Having Leo's Child. Emma Darcy

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СКАЧАТЬ mature outlook, that was probably only chemistry. After all, she didn’t know him through and through. Only that he was nice to people, nice to her, fun to be with, and great in bed.

      Both Dylan and Mel liked him but that was a manto-man thing. Leo, in their opinion, was a good guy. However, not one of them had any claim on him. Leo breezed in and out and he was much more out than in. Even so, was she really ready to say goodbye to him?

      She’d been able to think much more clearly this afternoon. Somehow, Leo’s being here, hitting her with so much vital attraction again, completely muddled her.

      “Teri...customer leaving,” Dylan called out.

      She hastily pasted a smile on her face and went to handle the departing customer’s payment for dinner. Leo was at the serving counter and Dylan was transferring the lamb kebabs from the grill to a plate that was already piled up with various salads chosen from the buffet table. Teri managed the money transaction smoothly, bade good-night to the family of four who appeared well satisfied, then went through the routine of weighing Leo’s main meal.

      “Join me now?” he pressed hopefully.

      “Sure she can,” Dylan popped in. “The grill’s off for the night so I can handle the cash takings and Mel will do the rest.”

      A birthday conspiracy, Teri concluded, which was really nice, but not exactly timely when she wasn’t ready for the outcome. “Something I’ve got to do upstairs first,” she quickly excused. “Sure you don’t mind filling in for me, Dylan?”

      He grinned. “Piece of cake.”

      “You look perfect as you are,” Leo remarked warmly, his eyes more than warm. The fire of desire was well and truly kindled.

      She gave him a droll look. “If you think I’m going to titivate for you...”

      He laughed. “That’s what I love about you, Teri. Always au naturel.”

      “Hmmph,” she said, and feeling a blush coming on, made a swift exit.

      Love...she ruminated frenziedly over that as she headed upstairs. It was most probably a throwaway word, she argued, like Leo saying he loved Dylan’s sauce. He couldn’t mean he actually loved her.

      Was real love ever held at the kind of distance Leo kept? Not in Teri’s understanding of it. However, tagged on to the au naturel remark, it made sense. Oh yes! No doubt about how much he loved tangling with her naked.

      And she loved tangling with him naked!

      Which was what was making everything so difficult.

      She reached her small and rather cluttered living room and raced over to the mantelpiece where she’d lined up her birthday cards. If...if she invited Leo upstairs tonight, she didn’t want him to see them, didn’t want him asking how old she was or bringing out the telling fact that neither of them knew each other’s birthdays.

      She bundled them up and was about to shove them into the drawer of her writing desk, when the one on top caused her to pause. It was the big pink flowery one from her parents with the gold inscription—To Our Darling Daughter.

      A daughter...

      She hadn’t thought past...baby. Even a baby wasn’t quite real to her yet, not enough to put either sex to it. A daughter...or a son...her heart turned over.

      Slowly, she laid the cards in the drawer and slid it shut. Then she turned around and leaned back against the desk, her hands creeping up to spread across her flat stomach. As flat as it was, a baby was somewhere in there growing...a little girl or boy...her child...Leo’s child.

      She had to tell him.

      And it had to be done tonight.

      Impossible to make love with this huge secret swimming around in her mind, Leo touching her where their child was actually forming, not knowing about it.

      The decision was very clear.

      She was ready now...ready to tell Leo she was having his child.

      CHAPTER FIVE

      IT STARTLED Teri to see the dining room almost empty when she returned. There were only two couples left, eating their choice of sweets. Dylan was cleaning the grill and Mel was chatting with Leo who’d obviously finished his main course since Mel had cleared his table. A glance at her watch showed 9:15. Time had flown since Leo had arrived.

      “Ah, here you are!” Mel said with satisfaction, and held out the chair opposite Leo’s for her.

      “Thanks,” she said, her eyes quizzing this unanticipated gesture of gallantry from her teenage employee.

      Mel grinned. “No problem. Leave you to it now.”

      Teri rolled her eyes to Leo who looked most amused at this little byplay. “Why do I feel I’m being pushed at you tonight? Are they up to no good behind my back?” she dryly remarked.

      He laughed, his eyes twinkling like brilliant sunshine on blue water. “They like you, Teri. They like working for you. You make this a good place to be. They want to give you some time off. That’s all.”

      She sighed. Leo really was a gorgeous man. “You know you’ve never told me how many people work for you.”

      He had explained his business as software conversions, but Teri hadn’t probed much, not wanting Leo to think she was interested in how big his income was. That didn’t matter to her. However, she needed a safe, impersonal kind of conversation until they were absolutely alone together.

      He shrugged. “Small team. Four crack computer programmers and one administrative assistant.”

      “Any females?”

      “The assistant.” He gave a crooked little smile. “Mavis is in her early fifties, frighteningly efficient while sort of mother-henning the rest of us.”

      She hadn’t been checking out possible female competition, but it was interesting to know the kind of woman he’d hired. “Do you prefer your programmers to be men?” she asked, aware there were many women in computer fields these days.

      Something negative flicked across his face. “It’s easier,” he said flatly.

      “How so?” she asked curiously.

      He sighed. “You’ll probably accuse me of being some kind of male chauvinist, but the truth is most whiz-bang computer programmers are fairly young and a lot of young women trade off their sex appeal.” An icy hardness flashed into his eyes. “They can bring tensions into a workplace I simply don’t want. Guys start competing for their attention and an atmosphere of camaraderie is suddenly shot to pieces. It’s just better avoided.”

      “You’ve seen this happen?” Teri asked, uneasy with his explanation which did smack of male bias.

      He nodded. “Married women are usually okay but unmarried ones can play havoc with productivity and team spirit.”

      So it wasn’t exactly a bias against women, more a pragmatic choice to guard against hormone СКАЧАТЬ