“Hello, Meg.”

She froze. His voice was unmistakable, low and smooth, awakening her body to long-suppressed reactions. Jake, her Jake. Her heart skipped a beat. She’d thought she’d never hear that voice again. She wasn’t sure whether to cry or scream. She looked up.

His eyes bored into hers. Green eyes that tore at her heart, and she had the perverse urge to leap into his strong arms and hold him. But there was too much between them to embrace him, too much to even move. He was part of the past and there was no way she’d let him or any other man into her heart again, just to break it.

He turned to Meg’s best friend, Suzie. “Jacob Adams. I’m Meg’s—”

“Friend.” Meg found her voice. “An old friend….”

We’re delighted to present a fresh new talent for Harlequin Romance®

DARCY MAGUIRE

We hope you enjoy Darcy’s first novel, Her Marriage Secret. This is the emotional story of Meg, whose life is disrupted by the arrival of her handsome estranged husband….

Darcy Maguire wanted to grow up to be a fairy, but her wings never grew, her magic never worked and her life was no fairy tale. But one thing she knew for certain was that she was going to find her soul mate and live happily ever after. Darcy found her dark and handsome hero on a blind date, married him a year later and found that love truly is the soul of creativity. With four children too young to play matchmaker for (yet!) Darcy satisfies the romantic in her by finding true love for her fictional characters. It was this passion for romance, and her ability to sit in a chair every day, that led to her first sale. Darcy lives in Melbourne, Australia, and loves to read widely, sew and sneak off to the movies without the kids.

Darcy Maguire’s second novel, Accidental Bride

Her Marriage Secret
Darcy Maguire

www.millsandboon.co.uk

CONTENTS

PROLOGUE

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

PROLOGUE

THE house was dark.

Jake quickened his pace, tightening his grip on his case as he moved through the shadows. She should be home. It was too early to be asleep. An unusual time to be shopping. She wouldn’t be out on a Tuesday night…

His heart hammered in his chest, drumming against his ribs, deafening his thoughts as he fumbled for the keys.

He paused. Took a deep breath. Plucked the right key from the bunch and shoved it in the lock.

Jake pushed open the door and felt the cold emptiness of the house envelop him. Fear gripped him. Where was she?

He moved quickly through the house, flicking the switches, flooding the rooms with light. The place was neat, cool, tidy. He swiped a finger along the kitchen bench and examined the fine layer of dust on the tip of it. Jake shuddered.

He yanked his mobile from his belt and punched Danny’s number. The painful knot of fear in the pit of his gut swelled with every ring.

‘You’re back,’ Danny said.

‘Where is she?’ His voice cracked.

A pause. ‘I’ll come round.’ And Danny rang off.

Jake dialled again, getting a message service. What the hell was going on? What couldn’t Dan tell him over the phone?

He ran a hand through his hair. If something had happened to Meg, Danny could have rung him. He always had his mobile with him. Icy fingers squeezed his chest. Why the hell hadn’t Danny rung him?

Jake clenched his fists by his sides. She was his life, his reason for being. What the hell had happened? He snatched the phone book up and slammed it onto the bench, rifled the pages for hospitals.

‘You won’t find her in there.’ Danny’s voice was slow and gentle.

Jake swung around. Danny stood in the doorway, his hands in his pockets, his shoulders hunched, his face dour.

‘What is it? What’s happened to Meg? Where is she?’

‘She’s gone.’

Gone. His legs shook under him and he sank into the nearest chair. ‘What do you mean gone? Gone where? How?’

‘She left you three weeks ago.’

‘What?’ His voice broke and he covered his mouth with his hand, rubbing his bristles. This couldn’t be happening. Not to them. Not to him. Not after all he knew. He was never going to muck up his life like his parents had.

‘She packed up and left you.’

‘I don’t understand.’ The words choked him. He did everything right, didn’t he? Sure, he was away a lot. He was working hard for the security of owning their own home. Which was more than his own father ever had…half-sloshed in the front lounge and out of work until he walked out the door one day and didn’t come back.

Danny touched him on the shoulder. ‘She didn’t love you, mate, that’s all.’

‘That’s all?’ The words burst from his throat. How could it be? They were like music together. His loins heated at the memory of her.

‘You shouldn’t have swept her off her feet like that, so soon after her dad dying and all.’ Danny stalked to the door. ‘You didn’t deserve her.’

Jake lifted his head.

‘You weren’t good enough for her, mate.’ Danny stood tall and rigid, glaring at him. ‘You took her at a vulnerable time but now she’s woken up to her senses. She wants a life that doesn’t include you.’

‘How do you know that?’

‘Apart from being here when you weren’t?’ He shifted his weight and looked at the floor. ‘Because I love her.’

‘What?’ Jake stood up and reduced the distance between them in a heartbeat, his blood surging with fury.

Danny quailed. ‘I didn’t tell Meg. Truly, I didn’t.’ He looked to the door. ‘I wish I had.’

Pain branded Jake deep in the chest. ‘Get out!’

The man who had been his best mate for as long as he could remember turned away from him like a stranger and melted into the shadows.

Jake blindly stumbled to the mantelpiece, his breath coming harsh and hard. He reached out, touching the photos, tracing Meg’s smiling eyes, her soft lips, her silky blonde hair that used to drape over his chest as she slept.

So he wasn’t what she wanted.

Regrets assailed him. Yes. He’d done a lot wrong. Too fast. Too busy. Too blind. He looked to the door and it was all he could do not to go after her. But it wouldn’t change anything. He was still the man he was.

Jake sat in lonely silence, his thoughts jagged, painful. A bitter battle raged between his own desires and the needs of the woman he loved with all his heart and soul.

There was only one decision to make. He was going to become his own man, become more civilised, become the man that would win Meg’s heart. And then he’d find her, make her his…and never let her go.

CHAPTER ONE

‘WOW, would you get a load of that one?’ Suzie gestured wildly. ‘He’s a 9.9 on the male Richter scale!’

Megan James turned in her seat and smiled at her best friend’s enthusiasm. She scanned the busy Melbourne restaurant obligingly, perusing the suited men that crowded the place. Suzie sure knew how to pick restaurants for single women to have lunch in—there had to be at least ten men for every woman, and the added bonus of the very virile, handsome Italian waiters.

‘The tourist.’ Suzie pointed to the well-built man at the bar.

His casual attire made him stick out among the businessmen. He was tall, broad-shouldered, slim-hipped and long-legged. A tailor’s delight. It would have been nice to design that shirt and trousers around his body.

A warm tingle caressed her spine. He certainly radiated ‘wrap your arms around me’. Meg sighed. So he had a nice body, but nothing outstanding she could see that would elicit such a response from Suzie—except his taste in clothes. But then, she couldn’t see his face.

