Damn, it was probably something to do with the baby. A bolt of fear shot through him. Odd. Up until now, he’d been thinking that because he wanted Aria in his life, he was willing to take on the responsibility of being a father in order to have her. But it seemed that, at some point, he had stopped merely accepting his baby and started to care for it.

“Is anything wrong with the baby?” he asked.

“No,” she said quickly. “It’s fine, as far as I know. But I suppose we should schedule an appointment with an obstetrician sometime.”

We. He liked the sound of that. Soon, they could plan for their future together, but before he could enjoy the fruits of his labor, he had to tie up the loose ends. Work before play.

“That’s great. Book an appointment and let me know the time and place. I’ll be there. But I am busy now, Ri.” He gestured toward the pile of papers scattered across the desktop. “I need to get back to work. Perhaps we can see each other tomorrow. For lunch?”

She exhaled on a sigh, the movement drawing attention to her breasts. His groin tightened. After he won her back, they had a lot of catching up to do. Then he would learn every inch of her body and taste every bit of that smooth olive skin.

“You can go back to work,” she murmured, stepping away from him. “Don’t worry about lunch tomorrow. Take care of whatever it is that has you so engrossed.”

“I’ll call you,” he assured her, wanting her to know that, even though he was busy, she still mattered. Aria didn’t reply, just inclined her head and left the room.

How could she be so stupid? Aria had known taking a chance on Eli would only cause her pain, but she hadn’t imagined he would dismiss her without even hearing her out. She must not mean as much to him as she’d hoped. A man who loved her wouldn’t send her away so cruelly. Luckily, she hadn’t humiliated herself by telling him she loved him.

Who said that love was pleasant? It was miserable. Her stomach formed a tangle of knots. She felt sick. Her nose ran and her eyes watered. She sniffed, wiped away the wetness and pulled herself together.

Cooper was waiting in the car, and the headlights illuminated the path from the villa. After she’d hurried from their parents’ house, he had chased after her and persuaded her to bring him along for moral support. She didn’t want to face him now. Holding her shoulders back, she slid into the passenger seat and stared straight ahead.

“How’d it go?” he asked. The confident smile he was wearing faded when she didn’t reply. “Ri, what happened?”