‘I must have eaten something that disagreed with me,’ she dismissed lightly. ‘Probably one of the canapés last night. But I’m fine now,’ she said reassuringly.
Sin’s hands clenched at his sides, and his teeth were clamped together so tightly that his jaw actually ached, both in an effort to hold onto his temper. He rarely, if ever, lost control, his anger tending to take the form of icy deliberation rather than a fiery explosion.
But this woman was seriously in danger of pushing him beyond that icy control. He very much doubted that she would like the result if that were to happen!
‘You’re telling me that’s the reason you were ill just now?’
‘Of course.’
‘I don’t believe you,’ he growled.
She gave an unconcerned shrug. ‘That’s your prerogative, I suppose.’
Sin looked at her searchingly, easily noting the changes in her now that he knew what he was looking for: there were dark shadows beneath those bewitching blue eyes that indicated a lack of sleep, her cheeks were more hollow than they had been, and there were lines of tension beside her unsmiling mouth.
His gaze moved lower. She was still incredibly slender, but he was sure that her breasts were slightly fuller than he remembered…
He wasn’t wrong in his conclusion, Sin was sure that he wasn’t!
He had spent the time while Luccy was in the bathroom considering all the options—including that she might have eaten something that disagreed with her. But the more obvious reason for her sudden nausea was the one that refused to go away…
‘When were you going to tell me, Luccy?’ he insisted.
Her chin rose. ‘Tell you what?’
Sin forced himself to relax. Losing his temper really wasn’t going to help this situation. ‘Okay, Luccy, let’s try getting to the truth another way, shall we?’
‘I’ve already told you the truth. I obviously ate something last night that disagreed with me—’
‘Why did you refuse to drink any champagne last night?’
He couldn’t know, Luccy reminded herself again firmly. Sin absolutely could not know!
‘I never drink alcohol when I’m working,’ she explained calmly. ‘Last night may have been a party, but it was still work as far as I’m concerned,’ she added.
‘You refused wine just now, too,’ he pointed out flatly.
‘I’m flying home later today—’
‘Luccy,’ Sin cut in warningly. ‘While you were in the bathroom just now I did a little thinking.’ A lot of thinking, actually. And his conclusion had left him almost paralysed with shock.
She drew in a ragged breath. ‘I think it’s time I was going—’
‘Sit down!’ he barked.
Her eyes flashed deeply blue as she glared at him. ‘How dare you tell me what to do?’
Sin’s mouth twisted impatiently as he crossed the room to stand in front of her. ‘Oh, I think you’ll find I dare a lot more than that, Luccy. For the last time, when were you going to tell me?’
He was extremely intimidating standing close to her like this, fury etched into his arrogantly handsome face, a warning in the glitter of his eyes.
Luccy broke the intensity of that gaze to turn away. ‘I have a plane to catch—’
‘You won’t be going anywhere today.’
Luccy became very still as she slowly turned back to face him, her eyes wide as she looked at him warily.
Sin’s face was hard, implacable, those silver eyes shimmering like shards of ice, his shoulders stiff and unyielding, the muscles in his arms tensed. Like a huge jungle cat poised to pounce!
She moistened dry lips. ‘Of course I’m going back to England today—’
‘No, you’re not,’ Sin bit out evenly.
‘You have no right to dictate where I do or don’t go—’
‘Luccy, I am holding onto my temper by a very slim thread.’ His voice was low and menacing. ‘I don’t want to have to shake the truth out of you, but, believe me, if I have to, I will!’
One look at the grimness of Sin’s expression was enough to tell her that he meant every word that he said.
Luccy could feel herself trembling, her legs beginning to shake, so much so that she stumbled towards one of the chairs and sat down heavily to look up at Sin with huge, haunted blue eyes.
Sin wasn’t enjoying this conversation one little bit, especially now that he could clearly see the effect it was having on Luccy. But he had no intention of letting her just walk out of here, either. Not now. Not ever!
He continued to look at her, his gaze compelling her to answer.
She closed her eyes briefly before opening them again, her gaze challenging. ‘I’m pregnant, Sin,’ she murmured softly. ‘Eight weeks pregnant, to be exact,’ she added defiantly. ‘But, then, you had already guessed that, hadn’t you?’ she concluded self-derisively.
Having his suspicions and having those suspicions confirmed were two totally different things, Sin discovered. Now he was filled with a whole new set of emotions. Awe, firstly, at the knowledge that Luccy carried his child. Tenderness, at the thought of the child, his child, growing inside her. Quickly followed by a return of anger as he wondered exactly when Luccy had intended telling him!
No, for the moment Sin wouldn’t go there. If he thought about that now, then anger would become his prime emotion, and even if that anger was perfectly justified it certainly wasn’t going to help an already fraught situation.
Instead he opted for being cool and controlled. ‘Have you seen a doctor?’ he prompted as he slowly turned to face her.
Luccy looked at him frowningly for several seconds before answering. ‘Yes.’ She nodded. ‘The baby’s fine. I’m fine.’ She shrugged. ‘He doesn’t foresee any complications.’
To say that she was surprised at Sin’s relative calm following her announcement would be a big understatement! He had to know, by the fact that she had stated so clearly that she was eight weeks pregnant, that the baby was his.
Not that it could ever have been anyone else’s—no matter what Sin might choose to believe to the contrary. The last—and only—time that Luccy had been in an intimate relationship had been seven years ago.
How did he really feel, now Luccy had confirmed that she was carrying his baby? She could discern absolutely none of Sin’s emotions from looking at him, his expression closed as he continued to look at her with those enigmatic grey eyes.