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Having Leo's Child
Emma Darcy
A question of marriage -"Get this, Teri, and get it good! You are going to marry me. It takes two people to do right by their child. And we are going to do it together!" Leo didn't stop there. He kissed Teri with all the sizzling heat that had fired their affair.But she couldn't forget that Leo had never considered marrying her before she got pregnant - and at no time had he mentioned love. Would the tie of their child be enough? What price… this marriage?She's sexy, successful… and PREGNANT!
“What happened to your first marriage, Leo?” (#u87a3a74d-a1a5-57ce-ac6e-9d393b823296)Title Page (#ud514f740-f0d8-5373-a095-37a105fe856e)CHAPTER ONE (#u21c470a0-bd34-5904-a7f8-fc269a004484)CHAPTER TWO (#uf463fdb4-9f62-51aa-a24b-2e48ba63bb70)CHAPTER THREE (#u930eff17-1d26-5df7-b4b7-aa0b146cc5e0)CHAPTER FOUR (#ud56c1089-ffcb-5366-87ce-3a3bc33efca2)CHAPTER FIVE (#u204eeafb-fd8f-591b-a270-b5b39377a7ce)CHAPTER SIX (#litres_trial_promo)CHAPTER SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)CHAPTER EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)CHAPTER NINE (#litres_trial_promo)CHAPTER TEN (#litres_trial_promo)CHAPTER ELEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)CHAPTER TWELVE (#litres_trial_promo)CHAPTER THIRTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)CHAPTER FOURTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)CHAPTER FIFTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)CHAPTER SIXTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)CHAPTER SEVENTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)CHAPTER EIGHTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)CHAPTER NINETEEN (#litres_trial_promo)CHAPTER TWENTY (#litres_trial_promo)Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
“What happened to your first marriage, Leo?”
Teri needed to know why he had kept his distance from her, limiting their relationship to brief times of mutual enjoyment with no promises asked or given.
“After stringing me along for three years and conning me into buying a luxury family home, my cheating ex-wife finally told me she didn’t intend to have children. Not my child or anyone else’s.”
His child!
The importance of her pregnancy to him was suddenly heart-sickeningly clear. She was having the child his wife had cheated him out of, and if he had to marry her to ensure his paternal rights to his son or daughter, that was what he was going to do!
Relax and enjoy our fabulous series of stories
about spirited women and gorgeous men, whose
passion results in pregnancies...sometimes
unexpected! Of course, the birth of a baby is
always a joyful event, and we can guarantee that
our characters will become besotted moms and
dads—but what happened in those nine months before?
Share the surprises, emotions, dramas and
suspense as our parents-to-be come to terms
with the prospect of bringing a new little life into
the world.... All will discover that the business of
making babies brings with it the most special
love of all....
Look out next month for:
Having His Babies (#2057)
by Lindsay Armstrong
Having Leo’s Child
Emma Darcy
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
CHAPTER ONE
NEVER had Teri Adams known such all-consuming sexual excitement. It amazed her, thrilled her, and she didn’t care that she barely knew Leo Kingston.
He wanted her-this incredible, dynamic, beautiful, sexy man—and she hadn’t known what wanting really felt like until he’d evoked it in her the very first time he’d walked into her restaurant. Instantly. Shatteringly. It was as though her body just lit up with new fields of awareness, prompting reactions and responses she had no control over. None at all.
The same thing happened the second time.
And this...the third...
She had to know it all, wanted to feel everything he could make her feel. If it was only this once...
There was nothing to hold her back. Everyone was gone; the customers, the chef, the kitchenhand. No one left to bother about, except herself and the man who’d stayed on, wanting to be with her, wanting this as madly and urgently as she did. From the moment he’d come in, ostensibly to buy his dinner, she’d felt it. This was going to be the night. He was going to act, going to reach out and pursue what was sizzling between them. And he had.
Her mouth was throbbing from the wildly erotic passion of his kiss. Her head was throbbing from the sheer volume of sensation it was trying to encompass. Her heart was pounding like some madly beaten primitive drum. Her legs were a quivery mess, so much so, in her rush to lead Leo to her bedroom above the restaurant, she tripped on stairs she had never tripped on before.
Leo, hard on her heels, saved her from falling, one strong arm swooping around her waist, holding her up, the other swiftly hooking her thighs, and she was hoisted against his chest with barely a pause in his forward momentum. On up the rest of the stairs he carried her, the pumping excitement increasing at this evidence of his power and strength.
With her arms flung over his shoulders and around his neck, her breasts squashed to the heaving wall of his chest, Teri dizzily absorbed the heat and the smell of him, a vibrant male earthiness that her fevered imagination attached to primitive instincts aroused and raging. Without even realising what she was doing she licked along the line of his jaw, compelled to taste, to saturate all her senses with him.
“Which door?” Leo growled.
“First one,” she almost sang out of sheer exhilaration, revelling in the wildness of being carried off for mating by a caveman. Except Leo was cleanshaven and the taste of him was like champagne fizzing on her tongue and through her bloodstream. A modern caveman, wanting, reaching out and taking, and she loved it, loved being taken by him.
“Here?”
“Yes.”
He kicked the door she’d left ajar, clearing their passageway, and whirled her into the bedroom. She expected him to crash onto the bed with her but he didn’t, halting beside it and releasing her legs so they swung down to hang against his, and he caught her there while her arms were still wound around his neck, his hands clutching her bottom, squeezing her into a highly erotic knowledge of how powerfully excited he was.
He arched back, emitting an animal groan of pleasure as he revelled in the soft giving of her flesh. “You have the sexiest derrière I’ve ever seen on a woman, Teri,” he declared. “And watching it twitch and sway under that snug little red skirt as you move around the tables in the restaurant...”
He dragged in a deep breath and it blew through her hair as his chin came down. Even in the semidarkness his eyes had a mesmerising brilliance, cobalt-blue, glittering with the fully released fire of desire. “I tell you it’s a diabolical tease,” he went on, his voice furred with the lust she’d inspired. “My hands have been itching to hold you like this.”
Her hands had been itching to touch any part of him, and if he had to talk about derriГЁres, what his did to a pair of jeans was enough to make any woman start fantasising about taut and terrific flesh and muscle. Masculinity plus. And he was like that all over. But she contented herself with raking her hands through the lustrous black waves of his thick, springy hair as he kissed her again.
