Page 122 of Modern Romance May 2026 Books 1-4
‘So I’m supposed to be flattered?’
He gritted his jaw and then said, ‘You’re supposed to be honest and admit you want me too. It’s obvious, Poppy.’
The pink in her cheeks deepened, which had an incendiary effect on Caius’s desire. She said loftily, ‘Not every woman is in thrall to you, Caius.’
‘I don’t want every woman, I just want you, more’s the pity.’
‘Charming.’
They were both breathing heavily and glaring at each other. Poppy blurted out then, ‘Are you telling the truth about not being with anyone else?’
Exposure skated over Caius’s skin but he said, ‘Why would I lie?’
Normally this would be anathema to him—giving any woman cause to read anything more into his desire for her than what it was: just physical attraction. But this was different. They were married. She was having his baby. They’d already transgressed about a million boundaries he was usually rigid about.
As if to make sure there was no ambiguity he said, ‘It doesn’t mean anything more than the fact that we have powerful chemistry. That’s all.’
Poppy hated that that stung a little—that he felt he had to remind her this had nothing to do with emotions. But then, did she want emotions involved? With a man like Caius—a renowned commitment phobe? Someone who had rejection of his lovers built into his DNA? No way.
And yet the way he’d asked her how she’d let her father dim her light had touched her—his perspicacity. But then, all that meant was that he was a good observer of people. He didn’tcare.
He looked so serious now that she had to concede that he wasn’t someone who needed to lie to get a woman into bed. All he’d had to do to seduce her in the first place was to take off his shirt.
So it hadn’t just been a platitude in New York when he’d told her he wanted to see her again. Before she’d told him she was pregnant. When he’d still thought it would just be an affair.
But she couldn’t afford to forget the reason she’d shut down discussions around a marriage had been because of how she’d reacted to him that night. Wanton and totally uninhibited. She’d effectively rejected him before he could reject her. Because he’d got too close.
‘I don’t think that’s a good idea, Caius. You don’t really want me, it’s just convenient now.’
‘I never stopped wanting you.’
‘Until I told you I was pregnant and that we’d have to marry,’ she pointed out.
Caius shook his head. ‘No, I wanted you even then, but I was in shock. Do I need to remind you that first of all I had no idea who you were, and the second time we met you told me you were pregnant. Within twenty-four hours of that we were having engagement pictures taken in Central Park and then we didn’t meet again until yesterday.’
‘Exactly, we barely know each other.’
‘And yet we were making love within an hour of meeting one another for the first time.’
‘But you hate me now.’
‘I don’t hate you, Poppy. I don’t hate anyone. It’s a waste of time. I saw what hate does to people with my parents and it’s corrosive and toxic.’
She wondered if that was why Caius had pushed out the need to select a suitable partner for as long as possible. After all, she’d kept people at arm’s length for fear of being rejected.
You didn’t keep him at arm’s length.No, because she’d thought she’d been safe, and that she’d never see him again.
‘You don’t want to be here,’ she reminded him.
His mouth tipped up minutely on one side. ‘I think that horse has bolted. I’m here.’
‘Last night you said it wasn’t as if we had to consummate the marriage…’
Caius made a face. ‘I think I was trying to deny that I still wanted you. It’s not usual for me to feel an attraction like this…and especially not with the added complication of our situation. I’m not saying this now because it’s convenient, Poppy. It’d be a lot more convenient if I didn’t want you and I could just get on with—’
‘Sleeping with other women?’ Poppy blurted out hotly.
Caius looked at her. ‘I like sex, Poppy. I like women. Not too close, admittedly, but I’ve never promised any lover more than I’ve been able to give. But yes, I’d assumed with any royal marriage that I’d keep the two things very separate. And I can be discreet when it suits me, believe it or not. I wouldn’t have disrespected you as my father did my mother, as they did to each other.’
