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sense of family honour is the thing to do, but I don’t. Secondly , Luke deserves more than the two of us trapped in a loveless marriage!’ She could see his face becoming more coldly disapproving by the second but there was no way that she was going to be browbeaten into doing something that was all wrong. ‘Do you really imagine that I’m so pathetic and desperate that I would accept marriage to you in these circumstances?’
    ‘Wasn’t it the thing you wanted most when we were together?’ Gabriel said with cutting smoothness.
    ‘That was years ago! Believe it or not, I’m a different person now!’
    ‘How different?’ Gabriel murmured and, just like that, Alex could feel the atmosphere between them subtly alter. His eyes did a lazy sweep of her body and came back to rest on her flushed face. That kick of awareness that had sprung from nowhere earlier on resurged back into life. He had a rich, graphic fantasy of taking her to bed again, feasting onthe body the way he used to. He wondered how pregnancy had changed it and the craving to satisfy that curiosity hit him swift and hard.
    So wouldn’t that be a great bonus to the whole sorry situation? he wondered. If he was to be married to her, then why shouldn’t sex play a part in its success? As if his imagination had suddenly been given the green light, the urge to take her was more powerful than anything he had known before and, why kid himself, it had been there the second he had seen her in his office. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat and tried to focus.
    Alex looked at him and fought against the tingly feeling she was experiencing, as though she were being intimately caressed, even though he wasn’t even near her. ‘I think it’s time you went home, Gabriel and gave some thought to how we’re going to deal with this in a realistic way .’
    ‘This is a supremely realistic way of dealing with the situation.’
    ‘Not for me, it isn’t.’
    For the first time, it was beginning to dawn on him that his marriage proposal might truly have met with a negative response. Her lips were tightly pursed and her tilted face smouldered with stubbornness. What the hell, he thought, was the problem here? Hadn’t he just done the most decent thing possible?
    ‘I don’t intend to be shackled to someone who would rather be somewhere else,’ Alex continued, just in case he wasn’t getting the message.
    ‘This isn’t about you; it’s about our child.’
    ‘A child you don’t even know!’
    ‘Naturally, getting to know him will take time.’
    ‘Good. I’m glad you said that,’ Alex inserted quickly, thinking on her feet, ‘because that should be your first step.’
    Gabriel frowned. ‘First step?’
    ‘Get to know Luke. Take him out. Incorporate him as part of your life. It’s not going to be easy. You’ve suddenly found yourself landed with a four-year-old child and you have zero experience of children…’
    Gabriel’s sharp brain moved rapidly on to another track. ‘Of course. And what are the other steps in this realistic scenario of yours?’ he asked with a slow smile that sent shivers racing through her. ‘Should I do the modern day thing and proceed with my marriage plans?’ There was no chance of that but he allowed a few seconds of silence, during which she might contemplate that alternative route. ‘Needless to say, Cristobel, as my wife, would have enormous input into all decisions taken regarding Luke. How do you feel about that?’
    Not good , was the first thought that came to Alex’s mind. She didn’t like the thought of Cristobel being any kind of role model for her child. Complicating the scenario came a sneaking thought: sharing Luke with Gabriel was one thing, but what if he wanted more of his son somewhere along the line? She blanched and cleared her throat.
    ‘And naturally my parents would want involvement as well. They live in Spain. It’s possible that there might be occasions when Cristobel would take him across for