He rol ed his shoulders and scowled. If he’d known Kit was pregnant he wouldn’t have left for Africa when he had. He’d have…
He thrust out his jaw, folded his arms. ‘I’m not leaving today. I told Kit I’d be here for her and I wil be. There are things we need to sort out.’
Caro folded her arms too. ‘You can forget it if you mean to offer her money.’
‘This is none of your damn business.’
‘Kit is my best friend. I love her. Can you say the same?’
For a moment he couldn’t utter a single word. The same suffocating shroud that had blanketed him at Frank and Doreen’s last night twisted about him now.
‘Exactly what I thought,’ she snorted. ‘You’re going to turn tail and run.’
‘I am not!’ he shot back, stung by the loathing in her voice. He’d wanted to bolt yesterday, but he was stil here now, wasn’t he? ‘And I have to pay child support. It’s a legal requirement.’ That was only honourable and right.
She stuck out a hip. ‘You’re a right piece of work, aren’t you?’
His jaw dropped.
His jaw dropped.
The next moment Caro’s face was wreathed in smiles. ‘Hey, honey-bun, you’re supposed to be in bed.’
He turned to find Kit in the doorway. She raised an eyebrow in his direction. ‘You’re stil here.’
Had she thought he’d do a runner while she was asleep? He straightened. That was exactly what she’d thought. He forced himself to grin—no stress, the doctor had said. ‘Sure I’m stil here.’ She was stil convinced he meant to abandon her.
He bit back an expletive. He wasn’t doing happy families, but he thought about that hole in her wal .
Someone had to fix it. He could fix it.
He could make sure Kit had everything she needed and that she was ready for the baby before he sailed off into the sunset.
Kit glanced from Caro to him. He did al he could to keep his expression bland. He tried not to groan when she moistened her lips.
‘What’s going on out here?’
‘Caro and I were just having a chat.’ He would not upset her. ‘You know the doctor’s orders. You want me to carry you back to bed?’
‘I’m going, I’m going. May I have a chamomile tea?’
‘Coming right up.’
Kit disappeared. Caro grabbed his arm before he reached the back door. ‘You mess with my friend and I’l come after you with a meat cleaver.’
He held the door open for her, bowed her inside.
‘Chamomile tea for you too?’
‘Ooh, lovely.’
She’d pay for that smile. He’d sweeten her tea to within an inch of its life.
But one thing had become increasingly clear—
he’d come after himself with a meat cleaver if he hurt Kit any more than he already had.
CHAPTER FIVE
‘WERE you giving Alex a hard time?’ Kit asked after Alex had delivered their teas and then beat a hasty retreat.
‘You bet.’ Caro grinned. ‘I read him the riot act.’
‘Oh, Caro!’ But Kit couldn’t help laughing as her friend kicked off her shoes and climbed up onto the bed beside her.
Caro grimaced when she took a sip of her tea.
‘I thought you liked chamomile.’
‘I do.’ Caro’s lips twitched. ‘It’s just that first sip, you know? Anyway, tel me how you are feeling.’
‘Much, much better. My temperature is back to normal and the awful cramps in my back have become a low level ache…much easier to deal with.
And I don’t feel as if I’ve been hit by a bus any more either.’ She shuddered. ‘I thought I was going to be stuck with that back pain for the next six months.’
‘Your colour is good. The antibiotics must’ve kicked in.’
‘I think the doctor is being a panic merchant,’ Kit grumbled. She almost felt whole again. ‘What am I going to do in bed for another two and a half days?’
‘It’s better to be safe than sorry.’
Which was what Alex had said when he’d brought her breakfast.