No one had ever kissed her like this. It wasn’t a hard mash of his mouth against hers. It wasn’t sloppy. It was a feast of sensation, his lips seductively shaping hers to be tantalised by little nips of his teeth and tingling caresses of his tongue, building excitement, then driving into an incredibly intimate sweep of her palate, electrifying every nerve-end, drawing her into a wild exchange of darting movements that brought such an intense rush of wanting, her whole body surged with need, demanding a carnal satisfaction that was shocking in its intensity.
“Phew! You’ve got me so steamed...” Leo gabbled gruffly as he lowered her onto her feet and eased back a bit. “...and I’ve barely started on all I’ve been aching to do.”
Aching...yes...it felt as though every bone in her body was aching. She wasn’t sure they were going to hold together.
He grinned a wild, wicked grin. “You know this smile printed on the red heart logo of your T-shirt? If you extend the curve upwards on either side...” He drew it with his two index fingers. “See? It goes directly to the peaks of your breasts. Beautiful geometry. Beautiful breasts...”
He circled her aureoles with his fingers, arousing acute excitement. “They’re so perky and lush,” he said huskily, his gaze dropping as he pulled her T-shirt from the waistband of her skirt and lifted it up...up...untangling her arms from his neck, tossing the garment aside, unfastening her bra, sliding the straps away. Then his hands were cupping her, his thumbs fanning her erect nipples and she could hardly breathe, so sharp was the pleasure of it.
The urge to touch him as he was touching her compelled her own hands to the buttons on his shirt, fingers travelling rapidly, parting the fabric, and his skin was as smooth as satin, hairless, tightly stretched over strongly delineated muscles. He felt wonderful, almost as though his skin was polished and her hands skimmed over him with sensual delight, amazed that a man could feel like this.
Wayne hadn’t. But she instantly banished the memory of her ex-husband, long gone. There was no comparison to Leo. How could there be? This man was perfection.
In sheer fascination with him she rolled her thumbs over his nipples. He inhaled sharply, his chest expanding, seeming to pulse at the teasing touch, and a thrill of power zinged through Teri. The sure knowledge that she could and did affect him in the same way he affected her was intoxicating.
“Yessss,” he hissed. “More...”
She slid the shirt from his shoulders and they were perfect, too, broad and strong and manly without being overly musclebound. While her hands revelled in gliding over the hard male curves of his upper arms, Leo freed himself of the constricting sleeves and hauled her close again, rubbing his bare chest against the soft mounds of her breasts, sensitising them further as he unbuttoned and unzipped her skirt.
It was so incredibly erotic...her flesh against his. She couldn’t wait to feel the rest of him. Neither could he, scooping the rest of her clothes down, tearing his jeans apart, stepping out of them, shoes flicked off. Then there was nothing between them and they were free to embrace the totality of each other, skin against skin, exploring the differences with gloriously sensual and uninhibited fervor.
“You truly are...all woman,” Leo said in a kind of awe that made Teri feel really special.
Though he was more so...everything she’d imagined he would be...complete and utter male power, sleek and strong and sure in his aggression, wanting her, revelling in her femininity, every taste and touch comprising a constant drive for more and more satisfaction in knowing her, all of her, and Teri could feel herself dissolving inside, like ice-cream subjected to heat, a thick flow of melting ice-cream, and he laid her on the bed and licked her as though he knew it and loved it and couldn’t get enough of it, right down to every possible delicious drop.
Her mouth, her breasts, her stomach, and lower, parting her legs, moving to the most intimate folds of her and she was utterly helpless, her whole body focused on what he was doing to her, enthralled by the exquisite excitement of it...Wayne had never...but Leo...dear heaven! She closed her eyes and gave herself up to the pulsing ecstasy he was stoking with irresistible power.
And then his hand was touching her, too, cupping her, his thumb reaching into her, caressing, causing her to convulse with incredible pleasure, then sliding out to give way to his mouth...his mouth!...and she writhed to the terrible, wonderful madness of it, out of control, caught in the grip of sensations that simply rolled over any caring of what was done or how it was done as long as it kept going.
She cried out when it stopped, the need for continuance screaming through her. Her eyes flew open in urgent pleading. Her arms were limp, heavy, but she lifted them, compelled to hold, to urge more from him. But he was already coming to her, his knees between her legs, and he was hastily sheathing himself with protection.
Shock momentarily slammed through her mind. She hadn’t thought...no matter...he had. It was all right. And seeing him readying himself for her, the brief cautionary cloud was instantly dispersed with a ringing chant of yes...yes...yes...all of him inside her...now, fast, hard, full-on, pounding as wildly as her heart.
He slid an arm underneath her, lifting, and her body instinctively arched to meet and welcome him, craving fulfilment of the promise, quivering with anticipation. She felt him slide into place, felt herself opening for him, wider and wider to accommodate his wonderfully solid fullness and she almost died of sheer delight as he pushed forward to the inner centre of her being.
If he’d stopped then, Teri would have been content, swimming in a sea of ecstasy. As it was, he paused long enough to gather her up and kiss her, heightening the sense of mutual possession, of melding with each other, arousing levels of awareness that exulted in the unifying force of this intense, physical mingling.
Stirred by the flow of his strength, Teri wound her arms and legs around him and he took her with him on a tumultuous ride that broke every barrier of experience she’d known until now. She was swamped with roll after roll of exquisitely sweet sensation as he immersed her in the beat of his mating, the powerful pacing of it pounding through her, consuming every bit of sexual knowledge from her marriage and imprinting a new encyclopaedia of sensory perceptions, all of them measuring far beyond the realities she’d accepted before this.
Not that Teri was actively recording anything. It was simply happening to her. Leo was making it happen... Leo Kingston...and never in a million years was she going to forget how it was with him. And even when he climaxed he didn’t let her go, didn’t let the pulse of excitement seep away. He cuddled her, stroked her, kissed her, murmured what he wanted from her, guiding, and she abandoned herself to following his lead, revelling in his encouragement, his fierce responses, the supreme sensuality he drew from her.
How many times they coupled, how many ways... Teri had no idea. Leo seemed to know endless paths of pleasure though no matter how aroused he was, there was always care for unwelcome consequences, always another sheath of protection against their wild excesses, allowing absolute freedom to indulge themselves wherever desire took them.
