page60 (1/2)

She started to laugh, then stopped ‘Wait, seriously? Why on earth would I? Anyway, I texted you to tell you that I didn’t think Selena Haht have taken soed to talk her out of sky-diving—’

‘I didn’t receive a text and you see the point here’

‘Which is what, exactly? That I have to report my every move to you now? Well, you’ll be happy to know that, aside fro his wife down froer Hae one e them out I was very diplomatic about it, of course’ She s else you wanted to know?’

Ari couldn’t believe his ears He’d been scared out of his wits And she was giving him sass ‘Are you serious?’

He watched her walk towards hih his hair as she tilted her head and regarded him with steady eyes

‘Ari, you’re seriously overreacting here You can’t nancy I knohat this child means to you but I won’t be wrapped up in cotton wool until the baby’s born’

He whirled from her and paced to the‘You think I’m only concerned about the baby?’

‘Come on, be honest—would you be this worked up if it was just me on that plane?’

The air drained out of him and he reeled from the accusation thrown at his feet He opened his mouth but no words ca on hi to make sense of

‘Perla’

‘You knohat I was thinking when I was on the bus?’

Slowly, he shook his head

‘I started off thinking perhaps I should count s My first husband was physically and eraduate to a physically available but emotionally unavailable one And ht strike it lucky third time round—’

‘There won’t be a next time If you marry me, you’ll be stuck with me for this lifetime and the next’

‘Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here What I didn’t say was that the thought of an emotionally unavailable husband would never work forvery fast that I’ to risk my future happiness on a man on’t open up to me even a little’

The eut clench hard He couldn’t breathe Could only remain still as she stared defiantly back at hiauntlet she’d thron

He opened his mouth; no words came out