image,” she amended. “It’s not surprising, you know. We’d both been brought up believing how we looked was all that mattered. And I’m sorry to say, Cecily believed it. Not only that, I know for a fact that if she decided she was going to party with the wrong crowd, she’d have found a way to do it, regardless of any steps you took to prevent it.”
“Are you speaking from personal experience?”
She withdrew her hand and sat back in her chair, seeming to regret having revealed so much. “She was my sister and I loved her, but…” She sighed and looked off to one side. “Look, I don’t mean to sound disloyal, but for your peace of mind you need to understand that she was always…willful.”
“What about you?” he asked. “Are you as much alike on the inside as you were on the outside?”
“I can be stubborn,” she admitted. “When I make up my mind, I tend to stick to it.”
“I guess I should be glad. Because of that, Poppy might have found a donor.”
She bathed him in the kind of glance that, once upon a time, before he’d disciplined himself to separate sex from sanity, would have reduced him to a mass of raging testosterone. A soft, urgent, melting glance which, even now, he found dangerously distracting. “I might have been motivated by purely humanitarian reasons at the beginning, Dimitrios , but that changed when I actually met Poppy, when I looked into her eyes and held her in my arms.” Her breasts rose in a heartfelt sigh—another distraction he didn’t need. “My heart is engaged in a way I never expected. I’ve never before formed such an instant bond with another person.”
He couldn’t help himself. He had to ask. “Never, Brianna?”
Some of the animation faded from her face. “Hardly ever,” she hedged. “And never with a child. Until this morning, I didn’t know…”
“What?” he persisted, when she lapsed into silence.
Clearly undecided about how to answer, she bit her lip, then sat straighter in her chair, very much the posture-perfect model. “How remarkable children are. I mean, look at all Poppy’s going through—being away from you and the people she knows and loves, having needles stuck in her all the time, not having other children to play with. Yet she was laughing and smiling and—”
She choked up suddenly, and he saw tears shining in her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “I don’t mean to go all weepy and emotional on you.”
“No need to apologize. I have my moments, too.”
She swallowed hard. “How do you do it, Dimitrios ? How do you manage to hold it together when you see her?”
“Because I have to. Because if there’s one thing I’ve learned through all this, it’s that children are amazingly resilient and accepting and brave, and the least I can do is follow their example.”
Again she grabbed for his hand, and this time curled her fingers around his. “I want to help you, not just by testing as a donor. I want to be with you both—see it through with you. Please let me. Please don’t shut me out just because we were once…close.”
“‘Close,’ Brianna?” He freed his hand and poured more wine into his glass. “We were lovers, until you abruptly decided otherwise.”
She reared back in outrage. “Well, what else did you expect?”
“A truthful explanation for your very sudden departure would have been nice.” He paused. “And if you couldn’t do it then, how about now?”
Her eyes grew wide with astonishment. “You really want me to spell it out for you, after all this time?”
“It’s never too late to set the record straight, and I’m tough. I can take rejection. What I can’t tolerate are lies. So explain to me, please, why you bothered pretending you wanted to build a future with me, when all along you planned to jump ship at the first opportunity? Why didn’t you just come right out and tell me your precious modeling career meant more than anything I had to offer?”
“Because that
“Are you speaking from personal experience?”
She withdrew her hand and sat back in her chair, seeming to regret having revealed so much. “She was my sister and I loved her, but…” She sighed and looked off to one side. “Look, I don’t mean to sound disloyal, but for your peace of mind you need to understand that she was always…willful.”
“What about you?” he asked. “Are you as much alike on the inside as you were on the outside?”
“I can be stubborn,” she admitted. “When I make up my mind, I tend to stick to it.”
“I guess I should be glad. Because of that, Poppy might have found a donor.”
She bathed him in the kind of glance that, once upon a time, before he’d disciplined himself to separate sex from sanity, would have reduced him to a mass of raging testosterone. A soft, urgent, melting glance which, even now, he found dangerously distracting. “I might have been motivated by purely humanitarian reasons at the beginning, Dimitrios , but that changed when I actually met Poppy, when I looked into her eyes and held her in my arms.” Her breasts rose in a heartfelt sigh—another distraction he didn’t need. “My heart is engaged in a way I never expected. I’ve never before formed such an instant bond with another person.”
He couldn’t help himself. He had to ask. “Never, Brianna?”
Some of the animation faded from her face. “Hardly ever,” she hedged. “And never with a child. Until this morning, I didn’t know…”
“What?” he persisted, when she lapsed into silence.
Clearly undecided about how to answer, she bit her lip, then sat straighter in her chair, very much the posture-perfect model. “How remarkable children are. I mean, look at all Poppy’s going through—being away from you and the people she knows and loves, having needles stuck in her all the time, not having other children to play with. Yet she was laughing and smiling and—”
She choked up suddenly, and he saw tears shining in her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “I don’t mean to go all weepy and emotional on you.”
“No need to apologize. I have my moments, too.”
She swallowed hard. “How do you do it, Dimitrios ? How do you manage to hold it together when you see her?”
“Because I have to. Because if there’s one thing I’ve learned through all this, it’s that children are amazingly resilient and accepting and brave, and the least I can do is follow their example.”
Again she grabbed for his hand, and this time curled her fingers around his. “I want to help you, not just by testing as a donor. I want to be with you both—see it through with you. Please let me. Please don’t shut me out just because we were once…close.”
“‘Close,’ Brianna?” He freed his hand and poured more wine into his glass. “We were lovers, until you abruptly decided otherwise.”
She reared back in outrage. “Well, what else did you expect?”
“A truthful explanation for your very sudden departure would have been nice.” He paused. “And if you couldn’t do it then, how about now?”
Her eyes grew wide with astonishment. “You really want me to spell it out for you, after all this time?”
“It’s never too late to set the record straight, and I’m tough. I can take rejection. What I can’t tolerate are lies. So explain to me, please, why you bothered pretending you wanted to build a future with me, when all along you planned to jump ship at the first opportunity? Why didn’t you just come right out and tell me your precious modeling career meant more than anything I had to offer?”
“Because that
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