There was no ultimate time of satiation, though eventually exhaustion did drug them into languorous periods of sleep from which they stirred when the entanglement of their bodies inadvertently caused movement and another awakening. The hunger for what they gave each other never abated. Even when dawn came they found a new fascination in making love in the softly faltered light, seeing, watching, gloating over their visual discoveries.
Leo’s vivid blue eyes caressed her with warm pleasure as he trailed his fingertips around her breasts in deliciously teasing circles. He was hitched onto his side, one hand propping up his head, and his face wore a relaxed, happy expression. Such a handsome face, Teri thought, though it was really more than handsome.
His black eyebrows had a wicked arch to them, making his eyes a riveting feature. His nose was strong and straight, with a slight flare to his nostrils that drew attention to a mouth any woman would envy, lips that were sharply defined, sensually curved, and perfectly balanced. These attractions were heightened by an innate stamp of authority, an aura of self-confidence that said his thirty-something years had not been wasted. This was a man who went after what he wanted and got it.
She didn’t match him in looks. Her hair was dark but hardly spectacular, cropped short for convenience. She liked her eyes best. They were large, light grey, with reasonably long lashes to emphasise them. Her nose, slightly tilted at the end, was invariably labelled cute. Her mouth was a touch wide and her lower lip was too full for Teri’s liking.
She was certainly not strikingly beautiful but she was passably attractive and there was nothing wrong with her figure. In actual fact, there was a lot right with her figure. Ever since her teens it had drawn attention from the opposite sex, but she’d been with Wayne most of her life, so such attention was irrelevant. She wasn’t interested. She was even less interested after her marriage had failed. A body was simply functional. That was all. Until Leo.
He smiled at her, a slow, lazy, satisfied smile. “Feeling good?”
“Mmmh...” She felt like the proverbial cat who’d fed gluttonously on cream.
“So am I. Better than I’ve felt for a long, long time. You’re a marvel to me, Teri.”
She smiled, thinking all the marvels came from him. “The same for me, Leo.”
“The thing is...” he started, then gave vent to a long sigh, withdrawing his touch which was a chillingly obvious sign of separation from her.
Teri instantly had the sense this was decision time. Morning had come. Where to next? Nerves that had been beautifully lulled, started twitching with apprehension. However physically intimate they’d been, Leo was virtually a stranger. He’d come prepared for sex. Did he make a practice of one-night stands?
His mouth tilted in apologetic irony. “I don’t want to mislead you...”
She tensed, preparing herself for the worst-case scenario. Leo Kingston had given her something very special so she had nothing to complain about, even if it was to be only a one-off experience. Yet she couldn’t help hoping this was the start of something more with him.
“...I love what we’ve been sharing...” he went on, his voice projecting strongly positive appreciation.
But...her mind supplied as her heart cramped. This was surely the carrot ahead of the stick. All along she had assessed him as too good for her, a high-flyer with class stamped all over him, which was why it was so amazing he’d wanted her, a working-class girl in a service industry. Silly to have any expectations of a deep and meaningful relationship.
“...but I’m not into marriage, Teri. I’ve been there, done that, and it wasn’t good.”
Marriage! She hadn’t given a thought to any such future possibility. Now...with him...had completely dominated her mind.
“You’re divorced?” she asked. Although he had declared himself a guy on his own the last time he was here, Teri wanted to know if his wife was still around.
“Very much so,” he answered sardonically.
“So am I,” she confessed. “No fun, is it?”
“None whatsoever.”
“So what are you saying, Leo? You’d like an affair with me as long as I understand wedding bells are out?” she prompted, hoping she had the affair part right.
That idea didn’t upset her at all. If he was considering it. And she appreciated his honesty in warning her off any marriage aspirations. It was best to know where one stood. With Wayne, the sorting through where both of them wanted to go had been long and painful and the sense of failure a deep and scarring torment.
“Are you okay with that, Teri?” Leo asked, searching her eyes very seriously.
She wondered what scars he carried from his marriage. Needing some insight into where he was coming from, she asked, “Why don’t you spell out what you do want, Leo?”
His face lit with an irrepressible grin. “What we’ve just had. Over and over again. As long as it’s good for us.”
Her heart kicked with a wild surge of happy relief. She wanted that, too, as many times as he’d give it to her. Having lived twenty-nine years without experiencing half of what Leo had touched off in her, she’d be mad to pass up the opportunity to feel all this again. Nevertheless, he hadn’t told her much. Only that their pleasure was mutual, which she already knew.
“So we’re talking strictly sex, are we?” she lightly probed, careful not to scare him off.
He frowned, clearly cogitating the equation he wanted. “That sounds rather bald,” he said slowly. “I like you, Teri. Very much. And I don’t want to offend you.”
“Honesty won’t offend me, Leo,” she assured him. “I’d appreciate not being fooled in any way whatsoever.”
God knew she’d fooled herself with rosy expectations going into her marriage with Wayne. She’d sworn never to enter another relationship without pinning everything down. Having her eyes wide open and seeing straight left one a lot less susceptible to miserable disappointment.
It had also narrowed the field of possible men she’d accept in her life so drastically, Leo was the first who’d passed the barriers she’d put up. Though he hadn’t precisely passed them. He’d burst through them. Which made her all the more fascinated by him. She studied his face—the self-knowing intelligence and determination so evident on it—as he answered her.
“I simply don’t want the kind of relationship that hangs a whole lot of emotional blackmail on either of us, Teri. I don’t have the time or the stomach for it.” A flash of bitterness there, almost instantly softened by an appealing, whimsical smile. “I guess I want things free and easy between us. Which is probably completely selfish...” He shrugged, not caring that it was. It was how he wanted it.
“You mean no accountability. Just take it as it comes,” she interpreted.
He nodded. “I travel quite a bit in my business. I can be away for weeks at a time, so don’t expect some kind of regular arrangement. It won’t happen...” His eyes hardened. “...and I won’t be pressured into it.”
It was clear their affair would proceed on his terms or he’d call it quits. Teri wasn’t sure how she felt about that...the total disregard for whatever needs she might have. Though he certainly fulfilled one need. He was top of the pack on that score. Absolutely top.
Her gaze glided down his magnificent physique and the lust for more of him gripped the pit of her stomach. No love involved here. Once she would have thought herself...sluttish...for feeling as she did now, but love had only brought her disillusionment Why not take what she could get from this man? At least it was something good. Better than good. Fantastic!
