Always - Iris Johansen [38]
She wanted the child. She wanted Clancy. Those two facts had become clear in the previous hours. Yet the knowledge of her love for Clancy had come so quickly that she was still uncertain. What if she told Clancy she loved him and found out later she had mistaken sex and gratitude for something deeper? She was a complete novice at this love business. What she had felt for Martin hadn’t even come close to what she was feeling now. It wasn’t fair to Clancy to make any admissions until she was absolutely sure. And what if Clancy discovered after he made love to her that sex had really been the attraction for him? Then he’d be trapped in a relationship he no longer wanted. Something she knew all about, she thought wearily. No, for both their sakes she’d best move cautiously.
She walked across her bedroom and through the foyer to the guest room Clancy had been occupying since he’d brought her to the villa. She drew a deep breath to steady herself as she paused outside the door. Then, without knocking, she turned the knob and opened the door. The drapes were closed, retaining the darkness of night in the room. She could barely discern the outline of his long body lying beneath the sheet in the large bed across the room.
“Clancy?”
“I’m awake,” he said quietly.
She swallowed hard. “I do want to have a child. I want to have your child.”
He didn’t speak for a moment, and she wished she could see his expression. What if he’d changed his mind and had been lying here cursing his idiocy in making that offer?
“I’m glad,” he said, his voice thick.
He hadn’t changed his mind! She felt a wild surge of joy rush through her. “Only I don’t think the terms were fair. I think we should sign a contract stating that we’d each get custody six months of every year.”
“Whatever you like.”
“And I’ll support myself and the child when he’s with me.”
“I don’t think that—” He broke off. “We’ll talk about it later. You’re very sure?”
“Yes, I’m very sure.” Dear heaven, she loved him so much.
“I’ll order the jet for later this morning. You’d better go to bed and get some sleep now.”
“Jet?”
“I’m taking you to Sedikhan. I’m taking you home, Lisa.”
“COFFEE?” JOHN GALBRAITH stood before her holding out a Styrofoam cup, carefully balancing himself against the vibration of the plane.
“Yes, thank you.” Lisa accepted the cup, pushing the blanket from around her shoulders to her lap. “I certainly need something to wake me up. I must have been sleeping for hours. Where’s Clancy?”
“In the cockpit radioing instructions to Marasef.” Galbraith dropped into the seat beside her. “We should be arriving there within the hour.”
Then she had been sleeping for almost five hours. It wasn’t really surprising. In spite of Clancy’s excellent advice, she had been unable to get to sleep immediately. Once she’d gone to bed she had found herself wide awake, her mind zinging and hyperactive. Yet as soon as they’d boarded this luxurious private jet and were airborne, she had fallen asleep as suddenly as if she’d been hit by a sledgehammer. “Do you live in Sedikhan?” she asked Galbraith as she took a sip of her coffee.
“I live where Clancy tells me to live,” he said with a shrug. “It’s a job that requires a good bit of traveling.”
“That’s what Clancy said.” He had also said he could cut out a good deal of that traveling, she remembered with relief. Perhaps she would be able to travel with