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Snatching the phone up, he said, ‘Hey, I was going to ring you. I just got back into the country and I’m in Cardiff for a few days.’ He didn’t mention that he’d scheduled this particular leg of the trip in the hope of getting to see her.
‘That’s lucky,’ she said, her voice warm and familiar. ‘I really need to talk to you.’
‘Okay. Want to do it over the phone? Or meet me for lunch tomorrow?’
‘Um...neither. Look, could I come over? Where are you staying?’
Ben felt ready to drop. His eyes itched with grit and his very bones ached with tiredness. But the thought of Luce in his arms again... ‘Of course. I’d love to see you.’
There was a sigh of relief at the other end and Ben felt the first pang of concern at the sound. What did she want to talk about, anyway? He had hoped whatever it was was an excuse—just a reason to see him. He’d have to wait and see, he thought as he rattled off the hotel’s details for Luce. She’d be here soon enough, and he really needed to shower first.
He barely made it. The knock on the door came as he towelled off his hair. Pulling a tee shirt over his head, he padded barefoot to the door in the comfiest jeans he’d packed and hoped Luce wouldn’t be too disappointed if he wasn’t up to hours of bedtime fun tonight.
When he opened the door he stopped worrying about that and started worrying about her instead. Her hair was scraped back from her face and he could clearly see the redness around her eyes, the puffiness of her skin.
‘Are you okay? You look dreadful.’ He ushered her in, keeping an arm around her shoulders as he guided her to the sofa.
Luce gave a watery chuckle. ‘Just what every girl likes to hear.’
‘Sorry. But...what’s happened?’
‘God—everything.’ She sighed. ‘Um...my brother Tom.’
‘The one you rushed back to cook a dinner for?’ Ben tried to keep the censure from his voice. He wasn’t sure he was entirely successful, though.
‘Yeah, that was... I shouldn’t have. I know that now.’
Ben blinked at the unexpected victory. Except if she’d changed her mind that thoroughly... ‘What did he do?’
‘He wants my house.’
‘What?’
Luce rubbed at her eyes. ‘He and his new partner want to move in together, with her two kids, and Tom thinks it’s only fair that they get the family house, since there’s more of them.’
‘That’s crazy. It’s your home.’
‘That’s what I’m going to tell him. And...’
She trailed off, and Ben felt fear clutch at his insides. What else had her brother done? ‘Go on. Tell me.’
Luce looked up at him, holding his gaze with her own. Her eyes still looked tired and watery, but they were clear as she said, ‘I need to tell him I’m pregnant. But I couldn’t do that until I’d told you. That’s why I wanted to see you tonight.’
‘You need to tell him... Wait—what?’ The world seemed to have gone fuzzy. Luce’s voice was buzzing in his ear, making it impossible to make out the words. ‘But... What?’
‘I’m pregnant.’ The words cut through the haze of confusion, clear as a bell, but still Ben couldn’t make sense of them.
‘Pregnant?’ he repeated numbly.
‘Yeah. I know we used protection, but that first time...’
‘I was too desperate for you.’ Stumbling to his feet, Ben moved to lean against the back of the sofa, hands braced against the edge, staring down at the cream leather. ‘God, this is just...’
‘I know it’s not what either of us planned,’ Luce said from behind him.
She sounded brave, calm—but then, she’d had more time to figure all this out, hadn’t she? How long had she known? Long enough to make a twenty-five-point plan for dealing with it, he was sure. Whereas here he was, half-asleep and dead on his feet, trying to get his mind around the idea that in seven months he would be a father.
God, how could he be? When he’d just promised Seb he’d take on the whole new business? He couldn’t drag Luce and a baby from hotel to hotel with him, like his father had. He’d lose them in a heartbeat. And Luce would never trail around after him while he worked anyway. She had her own career, and her own family tying her to Cardiff. He wasn’t foolish enough to think she’d give those up for a man she barely knew and had spent just a few days with, even if she was mad at her brother right now.
So what did that leave?
Luce touched him on the shoulder and he flinched in surprise, spinning round to see her watching him with wide eyes. ‘Look, I know this is a surprise—’
