To Make a Marriage (7 page)

Instead she had said yes to his marriage proposal, not exactly instantly, but not with too much delay either.

He looked across at her with narrowed eyes, suspicion in their silver depths. ‘What's the catch?' he murmured slowly, sure there had to be one. Although for the life of him he couldn't think what it could be!

Andie laughed softly, shaking her head, her hair a honey-coloured tumble over the bareness of her shoulders. ‘I'm sure that isn't the normal reply when a woman has just accepted your marriage proposal!'

Adam remained unsmiling. ‘This isn't a normal marriage proposal,' he pointed out gruffly.

‘No,' she sobered, turning away. ‘However, I do accept,
Adam,' she told him flatly. ‘And there is no catch,' she added. ‘Except—'

‘Aha,' he pounced. “‘Except” is definitely a catch.' He was frowning darkly now. ‘What are your conditions for accepting, Andie?' he asked warily.

If she gave their marriage a time period, he couldn't accept; it was either for ever or not at all. If she asked for a marriage of convenience, again he couldn't accept; that one time with Andie had shown him that he couldn't promise never to make love to her again.

He wanted her now, couldn't even look at her without feeling aroused by her beauty and the smooth perfection of her body. Not that he did intend making love to her again until they were married, he just knew there was absolutely no way he could agree to a platonic marriage—because he would break that promise the minute she was his wife!

She stilled awhile before turning to look at him. At least, Adam presumed she was looking at him; those wretched sunglasses made it impossible to see exactly where she was looking!

‘Take off the sunglasses, Andie,' he instructed harshly before she could speak. ‘I want to see your eyes, damn it,' he ground out at her surprised expression.

‘The windows to the soul, hmm, Adam?' she responded. But she reached up anyway and pushed the dark glasses back up into her hair.

‘Something like that,' he said distractedly, looking searchingly into those deep green depths. And learnt nothing. Andie was deliberately keeping all expression out of her face and eyes… ‘You were saying…?' he prompted gently, finding himself tensed as if waiting for a blow.

Perhaps he was. If Andie's conditions included either of those two things he knew he simply couldn't accept, then they were going to be in trouble.

She gave him a wry look. ‘Now it's your turn to give this serious thought, Adam,' she taunted. ‘We obviously aren't marrying for the reason people usually decide to spend the rest of their lives together. So far, it would appear that neither of us has met that one person we simply can't live without—'

‘If you're talking about falling in love, Andie, then say so!' he interrupted, not liking the way this conversation was going at all.

She gave a taut smile, shrugging slightly. ‘Okay, I'm talking about falling in love,' she confirmed with sarcasm. ‘And until such time as either of us actually does that, I would want our marriage to be on a one-to-one basis—'

‘Hell, I'm sure you never used to be this evasive!' Adam exploded as he stood up. ‘What you're really trying to say is that if we get married you would expect me to be faithful—'

‘
Both
of us to be faithful,' she corrected, her expression strained now.

‘Until such time as either one of us meets that one person we can't live without,' Adam scathingly echoed her earlier words, shaking his head as he came to stand beside her, hands clenched tensely at his sides. ‘I'm sorry, but your condition isn't acceptable to me, Andie,' he stated.

She paled, her cheeks suddenly looking translucent, giving her a fragile appearance that Adam instantly found alarming. But he couldn't agree to her condition; it would be like living with a sword hanging over his head. He had decided long ago, if marriage was ever for him, then it would have to be for ever. He couldn't—wouldn't—accept less. There was simply no way he could spend the rest of his life living in fear that Andie, of all people, might one day fall in love with someone else, and consequently leave him! No way…!

‘Try to see it from my point of view, Andie,' he cajoled, still alarmed by her paleness. ‘You're being unreasonable—'

‘I should have known I was asking too much,' she cut in, giving him a disgusted glance before dropping those concealing sunglasses back down on the bridge of her nose.

‘You're offering only half a commitment, Adam, for the sake of our child. I'm sorry, but I couldn't live that way.' She turned away, her face set in rigid lines.

Adam grasped her arms, turning her back to face him. ‘You couldn't live that way?' he echoed disbelievingly. ‘Then why the hell should you expect me to?' He shook her slightly in his agitation. ‘From what I understand, marriage can be difficult enough, without having to sit there waiting for your partner to fall in love with someone else!'

Andie opened her mouth to say something. And then closed it again, looking up at him frowningly.

Adam coldly withstood that searching gaze. He would do a lot for Andie, agree to almost anything she asked of him, but he could not agree to committing himself to sitting there wondering when she would leave him. He just couldn't do that.