Suzie nudged her. ‘Well?’

Meg shrugged and pushed a strand of her short blonde hair back from her face. ‘I can’t even see him properly. He could have a face like—’

He turned towards them as if on cue. His vivid green eyes scanned the room with a casual indifference.

Meg’s stomach clenched tight. He was clean-shaven, his strong jawline giving his features a power that she’d forgotten. His dark hair was cut short now, but there was no mistaking him; his ruggedly handsome face was all too familiar.

Meg grabbed the menu she’d left idle in front of her and slapped it to her face, her heart thudding fiercely.

‘What are you doing? Have you gone crazy, Meg?’

‘We’ve got to get out of here,’ she whispered shakily from behind the menu. Meg’s mind tumbled around in confusion. How could he have found her after all this time? It had to be coincidence.

Desire pulsed hot through her veins, bringing a deep low ache to her body, enticing her mind into fantasies of what they’d shared once, long ago.

Damn him. She was still as disturbed by him as she had been three years ago. And now he was here. She shook off her body’s traitorous response. She’d always told herself that if he came looking for her it would be out of obligation, but as the days, weeks and then months had gone by, and he hadn’t turned up, she’d concluded soberly that she hadn’t meant anything to him. She’d been a notch for his ego with a dose of obligation thrown in—nothing more.

‘Why?’ Suzie sounded bewildered. ‘Don’t you like him? You’d look great together, and he’s definitely loaded. He’s perfect for you.’

‘Believe me, he’s not.’ Meg lowered the menu slightly to see her over-zealous friend ogling the man she could only label as an ordeal personified. The man who had sent her whole life awry.

‘Come on, Meg. Gosh, you sound like some old prude. He looks like the perfect stranger to me.’

He’s not a stranger—and he’s far from perfect! she wanted to yell. For years Meg had fostered a crush on him. Years of teenage fantasies about the boy next door falling in love with her. Time had dragged by until the day when he’d come back from overseas and had set to seducing her. It had been all her dreams come true and she’d been so keen to believe every word he’d uttered, every touch and every kiss.

Blood pooled in her cheeks. He hadn’t needed to try very hard. She’d been a young, naive idiot to think there could’ve been anything between them—anything serious, anything that would stand the test of time.

‘Come on, Meg. You’re being silly.’ Suzie cast a long look in his direction.

Meg could see the admiration in Suzie’s eyes. Almost a mirror of what she must have looked like years ago. She slapped Suzie on the arm. ‘With a look like that he’ll come over!’ If he did she’d just die. How could she look at him after all that had happened between them? Guilt assailed her. For the running, for the hiding, and for the secret that hung heavily in the base of her stomach.

Suzie frowned. ‘That’s the point. You’ve got to get a guy in your life. There’s more to life than work. I could go over and get him to—’

Meg’s hand flew out and grabbed Suzie’s wrist. ‘Don’t you dare!’ The look of shock on her friend’s face snapped her back to reality. ‘I’m sorry.’ She tried to slow her breathing. ‘I know him, okay, and it didn’t work out.’ That was an understatement!

Suzie recovered quickly. ‘Can I go over, then, and have a go at him?’ She pulled her long auburn hair over her shoulders, arranging it over her chest to look as though she had just fallen out of a fashion magazine. ‘Could you introduce me? What’s his name?’

‘No, you can’t go over.’ A wave of unfamiliar emotion swept over her. She froze. She couldn’t still feel for him? After all the pain he’d caused her? After all this time?

Meg gritted her teeth. She was annoyed at her idiocy. It was over, she proclaimed to herself—as she’d done many times before. So Suzie was welcome to him. As long as she didn’t bring him anywhere near her.

‘Jake.’ His name slipped from her lips. A name she’d scrawled over her textbooks, over her heart. Etched in, refusing to budge no matter how much she had tried to rid his memory from her life. ‘His name is Jacob.’

Jacob. The young boy next door who had intruded constantly on her time with her father. Her father’s dust-covered four-wheel drive would pull up in the driveway and Jake would be over the fence and next to Dad in a flash. She’d hated him at first—stealing her father’s attention, listening to her dad’s exploits in New Guinea, in Saudi Arabia and in the Australian outback with more enthusiasm and gusto than she could manage. He would gasp about the monstrous earth-moving equipment Dad had worked around and brag how he would do the same when he grew up. Her dad had loved the attention.

The gangly boy next door had hung around for years, idolising her father whenever he deemed to make an appearance in her life. And slowly her anger at this boy had turned to a puppy love that grew into a giant infatuation scored into her heart. Even when Jake had followed in her father’s footsteps, becoming another strong, macho construction supervisor, her feelings hadn’t changed.

She raised the menu again to hide the rush of emotion, the sorrow, and the grief. The pain was still raw, as if a half-healed wound had been gouged anew by his presence. She should have known better than to trust him in the first place. She should have stuck with hating him—she would have been safe then.

Meg held her breath as she heard the heavy footfalls come closer, felt the rush of air across her bare arm as someone passed by. She could hear him stop, could feel him close. Her throat ached at the irony of meeting Jake here, out of the blue and without warning. What was she going to say to him?

She felt his hand on the menu, tugging it. She held firm.

‘Signorina, please,’ said a deep-accented baritone. ‘You eat your minestrone now. I have your order. I take the menu.’

Meg’s relief was palpable. She loosened her grip on the menu and it was swept from her hands. Her eyes followed the departing shield as the waiter proceeded to the next table. She wasn’t ready for Jake to see her—to come over, to talk to her after years of emptiness.

Her eyes leapt to the neatly arranged table. The cutlery wasn’t going to be useful, neither was the vase of flowers, and her soup bowl was out of the question—steaming hot and aromatic.

‘Hello, Meg.’

She froze. His voice was unmistakable, low and smooth, awakening her body to long-suppressed reactions. Jake. Her Jake. Her heart skipped a beat. She’d thought she’d never hear that voice again. She wasn’t sure whether to cry or scream. She looked up.

His eyes bored into hers. Green eyes that tore at her heart. She had the perverse urge to leap into his strong arms and hold him.

Jake stood tall in front of her table, looking tough, his muscles rippling under his cream designer shirt. The years had been kind to him. His features had matured from the smooth and boyish she’d known to the ‘seasoned by the world’, devilishly handsome face that was now right in front of her.

She sat frozen in her seat. There was too much between them for her to embrace him, too much even to move. He was part of the past and there was no way she’d let him or any other man into her heart again just to break it.