She’d been working hard, establishing her restaurant business, virtually to the exclusion of everything else except visiting her family now and then. She’d earned a bit of spice in her life. Hot spice! She couldn’t help grinning at the thought and her eyes danced back up to his.
“Okay,” she agreed. “No commitments. Just when it suits both of us.”
Relief and sparkling delight shone from him. “Great! You’re a woman in a million, Teri. Finding you is like winning the lottery.”
She laughed. “Maybe I got a bottle of champagne in you, Leo.”
“Then celebration is in order,” he said with a purposeful gleam.
He kissed her and the champagne fizzed so beautifully, Teri had no regrets over the bargain it sealed with Leo Kingston.
Pure pleasure.
No harm in that.
As long as she didn’t attach anything else to it.
CHAPTER TWO
Ten months on...
PREGNANT!
No doubt left.
She was having Leo’s child.
In the time it took to walk out of the clinic where the doctor had handed her the definitive test results, Teri managed to get her mind, which had been temporarily shattered by the positive confirmation of her suspicions, into relative working order. It moved from baby to birth to the reminder that today was her thirtieth birthday.
When she’d married Wayne, she’d imagined having two children by the time she was thirty, their own little family. She certainly hadn’t imagined having a baby on her own, by a man who had no desire whatsoever to become her husband. So here she was, presented with two big milestones in her life, and a very different kind of future in front of her.
There was no question about what she was going to do. Fate might have thrown her a curve with this accidental pregnancy, but it might very well be the best thing that could ever happen to her. She would get to be a mother, which she didn’t want to miss out on. There was no guarantee about how long Leo would stay in her life. Or any other man, for that matter. A child was forever. Someone of her very own to love...without question...without limit.
Excitement at that thought welled and ebbed as she waited on the sidewalk for the traffic lights to change. Traffic roared up and down Oxford Street. Sydney was enjoying a brilliant summer and the late afternoon sunshine basked her in warmth. The fifteen-minute walk back to her restaurant in Paddington was an easy stroll and gave her time to recollect herself.
The red light changed to green and she pushed her legs into action, pushing her mind out of its fuzzy maternal wallow, as well. Single motherhood was not going to be easy. Maybe she was mad to take it on. But she couldn’t bear not to. And one thing she could definitely say about Leo Kingston. He had fantastic genes.
If she’d actually been planning to have a baby without the support of a husband, and looking around for the best possible male specimen to supply the necessary, Leo would be a five-star choice...healthy, intelligent, good-looking, athletic, possessing the drive to get ahead in the world, and loaded with sex appeal.
How he’d react to being told he was going to be a father, Ten had no idea. Right at this moment, she didn’t really care. She could do without spice...if she had to. A baby represented far more essential things to her.
Apart from finding her desirable, and companionable enough to enjoy chatting with her—occasionally—when it fitted into his business schedule—she didn’t think Leo attached any importance to her role in his life. All his energy was poured into making his computer company more and more successful. Well, not quite all. When he focused his energy on bedding her, Teri still found it an irresistible force.
But he didn’t even know it was her birthday today. Maybe over the past ten months she should have tried to make more of their relationship, though her experience with her ex-husband had taught her that pressing for anything would get her nowhere. Impossible to force what didn’t come naturally. Leo had set the limits. He hadn’t tried to change them, which surely meant he hadn’t wanted to.
However, it was one thing to be free and easy lovers.
Parenthood was an even more permanent tie than marriage!
Having arrived back at her restaurant, Teri paused to view its street frontage, feeling a sense of pride in what she had achieved here. The idea of selling meals by weight had really taken off. Patrons could pile as much or as little as they liked on their plates and the price they paid for it was commensurate with how much they chose.
It was perceived as an exceptionally fair deal, the food was tasty, and Ten knew she had a lot of satisfied customers because they kept returning. In droves. Most lunches and dinners were sell-outs. It had become a nicely profitable little business. Nothing grand. But she could afford to employ a chef and a kitchenhand.
She didn’t need financial support from Leo, should he choose to...not be around any more. She was capable of standing on her own two feet. Living in the apartment upstairs made the situation manageable. She would still be able to work and look after a baby.
As her gaze belatedly registered the name she’d given her restaurant, laughter gurgled up in her throat and spilled into a slightly hysterical peal. Full Tummy—Happy Heart was printed across the two front windows in a semicircular hump. A very pregnant hump, she thought in ironic amusement, and determined then and there, no matter how Leo reacted to her full tummy, she’d still have a happy heart about having his child.
She checked her watch as she pushed open the door. Four-thirty. The lull before the next onslaught of fast and furious activity. The tables were cleaned up and set for the evening meal.
Behind the weighing counter, Dylan, her chef, was busy cleaning up his open grill, ready for the dinner orders. Chunky, ginger-haired, freckle-faced, and invariably good-natured, he swung around as he heard her come in and shot her a cheerful grin.
“Leo called”
Teri’s heart fluttered. Leo never called. Why today of all days? “What for?” she asked, hoping her voice sounded normal.
“Said he was flying in from New Zealand, and he’d be here about eight-thirty and if I was making that chicken mince stuff wrapped in spinach leaves, would I please keep him some?”
Food! Nothing personal. She heaved a sigh to get rid of the surge of absurd emotional hope for something different from Leo and aimed a smile at her chef. “Guess you made a hit with that dish, Dylan.”
“Yeah.”
He looked pleased. At twenty-two, he was still fresh from his long apprenticeship in a hotel and enjoying making his own little specialties.
“Mail came while you were out,” he informed her, still grinning. “I put it in the kitchen.”
“Thanks.”
Probably birthday cards from her family, she thought, wondering how they were going to react to a new birth. Plenty of time before she’d have to tell them, but Leo...only four hours before he swept in, probably expecting two appetising meals. He’d get one. Then...
Well, it wouldn’t be the end of the world if he dropped her flat. She’d coped fairly well after Wayne had walked out of their three-year marriage. She was used to being independent, working things out for herself, setting goals and reaching them for the most part.
At least this time, she wouldn’t be left with nothing.
She was going to have a baby.
CHAPTER THREE
LEO KINGSTON was smiling as he strode out of the airport terminal and grabbed the first cab on the taxi rank. His business in New Zealand had been successfully concluded, the flight had landed on schedule, he was bound to get the kind of food he really enjoyed eating at Teri’s restaurant—tasty but not too fancy, and a proper plateful instead of the skimpy servings the classy restaurants charged a fortune for—then to top off everything, a night of sheer, uncomplicated joy with Teri.