She hesitated. ‘I didn't—I wasn't—Adam, I think there's been some sort of misunderstanding—'

‘No misunderstanding, Andie,' he bit back. ‘Either you agree to marry me, on the understanding it's a lifetime commitment—with no third parties involved. Ever,' he added grimly. ‘Or we forget the whole thing.'

His heart was beating so loudly in his chest he could almost hear it, the blood rushing through his veins at break-neck speed as he felt his future balanced on the knife-edge of Andie's reply. He hadn't meant to issue her with an ultimatum, but in the circumstances he didn't feel he had
any option. Even so, he stopped breathing as he waited for her to speak.

A nerve pulsed erratically in the slender column of Andie's throat. ‘Adam,' she began slowly. ‘Just now, when you said those terms were unacceptable to you, I thought you meant that fidelity to me was unacceptable to you, not—' she licked the dryness of her lips ‘—not the—the fact that the marriage might eventually fail because one of us fell in love with someone else!'

Adam's lips thinned. ‘I may have come into the idea of marriage a bit later than most people, Andie, but that doesn't mean I don't have my own views on what it should be. And it shouldn't be a relationship that has the sword of Damocles hanging over it!'

That nerve was still pulsing in her throat, but some of the colour seemed to be returning to her cheeks now. Thank goodness, Adam noted with relief. He had come here to offer a solution to their problem, not to make Andie ill.

Her body relaxed slightly beneath the tight hold Adam still had of her arms. ‘I agree,' she finally said softly.

Adam was perturbed. What did she agree to? This was turning into a nightmare; his emotions were like a roller coaster, one minute up, the next minute down.

Andie drew in a steadying gulp of air, her chin raised determinedly. ‘On the understanding that it won't be a temporary thing. No half commitments, no third parties involved. Ever,' she repeated his words clearly. ‘I agree to marry you.'

That knife-edge was suddenly no longer there, the sword no longer threatening. Andie was going to marry him!

And for the moment, that would have to be enough…

T
HE
angry bellow could be heard throughout the whole house. Although the house staff, thank goodness, were used, over the years, not to react to their employer's occasional bouts of temper, apparently carrying on with their daily chores.

Something Andie was most grateful for as she shot Audrey a pained grimace. The two of them were in the sitting-room, supposedly drinking coffee together. Although, so far, that coffee had remained cooling in the cups as the two of them sat tensely waiting for Rome's reaction to Adam's news.

They had just heard it!

‘It's gone very quiet,' Andie murmured a few seconds later, straining her ears trying to hear any further reaction from her father. The house remained silent with expectation. Unlike Andie, who was expecting, but certainly couldn't remain silent. Especially if her father were now in the process of doing Adam some physical damage. After all, she had been there three months ago too…! ‘Do you think I should—?'

‘No, I don't,' Audrey answered calmly, finally reaching forward to pick up her coffee-cup and sip at the now tepid liquid.

‘But Rome might—'

‘He won't,' Audrey assured her with certainty, looking serenely beautiful as she sat in one of the armchairs.

Andie wished she had the older woman's control! But she didn't, standing up to pace agitatedly up and down the
room, glancing towards the doorway often, the two men ensconced in Rome's study down the carpeted hallway.

‘How can you be so sure?' Andie finally burst out, the lack of any noise whatsoever coming from the direction of the study grating on her already frayed nerves. ‘I realise that your engagement, and the wedding next month, have calmed Daddy down a lot, but even so, he isn't going to be pleased by what Adam's telling him, is he?' A frown marred her creamy brow.

‘You might be surprised,' Audrey came back dryly. ‘Oh, not by his reaction to your and Adam's news,' she added at Andie's obvious surprise at the remark. ‘His reaction to that is anyone's guess, I'm afraid. No, I was referring to Rome's calmness.' She shook her head. ‘He isn't calm at all since I told him that I had lived here, and worked for him, for twelve years, without going to bed with him, and that now I intended to wait until our wedding night!'

Andie gave a choked laugh, her own worries temporarily forgotten. ‘You told Rome that?'

‘I certainly did.' The older woman returned her smile.

‘My assurance that anticipation is half the fun didn't go down too well, either!' she confided mischievously.

‘I'm sure it didn't.' Andie laughed out loud now, easily able to imagine her father's frustration with such a decision. Although he still looked a lot happier than Andie had seen him for years. At least, he
had
looked happier… Her smile faded, to be replaced by her previous frown. ‘But you must have some idea of what Rome's going to say about—about—' She still had trouble formulating the words herself. ‘I wanted to tell Daddy myself, but Adam insisted he had to be the one to do it,' she went on, irritated beyond words at what she considered Adam's chauvinist behaviour.