Jake pulled a chair to the table. ‘May I?’ He carried himself with a new, commanding air of authority. ‘You’re looking well, Meg.’

She nodded, afraid her voice would betray her if she used it. The scent of his aftershave tormented her with memories of their times together, and hearing her name on his lips was a torture she’d thought she’d never have to endure again.

He turned to Suzie. ‘Jacob Adams. I’m Meg’s—’

‘Friend.’ Meg found her voice. ‘An old friend.’ She gave him a hostile glare. How dared he think he could walk in here and take over? Tell the whole world who he was and what she was to him?

‘You don’t look that old to me.’ Suzie leant her elbows onto the table and rested her chin on her hands. Her friend’s hazel eyes glinted and her cherry lips were conspicuously seductive.

Meg squirmed. Suzie was going all out. She had no idea that this guy had no concept of commitment. She knew it only too well—she’d learnt it the hard way.

‘I’m old enough.’ Jake held Suzie’s look a moment longer than was necessary. He turned to Meg. ‘I hear you’re quite a success. I never knew you were going into fashion.’

It was strange to hear him talk so calmly, so familiarly to her, as if there hadn’t been an altercation between them at all. She forced her lips to move. ‘There was a lot you didn’t know about me.’

‘You didn’t give me a chance.’

‘It wasn’t like you were planning to stick around to find out anything.’ The day she’d found that oneway plane ticket to Delhi had clinched it. It wasn’t going to work if he was going to disappear on her again and again, just like her father had.

‘You didn’t know that.’

‘Yes, I did. I knew a lot more than you gave me credit for.’

His eyes darkened. ‘I couldn’t just walk away from work.’

‘You could walk away from me,’ she bit out, glaring at him. ‘But then I wasn’t very high on your list of priorities, was I?’

‘You were provided for.’ He spoke without a hint of emotion. ‘You had everything you could possibly need.’

Not everything, she thought bitterly. Not him. Not the love she needed and deserved. She’d rather go to hell and back than live without love in her life again. She wanted a different life for herself than the one her father had given her. Very different.

‘Hey!’ Suzie waved her hands between them. ‘Truce. What the hell went on between you two?’

‘Absolutely nothing.’ Meg felt as though her dormant wits had finally returned. She rose from the table. She had nothing to say or prove. Her life was perfect. She didn’t need Mr Jacob Adams for anything. ‘If you’ll excuse me, I’m not hungry any more.’

Jake stood abruptly. ‘You can’t leave without giving me some answers.’

‘Watch me.’ Meg sauntered out, holding her breath, fighting against an avalanche of emotion, struggling to hold back the tears that stung behind her eyes.

She wasn’t going to let Jacob Adams back into her heart or her life. He’d done enough damage the first time round.

CHAPTER TWO

THE vibrant displays in Meg’s shopfront window went unnoticed for the first time. Even her assistants passed in a blur, their voices incoherent as Meg contemplated her conversation with Jake. She was already rehashing it in her mind, wishing she’d said things differently or not at all. If only the waiter had let her keep the menu…But she knew that she couldn’t have kept hiding for ever.

She pushed open the door to her private office. The large mahogany desk set against the pastel colours of the walls, the floral cushions adorning the cream sofa and the polished timber floor she had dreamt of for ages now all seemed meaningless. What had he done to her? Usually she found joy and satisfaction in the achievement of her own boutique. She’d struggled against the world, against the odds, and won.

In the space of a couple of minutes Jake’s magnetic green eyes had penetrated her carefully constructed world and destroyed her happiness, shattering her contentment. She sank into her chair behind the desk. Why had she gone out to lunch today?

Meg grimaced at Suzie’s dedication to shoving her out into the dating scene. Meg hadn’t been very co-operative. She’d pushed herself for the last twelve months, trying to break into the exclusive designer world while juggling a hectic private life. Men, although not the last thing on her mind, were an unnecessary complication, an issue she could do without. But Suzie had other plans.

‘Meg?’ Her secretary, Joyce, tapped on the door and entered. ‘Are you all right? You look terrible.’

‘I’m fine.’ Meg stiffened. ‘Lunch just didn’t go to plan, that’s all.’ She fiddled with her pen and tried to avoid Joyce’s perceptive eyes. Joyce had been with her almost from the start, but still Meg couldn’t bring herself to tell her everything. To tell her the truth about her life.

Joyce pushed her thin-framed glasses up her nose and approached the desk. She dropped a couple of files in front of Meg. ‘Did you and Suzie have a falling out?’

Meg wished it was that easy. It was usual for Suzie and she not to see eye to eye on quite a few issues, and Suzie had the awful habit of telling Meg exactly what she thought in the bluntest way. Meg was the first to admit that Suzie was an acquired taste, but Joyce was way off the mark this time.

‘You could say that.’ Meg bit her lip. Or rather Suzie had been all for falling in while she’d fallen flat. ‘I’ll call her later.’

‘A reporter called and wanted an interview.’ Joyce straightened the papers on her desk. ‘I said I’d have to check with you.’

Meg sighed and picked up a file. It had had to come, she supposed. Her designs had done well in a fashion show last week, and it was only natural the media and the public were interested in who she was and where she’d come from. Only she wasn’t ready to tell. Not yet. ‘Can you stall him? I’m so busy at the moment.’

‘Are you sure?’ Joyce appeared unconvinced. She dithered around the room, dusting the knick-knacks Meg liked to scatter over the shelves.

‘Back to the grind,’ Meg hinted.

Joyce stopped at the door and patted her coloured hair into place before turning the handle. ‘Your one o’clock has arrived early.’

‘No worries. Send her in.’ Better to get stuck into work than dwell on Jake and her traitorous body. How could he still affect her like that?

‘It’s a him. By himself.’ Joyce closed the door.

A ‘him’ was unusual. She catered for rich women who wanted original outfits for exclusive events. In all the time she’d been in business not one man had come in on his own.

Meg stood up and smoothed down her red top, flicking the creases out of her black trousers. She positioned herself squarely behind her desk, primed to set a good first impression.

The door opened. ‘A Mr Jacob Adams,’ Joyce announced cheerily, hanging onto the doorhandle whilst admiring the visitor’s tall, well-proportioned figure as he walked in.

Meg stared dumbly at Jake.

It wasn’t as if her appointment book was empty. He’d either used his charm or his money on Joyce. Or he’d known well in advance where she was and their meeting today at the restaurant had been no accident. Meg tensed. ‘Thank you, Joyce,’ she said as calmly as she could manage.

Meg glared at Jake. How long had he known where she was? More importantly, how much did he know? Her knees gave out from under her and she disguised her collapse into her high-backed leather chair with as much dignity and grace as she could muster.

