Secret Heirs Collection. Коллектив авторов
was January and it had been fairly dark when he’d arrived at the gallery and, as it happened, Joanna had just been leaving for the day. She’d been alone, a long wraparound coat attempting to conceal her appearance, but Matt had known at once what it was Sophie had been trying so hard not to say.
Joanna was pregnant. And fairly well advanced if he didn’t miss his guess. But how well advanced and whose baby was it? He had a right to be suspicious, when not only had she not told him, but she knew as well as he did how singularly unsuccessful in their efforts to get pregnant they had been.
He hadn’t attempted to speak to her then. He couldn’t.
He’d had Jack drive him back to his hotel and had spent the rest of the evening getting mindlessly drunk, trying to erase the image of his wife in bed with another man.
This morning, he’d phoned Sophie, uncaring that it had been the middle of the night in New York, and expunged a little of his frustration on her. ‘Why the hell didn’t you tell me?’ He’d practically yelled the words. ‘I’d at least have been warned what to expect.’
He’d felt guilty later, and he’d phoned again and apologised for blaming her. But, God Almighty, what had he done to deserve this? he wondered. And why the hell hadn’t Joanna told him herself?
Though why should she, he argued, if it wasn’t his baby? He might be beating himself up unnecessarily over an event that had nothing to do with him. On top of which, he had the mother of all headaches, a combination of a hangover and the bitter recriminations that had kept him awake half the night.
Now he moved forward. ‘Well, let me see,’ he said, answering her question, and there wasn’t an atom of warmth in his voice. ‘I thought you might have something you wanted to tell me.’ His eyes swept insolently down her body, lingering with undisguised contempt on the bump that swelled her dress. ‘Ah, I see you do.’
The more charitable thoughts Joanna had been having about her ex-husband vanished with his words. His arrogance infuriated her.
‘Why should you presume I have anything to tell you?’ she demanded, forgetting all about the feelings of guilt she had been nurturing earlier. Her hand slid protectively over her belly. ‘I don’t believe I’ve made any claim against you.’
Matt’s eyes turned hostile. Suddenly, despite what he’d been thinking, he knew the baby was his. Joanna had never been much good at lying, and he could see the apprehension in her eyes.
‘Just when were you planning on telling me?’ he demanded, ignoring the unexpected thrill of anticipation. ‘I hate to remind you, but I do have some rights where this baby is concerned.’
Somehow Joanna found the words to defend herself. Which wasn’t easy when Matt was gazing at her with contempt in his eyes. His jaw had hardened and, in spite of everything, she couldn’t look away from him. He looked so good, she thought resentfully. His skin was deeply tanned, evidence of his change of occupation, and he’d had his hair cut shorter, exposing the strong column of his neck. Evidently, he’d been enjoying life; apparently unaware that once again he had radically changed hers.
‘I believe you’ll find that in the UK, the mother has parental rights over the father,’ she said stiffly, not realising she was virtually admitting the baby was his.
Matt’s hands curled into fists in the pockets of his jacket. She was so bloody smug, he thought angrily. Talking to him about rights when she hadn’t even had the decency to tell him she was pregnant. Because if he’d had any lingering doubts about its parentage, she’d just removed them.
Sucking in a breath, he shrugged. ‘Okay,’ he said. ‘I’ll just wait until the child is born and I can prove that I’m the father. I believe there are Parental Responsibility Orders issued by your courts that might—’
Joanna held up a hand. ‘All right, all right,’ she broke in unsteadily. ‘It’s your baby. I’m not denying it.’
‘So why wasn’t I told?’ Matt asked.
‘I—’ Joanna hesitated, not wanting to continue but knowing she had to. ‘I tried. I rang your New York apartment early one morning, as soon as I knew for certain that I was pregnant. Some—some woman answered.’
‘What woman?’ Matt scowled. ‘Did you get her name?’
‘No, I didn’t get her name.’ Joanna gasped. ‘My God, have there been so many women staying in your apartment that you don’t even know who it was?’
‘Of course not.’ Matt expelled a weary breath. ‘It was probably Andy Reichert’s wife. He and his family are living in the apartment at present.’ He hesitated. ‘Or it could have been his daughter, I suppose.’
Joanna felt her face burning with unwelcome colour. ‘Well—well, I didn’t know that, did I? Anyway, whoever it was, she said you weren’t there. That I should ring back later.’
‘Did you give her your name?’
‘No.’ Joanna sighed.
‘Did you ring back later?’
‘No.’ Joanna bit her lip. ‘I was—upset. I really thought that—’
‘Yes, I can guess what you thought.’ Matt was finding it difficult to keep his temper. ‘How do you think I felt when my own sister had to give me some clue as to what was going on?’
‘Sophie?’ Joanna frowned. ‘So how did she find out?’
‘She saw you. She was working in London and thought she’d look you up.’
‘But she didn’t.’
‘Oh, she did, but you didn’t see her. Sophie has some discretion.’ He shook his head incredulously. ‘For God’s sake, Joanna, what could she have said to you?’
‘I don’t know.’ Joanna was on edge. ‘Maybe I’d have welcomed her advice.’
‘Her advice!’
Matt tamped down his anger with an effort. She knew better than anyone that they’d tried for years to have a baby. And now, when it had happened, she’d kept the news to herself, because she’d apparently believed he was having an affair.
If she hadn’t killed any feelings he might have had for her months ago, she’d certainly done a good job now. Yet he couldn’t deny her condition suited her. There was a quality about her, that famous pregnancy glow, he supposed, that surrounded her. She was wearing her hair longer, too, and the braid she wore curled sensuously about her breast.
He wondered if she was seeing anyone. Just because she was pregnant didn’t mean there wasn’t a man hanging around. Some men were attracted to pregnant women. And despite his own feelings towards her, he didn’t like the thought of another man in her bed.
Which was stupid, he chided himself. It wasn’t as if he’d been entirely celibate since their divorce. Okay, there’d only been that one occasion when he’d submitted to taking another woman to bed. But the fact was, although she’d been more than willing, he’d left without consummating the affair.
‘So what now?’ Matt asked tersely. ‘I’m assuming from your words that you’ve had some thoughts about the future.’
Joanna hesitated. ‘I’m keeping the baby, if that’s what you’re asking.’
‘It wasn’t. I would have thought that was a given.’ Matt frowned. ‘So, surely you aren’t planning on working until the baby is born. Dammit, Joanna, use some of the money I’ve deposited to your account in the past and give yourself a break.’
Joanna swallowed. Should she tell him she was going to stay with her mother and Lionel? And if she did, would he insist on speaking to them, too? The alternative was letting him think she was going to go on working, and who knew if he’d turn up again when she wasn’t here?
‘Well, I—’ she was beginning, when the outer