One-Amazing-Night Baby!. Heidi Rice

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СКАЧАТЬ from his hold. ‘How dare you tell your ex-lover that I’m pregnant?’

      His gaze ran over her like a belligerent hot press. ‘You can’t hide from this situation for ever, Sophie. I have as much right to share the news as you do.’

      ‘Without even consulting me first? That was nothing more than grandstanding at my expense.’

      He looked down to rip off his gloves. ‘We won’t discuss it now.’

      She knotted her arms over her waist. ‘Now who’s hiding from the situation?’

      His gaze pierced hers, and the pulse in his jaw kicked off again. ‘We were discussing where you’ll sleep from now on.’

      ‘How does my own bed at my own place sound?’ She shook her head, tears of frustration filling her eyes. ‘You’ve tried to push me around since I told you about the baby, but now you’ve gone too far.’

      He moved forward till he towered over her. His voice lowered, more gravel than steel. ‘I’ll go as far as I need. Some things are too important for compromise, and my child’s safety is one of them. You’re staying here, and you’re moving downstairs.’

      Bully. ‘No. I. Won’t.’

      Exhaling, he rushed a hand through his dark hair, then gave her a warning look. ‘I won’t argue with you, Sophie. In the morning you’ll see that I’m right—about everything.’

      He moved off towards an archway that led to the adjoining private theatre/TV room, but turned back to set a kiss on her forehead before disappearing.

      Trembling, hating his kiss but wanting it too, Sophie let out a long exhausted breath. She knew he could be over-protective, domineering. But seeing Evangeline had brought those qualities out tenfold, and she knew the deepest reason why.

      It wasn’t me. It was you.

      When she and Cooper had fallen pregnant so easily, he’d assumed that Evangeline’s difficulty in conceiving must be hers. But with his ex falling pregnant as quickly as Sophie had, the question of fertility—and infertility—had been tossed into the air again.

      Turning slowly, Sophie eyed the varnished timber, took several deep breaths, and then, lifting her peignoir skirt, ascended each stair carefully.

      Cooper had made it clear he wanted a family more than anything. It didn’t take a mind-reader to know that now he must wonder …

      Had the difficulty between he and Evangeline lain with him? Was this time—this baby—a fluke? No doubt he would get a specialist’s opinion, but Sophie doubted he would get it next week.

      Cooper had a light side, but ultimately he was a man who possessed determination. He’d funnel all his energies into making certain this baby was born safe and healthy. Incorporated into that objective would be his resolve to continue to keep this child under his watchful eye and protection.

      From the top of the stairs, Sophie gazed down at the soft flicker of the television dancing across the timber floor below.

      A part of her couldn’t help but sympathise with Cooper. Tonight had been a shock. But, damn it all, even if he did have a point about the stairs, it didn’t mean he had the right to bring down the law and expect her to jump.

      Removing her drop earrings, she headed for her room.

      Tonight she would let him unwind.

      Tomorrow she needed to decide whether it was time to call this charade off.

      CHAPTER NINE

      SOPHIE woke the next morning feeling awful. She’d barely managed any sleep. Her mind had been a tumult of revolving conversations from the previous night. Most particularly those final moments with Cooper.

      Dragging her feet, she showered, dressed in a baggy jumper and jeans, and for the hundredth time contemplated how best to handle the scene that would no doubt confront her this morning. She was not prepared to bow to Cooper’s demands. She’d been crazy to accept this challenge in the first place. Never again would she be made to feel as if her opinion didn’t count. As if she didn’t count.

      She opened her bedroom door, her heart physically aching. She would remain strong. This was over. Hell, it had been over before it began. And, no matter how much Cooper wanted to control the situation, there was nothing he could do to make her stay. She’d been here less than forty-eight hours, and already the shells were falling. This house would turn into a war zone if she stayed any longer. And what about her unborn child? Playing house and pretending things could be different were not conducive to maintaining a healthy pregnancy. The baby’s well-being must come first.

      Before she tracked Cooper down, she smelled pancakes—fresh, hot, baking now. The aroma, and her empty stomach, tugged her straight into the kitchen. By the hotplates set in a huge island bench stood Cooper, dressed in worn jeans, and an unbuttoned white shirt, and with bed hair that looked ten times sexier than his usual neat style.

      In the middle of flipping a pancake, he must have sensed her there and glanced over. Their eyes met and his Adam’s apple bobbed. ‘Hi.’

      Sophie swallowed hard. She’d had every intention of telling him this was over, that she was going now and calling a cab. How dared he pull this on her? How dared he look so vulnerable, yet more masculine than she’d ever seen him?

      He nudged his bristled chin at the bottle of sauce on the counter. ‘Chocolate,’ he said. ‘Hope you’re hungry.’

      A lump swelled in her throat. ‘If this is supposed to be an apology, it won’t work.’ Hell, she almost meant it.

      He left the pancake cooking and moved towards her, his gait fluid, his broad shoulders rolling. Her skin flashed hot and her stomach tied in one big aching knot when he didn’t stop until his body touched hers and his large hands cupped her face. God, he smelled good. She’d take his musk over pancakes any day.

      She shook herself back.

      No! She had to leave before this overpowering attraction crushed her spirit totally.

      She tried to weave away from him. The muscles in his arms and chest bunched and flexed as he held her firm. His skin was steamy, his exposed torso uncompromisingly hard.

      He tipped her chin up to have her look into his eyes. ‘I’m going to say something.’

      She wanted to block her ears against the hypnotic rumble of his voice. ‘We said all there is to say last night.’ He’d embarrassed her, then ordered her to obey his demand that she sleep where he saw fit. Suffocating emotion burned her throat. ‘I’m not a child, and I won’t be treated like one—not by anyone, not for any reason.’

      She almost saw it … the former Sophie waving goodbye and stepping back for ever. No matter how much she wanted Cooper to overwhelm and kiss her—and, yes, beg her to stay—she simply couldn’t.

      ‘I won’t apologise,’ he said, in the rich deep timbre that sent ripples lapping up her spine. ‘Not about you moving downstairs. You don’t want to hear it, but I’m right. If you slip and lose the baby you’d never forgive yourself, and I would never forgive myself for not protecting you both.’

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