The door closed and she leant forward. ‘What the blazes are you doing here?’ She willed her weakness to vanish so she could come out of her corner fighting. There was no way she was coming out of this second best.

Jake stood there casually, looking as strong and confident on her turf as he would anywhere, she guessed. He carried with him an air of confidence that chafed. His hair seemed a little more ruffled and he’d opened another button on his shirt since lunch, revealing the light scattering of chest hair that she’d used to coil her fingers in.

He strode towards her. ‘I want answers.’

‘Well, get used to living with disappointment.’ She stood up, to feel less intimidated by his height, his breadth, his power. Her legs held.

What gave him the right to come and demand anything? He had chosen what was important to him and it wasn’t her. She had gone on without him, managing quite well, on and off. ‘What did you do? Bribe my secretary or use your deadly charm on her?’

‘Neither.’ He shoved his hands into his pockets. ‘I did it the old-fashioned way—I made an appointment over the phone three days ago.’

She pressed her lips together and swallowed the rumble of distrust in her belly. It wasn’t coincidence that she’d met him at the restaurant. ‘You haven’t been following me, have you?’

‘Your secretary assured me that my appointment fell just before your lunch hour, Meg. I had planned to invite you to eat with me, but you’d already gone when I stopped in earlier.’

He probably couldn’t stand to wait for her as she’d done for him a million times before. Not just for minutes or hours, but day upon day, month upon month.

Meg shrugged. At least she had something to thank Suzie for—her surprise visits always sent her schedules awry, and today was the perfect day for it. Though maybe it would have been better to have met Jake in private first, rather than in the busy restaurant. At least here she could tell him exactly where to go in the least polite way.

‘So I made a few modest enquiries about your movements, and—’ He ran his eyes over her. ‘You know the rest.’

Meg walked over to her cabinet. She fingered the small, intricate crystal animals—a meditative practice that had always worked before to centre her thoughts. But not today. Not with Jake standing right there in her office, barely two metres away from her. She imagined she could feel the heat of his body radiating from him. She turned to face him. ‘I want you to go.’

He covered the distance between them in a moment, his large hands wrapping around her shoulders. ‘I’ve lived long enough without answers, and I’m not leaving your side without them.’

A familiar shiver of awareness coursed through her body and she raised her head to look directly into his face. ‘I’ll call the police,’ she challenged.

His firm mouth pulled tight and his eyes bored into hers with an intensity that jolted her senses. She moistened her dry lips.

‘Go ahead. I’m sure they’ll be interested to hear that you’ve dragged them away from real cases just because you’re scared of talking to me.’

Meg tried to regain some composure, but she found it difficult even to think straight with his hands branding her arms. ‘That’s not fair.’

‘Life’s not fair.’ Amusement glinted in his eyes.

‘Tell me about it.’ It wasn’t fair he could still twist her words against her. She bit into her bottom lip fiercely. ‘You spoke to Suzie, didn’t you?’

‘Suzie was very keen to talk about you.’

Her stomach lurched. Suzie had better not have told him everything, or the world would soon be short one gossipmonger. ‘And herself, no doubt.’

‘Is that jealousy I hear, Megan J?’ He watched her intently. ‘What’s with the J anyway?’

Heat flooded her cheeks. ‘J is for James. It’s my middle name. Not that you’d remember.’ Her father hadn’t been able to bear the idea of not using his father’s name for his only child—a curse when she was young which had finally turned out a blessing when she’d decided to disappear. And it was perfect for her fashion label.

Jake’s deep green eyes were dangerously warm. ‘Meg, what went wrong?’

The tenderness in his tone shocked her. She looked to her pale ceiling. The wrenching ache in the back of her throat took her by surprise, but she wasn’t about to fall into that trap. ‘If you don’t know then you’re a bigger idiot than I thought you were.’

‘That’s unfair.’ His grip tightened and his eyes searched hers, as if probing the depths of her soul for answers to questions he couldn’t form. ‘We were young.’

It was a statement. She didn’t need to answer. She didn’t want to speak in case she broke the silence.

Meg’s ears filled with Jake’s sharp, uneven breathing. She looked into his face and the sizzling promise in his eyes scared her.

‘And now we’re all grown up.’ She twisted in his arms and struggled to free herself from his embrace before he did something stupid. ‘Can you stick around and face reality?’

He flinched. ‘You don’t think I know what’s real? While you were home I was out working in the real world. Not just tame work in some office. Out in vicious temperatures, remote wild places—it was hard. Harder than you can imagine; harder than you’ll ever have to experience.’

She stabbed her finger into his chest. ‘You have no idea what I’ve been through, Jacob Adams, and I don’t think you would know real life if you fell over it. What you described isn’t real! It sounds like some adventure a Boy Scout would go on—but when he gets home there are people there who need him to stay, not for him to find the next big adventure going.’

‘We needed money.’ His voice softened. ‘I needed to work.’ His hands relaxed their grip on her arms and he ran his thumbs gently along her skin.

Her body screamed for all the years of loneliness and neglect. She felt an unwelcome surge of excitement. Making love was the one thing in which they had been in total agreement and unison, and her loins ached at the thought. ‘I could have done with less, much less.’

He raked a hand through his dark hair and stared boldly into her eyes.

She held them.

Jake pulled her against his hard body and wrapped her in his warm embrace. She could feel his chin resting against the side of her head, hear him breathing in her perfume, her shampoo, her very essence, and her heart wrenched at the futility of it all.

She pulled back and searched his face.

He was intense, watching her lips.

Meg’s heart thudded against her ribs. The vulnerability in his eyes frightened her more than anything else.

He leant towards her and touched her lips with his. The caress was feather-light, sending her stomach into a wild swirl.

His kiss gradually deepened and she surrendered to the sensations running wild in her body. It was the goodbye kiss they’d never had.

His mouth moved over hers, devouring its softness, exploring and caressing, and a hunger attacked her. She responded like an animal, wanton and abandoned, and the pain of the past faded in the wake of the passion he was evoking in her.

She had an aching desire to retake what had once been hers, and the need overwhelmed her fears. She plundered his mouth and he responded.

He crushed her to his body.

Time melted away and it was the same as it had been. His lips and hers, dancing in unison. Electricity zinged between them like lightning, their arms and bodies interlocking in an embrace so warm, so hard, so hot that Meg could hardly breathe.

When Jake pulled back he tasted her lips again and again, as though he couldn’t get enough of her. Finally, he pulled away.

Her lips were still hungry, as her body was, and it was all she could do to stop herself crying out at his withdrawal.

The corners of Jake’s mouth twitched. He seemed to enjoy her struggle to capture her composure. ‘It’s still there, Meg.’