“Where to?” the driver asked.
“Jersey Road, Woollahra.”
Home first to drop off his bags, have a quick shower, change into more casual and cooler clothes than his suit, a three-block walk which was just about right to get rid of the claustrophic feeling of plane travel, and he’d be at the door of Full Tummy—Happy Heart.
He grinned over the great name Teri had chosen for her restaurant. It was spot-on. Delivered precisely what it said. No pretensions. Just like Teri herself. He was really looking forward to being with her again. Great woman. She didn’t nag, didn’t sulk, never called him to account over anything, had no unreasonable expectations of him, made no demands, didn’t keep a clock on him, always enjoyed their times together, and she had a fantastic body.
It stirred him just thinking about the way Teri was built. She was so curvy and female. No bones sticking into him, just soft rounded flesh a man could really sink into and revel in. A real woman.
He remembered when he first saw her. Must be almost a year ago now. It was soon after he’d bought the terrace house in Jersey Road, when he’d been scouting the area for restaurants that provided good meals. Teri’s place had been a great find. No waiting forever to be served, either, though he hadn’t minded sitting over his dinner because just watching Ten had been a real pleasure.
He’d liked everything about her—the way she smiled at customers and cared about them being satisfied with what they’d chosen. Beautiful eyes. Touchable hair. An efficient manner without being abrupt. And a body that most women—in Leo’s experience—would have traded on. But there wasn’t even a hint of The Princess Syndrome in Teri Adams. Which made her even more attractive. And desirable.
He hated the be-my-slave-because-I’m-beautiful attitude a lot of women gave out. He’d had a gutful of it from his ex-wife, expecting him to dance attendance on her, provide her with everything her greedy little heart desired, pouting and carrying on when he had to put business first.
It would be a long time before he shackled himself to another marriage. If ever. He’d been so deceived by Serena, how the hell could a man know when a woman was pulling the wool over his eyes? Besides, freedom was good. He’d had three years of it since the parting of the ways with his self-serving ex-wife and he liked it better all the time.
Teri obviously appreciated her freedom, too. Nothing like a failed marriage to get you thinking about what you really wanted to do with your life. She was a smart businesswoman. The way she’d tapped into a highly marketable idea was truly admirable. He had a lot of respect for Teri Adams. She could stand on her own two feet and meet him on equal ground.
The cabbie turned into Jersey Road and Leo directed him to the home he’d made his own, which was nothing like the status symbol house Serena had insisted upon, undoubtedly with an eye to taking half the proceeds of its sale as her divorce price. This place was all his.
It was ten past eight when he walked into his living room and glanced around, gleaning pleasure from the familiar, comfortable layout he’d chosen for himself and feeling a deep sense of satisfaction in his independence.
The cleaner had been in, leaving everything shipshape. Didn’t need a wife for that. There was his mansize leather chair and footstool with the coffee-table handy, placed directly in front of the maxi-screen television so he could watch his favourite sports in absolute comfort. No wife to complain about how much time he spent on it instead of sharing things with her—never mind her never trying to share things with him.
This was good. All it lacked was a woman in his bed. But the price of that was too damned high. And a wife didn’t guarantee it, either. Sex was doled out at her convenience, not his, and only when he’d performed as he should in her eyes. Well, to hell with that!
Teri suited him just fine and he obviously suited her. Which reminded him to get moving. Shower, shave...full tummy, happy heart.
A very happy heart tonight!
CHAPTER FOUR
TERI checked her watch again—8:31. This waiting was dreadfully distracting, not to mention nerveracking. So Leo was a minute late, she argued fiercely to herself. He might be half an hour late. He might not come at all. He hadn’t promised anything. It was stupid to be working herself into a state with this constant clock-watching.
If Dylan had kept his mouth shut, she would have been sailing serenely through the evening, doing her job as she always did, without feeling as though she had a hive of buzzing bees inside her. In actual fact, she’d prefer it if Leo didn’t turn up. Tomorrow night or any night in the future would be soon enough to tell him she was having his child. Then there’d be no possibility of feeling anything bad about going to bed alone on her thirtieth birthday.
Teri concentrated on counting notes out of the till. Most of her clientele were working people who didn’t want to cook for themselves and they’d either been and gone home or were still eating. Nine-thirty was closing time. Which would fit nicely into giving a baby its night feed, she assured herself.
The doors whooshed open.
Teri’s head jerked up.
Leo!
He came striding through the dining room, not glancing at the buffet section where a tempting array of food was still laid out, paying no attention whatsoever to the people seated at the tables, what they were eating or doing or chatting about. The bright, red-check cotton tablecloths, the little bowls of daisies, the framed black-and-white cartoons of people feasting that she’d hung on the walls...none of them rated the slightest bit of notice.
Leo made straight for the weighing counter behind which Ten stood, exuding an energy that instantly had her heart zinging. His blue jeans and royal-blue sports shirt meant he was well and truly off work tonight and the twinkle in his blue eyes held an almost wicked glee in the freedom to do whatever he liked.
“Hi!” he said, leaning his arms on the top of the cash register and grinning at Teri, his handsome face radiating the strong power of a winning personality.
Teri tried to keep her feet on safe, sensible ground, despite her toes tingling. He had great teeth, she thought, white and straight, and somehow they combined with his eyes to deliver a charismatic impact that curled her insides and sent miniquakes down her legs. It would be good if their child inherited his teeth and eyes, Teri decided, trying valiantly to distance her mind from Leo’s physical effect on her.
“Good trip?” she asked. Her mouth had a will of its own. It was smiling back at him. Or maybe Leo mesmerised her muscles into responding to the pleasure he was pouring out.
“Achieved what I wanted,” he said with satisfaction. And he intended to do that here, too, his eyes said in no uncertain terms.
She was wearing the uniform she’d designed for the restaurant; a white T-shirt emblazoned with a red heart on which a simple white curve representing a smile had been painted, a neat little red skirt and comfortable white loafers on her feet. She could feel her breasts peaking into the soft fabric of the T-shirt and wished she had two red hearts positioned to disguise the fact.
“I can see success has put you in a good mood,” she commented, intent on holding Leo’s gaze on her face. If it drifted downwards the problem would surely worsen.