In fact, what she had really wanted to happen was for Adam to return to England after their talk, while she stayed
on in Majorca for another week. But Adam wouldn't hear of it. They either both stayed in Majorca, or they both returned to England. And he had been absolutely adamant that he would be the one to talk to Rome.

‘Quite right too.' Audrey nodded. ‘It's his responsibility, Andie,' she added firmly before Andie could protest.

‘Don't be ridiculous, Audrey. I'm almost twenty-six years old; I knew exactly what I was doing when I made love with Adam.'

Just once, she had promised herself at a point in their lovemaking when she had known she could have stopped it if she had wanted to. Just once, to be held in Adam's arms, to be loved for herself, and not for her resemblance to her mother. Just once—and it was turning into a lifetime commitment for both of them!

It was going to be no easy thing to be Adam's wife, to know that she could only ever be second best. But any woman would have been second best after her mother, so why not let it be her? After all, she loved Adam, and maybe one day—one day, he might be able to love her a little in return. Better, Andie had decided in Majorca, to be with the man she loved, than spend the rest of her life doing what she had already done for so long: watching and loving him from afar…

Audrey gave her a searching look. ‘I'm sure you did,' she finally said. ‘As did Adam. Which is why he should be the one to tell your father.' She gave a smile. ‘Rome is so overjoyed at the idea of being a grandfather, he might just decide to overlook the fact that the two of you didn't get married first. I—' She broke off as a door could be heard opening down the hallway. ‘I think we're about to find out,' Audrey revised quickly.

Andie could feel her tension growing as the two men made their slow progress down the hallway. At least, it
seemed slow to her, they could actually have been running for all she knew!

Her father was the first to enter the sitting-room, a quick search of his rigidly set features telling her nothing, her gaze quickly passing to Adam, her heart sinking as he gave a slight shake of his head.

Whatever did that mean? Even if her father wasn't agreeable to them getting married, they were adults, for goodness' sake, could do as they pleased. They had done exactly that three months ago, which was why they were here together today at all! They had only come here to tell her father of their plans; they weren't asking his permission!

Having agonised as she had over accepting Adam's marriage proposal in the first place, she certainly wasn't about to let her father put a dampener on it now!

‘I won't have it, Andie,' her father's angrily grated comment broke the tense silence. ‘It's just not on. No daughter of mine—'

‘Daddy, this has nothing to do with you,' she broke in determinedly; having made her decision where marrying Adam was concerned—painfully so!—she wasn't about to have her father now telling her what she could and couldn't do! ‘I'm over eighteen, have been making my own decisions for years now, and Adam and I have only come here today to pay you the courtesy of letting you know what our plans are. You—'

‘Very kind of you, I'm sure!' Rome exclaimed sarcastically.

‘Andie—'

‘Leave it, Adam,' the older man told him sharply as he would have interrupted. ‘I don't believe my daughter has finished speaking yet.' Rome turned pointedly back to Andie. ‘You were saying…?'

She drew in a ragged breath. ‘Adam and I—' She
stopped, wondering if she would ever get used to hearing their two names linked together like that. ‘We have decided to get married. We would naturally like you and Audrey to be there, but—'

‘How kind of you again,' her father drawled, lowering his lean length into one of the armchairs, chilly blue gaze fixed on Andie.

She shifted uncomfortably under the intensity of that gaze. ‘We intend getting a special licence, and the wedding will be organised in a register office for the end of next week—'

‘No,' her father stated decisively.

Andie's cheeks flushed mutinously. ‘It isn't your decision, Daddy,' she burst out incredulously, looking across at Adam appealingly. Instead of just standing there, why didn't he do something, say something? ‘I am going to marry Adam, Rome,' she began again. ‘With or without your approval. Although, of course, I would rather have it—'

‘Again, how kind,' Rome said dryly.

Her cheeks flushed fiery red at his obvious continued sarcasm.

‘But I don't need it,' she told him determinedly. ‘And your permission I certainly don't need.'

‘Andie.' Adam spoke quietly as he crossed the room to her side, his arm moving protectively about her shoulders.

‘Rome, stop playing with her,' he turned to tell the older man. ‘Andie, your father is perfectly in agreement with the two of us getting married,' he told her gently.

‘How kind of
you
!' she snapped rebelliously at her father.

‘He just isn't happy,' Adam continued, ‘with the two of us going to a register office to do it!'

‘My exact words were, sneaking off to a register office
to do it,' Rome said. ‘Harrie and Danie have had full white weddings,' he continued. ‘You and Adam will have the same.'