‘It’s not enough, Jake,’ she managed breathlessly. Her blood pounded wildly through her veins and an aching was aroused in her that she’d kept suppressed for too long. ‘I’m going home.’ She pulled out of his hold and snatched up her bag. She had to get away from him before she did something stupid.

‘Meg.’

His voice cut into her, straight to her core. She stopped.

‘You owe me a chance, Meg.’

She spun around. ‘What the hell gives you that idea?’

‘Damn it, Meg. You’re the one who ran away. I want to talk about this.’

‘I’m different and you’re—you’re…You’re you! I’ve grown up.’ She looked away to hide the truth. ‘I won’t live like that again, Jake.’ Never again.

She could barely suppress her temper. She wanted to tell him everything she’d been through, all the pain, the hurt, the loneliness, but the words died on her lips. He wasn’t any different now from the man she’d known three years ago—it would end just the same. ‘I’m not your wife any more.’

CHAPTER THREE

‘YOU may not wear my ring any more.’ Jake glanced at her bare finger and his gut lurched. ‘But we’re still married.’

Meg strode resolutely to the door and swung it wide. ‘Goodbye, Mr Adams.’ She lifted her chin in defiance.

Jake ignored the door.

She was still beautiful. Her large blue eyes and lush red lips spoke directly to his body. The spark in her voice fired his passion and her ivory skin called to him to touch her again and again.

Meg needed someone looking out for her. It could have been him if he hadn’t been blinded by work. He should’ve seen she wasn’t happy. Her leaving him like that had been confirmation of his greatest fear.

Marrying her had been right for him, but not for her. He’d taken advantage of her youth, her naivety, and paid for it with a gaping hole in his life.

But now he was back. He was worthy of her now. He had money, security, and was hell-bent on not making the same mistakes again. He was sure that, whatever her reason for leaving, he could make it right now.

Jake could barely restrain his need to make her his again. But he knew from Meg’s chilly reception that she wasn’t ready to let them pick up where they left off. She wasn’t even willing to see how much he’d changed. If only he knew why. Then he’d have some chance of sorting this all out.

A muscle quivered in his jaw. ‘I mean it, Meg. I’m not leaving your side until you tell me what happened.’

Meg crossed her arms over her soft, full breasts, her lips pressed together in a grim line.

The look on her face said it all. Jake knew it well. Hers was a look of defiance, as if she’d rather be struck dead than give in to him. He’d spent enough years coercing men to work to know he had to change tack or lose.

‘Let me start over, Meg. This has gotten all out of proportion. I came to find you so I could work out what went wrong. So…’ He paused, faltering in his course of action. She had to feel safe, see him differently. ‘So I don’t make the same mistakes with…’ His befuddled mind dredged up the name of the woman who had handled his company’s business logo and card designs. ‘With Vivian.’

Meg’s arms dropped to her sides. Her lips parted in surprise, her whole jaw slack, blank eyes staring at him.

Of all the rotten…Meg’s mind ran through a dozen expletives. The nerve! Coming to ask her to explain to him what he’d done wrong so he didn’t wreck his precious relationship with this Vivian. The only reason!

She clenched her hands by her sides. No wonder it had taken him so long to find her. He’d been waiting for a good reason. And her name was Vivian.

She walked stiffly back to her desk, moving around the expanse of timber, hoping for some barrier between them. This had had to come. She had known that it would eventually. Though she’d expected some document in the mail from his solicitor, demanding she sign divorce papers so he could marry some nameless, faceless woman. Not him in person. ‘I guess you’ll want a divorce, then.’ She ground the words out from between her teeth.

He looked taken aback for a moment. ‘Yes, of course. But I’m not going to sign anything until I understand fully what went wrong with us.’ He seated himself casually in one of her embroidered chairs and propped a foot up on his knee, exuding a calm that Meg wished she could find herself.

‘Then why the hell did you kiss me?’ She leant heavily on the desk, wishing she could spit fire and strike him down where he sat, with her eyes alone.

He shrugged matter-of-factly. ‘Habit. Sorry. Forgot who you were for a moment—I just got carried away with your lips so close, begging to be taken.’

‘They were not begging!’ She turned away, willing her cheeks to cool. She’d been acting like a total idiot. She mentally rehashed their conversation and kicked herself. He’d been harping on about wanting to know what had happened in the past, not inviting himself into her life, or her future. She took several big breaths to slow her pounding heart. Here she was trying to convince him that she was mature now and she’d been rambling like a scared child.

She managed a smile, taking her eyes off his powerful body and staring at the fabric samples on her desk. ‘I’ll be glad to discuss your failings as a husband.’ Meg revelled in the idea of doling out a serving of revenge. She gritted her teeth. She would love to bring him down a peg or two with some hard truths. ‘Let’s say dinner tonight at seven, at Vivo’s?’

‘Same place as lunchtime?’ He hesitated. ‘Okay, sure.’ He rose in one fluid motion.

‘And bring Vivian,’ Meg added, inspired. She couldn’t get into any trouble with Jake if his precious girlfriend was there. And it would be darned interesting to see whom he was making such a fuss over. Then she could put a face to the woman who could tolerate Jake’s lack of commitment.

‘Vivian?’

‘Yes. Bring along the woman you want to spend the rest of your life with.’ Her stomach twisted into a painful knot at the thought. ‘She’s the one who’d be most interested to hear what I have to say. She did come with you, didn’t she?’ Meg raised an eyebrow and held her breath. Maybe this woman was involved with him for his money and his body, not for love.

‘She’s in Brisbane.’ Jake’s voice faded, losing its strength. ‘Won’t be down until…tomorrow afternoon.’ He stopped and drew a deep breath. ‘That’s what I came in here about, actually. I wanted to check out the place for her. She wants a gown for some charity ball on the Gold Coast.’

‘Two birds with one stone?’

He shifted his weight and thrust his hands into his pockets. ‘Yeah, something like that.’

‘And do I check out?’ Meg didn’t know what to think any more. Her head felt as though it would split in half with the strain of the day’s turn of events. ‘Of course I won’t let on that you kissed me. I wouldn’t want to upset the apple cart.’ Or did she? Certainly she had some duty to let the woman know what she was getting into with Jake—she’d just have to find a way to wend his womanising ways into the conversation.

‘Thanks, I appreciate it.’

‘No worries.’ She smiled. ‘Now, if you don’t mind, I’ve got work to do.’ Like plotting revenge, or collapsing in a heap, or both.

‘Will you still come tonight?’ Jake moved towards the door with all the satisfaction of a beast that had captured its prey.

