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At the sound of the voice he turned. Kat was standing at the bottom of the steps, wearing a dress a shade paler than the one he remembered stripping off her body. This one was much more formal: a strapless bodice that revealed the upper slopes of her breasts and the dazzle of a diamond necklace.
He rushed down to her, taking the steps two at a time, shedding his doubts with each step he took. What he felt for her was not going to burn itself out. She was part of him and if he ever won her back he would never let her go!
‘Do you make a habit of making public scenes?’ Oh, God, he looked so gorgeous she could not take her eyes off him. The ache of longing she had struggled to deny was a physical ache that went soul deep.
He looked blank for a moment, a little dazed, and then glanced up the stairs. The couple had vanished.
‘Not usually.’ His shoulders lifted in a shrug.
There was so much he needed to say but now she was here and he was acting like some tongue-tied kid, or maybe just the Neanderthal who had taken her virginity on a beach she probably thought he was.
Kat lowered her eyes and struggled to collect her fractured composure. Seeing him standing there had shaken loose a million conflicting emotions. The idea that she could distance herself from him emotionally or any other way had vanished.
He was the father of her child and she loved him.
‘I heard what you said,’ she said, not even bothering to try and project the illusion of calm control—who was going to believe it? ‘I think maybe a lot of people did.’
That was the problem: there were way too many people and he wanted her all alone. ‘Let’s get this over with,’ he said, taking her elbow and mentally figuring out just how soon they could reasonably leave without causing massive offence. While he had zero problem with offence, he suspected that Kat might not be on the same page as him with this.
‘You’ve not lost any of your charm,’ she said, hating the fact he had the ability to hurt her.
He looked down at her, frowning. ‘No, I didn’t mean... I need to talk to you alone and I avoid these things like the plague normally.’
Warning herself not to read anything into his words or the possessive blaze in his eyes when he looked at her, she allowed herself to be escorted into the room.
Selene had warned her that everyone crowded into the small space for drinks and finger food before the auction, which was to be held in the marquee outside. And it was crowded, very! The jewels she had been so reluctant to wear were not the most extravagant baubles on display. Kat had never seen so much bling in such a small space in her life, though maybe the impression was exaggerated because the walls felt as if they were closing in on her.
‘Fruit juice, please,’ she said as she was offered champagne. ‘I feel like everyone is staring at me.’
‘They are. You’re the most beautiful woman in the room.’
It might have given her more pleasure to hear him say this had her head not started to spin in a really sickening fashion. She lifted her head as the lights above began to blur.
‘Zach?’
He caught her before she hit the floor and when she opened her eyes, he was kneeling beside her looking pale while he emptied the contents of her small bag onto the floor.
‘Where’s the EpiPen...? Does anyone have an EpiPen? This is anaphylactic shock. Will someone call an ambulance?’
‘No, Zach, it isn’t.’
A look of intense relief washed over his face. ‘Agape mou...no, don’t move, you fainted. I think you might have eaten something with peanuts in.’
‘No, I haven’t.’ She hadn’t eaten a thing; she’d been too nervous about tonight. ‘You remembered!’
‘I remember every word you have ever said to me.’
She ran her tongue over her dry lips and tried to lift her head. ‘No, stay there, wait for the ambulance.’ A large hand on her chest made it impossible for her to defy this edict.
‘Will you stop it?’ she said, batting his hand with both hers. ‘I’m not ill, you idiot, I’m pregnant!’
Her exported admission coincided with a lull in the conversation that had started up when people had guessed she wasn’t dead. The room had excellent acoustics so at least eighty per cent of the people present heard the happy news.
Beside her, Zack had frozen. The blood had quite literally drained from his face; he looked much more in need of an ambulance than she did.
‘Pregnant.’
She nodded.