Andie stared at her father. He—they—what—? ‘You don't disapprove of my marrying Adam…!' she realised dazedly.

‘Certainly not,' Rome came back instantly. ‘I'm actually amazed you've shown such good taste.'

‘Thanks!' She was still dazed at his reaction.

‘I'm not too pleased by the way the two of you have been creeping about meeting each other in secret,' Rome commented. ‘But other than that, I couldn't have chosen a better husband for you myself!' he added with satisfaction.

Andie had turned to give Adam a sharp look at her father's mention of the two of them meeting each other in secret, the tightening of Adam's arm about her shoulders, and his warning glance, telling her he would explain later. When the two of them were alone…

Not that he needed to explain; she could already guess how the conversation had gone between Adam and her father. Adam could hardly have told the older man that the two of them had actually only been out together once, and that Rome's grandchild was the result of anger with each other over the way that evening had turned out!

She just wished Adam had taken the trouble to explain to her exactly how he was going to broach the subject to her father! Although, in truth, the two of them had barely spoken to each other on the flight back to England earlier in the day.

She turned back to her father. ‘We can't get married in church, Daddy,' she told him huskily. ‘I— It wouldn't seem right. In the circumstances I certainly can't get married in white!' She was slightly pale now, the strain of this meeting finally getting to her.

‘Sit down,' Adam told her firmly, pushing her gently down into a chair before pouring some fresh coffee into her cup and handing it to her. ‘Drink it,' he instructed evenly, standing over her.

After a rebellious moment of stubbornness, Andie did exactly that, her eyes flashing deeply green as she glared at her future husband over the rim of the cup.

Rome chuckled gleefully. ‘Out of the frying pan, hmm, Andie?' he teased with obvious enjoyment of the situation.

She shook back her hair as she turned to include her father in that glare. Adam was as forceful as her father, all right. And as domineering. Which meant the two of them were probably going to have more than their fair share of arguments before they came to some sort of compromise. But that would probably be preferable to the two of them continuing to behave like polite strangers!

‘Andie, you don't have to wear white for the wedding.' Audrey was the one to step tactfully into the rising tension.

‘Most women wear cream nowadays, anyway. Or almond, even. It's a sad reflection on society, I know, but I'm afraid there aren't too many virgin brides left any more!'

Andie deliberately didn't look at Adam as her cheeks coloured fiery red, but she could sense his searching glance on her. Except for that one act of heated impetuosity between the two of them, they both knew she
would
have been a virgin bride.

‘Don't you think I'll look slightly ridiculous?' Andie began sharply. ‘Floating down the aisle on the arm of my father, over three months pregnant!'

‘No.' Adam was the one to answer. ‘You'll just look beautiful. As you always do,' he added emotionally.

This was going to be a nightmare, Andie decided. They had overcome the hurdle of her father's anger and disapproval, only to find themselves confronted with the prospect
of a church wedding rather than the register office Andie would have preferred— That
she
would have preferred…?

She turned sharply to look at Adam, his deadpan expression telling her nothing of his thoughts. Deliberately so? He hadn't said anything in Majorca when she had told him she wanted a quiet wedding, as unobtrusive as possible, with only close family in attendance. At the time she had assumed his silence on the subject had been agreement, now she wasn't so sure…

 

‘It just seemed better to tell your father we had been meeting in secret,' Adam defended wearily at her attack. ‘After thinking about it—'

‘For all of two seconds,' Andie accused, the two of them sitting in Adam's car as he drove them back to London.

Adam accepted it had been an evening of tension for the two of them, the subject of the wedding—in church—the only conversation over dinner.

‘What would you rather I had done, Andie?' Adam challenged, hands tightly gripping the steering wheel. ‘Explain to Rome that we only went out together for the evening once—and his grandchild is the result of that evening?'

Of course Andie wouldn't want that. And Adam had known that only too well. But Adam could also understand Andie's problem with that; this way Rome, and the rest of her family, were going to assume this was a love-match…

‘Of course not.' She sighed wearily. ‘But how do you expect the two of us to keep up this obligation we now feel to act as if we're in love with each other?'

His mouth set grimly. ‘We would have had to do that anyway, Andie, you know that,' he said. ‘Rome wouldn't accept anything less for one of his daughters.'

If Rome so much as guessed this situation was at all contrived, then he wouldn't have given his blessing to their
marriage. Despite what Andie might have claimed earlier, Adam knew her well enough to know she would find any estrangement from her father extremely stressful. And, in her condition, that simply wasn't on as far as Adam was concerned.