Page 19 of Marriage Bargain with His Innocent
She stood up and hovered for a few minutes.
‘I’m going to head off now, before Rose comes down. She’ll understand. She knows that I have a lot of prepping to do before the shoot the day after tomorrow.’
She hovered some more. She hesitated for just a little too long. Watching him. Paralysed by the surreal nature of events, torn by weird, conflicting emotions that she couldn’t rationalise.
The sound of Rose’s voice made her start.
‘You’re going? But, my darling,whereare you going?’
It took a few moments for Georgina’s brain to sluggishly register that Rose, who should have been safely tucked up having a nap, was now looking at her and waiting for an answer.
The only thing Georgina could stammer out in response was, ‘Home. You know...work... But of course I’ll be back tomorrow...’
‘What Georgie is trying to say...’ Matias neatly stepped into the breach, moving to gather her against him ‘...is that she’s going home to finish up what she has to do but she’ll be joining us for dinner.’
‘Er...’ Georgina’s voice trailed off.
‘Darling,’ Rose intercepted briskly, ‘I’ll have none of this nonsense about you two being apart while you’re down here. Never you mind my sensibilities! I wasn’t born a century ago! I do realise that young people in love actually share beds! You could have Matias’s bedroom here, but I think you might enjoy the privacy of staying atyourplace, Georgie.’
She beamed and Georgina tried hard to beam back and appear delighted.
‘You don’t want a middle-aged woman getting underfoot.’
‘Er...but... Matias...? Didn’t you say that the whole point of you coming down here was to see your mum?’
‘And I will,’ Matias soothed with infuriating calm. ‘But of course my mother is right. It makes complete sense for us to be in the same place.’
He moved to give his mother a peck on the cheek. She looked delighted. While she, Georgina, contemplated a scenario she hadn’t banked on in a million years.
Share a house? With Matias?
On the one hand at least she would be able to dispatch him to the furthest bedroom from hers, because his mother wouldn’t be there keeping tabs on the loving couple, but still...
Share a house?
‘You look a little anxious, Georgie.’
Rose stepped forward to reach for Georgina’s hands, which she clasped warmly. Her sharp eyes reminded Georgina that recoiling in horror at the prospect of sharing her space with the guy she was supposed to adore wasn’t going to do.
‘But I do understand that you want to finish some work tonight—and, yes, give Matias some time to be on his own here with me.’ She looked at Matias with a smile. ‘That’s the sort of lovely, understanding girl Georgie is. Always putting other people ahead of herself.’
‘An absolute angel,’ Matias murmured, tightening his hand on her waist and giving it an affectionate little squeeze that made her stiffen in response.
‘Perhaps tomorrow you two can go off and do something exciting together. It’s so beautiful around here at this time of year! I know you probably think you should drag me along wherever you go, but please don’t.’ Her face shadowed for a few seconds, but then the smile returned. ‘Why don’t you head to Padstow and explore? I could even make you a picnic to take to the beach. When was the last time you were at a beach, Matias?’
She looked at her son, tentative and affectionate at the same time, breaking new ground, making Georgina feel that it would be a sin to rain on the older woman’s parade.
‘A century and a half ago...’ he drawled.
So it was decided. The details of this wonderful day out floated around Georgina’s head. She tried to thinkIt’s all for a good cause—just look at how great Rose looks compared to a few days ago...Instead, the only thing she had in her head was an image of Matias in her house, in a bedroom, in the shower...sharing her space. An intruder in her life and oneshehad invited—an intruder who could make her break out in a cold sweat and remind her of a time when she had idolised the ground he walked on.
Eventually Rose left the room, and the first thing Matias said, dropping his arms and walking away from her, was, ‘Do I make you nervous? Because you were behaving like a cat on a hot tin roof just then.’
‘Ofcourseyou don’t make me nervous.’ Georgina cleared her throat and let loose a brittle laugh, very conscious of the burning patch of skin he had touched and of those amazing eyes now pinned to her face. ‘I just didn’t expect your mother to...to...’
‘To suggest we actually do what most people would do, given they were in a serious relationship? Inhabit the same bedroom?’
Georgina squirmed and reddened. ‘I thought she would be...might be...relieved not to have to confront that...er...reality... Plus, how are we to demonstrate the decline in our relationship if your mother isn’t around to witness it?’
