GREEK HUSBAND

Chapter 32

'I am not going to end up in bed with you again. I am never going to go to bed with you again!' Bella swore vehemently.

Far from comforted by that news, Edward groaned. 'Bella, you're a nice girl and I don't get involved with nice girls. I don't do love and romance. I can't be what you want if you want more.'

'I'm not going to be some kept woman in some house you own either, living off you like a leech because we had a stupid contraceptive accident!' Bella raked back at him furiously, infuriated to be called a 'nice girl' because that tag only suggested dreary, conservative, and needy to her. In addition, although she refused to allow herself to dwell on her sense of rejection, she was horribly crushed by his cool, cynical disclaimer of any deeper feelings where she was concerned. 'I may be poor but I have my pride. You're interfering in my life far too much, Edward.'

Edward shocked himself by wanting to shout back at her. He wanted her to do what he told her to do, which was, after all, what ninety-nine percent of the people in his life invariably did. Consequently, he very rarely, if ever, raised his voice. He was proud of his self-control but then he had always avoided emotional scenes, swiftly ditching women who specialized in them. Of course, he had been raised by the ultimate of scene-throwers: his mother, whom he recalled staging dramatic walkouts, outrageous suicide threats, and sobbing herself into hysterics.

'You have to have peace and quiet to continue your studies and decide what to do next. I'm trying not to interfere with that. If you weren't pregnant, you wouldn't be in this situation now. I only want what's best for you and the baby.'

'And the easiest thing for you to give is money,' Bella completed with reluctant comprehension, her troubled green eyes scanning the opulence of the furnishings and a view of the City of London that had to be next door to priceless. 'Isn't it?'

His lean, darkly handsome face tensed. 'Yes, so will you view the property you like the best? I'll have you moved in by the weekend. I think we should have dinner tonight and talk future options.'

'No, I have a student thing to attend,' Bella lied, freshly determined to dull her intense attraction to Edward by seeing less of him.

'Tomorrow night, then.'

'No, sorry.'

'Bella, I'm trying hard here,' Edward growled in warning.

'I have a check-up with the doctor booked.'

'I'll come with you and we'll eat afterward,' Edward pronounced with satisfaction.

That wasn't what Bella wanted at all. She felt like a ball being rolled down a steep hill in a direction she didn't want to go. Edward was getting much too involved in her life but by sleeping with him again hadn't she encouraged that? Torn in two by inner conflict, Bella lifted her chin. 'When do you want me to see this property?' she prompted.

'I have a board meeting this morning but late afternoon around four would suit me. I'll pick you up then.'

Bella wanted to tell him that she didn't need his escort either but it was his property and she could hardly object. All too frequently in life, Bella had discovered that necessity and practicality overruled any personal preference. Barring a return to Matt's guest room, she was technically homeless and in no position to dismiss an offer made by the father of her unborn child. She didn't like that truth but she had to live with it, she told herself unhappily.

When she emerged from the unused bedroom she had taken her case into, fully dressed and composed, Edward had left and Sheila, the friendly older woman washing the kitchen floor, asked her what she would like for breakfast. 'Housekeeping' Edward had labeled Sheila with the casual indifference that spoke volumes about his privileged status in life. Bella ate cereal and toast at the kitchen table and learned all there was to know about Sheila's four adult children, grateful for the pleasant chatter that took her mind off her problems.

There was a tight, hard knot inside Bella and it ached like mad. Over and over again she was still hearing Edward say, I don't do love and romance...you're a nice girl. Last night Edward had sung a very different tune, making her sound irresistible, giving her the heady impression that she meant more to him than she did while he smoothly talked her into an act of monumental stupidity. Of course, he had said all those things, demonstrated all that thrilling impatience before he got her into bed, and that told her all she really needed to know, didn't he? she scolded herself with newly learned cynicism. He had fooled her, manipulated her, got what he evidently wanted, and then withdrawn behind boundaries again. There was a lesson to be learned there and she had learned it well.