on the slow trek from the car to the house, in case she needed a hand. They both paused on the threshold. The living room looked like a bombsite, though Frank and Doreen had obviously done their best to sweep the debris into one tidy pile.
Kit picked up a note from the coffee table.
‘Doreen has left us a casserole.’ She started to turn.
‘I should pop over and thank her.’
‘I’l do that. You go to bed.’
She didn’t look at him. She glanced about the room and her shoulders slumped. One of her smal hands inched across her stomach. Alex’s chest burned. She looked so lost and alone. He touched her shoulder, but when she glanced up at him with big worry-fil ed eyes he found himself drawing her into his arms and pressing her head to the hol ow of his shoulder. ‘It’s going to be okay, Kit.’
‘You don’t know that,’ she mumbled, but she didn’t draw away.
He stroked her hair in an effort to reassure her, but found himself revel ing in her softness, in how good she smelt, instead. ‘We’l do everything the doctor says and you and your baby wil be fine.’
She stared up at him then, a frown in her eyes.
‘If the doctor had been real y worried he’d have admitted you to hospital.’
She nodded, but the frown didn’t leave her eyes.
‘What are you stil doing here, Alex?’
‘There are things we need to talk about.’ Maybe honesty would win him a measure of her trust. ‘It doesn’t matter how much I might want to leave, I can’t until we’ve thrashed some things out. But that can wait until later in the week. What’s important at the moment is for you to get better again.’
He hooked an arm under her knees and lifted her into his arms. Carrying her was easier than arguing with her.
Carrying her was divine.
‘Point me in the direction of your bedroom.’
‘Point me in the direction of your bedroom.’
She pointed to the corridor that led off the living room. ‘First door on the right.’
The moment he set foot inside it, he wanted to back out again. This bedroom, with its big wooden bed and plaid quilt in pastel shades piled decadently with cushions, was pure Kit. It reminded him of
He set her down on her bed and then backed up fast, almost fal ing over his feet in his haste. ‘You need to rest—doctor’s orders. Nothing else matters at the moment, Kit. I’l go and serve you up a plate of your aunt’s casserole.’ Even sick, she looked divine.
‘Honorary aunt. Doreen isn’t my real aunt.’
Right.
‘Alex?’
He turned in the doorway.
Her chin lifted as she met his gaze. ‘You’re going to leave us, aren’t you, me and our baby?’
Her bottom lip wobbled as the words whispered out of her. Each word pierced his flesh.
She bit her lip, maybe in an attempt to get it back under control, and then she pursed her mouth. ‘You know, Alex, I can understand you not wanting a future with me. I get that.’
She glanced away, swal owed. Her throat worked.
He wanted to close his eyes.
She turned and her gaze met his again, her eyes dark and shadowed. Confusion and turmoil chased themselves across her face. ‘But how can you turn your back on our baby?’
A weight slammed into place. He must look like a monster in her eyes.
Maybe he was.
He wanted to tel her to rest but the words wouldn’t come.
‘You don’t care what’s best for me. You don’t care what’s best for our baby. Al you care about is what’s best for you.’
She spoke almost as if to herself and her words chil ed him. He wanted to tel her she was wrong, but…
He shook himself. ‘Kit, I’m not abandoning you. I wil be staying until the weekend.’
Her lips twisted. ‘What good do you think that wil do anyone?’
He didn’t know how to answer.
She shifted slightly, her eyes suddenly glittering.
‘You know what? It might just be simpler if I make you a lump sum payment.’
‘What the hel …?’
‘For the donation of your sperm. That way, everyone knows exactly where they stand. There’l be no misunderstandings.’ She lifted her chin. ‘I’m sure you can get those fancy lawyers of yours to draft something