‘Sure.’ A meal with Jake couldn’t hurt, and finding out all about Vivian and making a meal of her would be exactly what her ego needed to repair some of the damage.

‘Vivian?’ Jake could almost picture her behind her desk, ebony-black hair coiled on top of her head, pristine suit, sharp eyes and pinched mouth. Nothing like Meg.

‘Yes.’

He gripped the phone tighter. ‘Jacob Adams, JAKCO Constructions. You may not remember me. We met at the golf club, you did some work for me…?’

‘Of course I do,’ she purred. ‘Jacob, how are you? How’s work going? How’s the logo? The business cards? Is my ad in the Yellow Pages working?’

He swallowed. He hadn’t needed one in the first place; he got his work from tenders out of the newspapers mostly. But he hadn’t been able to bring himself to disappoint the efficient woman. ‘Works great.’

‘Good.’ There was silence. ‘What can I do for you, then?’

He dragged air into his lungs, stewing on how to phrase his request. ‘I need your services for a week, in Melbourne. Strictly business, of course.’

‘Of course. Sounds intriguing, tell me more.’

What could he possibly say? He wasn’t about to blurt out the truth to a stranger. ‘I need a companion to avoid any misinterpretation of my actions—’

‘Does this involve a woman?’

‘Yes.’

‘And you don’t want her to get the wrong idea. I’m assuming you’ll pay for my expenses, my time away from work…?’

‘Of course.’

‘My company could bear closing its doors for the right price,’ she tittered.

Jake quoted a figure he was sure would fully compensate her for any loss of business. Money wasn’t an issue. Only Meg was, and it was blatantly obvious she felt threatened by him. If he could get her to let her guard down…

‘Are you offering anything extra?’

He racked his brain as to what more she could want. ‘Yes. You get a dress by a designer in Melbourne.’ Women loved clothes. He smiled. He should have the deal sewn up.

‘Not exactly what I was expecting, but why not? When do I start?’

Jake couldn’t help but smile as he dropped the phone into its cradle. That was one problem solved. Now he could focus all his energies in one direction only…

Meg hadn’t counted on the noisy, cluttered restaurant of lunch turning into such a romantic venue at night. The lights were dimmed, candles were lit on each cloth-covered table, and there was soft music. Couples nestled everywhere, leaning close and enjoying the atmosphere.

She held her hands together tightly, kneading them as she approached the tall figure at the bar. He wore a cream cotton shirt and dark Armani trousers, but she knew better than anyone that clothes didn’t make the man. So he dressed well, and exuded a subtle scent of cologne that invaded her nostrils and sent goosebumps all over her skin…She felt like standing there for a while and just drinking in the sight of him, but she’d tortured herself enough for one day. ‘Jake.’

He turned, his eyes running down over her, from her black silk blouse to her black loose-fitting trousers and high-heeled boots. ‘Meg. I was starting to think you weren’t coming.’ His smile widened in approval.

Her stomach fluttered and she was glad she’d resisted the urge to dress to the hilt. Although some part of her wanted to rub his face in what he’d missed out on, the other part was more than content for him to go his way with this Vivian woman and leave her and hers well enough alone. What she needed was love, and Jake wasn’t the one to give her that. Jake was a load she wasn’t willing to bear again. ‘I got caught up at home.’

His eyebrows drew together in a frown. ‘Are you involved with anyone?’

‘That’s none of your business.’

Jake cast her a quick glance. ‘I’m sure the guy would be interested to know you’re still married.’ He paused, but she didn’t respond. ‘Did you tell him you were going out with your husband?’ Jake clenched his fists. ‘He could have come too, you know.’

‘Let’s get a table, shall we?’ Meg didn’t want to get into the details of her personal life with Jake. She wasn’t about to blurt out what she’d gone through in the last three years, or who was waiting for her at home.

‘Fine.’ Jake raised a hand and signalled one of the Italian waiters. They sat down at a much-too-quiet table in a corner. Jake ordered wine and they both ordered their meal. Then he turned to her.

‘So, tell me what happened to us.’

‘Now?’ She lowered her eyes and moved uneasily in her seat. He had never been one for patience or subtlety, but she’d expected to have a chance at indigestion before she tackled that one.

‘Good a time as any.’ Jake leant on the table, reducing the space between them by precious inches. His boldly handsome face smiled warmly at her.

Meg felt her stomach curl. She’d rehearsed her story all afternoon, but it seemed to stick in her throat. She took a gulp of water from her glass. It was one thing lamenting Jake’s actions for years, another to tell him to his face how he’d broken her heart.

The wine arrived, and Meg snatched up the goblet and gulped the deep red vintage. It went down quickly, hitting her stomach with such force that Meg slapped the glass down to cover the unpleasant response. She hadn’t eaten lunch—hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast, figuring her poor belly was suffering enough with stress without adding food to it.

‘That good, hey?’ Jake teased, his wide smile sending her senses into a spin.

‘I’m sorry. I don’t know where to start.’ Her mind reeled with confusion. Where was the level-headed woman she knew so well? The one who’d coped despite all the obstacles, trials and tribulations sent her way? She had the perverse urge to run home to see if she’d left her lying out on the bed, where her clothes had been all afternoon, taunting her with what was coming.

‘Tell me anything, then. Tell me about your career.’

She was glad of the reprieve, though cautious at what he was up to with this show of civility. Meg rattled on for what seemed like ages, carefully choosing her words so she didn’t trip herself into revealing more than she wanted to. She told him lightly about how she’d eked out a meagre existence above a garage in Toorak, her main patron being her landlady, who’d believed so much in her designs that she’d advertised by word of mouth.

Meg didn’t want to harp on any of the details. It wouldn’t do her any good to fuel any sense of guilt Jake might have for what had happened in the past. If he knew what she’d been through, and how much she owed, she hated to think what he might do; his over-inflated sense of duty might run rampant, all over her well-ordered life. And the way his eyes never left her face while she talked, the way his hands gripped the edge of the table, suggested he wasn’t as calm as he was pretending to be.

‘Your landlady sounds like Winnie.’

‘Yes,’ Meg answered.

‘You miss her?’

‘Yes.’ Her father’s aunt, Winnie, had died just after Meg had begun college. She hadn’t been like a mother to her—she’d never known a mother. But Winnie had been like a very old big sister. She’d been her friend more than anything, and not afraid to tell her anything that she’d needed to know—although sometimes Meg felt she’d given Winnie more of an education about life than her great-aunt had given her.

Mostly she remembered the fairytales Winnie had told her as a child, of the princess being saved by the handsome prince, and how she was carried off to the castle in the air. Later, when Winnie’s eyesight had started to fail her, Meg would read her stories. She was glad that she’d died peacefully in her sleep; it gave her the hope that her old friend had been dreaming of her own prince when she’d left.

