Free Revelations of the Night Before by Lynn Raye Harris Page B

freely.
    And remembering made her ache with longing to see them reconciled, though he’d told her yesterday that would never happen. How could it be that bad between them? That unforgivable?
    “I’ll look into it,” she said softly, keeping her eyes downcast while she worked to find her center.
    The food arrived then, and once more they were alone and eating together on this gorgeous balcony overlooking the beautiful azure lake. Everything was delicious and plentiful, and she found herself eating more than she’d thought she would be able to.
    “I’m glad to see you eat,” he said. “You were very pale yesterday when I first saw you.”
    “The medication helps tremendously. I’m just happy I didn’t miss breakfast. I thought I’d slept too late.”
    His eyes gleamed like purest silver in the shaft of sunlight slanting through the laurels. “You will never miss breakfast so long as you are here,
cara
. The meal will wait until you are ready for it.”
    A dart of pain pierced her right in the center of her chest and she found herself blinking rapidly to dispel the tears that threatened to fall. Why?
Why?
    It was nothing to cry over. It was ridiculous to think of crying. Niccolo Gavretti was not holding meals for
her
. He was taking care of her because she carried his child, nothing more.
    She absolutely would not read more into the gesture than it contained. He was
not
being thoughtful.
    But when had anyone ever put her needs and feelings first? When had anyone ever treated her as if she were the center of
their
universe?
    Mama and Renzo loved her, she had no doubt, but Renzo had always been the one around whom the family orbited. Because he was male. Because he was older.Because he was wildly, insanely driven and successful. She’d grown up in his shadow. It hadn’t been a bad place to be, but it had also not been a place where she could flourish on her own merits.
    “Thank you,” she managed to say finally. “That’s very kind of you, but there’s no need to hold meals for me. Tell me what time you wish to have breakfast, and I will be here for it.”
    His phone buzzed again, startling her. Again, he sent it to voice mail without looking at the screen. He did it so casually that she almost felt sorry for the person on the other end of the line.
    “We will eat when you are ready. A pregnant woman needs plenty of sleep.”
    Heat suffused her then, made her skin glow. There was something about the way he said
pregnant woman
that made her blush. Absurd.
    “I will still endeavor to awaken at a reasonable hour,” she said stubbornly. “You shouldn’t have to wait for me.”
    He grinned, and her heart squeezed tight. So, so handsome when he wasn’t scowling—and even when he was, damn him. “Truthfully,
cara mia
, I am a night owl. I prefer to sleep in myself. But if you begin to awaken at dawn, then dawn is when breakfast will be.”
    Tina shuddered. “Never fear, dawn is definitely not my style.”
    He reached for a roll. “Perhaps this night owl lifestyle will do us well when we have a newborn to take care of. I understand they do not sleep much.”
    Tina could only gape at him. “Exactly how much reading have you been doing anyway?”
    Though, truthfully, that wasn’t why she was stunned. No, it was the implication that
we
would be taking careof a newborn. Not her. Both of them, as if he, too, would get up in the middle of the night to feed the baby.
    It was a mental picture she did not need.
    “I couldn’t sleep last night, I’m afraid.” He picked up his coffee. “Do you have any idea how much work a baby can be?”
    “I have some idea,” she said, thinking of Renzo and Faith and the haggard, sleepless looks they’d worn for the past few months.
    He looked so serious. “It’s rather frightening how much attention such a little person needs.”
    “Well, they can’t do it themselves.”
    “No,” he agreed.
    His phone buzzed again. This time he glanced at it before swearing and