“Coming here puts me in a good mood,” he replied, making the message very personal.
Maybe not after tonight, her mind clicked in, but her body didn’t want to respond to that sobering piece of caution.
“Hey, Leo!” Dylan broke in, popping his head out of the kitchen. “I put four of the Changmai Surprise aside for you. I’ll microwave them now if you like.”
“Great!” Leo beamed at him. “And I’ll follow them up with your lamb kebabs if they’re on the menu.”
“Will do,” Dylan agreed cheerfully.
“That guy really knows what to do with food,” Leo remarked as Dylan retreated into the kitchen. “You got a prize in him, Teri.”
“Yes, I did. And every chef likes to have his creativity appreciated. It gave him a real buzz, your calling this afternoon.”
He laughed. “Pure self-interest. The thought of plane food did not appeal. Have you eaten yourself, yet?”
“Bits and pieces.” Her stomach had been too screwed up to accept much.
His eyebrows slanted in charming appeal. “Join me at my table?”
She nodded. “When I’ve finished up.”
He gave the remaining diners a quick scan. “Not too many left. Shouldn’t take long.” Another dazzling smile. “I’ve been looking forward to your company.”
“You mean I rank up there with the food?” she lightly mocked, trying to quell the maverick rush of need to know how highly she did rank in his life.
His eyes danced, inviting her to be his partner in pleasure as he replied, “I have a hunger for many things.”
“Mmmh...” she answered noncommittally.
“I’ll do my best to tease your appetite,” he promised.
And she’d probably rob him of his, Teri thought with savage irony. His black wavy hair was still damp from a shower. She could smell the tangy cologne he’d splashed on his newly shaven jaw. He was certainly primed for sexual action, and the mental picture formed of Leo stripped naked, his powerful masculinity all hers for the night...if she postponed telling him about her pregnancy.
The temptation to keep that vital piece of news to herself was suddenly very strong. Leo might value freedom above everything else but he was a great lover. Why deprive herself of one more sensational experience with him? She could look upon it as a birthday gift to herself.
“Teri?” Leo quizzed her silence.
Her mouth twitched. “Just thinking how good you look, Leo.”
He grinned. “You, too, babe.”
Babe!
She should be thinking of what was between his ears, not his legs. Even more pertinently what was in his heart! Would being a father mean anything to him?
“Here you go, Leo!” Dylan announced, sliding the plate with its steaming appetiser straight onto the weighing machine beside the cash register.
Leo sniffed appreciatively. “Love that sauce, Dylan.”
“Combination of honey, sesame oil and soy sauce,” Dylan confided proudly.
Teri took the printout of the weight, stapled on a customer number, gave the matching number to Leo, then spiked the bill for later payment. “Enjoy,” she said with an encouraging smile.
“Back soon,” he warned both of them and headed for his usual table against the wall from where he could watch all the action.
Dylan set to work grilling the lamb kebabs and Teri did the rounds of the tables, removing used plates while having a bit of chitchat with regulars. She was acutely conscious of Leo’s eyes following her. It was almost like the caressing touch of his hands, shaping her body to his, or that was how it felt to her fevered imagination. His close presence made her so sexually aware, she escaped to the kitchen to sort herself out on some kind of sensible level.
“I’ll do those.” Mel Hudson, her kitchenhand, who was working his way through university, whipped the tray of dirty plates out of her hands. “You go and enjoy yourself with Leo.” And the nineteen-year-old lanky boy winked at her!
Teri huffed and muttered, “He’ll keep.”
Mel proceeded to load the dishwasher, a knowing grin on his face. “The guy’s on toast for you, Ten. You ought to put him out of his misery.”
“When I want your advice, Mel,”—cheeky boy—“I’ll ask for it.”
“It’s your birthday. Give yourself a break.”
She frowned at him. “Who told you it was my birthday?”
“Dylan figured it had to be. The post came when you were out this afternoon and he said there was a whole stack of cards for you.”
Which she’d taken upstairs to the apartment, out of sight, out of mind. Of course, her family meant well, but what woman wanted to be reminded of her thirtieth birthday? “Some people ought to mind their own business,” she remarked darkly.
Mel shrugged. “So what’s the big deal? Take the rest of the night off. Have fun. Dylan and I will finish up and shut up shop.”
“I’m not ready,” she muttered truculently.
“Ready for what?”
“Never you mind.”
She banged some pots and pans around to indicate the conversation was over. Her mind chewed over her state of readiness. Was she ready to go to bed with Leo with him still in ignorance of his fatherhood? Ready to tell him she was pregnant? Ready to suffer his shock, dismay, rejection? This was extremely difficult to sort out.
She liked the man. She liked having him in her life, even if it was on a casual basis. In fact, if she was still a starry-eyed teenager she’d probably say she was in love with Leo Kingston, though from a more mature outlook, that was probably only chemistry. After all, she didn’t know him through and through. Only that he was nice to people, nice to her, fun to be with, and great in bed.
Both Dylan and Mel liked him but that was a manto-man thing. Leo, in their opinion, was a good guy. However, not one of them had any claim on him. Leo breezed in and out and he was much more out than in. Even so, was she really ready to say goodbye to him?
She’d been able to think much more clearly this afternoon. Somehow, Leo’s being here, hitting her with so much vital attraction again, completely muddled her.
“Teri...customer leaving,” Dylan called out.
She hastily pasted a smile on her face and went to handle the departing customer’s payment for dinner. Leo was at the serving counter and Dylan was transferring the lamb kebabs from the grill to a plate that was already piled up with various salads chosen from the buffet table. Teri managed the money transaction smoothly, bade good-night to the family of four who appeared well satisfied, then went through the routine of weighing Leo’s main meal.
“Join me now?” he pressed hopefully.
“Sure she can,” Dylan popped in. “The grill’s off for the night so I can handle the cash takings and Mel will do the rest.”
A birthday conspiracy, Teri concluded, which was really nice, but not exactly timely when she wasn’t ready for the outcome. “Something I’ve got to do upstairs first,” she quickly excused. “Sure you don’t mind filling in for me, Dylan?”
He grinned. “Piece of cake.”
“You look perfect as you are,” Leo remarked warmly, his eyes more than warm. The fire of desire was well and truly kindled.
She gave him a droll look. “If you think I’m going to titivate for you...”
He laughed. “That’s what I love about you, Teri. Always au naturel.”