It had been a shock finding her there like that. And of course Dad hadn’t been there. She’d been alone. She’d had to work out all the details herself while Dad wired her the money. He hadn’t even made it to the funeral. But he’d made it to his own, only a year later.

‘How is your mother?’ Meg asked politely. Jake’s mother, Moira, had never liked her. She’d gone out of her way to make sure Meg knew how disappointed she was at Jake’s decision to marry her. Moira had looked daggers at Meg at the wedding, had ignored her totally at the reception, and had made herself conspicuously absent when Jake and Meg moved to a home of their very own.

‘She’s fine.’

‘Any more stepfathers?’

Jake shot her a dark look. ‘No.’

‘I’m sorry, that was out of line.’ Moira had gone through three husbands and several lovers. Meg was sure it was her personality that attracted them; she tended to be light and cheerful most of the time. It was the rest of the time that was the problem.

Their meal arrived and Meg tried to concentrate on the flavour of her lasagna, but its taste was lost on her. Nothing registered with her as real except Jake on the other side of the table and the strained distance between them.

What did she care anyway? That was the point, after all, she kept telling herself. All she had to do was get this over and done with and she could get back to her life. The thought echoed around in her mind. It had a hollow ring to it.

‘And how’s Danny?’ Meg was sure that he was a safe subject, if not a flamboyant one. Danny had been Jake’s best friend for as long as she could remember, sticking with him through thick and thin despite their different natures.

She could see Jake swallow hard. ‘Haven’t seen him in years.’ The indifference in his icy tone shook her. They’d been so close. She would have thought nothing could come between the two of them; they were inseparable. The times Danny would drag Jake off to the pub or to a party…

She shook herself. ‘So how’s work?’ She knew that would get a response. For Jake there was nothing more important. She swallowed another mouthful of lasagna and felt it struggle down her throat.

‘Do you really care, or are you just humouring me?’

‘Of course I’m interested to hear what adventures you’ve found yourself over the last three years.’ She felt she needed reminding of what had held a higher priority than she had, so she could crush the flutters coming from the vicinity of her heart.

Jake raised an eyebrow. ‘As you know I went to Delhi. That was for a gas pipeline. The job dragged on and when I got back you were gone. Well and truly gone.’

She could hear the bitterness in his voice and concentrated on her plate. She swallowed the brick in her throat. ‘Go on.’

He explained how he’d gone from one construction site to another, until it had all blurred into one conglomerate called work. The way Jake spoke it seemed the passion he’d once had for his work was missing. Either that or he was unwilling to share it with her. She didn’t blame him if that was the case.

Jake put down his spoon, his half-eaten gelato melting in the bowl. ‘So what happened, Meg?’

She took a big breath. ‘I didn’t want to be left alone, Jake. My father had done it long enough. I couldn’t do it again.’

‘That’s it?’

‘It was enough,’ Meg whispered hoarsely, her voice threatening to abandon her completely. She wanted to scream at him that he had no idea what it was like to be alone, to wait and then finally, when you thought you’d get some attention and love, something better came up—and it was back to the waiting. And waiting was rejection all over again. Hovering around the front window, the phone and the mailbox for any word from him.

‘Look, I don’t know whether I ever actually said it, but I’m sorry about your dad. I loved him too.’ Jake reached a hand over the table, enclosing hers in his warmth.

A delicious shudder heated Meg’s body. She looked up and her heart lurched madly at the heart-rending tenderness of his gaze.

‘I know.’ She put down the wine. ‘It must have been hard for you to be there—’ She choked on the words. She knew only too well now what had gone on in the last few minutes of her father’s life.

‘I’ll never forget that moment.’ Jake faltered. ‘When that chain slipped and that pipe fell…I’ll never forget.’

Tears sprang into her eyes and she wiped them away jerkily. That moment had changed her whole life. If Jake hadn’t been there; if her father had been standing a metre to one side; if she’d seen the truth before she’d married Jake…

She didn’t dare look at Jake. She couldn’t, just in case she broke down and told him everything—opening herself up again to him and paying for it later.

The silence between them hung heavily, becoming harder and harder to penetrate as the minutes ticked by. Meg’s mind fumbled for something to say. Anything to say.

‘So when is Vivian arriving?’ she blurted.

Jake snapped his eyes to hers, then fixed them on the bill on the table. ‘Oh, um…at six…tomorrow evening.’ He dropped some notes onto the bill and stood up.

‘I’ll make an appointment for her on Friday, then.’ Meg rose, wrapping her black cardigan around her shoulders. Pain squeezed her heart at how easily she’d been replaced in his life—if she’d ever been a part of it at all.

He put a hand around her shoulder, letting it drop to the small of her back as he steered her out of the restaurant.

The touch of his hand was almost unbearable in its gentleness, reminding her again of all she’d lost.

‘I’ll take you home.’

‘No!’ The last thing she wanted was Jake anywhere near her house. ‘I’m fine. I don’t live far. A taxi is fine.’

‘If it’s not far, then there’s no argument.’ His voice was firm, final, and he showed no sign of relenting as he nudged her towards the parked cars.

They walked down the footpath and Meg’s mind rattled around in circles. Mixed feelings surged through her. Half of her wanted to heave the hard truth from her shoulders onto his; the other wanted nothing more than to crawl into her bed and wait until he was gone again.

Jake stopped beside a black BMW.

Meg was surprised. ‘No four-wheel drive?’

‘I’m not your father, Meg.’ His expression darkened with an unreadable emotion.

Meg looked away. She knew that! Every inch of her knew that. How was she going to survive the drive with him when already the tension between them was making her ill?

He opened the door for her and she slipped into the car. The heady new leather smell hit her first, and then the opulence of what appeared to be a brand-new car. The seat cushioned her perfectly, and the dashboard was a myriad of controls that blurred into insignificance as Jake claimed the driver’s seat beside her.

The spacious car suddenly felt cramped. The leather scent mingled with the scent of his spicy cologne, igniting Meg’s senses, reminding her body of what it had once known, what was so close to her again.

She breathed slowly, willing herself to keep her attention away from him, away from his muscled thighs so close to her. The fabric of his trousers stretched taut as he worked the clutch, gunning the motor to life and slipping the car into motion. One hand held the wheel, the other was on the stick shift…large hands and long fingers that Meg recalled being as gentle and persuasive as they were hard and strong.

The journey seemed to take for ever. When he finally pulled up outside the terraced house she couldn’t help but expel her breath in relief.

‘My driving that bad, is it?’

