He was staring at her as if he needed to see her expression when she answered. She found that so surprising, she couldn’t think what to answer.

As the seconds ticked past, he said harshly, ‘You should realise that I won’t countenance your having affairs with other men.’

Megan blinked in shock, then sat up straighter and glared at him. ‘Do I seem the sort of person who would even want to do that?’

His face was sombre. ‘You can’t always tell. I don’t think you are, but I still want to make it clear from the beginning that I’d leave you at once if anything like that happened. No second chances.’

‘Well!’ She didn’t attempt to hide her indignation and tossed his own words back at him. ‘And let me tell you, I’d leave you, too, if you were unfaithful to me. No second chances for you, either, Ben Saunders!’

He nodded and after a pause said quietly, ‘Good. That’s agreed. And I really want children. Two or three.’

‘So do I.’ Her indignation began to subside at that thought and she couldn’t help smiling. ‘And even if we haven’t fallen madly in love, I hope we can become really good friends and – and learn to care about one another. It upsets me to hear you talk about being unfaithful before we’re even married. It’s the last thing we should be focusing on, as well as the last thing I’d ever do.’

His mouth twisted and his expression became hard again. ‘Blame the people I’ve been associating with in recent years. ‘Really rich people and celebrities aren’t noted for their fidelity or their marital happiness, and I suppose that’s made me cynical. And yet I’ve seen so many of them claim to be in love when they marry. That’s why I insist on something different for myself, a relationship built on logic and honesty.’

She looked at him in surprise. Logic? When she sizzled at his touch. Melted into his kisses. Dreamed of him every night. When he had proposed marriage after they’d spent only three days together? That wasn’t logic. It was sheer insanity.

She decided to change the subject. Let him think what they were doing was logical, if he could. She couldn’t fault him on eagerness. ‘What will our life be like in Australia?’

‘Very different. I’m looking forward to a rest from the rat race – though there are still one or two bits of business I need to clear up. For you – well, it might be a bit difficult for you to fit in a career if we’re living in the country. The Australian bush is very different from Upper Shenstead and the Cotswolds. The next house to where you live can be many miles away and country towns are mostly tiny places.’