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‘What? Come again?’
Their eyes tangled and Maude could see his puzzlement. Why else would she possibly have arranged this meeting if not to coerce herself back into his life?
Yet she could see why he thought as he did. There had been no need for her to sit through the past forty minutes of him telling her that he wanted her back, and she was ashamed that she felt something warm and satisfying inside at the thought that he still wanted her, still desired her. Nothing to do with love, of course, because that was not what they had ever been about. He had stated that boldly and clearly.
Yet how wonderful it felt to be wanted by him... To have those husky words wash over her, reminding her of how they had made one another feel, how he had madeherfeel—alive for the first time in her life, a woman encouraged to enjoy her sexual appetites with a man who couldn’t get enough of them.
Surely she was only human in greedily wanting to take those titbits and hold onto them for a bit?
‘Mateo, I’m pregnant,’ she said flatly and watched as the colour drained from his face.
‘Sorry, I don’t think I quite caught that.’
‘I’m having a baby. That’s why I arranged to see you.’
‘But...no. That isn’t possible. It can’t be.No.Impossible!’
He flung himself back and raked his fingers through his hair, and for a few seconds he looked away from her and stared blindly over to the bar. Maude read that as the reaction of a guy desperately trying to find a way out of a nightmare he hadn’t invited.
She felt for him. She knew that this was the last thing in the world he would have expected to hear and, even as those words had left her lips, she knew that they would shatter the world as he had knew it.
But not for a single second had she considerednotsaying anything to him. That would have been utterly unfair. How he dealt with the news would be up to him, but she had to let him know, in a hurry, that she hadn’t dropped this bombshell to mess up his life.
‘How could that have happened? How? I was careful...’
‘There were a couple of times,’ Maude murmured, ‘When being careful wasn’t top of the agenda. In the early hours of the morning. I didn’t make a note of dates and times but I’m sure you can remember...’
‘It felt like a dream, that one time...twice...’ Mateo muttered. ‘This can’t be happening.’
‘I came here because it was the right thing to do, not because I want anything from you.’
‘I’m not following you.’ Mateo frowned. Everything felt disjointed. He looked at her. What he saw was a woman with his baby inside her, and it was tearing him apart, because a child had never been in his game plan. Buthischild! He could barely follow what she was saying.
‘I won’t need rescuing,’ Maude said gently. ‘I know this has probably blown your world apart, but don’t think that you owe me anything. Neither of us is to blame. In the heat of the moment, things happen, and sometimes those things have consequences that are unexpected.’
‘I can’t believe this is happening. When did you find out?’
‘A week ago.’
‘You’ve known about this fora week? And it took you that long to make your way here?’
The incredulous condemnation in his voice made her hackles rise and she narrowed her eyes.
‘I was adjusting to the situation myself,’ she said coolly. ‘Your world’s been tilted on its axis but so has mine. You’re not the only one who’s been knocked for six, Mateo.’
‘No,’ he apologised roughly. ‘I get that.’
‘The point I’m making is that I don’t need anything from you. I can manage financially and I can make a loving and rock-solid background for this baby.’
‘I really can’t believe I’m hearing this.’
‘How many times do I have to tell you that mistakes happen?’ she said, patience wearing thin, because there were only so many times she could listen to him try and pretend she hadn’t said what she had.
‘Not that,’ Mateo returned with driven urgency. ‘What I can’t believe is that you actually think that I’m the kind of guy who would walk away from taking responsibility for a child I fathered, with or without planning.’A baby...a child.A different world opened up at his feet, and in that world nothing obeyed the laws that had always guided his life choices.
‘Well...’ Maude went bright red. ‘Of course I expect you might want to...take an active part in his or her life...’
‘That’s very noble-minded of you.’ He rallied even though his head was still spinning.