‘I’m sorry.’ She could feel the heat rise in her cheeks. He must think her an idiot. ‘Not used to it, I guess.’ Better to let him think he was a crazed driver than for him to know how much her body longed for him.

Jake cast a long look over his shoulder and ahead, down the dimly lit, deserted street, and then at her home. ‘I’ll walk you to your door.’

‘Thanks, but I’m fine. I can get to my own door without help.’ She could see there was a light on through the lacy curtains of the front windows. The outside light shone onto the intricate paintwork she’d had done to bring the worn old masterpiece back to her former glory. The house was brick but all the trims were timber, now a glorious rich cream.

‘A gentleman wouldn’t have a lady go to her door alone in the dark.’

‘What gentleman?’ she scoffed, trying to lighten the mood between them. ‘I don’t see one.’ She looked around the pristine car, and outside, up and down the quiet street, wishing fervently that Jake would just let it go and drive away.

‘You’re not looking,’ he said in what sounded like all seriousness, and he alighted from the car before she could say anything else.

‘Oh, really?’ she called after him. She dug her nails into the soft leather of her handbag as Jake opened her door. ‘I can do it myself.’

‘I have no doubt of that. But I’d like to show you how my manners have improved.’ He held out his hand to her.

Meg eyed it suspiciously before surrendering hers to him. She felt the surge of blood from her fingertips to her toes—he was radiating his charm and she had to be mindful not to succumb again.

He released her and cupped his hand gently under her elbow, steering her up the shadowy path to her door.

His touch was torture; her traitorous body responded instantly with shivers down her back. ‘I’m sure Vivian is thrilled with your manners.’ Meg needed to remind him as well as herself where his loyalties lay to still her body’s frenzy.

Jake didn’t falter.

Meg crossed her fingers. Nearly there. Her heart beat faster with every step closer to her front door. She wanted desperately for him to go, to turn around right there and speed off in his car, without looking back and definitely without going any closer. But she knew it was useless. Any more argument or protest would make him suspicious.

Meg extracted her elbow from his touch as soon as she reached the doorstep. She fumbled for her keys in her bag, cursing them under her breath for being so elusive at a time like this.

‘Well, thanks for a lovely evening. I hope you didn’t mind me being honest with you.’ She hoped she sounded calm and composed.

‘Not at all. Though I sort of expected a bit more.’ He regarded her with a speculative glance. ‘Is there something you’re not telling me?’

A cry from inside made Meg cringe.

‘What was that?’ There was an edge of concern in his voice. He tilted his head and looked at her uncertainly.

‘A cat?’ Meg prayed he’d accept it and leave.

‘There’s no way that sounded like a cat.’ She could see his jaw clench in the soft light, and his eyes narrowed and bored into hers as if he could hunt for an answer in her face.

The cry sounded again, more urgent, curling Meg’s stomach into knots. ‘I share the place with a girl with a baby,’ she blurted. She shoved the key into the lock and turned it.

‘Meg?’ Jake said hesitantly.

She paused, turning to him. ‘Yes?’ she asked innocently.

The door flung wide. The young girl’s eyes were wide and full of concern, the toddler on her hip reaching out. ‘Thank God you’re back. He’s been crying for you for ages. He just won’t settle.’ She thrust the little boy into Meg’s arms, ignoring Jake next to her.

‘Mama,’ the toddler cried. He wrapped his small arms tightly around Meg and buried his face in her neck.

Meg couldn’t bring herself to look at Jake. What could she possibly say?

CHAPTER FOUR

JAKE’S mind whirled at a sickening speed. Meg so tense, making excuses…a child…this baby boy…Meg a mum…Every drop of blood seeped to the pit of his stomach.

A wild giddiness attacked him. His baby…?

He clenched his hands and tried to still the onslaught of feelings flailing around inside him. He had to think clearly, rationally, not jump to any rash assumptions.

Logic always helped him through his difficulties at work, had always worked before—there was no reason for it not to work now.

He raked his hair with his hands and eyed Meg warily. She wouldn’t have left him if she was pregnant. She wasn’t like that. Surely to God she would have told him if she was pregnant with his baby, would have known he would never turn his back on her. If he was his.

‘Meg.’ His voice was barely a whisper.

She stiffened as though he’d struck her.

‘I’ve got to get going.’ The sitter grabbed a cardigan off a chair by the door, appearing oblivious to the bombshell she’d dropped.

Meg seemed to suddenly register the young woman. She turned to her and shifted the little boy to her hip. ‘Thanks. Ring you later. About tomorrow.’

Jake barely noticed the girl step past him. He forced air into his lungs. All he could do was stare at the little bundle of human being wrapped in Meg’s arms and at the woman he’d wronged. So badly.

He should have spent more time around kids. He could do the maths in his head if only he knew how old this baby was.

One thing was for sure. She wouldn’t have had time to meet another guy, have a nine-month pregnancy, then a baby this sort of size and a business all in the time they’d been apart. He clamped down on the hot fist of pain in his gut. She couldn’t have!

Meg stepped into the hallway. The light reflected well off the high ceilings and the ornate plasterwork, lighting up Meg’s face. She was tense, almost harrowed, her brow creased and her eyes wide.

The ache was unbearable. He wanted to take her in his arms and hold her, kiss away her fears. He could make it right. He had to. ‘Where’re you going?’ His voice erupted too sharply, too demanding.

Her head snapped around. ‘Inside.’ The baby made a gurgling noise, his tiny chubby fingers gripping her tighter. Meg straightened and glared at him. ‘I don’t consider standing on the doorstep a long-term activity.’

Jake raised his hand, reaching out to her as she turned her back to him. ‘Meg?’ he pleaded. Couldn’t she see what this was doing to him?

She finally turned, halfway down the hallway. ‘You’d better come in for coffee, then.’

‘Something stronger may be a good idea.’ He tried to joke. Anything to wipe that pained expression off her face; anything to see her smile.

She glared at him. ‘I don’t keep anything stronger in the house. You could go to the pub.’

And not come back. The unspoken insinuation hit him in the chest with a disquieting resonance. He covered his response by striding into the entrance and closing the door firmly behind him. He was going to get answers. Here and now.

‘Meg?’ He sounded like a broken record and hated himself for it. ‘How old is he?’

‘Nearly two.’ Her voice shook.

His heart skittered. Why was she so upset? Surely she knew he’d love her to have had his baby? Unless…his best mate Danny had been doing a lot more than just looking out for her while he was away…

Cold fury squeezed his heart. The gaping emptiness seemed as if it would swallow him, just as it had done when he’d found Meg gone.

‘Is he—?’ He swallowed hard, the words refusing to form. ‘Is the boy—?’

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