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CHAPTER TWO
IF MATT WAS SUNSHINE, Hannah was flame. Vibrant red tresses fell about her shoulders. The red shirt-dress she wore was vivid against her skin. Brown eyes that had ensnared him months before held so much apprehension, he ached to pull her to him. She was even more beautiful than he remembered. And, oh, he remembered!
His gaze raked over her, then he noticed what had changed about her and a stone dropped into the pit of his stomach. But he couldn’t stay away from her. Not after all these months.
He went to her, watching as she craned her neck to look up at him, and for a moment all he wanted to do was kiss her. Make sure she was really in his office. Replace the memory of their last kiss with a new a one.
That memory had haunted him. The cold emptiness that had settled within him when his lips left hers. She was the best distraction he had ever had on holiday. So good, in fact, she’d continued to distract him months later. He knew, if he put his lips on hers now, he would devour her.
Seeing her now, it felt as if no time had passed at all, but her body showed the proof of it. And it was her fuller breasts and the rounded belly that threw him a lifeline of control.
‘You never called,’ he said, taking her hand. ‘But it seems like we have a lot to discuss.’
He watched her swallow hard. Her mouth opened and closed but no words came out. Finally, she dropped her head and sighed. Clearly this wouldn’t be easy for her. He pulled out the chair in front of his desk and helped her into the seat before leaning against the front of his highly polished table. Their knees were just inches apart.
‘Thank you,’ she rasped. Her husky voice fell on him like silk. When Matt had met Hannah seven months ago, she’d been full of life—confident and vivacious. The moment he had laid his eyes on her, he had been unable to see anyone else. That was who she was to him. a light so bright she’d rendered everyone else colourless.
But now he didn’t see that confidence. It was that little fact that kept him from demanding answers immediately, but he needed them. Whatever happened now, she needed to say the words. A small part of him was hoping those words would be that she just needed the help of a friend and nothing more. After all, Hannah had an active social life. There was no reason to think that what was going on here had anything to do with him.
‘I want to ask how you are, Hannah, but I think you need to tell me what’s going on.’
* * *
Matt’s deep voice was barely breaking through the pounding in her ears. She needed to take a breath and calm down. Reminding herself stress wasn’t good for her or the baby, Hannah closed her eyes and did just that, and when she looked up at Matt again she saw nothing but him waiting patiently. His fingers were wrapped around the edge of the desk, his head cocked to one side. Why did those glasses make him look so damn sexy?
She cleared her throat to get the words out as quickly as possible. ‘I think it’s pretty obvious I’m pregnant...’ She swallowed and rushed out the rest. ‘And the baby is yours.’
His jaw twitched, the only indication he’d heard her say anything at all, but his gaze burned into her. Silent seconds stretched on for minutes or hours—Hannah wasn’t sure. Eventually Matt reached over his desk and pressed a button.
‘Yes, Matt?’ His PA’s voice crackled through.
‘Hold my calls.’
‘You have a meeting in fifteen.’
‘Push it back an hour.’
‘Yes, sir.’
Was that it? Was that all the reaction she would get out of him? Hannah didn’t know if this was better or worse than she had expected. She had expected at least a little shock, maybe even some anger—a sensible reaction. But this calm was unnerving. Did it mean he didn’t care at all? Had she wasted her time coming all this way?
The thoughts were starting to swirl.
‘How did this happen?’ he asked in that still-calm voice which was starting to grind at her nerves.
‘Well, you see, when a man and a wom—’ she began snarkily.
‘Hannah.’ It was a growl. ‘You know what I’m asking. I thought this wasn’t possible.’
‘I thought so too. I’ve gone most of my life knowing I would never be a mother so I thought we were fine. And that night...’ She trailed off, not wanting to relive a moment which still had the power to bring tears to her eyes.
Their last night in Melbourne was something Hannah would never, could never, forget. She had never felt a connection like that, not to a soul, not even to the man she thought she would marry. The man who had so irreparably scarred her heart. For just a moment, Matt had made her believe she could experience something deeper again but when the sun had risen and they’d had to leave for the airport she’d known she was just kidding herself. They’d barely known each other. Wasn’t his reaction now proof of that?
Matt had just been told he was going to be a father but it was as if she just dropped off a file on his desk. Something he needed the facts about and nothing more. And it tore at a piece of her. She realised now that she wanted him to think she was special in some little way and not a summer tryst to forget. She’d been stupid to come. She should have sent him a message months ago and left it at that.
‘Yes, that night when you told me this wasn’t possible. And I bought it, didn’t I?’ There was a coldness in his eyes now she didn’t recognise. ‘The question is: what do we do about it?’
It? The baby who grew inside her, who she already loved more than she could bear, was an ‘it’ to him.
