‘Are you out of your mind?’ Ellie gasped sharply.
‘No, possibly I’m foreseeing Beppe’s reaction if he discovers that I’ve got his wonderful new daughter pregnant,’ Rio extended quietly. ‘And, yes, I’m aware that we don’t know as yet whether you have conceived but it would be much worse to wait and see in the current climate.’
‘You are insane,’ Ellie exclaimed, gulping down a reviving swallow of orange juice.
‘Not at all. I know that Beppe will never forgive me if I’ve got you pregnant. He will blame me entirely for it because I have a rather raunchy reputation with women—’
‘Raunchy?’ Ellie rested her head to one side as if she was considering that word. ‘Do you think rumours of your three-in-a-bed sexcapades have spread?’
Rio groaned out loud and sprang upright while shooting her a reproachful look. ‘Can’t you please put judgemental Ellie away for a while and have a serious conversation with me?’
Ellie winced. ‘Not really. I can’t take a marriage proposal from you seriously.’
Rio backed up against a stone pillar like a cornered lion and studied her with scorching golden eyes. ‘That night in Dharia, I did not invite those women to my hotel room. They bribed their way in—’
Ellie pushed her stiff shoulders back into her comfortable seat and inclined her head. ‘Oh, I guessed that,’ she admitted. ‘I assumed you wouldn’t have double-booked yourself.’
The faintest colour scored Rio’s hard cheekbones. ‘You can’t blame me for what they chose to do—’
‘No, but what they did and what they assumed was acceptable said a great deal about the nature of your prior relationship with them,’ Ellie pointed out with hot cheeks.
Rio swore long and low in Italian and finished his wine to set the glass down with a jarring snap on the table. ‘I didn’t have a relationship with either of them!’ he fired back. ‘I had sex with them on one drunken night years before the wedding. I admit that I did stuff when I was younger that I wouldn’t do now—’
Her face stiff as she struggled not to betray any reaction, Ellie nodded.
‘Just because you never felt the urge to experiment doesn’t mean we’re all the same...or that you’re better than me!’ Rio raked back at her.
‘I don’t think I’m better than you in any way. But that kind of experimentation doesn’t appeal to me,’ she confided.
‘I can’t lie and say I’m surprised,’ Rio breathed, watching her like a hawk. ‘Now we’ve got that out of the way and I can disclose that I have no plans to involve you in any form of sexual deviancy, can we concentrate on the marriage proposal?’
Ellie stiffened. ‘Why would you want me to marry you?’
‘If you do turn out to be pregnant I would have been asking you anyway,’ Rio advanced. ‘There is no way I would allow any woman to raise my child without me—’
‘Rio... These days, single and separated parents are common—’
‘I want my child to have everything I didn’t have. A home, a solid background, two caring parents, security,’ Rio extended almost argumentatively. ‘It’s only when you don’t have those advantages that you realise how very important they are.’
‘I understand that and I understand how you feel,’ Ellie assured him, relieved that she knew more about his background than she had. ‘But there’s a reasonable chance that I won’t be pregnant—’
‘I don’t want to wait and take the risk that you are because Beppe will judge me for that, as well, and regard me as an unwilling husband and a very bad bet. It would be much easier just to tell him that we have fallen in love and wish to get married as soon as possible,’ Rio argued. ‘He will understand that and he will see nothing wrong with it.’
‘I’m here on holiday,’ Ellie reminded him helplessly. ‘In a little over three weeks, I have to go home and return to work—’
‘I will not come between you and your medical career. I own property in England and if you have to be there to complete your training, I will make that possible, whether you are pregnant or not,’ he asserted.
That argument taken from her, Ellie slowly shook her buzzing head because he had taken her so much by surprise that she could barely think straight. ‘So, you want to marry me to help take care of any child we might have and to keep Beppe content... Am I correct?’
‘Sometimes you have the tongue of a viper,’ Rio condemned in a harsh undertone. ‘I want you for myself and for my own reasons and you know that! You know it every time you see me look at you, every time I touch you and struggle to stop touching you...’
Her pale skin flamed red at the dark liquid intensity of his deep voice. She lowered her head, finally acknowledging that she was equally out of control around him. In that they were equals. One kiss, one touch, one moment of madness wasn’t enough to sate the craving. But marriage, marriage was something else entirely, wasn’t it? It was forging a future together as partners, trusting each other.
‘You don’t trust me,’ she reminded him. ‘How can you marry a woman you don’t trust?’
‘With care,’ Rio fielded. ‘You don’t trust me either. Time and better understanding would take care of that. I’m sure we would both try to make the marriage a success—’
‘People try that all the time with marriage and fail.’
‘But there is honour in the trying,’ Rio declared without hesitation. ‘At least we would be doing the best we could to give our child a brighter future.’
‘What if there is no child?’
‘Then we eventually divorce and blame your long hours as a doctor and my business trips for keeping us apart too much,’ Rio told her smoothly. ‘Getting married now is a precaution for our potential child’s benefit. The right start, the right environment—’
Ellie held up a hand to silence him. ‘Yes, I get it but living with you would be a little like living on the side of a volcano waiting on the next eruption. You’re very volatile—’
‘And you’re not?’ Rio tossed back, watching her closely as her fine-boned hand closed round her orange juice to raise it to her peach-coloured mouth. ‘If I had you in my bed every night I would be a lot less volatile—’
Ellie almost choked on her drink and, spluttering, set it down, her face flushing.
Rio shrugged and dealt her an amused look. ‘Well, it’s true. Having Beppe warn me off you doesn’t improve my mood and makes it almost impossible for me to be with you.’
‘We don’t even have a relationship—’
‘Then what do we have? You’re splitting hairs, being too cautious. Take a risk on me,’ Rio invited.
And she so wanted to do that, Ellie realised in astonishment. She had never done a reckless thing in her life but Rio tempted her to the edge of foolishness. What if she was pregnant? It would upset Beppe and mess up his relationship with Rio. It would be virtually impossible for her to manage to work and care properly for a child without a partner and a settled home. But to make that decision now when she had no idea whether or not she had conceived? She glanced up at him, at the strong face that sent her heart racing and turned her resolve to mush. Was it wise to give into that side of herself? Or would she live to regret it?
‘Ellie...’ Rio prodded impatiently.
‘I don’t rush major decisions!’ Ellie responded.
Rio shot her a wicked smile. ‘We could go to bed and think about it—’