“Hmmph,” she said, and feeling a blush coming on, made a swift exit.
Love...she ruminated frenziedly over that as she headed upstairs. It was most probably a throwaway word, she argued, like Leo saying he loved Dylan’s sauce. He couldn’t mean he actually loved her.
Was real love ever held at the kind of distance Leo kept? Not in Teri’s understanding of it. However, tagged on to the au naturel remark, it made sense. Oh yes! No doubt about how much he loved tangling with her naked.
And she loved tangling with him naked!
Which was what was making everything so difficult.
She reached her small and rather cluttered living room and raced over to the mantelpiece where she’d lined up her birthday cards. If...if she invited Leo upstairs tonight, she didn’t want him to see them, didn’t want him asking how old she was or bringing out the telling fact that neither of them knew each other’s birthdays.
She bundled them up and was about to shove them into the drawer of her writing desk, when the one on top caused her to pause. It was the big pink flowery one from her parents with the gold inscription—To Our Darling Daughter.
A daughter...
She hadn’t thought past...baby. Even a baby wasn’t quite real to her yet, not enough to put either sex to it. A daughter...or a son...her heart turned over.
Slowly, she laid the cards in the drawer and slid it shut. Then she turned around and leaned back against the desk, her hands creeping up to spread across her flat stomach. As flat as it was, a baby was somewhere in there growing...a little girl or boy...her child...Leo’s child.
She had to tell him.
And it had to be done tonight.
Impossible to make love with this huge secret swimming around in her mind, Leo touching her where their child was actually forming, not knowing about it.
The decision was very clear.
She was ready now...ready to tell Leo she was having his child.
CHAPTER FIVE
IT STARTLED Teri to see the dining room almost empty when she returned. There were only two couples left, eating their choice of sweets. Dylan was cleaning the grill and Mel was chatting with Leo who’d obviously finished his main course since Mel had cleared his table. A glance at her watch showed 9:15. Time had flown since Leo had arrived.
“Ah, here you are!” Mel said with satisfaction, and held out the chair opposite Leo’s for her.
“Thanks,” she said, her eyes quizzing this unanticipated gesture of gallantry from her teenage employee.
Mel grinned. “No problem. Leave you to it now.”
Teri rolled her eyes to Leo who looked most amused at this little byplay. “Why do I feel I’m being pushed at you tonight? Are they up to no good behind my back?” she dryly remarked.
He laughed, his eyes twinkling like brilliant sunshine on blue water. “They like you, Teri. They like working for you. You make this a good place to be. They want to give you some time off. That’s all.”
She sighed. Leo really was a gorgeous man. “You know you’ve never told me how many people work for you.”
He had explained his business as software conversions, but Teri hadn’t probed much, not wanting Leo to think she was interested in how big his income was. That didn’t matter to her. However, she needed a safe, impersonal kind of conversation until they were absolutely alone together.
He shrugged. “Small team. Four crack computer programmers and one administrative assistant.”
“Any females?”
“The assistant.” He gave a crooked little smile. “Mavis is in her early fifties, frighteningly efficient while sort of mother-henning the rest of us.”
She hadn’t been checking out possible female competition, but it was interesting to know the kind of woman he’d hired. “Do you prefer your programmers to be men?” she asked, aware there were many women in computer fields these days.
Something negative flicked across his face. “It’s easier,” he said flatly.
“How so?” she asked curiously.
He sighed. “You’ll probably accuse me of being some kind of male chauvinist, but the truth is most whiz-bang computer programmers are fairly young and a lot of young women trade off their sex appeal.” An icy hardness flashed into his eyes. “They can bring tensions into a workplace I simply don’t want. Guys start competing for their attention and an atmosphere of camaraderie is suddenly shot to pieces. It’s just better avoided.”
“You’ve seen this happen?” Teri asked, uneasy with his explanation which did smack of male bias.
He nodded. “Married women are usually okay but unmarried ones can play havoc with productivity and team spirit.”
So it wasn’t exactly a bias against women, more a pragmatic choice to guard against hormone battles. But he certainly didn’t care for women who traded on their sex appeal. Teri couldn’t help wondering what his ex-wife had been like. They’d never swapped marriage stories. Raking over that particular part of her past had not appealed to her. Still didn’t. And she didn’t have the right to poke into his.
Besides, even the mention of marriage might be misinterpreted when she had the highly sensitive subject of her pregnancy waiting in the wings.
She smiled. “I guess you consider Mavis safe.”
He relaxed and returned her smile, pleased she wasn’t critical of his employment policy. “Absolutely safe. Mavis is great. Reliable, responsible, has a place for everything and everything in its place.”
Teri wondered if Leo applied some of those headings to herself...like safe and in her place. She certainly didn’t constitute a distraction from his work. She suspected she was his break from it.
The big question was...how would he view a baby?
The shifting of chairs alerted her to the imminent departure of the remaining diners. She glanced around. Yes, all of them up, ready to go. Dylan was at the cash register, waiting to take their money. Mel had cleared the buffet table and was hurrying out of the kitchen to clean up the tables being vacated.
“Do you want dessert, Leo?” Teri asked, swinging her attention back to him. There’d still be leftovers in the kitchen.
He gave her a whimsical look. “It’s being taken care of.”
She raised her eyebrows. “More special service?”
“I think I’ve won special status by winning your favour.”
“Leo, I suspect you’d win any woman’s favour if you worked on it.” And that was the plain truth, Teri thought.
“You miss the point,” he argued, his eyes dancing at her again. “It’s you who’s special, Teri.”
How special? Was he prepared to accept her as the mother of his child?
“Well, thanks,” she said as graciously as she could manage when her nerves were getting strung out like piano wires. “It’s nice to be appreciated.”
“Oh, you are! Very much,” Leo asserted, desire flowing from him in electric waves that instantly screwed the piano pegs up another notch or two and caused her stomach to go into spasms.
Fortunately Dylan provided distraction, escorting the last of tonight’s customers to the door and locking up behind them. “You and Mel can go, too, Dylan,” Teri instructed. “If there’s anything left to do, I’ll do it in the morning.”
“Okay. We’ll be off in a minute. Just got to hang up my apron,” Dylan returned cheerfully.
One more minute and she could start unburdening herself of this dreadful suspense. A sixty-seconds countdown to desertion or togetherness or a continuation of their sometime relationship into sometime fatherhood. And the strange part was, Teri had no idea which outcome would be best in the long run.
