GREEK HUSBAND

Chapter 52

'I've signed you up to see one of the local doctors while we're here.'

'That's unnecessary this early in my pregnancy.'

Edward dealt her a warning glance. 'Humour me. I have a very strong need to know that I'm looking after you properly.'

But Bella was worried that if she gave an inch, Edward would take a mile. She wondered if he had taken the same managing, controlling attitude to Marina and asked.

Edward rested back thoughtfully on his hands, the hard muscular lines of his stomach flexing taut and drawing her involuntary gaze. 'I never felt the need to interfere...offer advice occasionally, yes, veto or demand, no. You're different.'

'How am I different?' Bella asked baldly.

'You're pregnant,' Edward pointed out, disappointing her with that comeback.

'So, if I'm allowed to ask one awkward question...exactly why did you want to marry Marina?'

'Because I thought she was perfect...'

Bella froze the color leaching from beneath her fair skin.

'Of course, nobody is perfect,' Edward continued wryly. 'But I did believe Marina was as near to the ideal as I could get because we had so much in common and were close friends.'

Never ask a question if you aren't tough enough to accept the answer and live with it, Bella told herself wretchedly. How on earth could she compete with his ideal of the perfect wife? Most especially when that ideal woman was still walking around? Was it possible that Edward felt more for Marina than he had ever appreciated? And that losing her might make him finally realize it? Not a productive thought train, Bella scolded herself, and she suppressed her crushing sense of insecurity with every fiber of willpower that she possessed.

* * *

'So, why don't you want these blood tests the doctor has recommended?' Edward demanded impatiently.

Bella wrinkled her nose. 'Because there's nothing wrong with me.'

'But the doctor—'

'Dr. Silvano is nice but he is a little old-fashioned, Edward. Why should he wonder if there's something wrong with my hormone levels just because I'm not feeling sick all the time?' Bella prompted impatiently. 'A lot of women get morning sickness but there are a lucky few who don't and I don't plan to start fussing over myself and worrying without good reason. He's one of those doctors who prefer to treat pregnancy as an illness and I don't agree with that.'

Edward surveyed her with unhidden annoyance. Bella went pink and looked across the cobbled square to the playground where small children were running and shouting. In a few years she would have a child of around that age, she ruminated fondly, wishing Edward would not make her pregnancy so much his business. Yet how could she fault a man for caring about her well-being?

'I'll go back first thing tomorrow for the tests,' Bella surrendered with a grimace. 'Will that make you happy?'

The tightness of his superb bone structure eased and the hint of a smile softened the hard line of his sculpted mouth. They had been in Italy for four incredible weeks and even when Edward annoyed her, Bella still never got tired of simply looking at him, admiring the proud flare of his nose, the downward frown of his brows when anything annoyed him, the pure silk ebony luxuriance of his lashes when he looked down at her with eyes of pure gold in bed.

'Yes, that will make me happy,' Edward told her without apology and pulled out his phone to immediately book the appointment.

Bella sipped her bottled water, reflecting that Edward had taught her a master class in the art of compromise and negotiation. His forceful personality and strong views made occasional clashes between them inevitable. He was much deeper and more of a thinker than he liked to show. Clever, shrewd, and over-protective as he was, he was also wonderfully entertaining and her every fantasy in bed. He was willing to make an effort as well. Since their wedding night, there had been no further flights from intimacy post-climax. She wouldn't let herself think negative thoughts around him, wouldn't let herself dwell on the awareness that she loved him and he did not love her. Unlike him, she wasn't expecting the perfect marital partner.