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Emma reached over, squeezing her hand. ‘Han, Matt isn’t Travis. He’s a good guy.’
‘I know no man better,’ Alex added.
* * *
Her baby moved again. He seemed as restless as she was. God, she was tired!
With her back aching, Hannah adjusted herself in the chair. What she wouldn’t give to have a lumbar roll right now!
Hannah prayed her friends were right. Straightening her dress with as much grace as she could muster, Hannah took a deep breath then typed out her response to her best friend.
I didn’t make an appointment, but I am at his office waiting for him.
She could almost see her friend shaking her head. It was just that Matt was the ultimate bachelor. Theirs had been a holiday romance that had burned brightly but had had an expiration date. Hannah was already so stressed with the idea of being a single mother—going through the birth alone, having to give up work while on maternity leave, preparing her home for a new-born—that she couldn’t deal with the possibility that Matt would reject her baby. That he would be furious. She just couldn’t trust that he would be there for her. This situation was her own to figure out.
But now she had officially run out of time. Matt had to know about the pregnancy and this wasn’t the type of news to spring on him in a call. Especially after she’d waited so long to tell him. No, this was face-to-face news. All she wanted was to tell him that he would be a father soon and that she wasn’t coming after him for anything other than what he wanted to give. That she’d be perfectly fine raising this baby on her own—no pressure. She had a great job as a software developer at a respectable tech company, and a great flat in the city that was mostly hers now, with Emma having moved out. There wasn’t anything she needed from Matt. How could she count on someone she barely knew, anyway?
She would tell him, get her answer and be on the earliest flight back to Melbourne. But, as she sat in that office, she realised that she had backed herself into a corner. What if he wasn’t ready to wave her off with his baby in her belly shortly after she’d arrived with earth-shattering news? What had seemed like a good idea at the time now seemed like a serious lapse in judgement.
As if her body knew exactly where Matt was in the building, Hannah turned to face a corridor of glass-walled offices. She didn’t see his. What she did see was the disapproving glare from his PA. She knew the prim woman in her black skirt-suit was judging her six ways to Sunday, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. She was nervous enough without having to worry about strangers she might never see again.
Hannah looked at the smart watch on her wrist. She had been waiting almost an hour. Part of her wondered if the PA had even mentioned her name. Then a small, dark part of her wondered how many times Matt’s PA had had to deal with women making some sort of claim on him. He obviously got around; his playboy reputation wasn’t exaggerated.
He was rich, handsome and constantly in the public eye. How many women had he seen since he’d left Melbourne? Had he spared a thought for her? Had their fling meant something to him? Had it kept him up at night as it had her? Probably not. Despite what Alex said, men didn’t value relationships the same way. That was a hard lesson she’d learned a long time ago.
Hannah tried to push away the thoughts. She and Matt had said goodbye. The memory of him leaving still wrenched her gut and stole her air but they owed each other nothing. What he did wasn’t any of her business.
Except soon they would be linked for ever by the little life she carried. If he wanted to know his child. Taking a deep breath, Hannah tried to leash her out-of-control thoughts. It was only because she was forced to sit out here that they ran riot. She had nothing to do but wait and stare out the window. The view of London was magnificent, but even this city couldn’t distract her from the enormity of what she was about to do.
When she was just about ready to burst, to grab her bag and flee the building, cursing herself for coming here at all, the PA, whom she was quickly coming to dislike, approached her chair.
‘Mr Taylor will see you now,’ she said calmly as if Hannah wasn’t in the middle of a crisis.
‘Thank you.’ Hannah pushed to her feet as elegantly as she could manage and straightened her red shirt-dress. She slung the strap of her handbag over her shoulder and slipped her phone into it before following the woman down the long corridor.
Hannah’s heart was racing and it grew more frantic with every step they took towards Matt. She could no longer tell if it was because she would see him again or because she bore life-changing news.
She still tried to tell herself that logically he couldn’t be too shocked. This pregnancy was the result of a goodbye neither of them had wanted to say. That last night would be etched in her memory for ever. And, even though she wasn’t supposed to have been able to fall pregnant, she had.
Hannah couldn’t remember a whole lot from that first doctor’s appointment, but she did remember her saying that, while it was rare for an infertile woman such as herself to fall pregnant, it was known to happen.
Her baby had defied the odds to be here. He deserved the best life she could give him. Just as the thought settled in her mind, the baby kicked the hardest he’d ever done as if to prove a point. The gasp left her lips before she could stop it.
The PA halted mid-step, casting an eye over her shoulder. ‘Are you okay? Do you require assistance?’ she asked, in a patronising tone that irritated Hannah more than it should have.
‘No, I’m perfectly fine.’ She smiled sweetly. And she was. Hannah hadn’t needed anyone when she’d come over to London. She had refused Emma’s offer to travel with her. She had even refused Alex’s apartment. She was doing this by herself—Matt, the pregnancy, everything.
They stopped at a large corner office. The glass walls were opaque but despite that she could make out that the room was bathed in the gold glow of the afternoon sun. It was finally upon her. This was what she had to do for her baby.
Hannah watched the PA rap her knuckles on the door then open it and step aside.
And there he was.
With his shirt sleeves rolled up and black wire-frame glasses perched on his patrician nose, he took her breath away. But it was those green eyes that had her feet carrying her towards him when they landed on her. She didn’t even notice the PA close the door, leaving them with complete privacy.
‘Hannah?’ A frown marred his forehead as he stood. He was tall and broad-shouldered, a physique from his rugby playing days that he’d never lost. His jaw was strong and smooth. She remembered kissing it and the smile it had brought to his face.
‘Hi, Matt.’ She smiled. Looking at him was like looking at sunshine, golden hair radiating a warmth she had forgotten.
