Her Secret, His Love-Child

Recognising that she was wasting her time, Katrina stepped away from the door so fast that Alex practically fell into the apartment.

After staring at her long and hard, he looked around.

‘You live here?’

The slight emphasis he’d given the last word managed to convey exactly what he thought of the apartment. Her hackles, which were already sticking up like the needles on a porcupine after their earlier meeting, bristled some more.

Katrina followed his gaze. She had to admit the carpet needed replacing. It was threadbare in places and stained in others. The walls were also long overdue for a coat of paint.

Peter had apologized for the condition of the unit, but he’d over-extended himself when he’d bought it and was struggling to meet the mortgage repayments.

Katrina had jokingly said it was OK because it didn’t show up her furniture. It would be generous to call her stuff ‘second hand’. She was probably its third or fourth owner, each piece displaying a series of dents and scratches from each of its previous lives.

But so what?

If he looked hard enough, Alex would notice what was really important. And that was that she kept the place immaculately clean and tidy.

She tossed her head, angled her chin into the air and said coolly, ‘Yes, this is where I live. Sorry if it’s not up to your high standards, but we can’t all be as rich as you. What are you doing here, Alex? How did you find me?’

‘I’m here because you ran out on me before we finished our conversation,’ he said through clenched teeth. ‘As to finding you, that was easy. You were seen getting into a Lime Taxi. Discovering where it had dropped you didn’t take long.’

‘That’s an invasion of privacy. They had no right to tell you where I’d gone.’

‘Tell that to someone who cares.’ Alex slammed the door behind him and moved determinedly towards her.

Katrina, who had managed to stand her ground at the bank earlier in the day, backed away from him.

His eyes were a glittering, angry blue, his jaw squared with the same emotion. He also looked impossibly, wickedly handsome, and the closer he moved into her personal space the more she was aware of him.

Her heart and her pulse rate both picked up rhythm.

Her back came up against the wall that divided the small living area from the even tinier kitchen. She pressed against it, as if she could somehow go through the painted brick to the other side.

Alex planted a hand against the wall on either side of her head, effectively trapping her.

His heat and his smell were all around her.

Anxiety and awareness coursed through her, making her tremble.

‘That’s the second time you’ve run out on me. And the last. Understand?’ Alex said in a dangerously soft voice, his breath wafting across her face.

‘I didn’t run out on you,’ she said, angling her chin into the air. ‘I walked.’

He growled something completely incomprehensible under his breath. ‘Don’t split hairs. Why did you leave?’

She snatched in a breath. ‘I left because I didn’t like what you were saying.’

‘So why didn’t you just tell me that?’

‘I did. I said I wasn’t going to sign your stupid document. And I’m not,’ she added for good measure. ‘I haven’t changed my mind.’

He bared his teeth in the parody of a smile. ‘You will if you know what’s good for you.’

The threat stirred her anger to life. She welcomed the emotion because it banished her awareness of him.

‘No, I won’t.’ She dug the point of her index finger into the centre of his chest. ‘Because Sam is your daughter.’

He froze, face twisting. ‘Stop saying that. It’s not true!’

Her anger evaporated as if it had never existed. Her heart stilled then took off at a gallop. A shiver made its way down and then up her spine, setting her teeth on edge.

For the first time, she appreciated just how much Alex didn’t want it to be true.

She frowned. Surely this was more than just the normal reaction of a playboy who didn’t want to be tied down? She could practically feel the anxiety seeping out of his pores into the air surrounding them.

Something else was going on here, although she didn’t have a clue what it was.

‘Yes, Alex. It is.’

‘It’s not. It can’t be.’ Alex couldn’t hide the desperation in his voice. It was clear he was in some form of denial, which meant he was in for a rude awakening.

‘I’m afraid it is.’ She paused for a moment before playing the ace she’d hoped wouldn’t be required. ‘And I can prove it.’

He raised a dark eyebrow. ‘And just how do you plan on doing that?’

‘A DNA test will prove Sam’s paternity.’

Alex was such a logical, facts-and-figures kind of guy. He would have no choice but to believe scientific evidence.

The suggestion had clearly shocked Alex. He was staring at her as if she’d just grown three heads.

While she waited for him to say something, Katrina couldn’t stop her eyes from running over him.

There wasn’t a man alive who looked as good in a suit as Alex did. All of his clothes were handmade and fitted him like a glove. He was tall and lean, with broad shoulders, a muscled chest and long, powerful legs. The dark fabric accentuated his black hair and piercing blue eyes.

He looked elegant and sophisticated and very, very male.

Heat stirred low in her pelvis. She was nowhere near as immune to him as she liked to think she was. He’d been right when he said her eyes had eaten him up as soon as she’d burst into the boardroom. They were eating him up again now. She couldn’t seem to help herself.

And she didn’t understand why.

The way he’d treated her should have killed all of the feelings she had for him. And it had—at least on an emotional level. She hadn’t been lying when she’d told Alex she didn’t love him any more.

Because she didn’t. If anything, the reverse was true.

But, on a physical level, it was a different matter entirely.

Physically, she was as attracted to him as the day they’d first met.