Her Marriage Secret

‘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—?’