page20 (1/2)

There was no reason for hihed; he really needed to get over himself One kiss did not equal any kind of relationship

And if it did he would be headed the other way, right back to France

It was just, if Polly Rafferty had really indulged in a night of less, no-holds-barred, anonyed with him

He could be wrong, she ht stands but he would bet the oldest bottle of wine in the vineyard’s formidably stocked cellars that this had been a one-off occasion And pregnant or not she was unlikely to indulge again

‘This doesn’t have to change anything It doesn’t change anything’ Her voice penetrated his thoughts Gabe risked a glance across at his reluctant passenger Polly had pulled herself upright and was looking straight ahead, her jaw fir is awful but I could make it work’

‘Didn’t you want children?’

There was another long pause ‘I don’t know children,’ she said after a while ‘I don’t kno farandparents and they sent us away to school ere sht about’ She huffed out a s down her biological clock, you know’

‘But your house, it’s begging for a faarden full of hidden corners and clis it felt too big, too echoey for just two people And she had been living there alone for three years

‘It’s just a building’ Her voice was dismissive

Gabe shrugged He was no psychologist but he had been through enough counselling—support groups, faroups—to know a little bit about the subconscious The cottage was a family-home wish come true

‘If you say so’

She shifted, turned to look at hi around your knee one day?’

‘I’ood uncle,’ he said shortly

‘Guys can say that, can’t they? No pressure to settle down, get married, churn out kids You have all the time in the world’

‘None of us kno htly but the words calance ‘I had cancer in ranted’