“Is something wrong, Teri?” Leo asked.
It forced her to meet the quizzical concern in his eyes. “Not really,” she answered, wishing the boys would hurry up.
“You look a bit strained.”
“Sorry.” She tried a rueful smile. “There’s nothing wrong.” An innocent baby on the way could hardly be called wrong. “It’s just...well, I have a lot on my mind”
“Anything I can do to help?”
The offer was genuine. She could see nothing but sincerity in his expression. Maybe...
“Happy birthday to you...”
Dylan’s and Mel’s voices raised raucously in song, instantly jerked her attention away. Her two young employees were marching out of the kitchen, Dylan carrying a cake with a single candle burning on it, Mel bearing a tray with two flute glasses and a bottle of champagne in an ice bucket.
“Happy birthday to you...”
Leo rose from his chair to join in.
“Happy Birthday, dear Teri-i-i...”
They were all grinning like Cheshire cats.
“Happy birthday to you!”
She almost burst into tears. She quickly propped her elbows on the table and covered her face with her hands. Let them think she was embarrassed. Let them think anything as long as she had a few seconds to fight back this awful flood of turbulent emotion.
She heard the plate with the cake being plonked on the table in front of her. “Come on, Teri. Got to blow the candle out,” Dylan cajoled.
“Make a wish, too,” Mel pressed.
A wish...
Please God, let Leo want our child!
And why that suddenly meant so much she didn’t know!
She took a deep breath, dropped her hands, and blew out the candle. It wasn’t difficult to blow out one candle. If there’d been thirty...but they didn’t know about that milestone and she wasn’t about to tell them.
Her effort was roundly applauded.
“Thank you,” she managed huskily.
“It’s an orange cake with lemon icing. Your favourite. Made it myself,” Dylan said proudly.
“You shouldn’t...” She stopped herself from shaking her head and aimed a wobbly smile at him. “It’s very kind of you, Dylan.”
“Pleasure. You have a good time, Teri. Everyone should celebrate their birthday.”
“Yeah,” Mel agreed. “We’re nicking off now so you can have a great celebration. Good night, Teri...Leo...”
“I’ll lock up after you,” Leo offered, and they all set off for the door, leaving Teri staring at a cake she couldn’t possibly eat and a bottle of champagne that was utterly wasted on this occasion.
They meant well.
Any other birthday she would have been delighted at being given such a sweet surprise. She must thank Dylan and Mel again tomorrow. Her eyes misted over again and she blinked furiously, clearing the moisture as best she could. Getting choked up was not going to help anything. She took several deep breaths and was more or less in control of herself by the time Leo returned to the table.
Her hands fluttered in a dismissive appeal. “I didn’t realise they had anything like this planned. I didn’t even tell them it was my birthday.”
“I know.” He leaned down and picked something off his chair. “This is from me,” he said, handing her a slim, rectangular packet, wrapped in expensive silver paper. “Happy birthday, Teri.”
His voice was a warm caress, stroking her heart into pumping with the wild hope that tonight might not be the parting of the ways she feared. She stared down at the packet as Leo slid back onto his chair. It raised a host of questions that clamoured to be answered.
“How did you know, Leo?”
“Dylan told me when I rang this afternoon.”
“He had no right...” A painful flush burned into her cheeks as she imagined Dylan suggesting to Leo that he surprise her, too. Her eyes flashed an anguished apology. “I didn’t expect you to...”
He reached across the table and stilled the agitated wave of her hand by capturing it and pressing reassurance. “I wanted to, Teri. In fact, it’s because you don’t expect anything that it’s a very real pleasure to buy you a gift.”
“But...”
“No buts. Open it,” he commanded softly, releasing her hand so she could do so.
She wavered, wanting to, yet not feeling right about it, not in these circumstances. “I don’t even know your birthday,” she temporised.
“First of December,” he tossed off carelessly.
Their baby would be born in October.
She barely caught herself back from saying it. Too bald a statement. Better to lead into it so at least he understood how it had happened.
“It won’t bite,” Leo dryly advised. “And you won’t owe me anything, Teri. It’s simply a birthday gift, no strings attached. Please...enjoyed buying it.”
A child was a big, big string, Teri thought, as she tore open the wrapping paper, hoping Leo had picked up something simple and relatively inexpensive. He’d probably ducked into one of the airport shops and bought the first thing that caught his eye...except the long flat box emerging from the silver paper was a white leather case on which was stamped in gold, the high-fashion designer name—Escada.
Her heart wobbled as she clicked open the lid. Sunglasses—streamlined class—the elegant black-andsilver frames suggesting a space age design.
“Put them on and let me see,” Leo urged, eager to judge if his choice was right.
Teri had never owned or worn a designer label anything! The temptation—just to try—was too seductive to deny. Her hands trembled slightly as she lifted the beautiful and undoubtedly ruinously expensive glasses from their black suede nest and fitted them on her face.
“Yes!” Leo cried triumphantly. “I knew they were you the moment I saw them. Take a look in the mirror, Teri. They look fantastic on you!”
She couldn’t resist, just to see. A mirror was positioned on the wall so most of the dining room could be watched from the kitchen. It only took a few moments to get up and view her reflection. The sunglasses were wonderful; chic, classy, perfect for her face and cropped hair, giving her an ultra modern, sophisticated look that instantly took away any angst over being thirty.
She couldn’t help smiling at Leo for giving her this lovely gift, despite the deep reservations she held. “They are fantastic,” she agreed wholeheartedly. “But they must have cost a fortune, Leo.”
He shrugged, still grinning at her. “Worth every cent. All you need now are black leathers and a Harley-Davidson.”
Laughter bubbled up from somewhere and spilled out. Teri tried to get a grip on herself as she resumed her seat at the table and returned the glasses to their plush case. She had to speak—had to—before she was drawn so far into Leo’s charm-circle she’d want to forget the unforgettable.
“Time to open the champagne,” he said happily.
“No...wait!” she blurted out, halting his movement to lift the bottle out of the ice bucket. She met his quizzical eyes anxiously. “There’s something I’ve got to tell you, Leo.”
“Okay,” he invited good-humouredly.
Where to start? How to start? Why hadn’t she given this more thought?
“Remember last month when you were here and I had a bit of a queezy stomach?” she plunged in, desperate to have him understand there’d been nothing planned about it.
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