notâ¦natural.â
âNo.â She laughed shakily. âItâs definitely not natural.â
âBut that doesnât mean we canât make it work. We just have to try harder.â
âNiccolo, donât you think this has gone far enough? Iâd thought youâd back off from the marriage discussion by now. Youâre not really going to go through with this.â
âOh, yes, we are.â
âMaybe Iâm misunderstanding you. Maybe you mean something in name only, an arrangementââ
âThat would be convenient, wouldnât it?â he interrupted. âYou have your baby, you have your safety net. Sorry, Maggie, our marriage would be real.â
Shocked, she could only stare at him. A real marriage. Naked, beds, sex. Niccolo making love to herâ¦
âTEN years, and you still havenât changed.â Niccoloâs softly accented voice echoed with disgust, his sensual mouth flattening in anger. âYou never would listen to reasonââ
âNic, Iâm only asking for the spare set of keys to my parentsâ house,â Meg interrupted, trying to ignore the churning in her stomach. âThese are not trade secrets.â
One of his black eyebrows lifted. âIs that a joke?â
She fought her fatigue and impatience. It wouldnât help to get into an argument with Nic. Nic would win. He always won.
Struggling to sound reasonable, she reminded him of the long-standing agreement between their families. âItâs always been policy to keep a spare key for each other, in case of emergency. Itâs never been a problem before, and I donât know why youâre making a big deal out of it now.â
âBecause itâs not safe for you to stay alone at your parentsâ. The ranch is isolated. Iâm ten minutes away if something should happen.â
âNothing will happen.â
His voice fairly crackled with contempt. âMaggie, you attract trouble like pollen attracts bees. Iâve saved your skin from more scrapesââ
âI never asked for your help!â
âNo, but you needed it.â
âYou donât know what I need, Nic. You just like to think you do.â She clenched her jaw, furious with herself for coming to the villa in the first place. If she hadnât misplaced the key ring to her parentsâ house, she wouldnât be having this conversation with Niccolo Dominici, nor would she be receiving another of his famous lectures.
He made a choking sound and muttered something in Italian.
âWhat was that?â she demanded, knowing how he loved to resort to Italian when he wanted to say something particularly unflattering.
âI said I should give up on you.â
Meg stiffened indignantly, her shoulders squaring. Sheâd allowed him to crush her years ago, her tender heart broken by his harsh rejection, but thankfully she wasnât a teenager anymore. âThen do! I donât need your so-called help.â
âSo-called?â He bristled, golden eyes glinting. The rapid pull of muscle in his jaw revealed her barb had hit home. Sheâd insulted him, bruising his considerable Italian machismo. Nic stared at her through narrowed eyes. âYouâre fortunate that we have a very old friendship.â
âItâs not much of a friendship,â she retorted grimly. âIn fact, youâre the last person Iâd describe as a friend.â
His jaw tightened again, but he didnât answer her. Instead his eyes searched her face. She kept her expression purposely blank. She wouldnât give him the satisfaction of letting him see how strongly he still affected her. âGive me the key.â
âNo.â
âMy parents know Iâll be staying there. I left a message with the cruise line.â
âYou cannot stay there alone.â
âI live alone.â
His mouth pinched tighter, and he crossed his arms, straining his green sport jacket. Yellow light glowed behind him, the villaâs French doors open to embrace the warm California night. âWhich is quite dangerous in New York. The city is full of strangers who prey on young women.â
Inadvertently Mark, her babyâs father, came to mind.
What was the expression? A wolf in sheepâs clothing?
But she didnât want to think about Mark, didnât want to be reminded that sheâd fallen for Mark partly because heâd reminded her so much of Niccolo. The fact that even after ten years Meg still desired men like Nic confounded her. Nic might be sinfully attractive, but he was also insufferably high-handed.