Intensely grateful for the truce, Tess left them to establishing a safe meeting ground while she retreated behind the bar to boil a fresh lot of water. After being caught up in a strong swirl of primitive male undercurrents—paternal protection and husband staking his claims—it was with a sense of almost hysterical relief that she now played her part in the highly civilised activity of serving morning tea.
Fortunately, both these important men in her life had the self-control and intelligence to avoid an irrepairable situation, though Tess was aware of considerable testing and weighing being carried on behind their seemingly innocuous exchange of ideas and opinions. Certainly, neither of them was about to withdraw from this engagement, giving ground to his opponent, and respect was eventually granted, though Tess sensed it was hedged around with a lot of provisions relating to how the future was handled.
Which, she readily conceded, was only reasonable. She had her own doubts about how far Nick’s commitment to her would extend. Their marriage currently hinged on fatherhood and sex and both factors still had their novelty to Nick. While she did believe he would always be there for his son, his sexual affairs had never lasted long. To her knowledge, six months at most. After that…
She instantly put a mental block on looking too far ahead. As yet, Nick had given her no reason to fear any break up of their marriage and she wasn’t about to present any hint of uncertainty about its future to her father. Today, at least, she wanted to present a solid front with Nick.
‘Looking at Zack…and you…’ Her father shot a sardonic look at Nick. ‘…couldn’t have been any doubt in your mind that you’re his father.’
‘No. Though I would have believed Tess’s word even if Zack had favoured her in looks,’ Nick rolled back at him.
‘As I did, your mother,’ came the mocking remembrance.
Tess tensed, anticipating a swift return to crossing swords.
Nick shook his head. ‘There is no comparison between my mother and Tess,’ he said quietly. ‘Their hearts are in very different places.’
Her father grunted a grudging approval. ‘Good that you’re aware of it.’
‘And while I appreciate that Zack’s birth was very difficult for her,’ Nick ran on, ‘should Tess ever feel up to going through with another pregnancy…’
‘You want us to have another child?’ she leapt in, elation whipping up a surge of happiness at this plan for their future.
‘Neither your mother nor mine provided us with a brother or sister, Tess,’ he pointed out. ‘I think we were both lonely children.’
‘Yes,’ she quickly agreed.
Nick’s mesmerisingly magnetic green eyes searched hers warily, not wanting to apply pressure yet unable to stop an eloquent appeal from shining through. ‘I’d like us to do better for Zack.’
‘We will.’
The promise tripped straight off her tongue, accompanied by a brilliantly joyous smile that instantly demolished any further note of discord from her father. Or if there was one during the rest of his visit, Tess didn’t hear it. She heard only the hope singing in her heart.
Nick had just surprised her again.
Another child…proving a deep commitment to their marriage…ongoing partners in creating life and sharing in it.
Tess added this good feeling to all the other good feelings Nick had given her. It had to be getting close to love. Or maybe she was colouring the surprises with her own love.
Whatever…life with Nick was good.
And getting better every day.
CHAPTER TEN
THE invitation to breakfast with his mother at home meant she wanted something from him. The messages she’d been persistently leaving for him over the past three weeks had told Nick she had some issue on her mind that required his attention and ignoring it was not going to make it go away. Besides which, now that Brian Steele knew about his marriage to Tess, it was probably best to break the news privately to the new mother-in-law, as well.
One thing was certain. He didn’t want Tess anywhere near his mother until he’d dealt with the initial reaction, which would inevitably shoot out a host of bad vibrations, making Tess feel even more vulnerable about their marriage. As it was, she didn’t trust him to keep to his commitment.
My risk, she’d fired at her father.
And she’d looked stunned at the suggestion that they have another child—stunned but happy that he was planning so much of a future with her—which implied she thought of their relationship as a temporary one on his part, though clearly not on hers. She expected him to stray. After all, a long string of temporary relationships had been the pattern of his life—his whole life—and they hadn’t been together long enough for her to believe this marriage would be any different.
Though it was.
Hugely different to anything Nick had known before.
He wasn’t about to lose it or have it damaged by people who didn’t understand where he was with Tess and what he felt with her and Zack. Tess had warded off any threat of damage by her father yesterday, standing firmly by her choice to marry him. It was up to him this morning to ensure damage didn’t come their way from his mother.
Breakfast in the Condor residence was held in a brilliant sunny room, decorated in buttercup-yellow and white, the table situated to take full advantage of the view over Balmoral Beach and the marina where Philip Condor kept his yacht.
The housekeeper ushered Nick into it. His mother, of course, was gracefully posed on a chair turned to half-face where he would enter, so he was given the full impact of the figure-hugging chartreuse slacks—the perfect curve of hip and thigh denying the slightest dimple of cellulite—matched with a tied at the waist floral blouse in chartreuse, white and lemon, showing off the top-end female ammunition.
‘Darling!’ She rose from her chair with a fluid sexiness that had probably been practised a million times, giving him pouty air kisses on both cheeks before tucking her arm around his in a cosy hug and leading him to the chair at the head of the table—the man’s place. ‘Where have you been?’ she chided prettily, her fingers busily stroking to get under his skin.
It reminded Nick of what a very straight pleasure it was to live with Tess who never played these little power games. He could not recall her ever triggering the kind of cynical double thinking he did around his mother. Indeed, around all the women who’d paraded through his life. Except Tess. Who’d made a practice of always dealing directly, not attempting to oil her way anywhere.