The Pregnancy Proposal. HELEN BIANCHIN

      CONTENTS

      CHAPTER ONE

      CHAPTER TWO

      CHAPTER THREE

      CHAPTER FOUR

      CHAPTER FIVE

      CHAPTER SIX

      CHAPTER SEVEN

      CHAPTER EIGHT

      CHAPTER NINE

      CHAPTER TEN

      CHAPTER ELEVEN

      EPILOGUE

      CHAPTER ONE

      SURPRISE, shock, were only two of the emotions swirling inside Tasha’s head as she walked from the doctor’s office and slid in behind the wheel of her car.

      For seemingly endless minutes she sat staring sightlessly through the windscreen as the words echoed and re-echoed inside her head.

      Eight weeks pregnant.

      How could she be pregnant, for heaven’s sake?

      A tiny bubble of hysterical laughter rose to the surface. She knew the how of it… She just didn’t understand why, when she’d taken the Pill as regular as clockwork and never missed.

      Nothing was infallible, the doctor had informed as he listed a few exclusions. One of which proved startlingly applicable, pinpointing a nasty gastric-flu virus that had laid her low for a few days when she hadn’t been able to keep anything down.

      Including the Pill, obviously. Sufficient to throw protection from conception out the window for that month.

      Dear heaven. The groan was inaudible as it echoed in her mind. What was she going to do?

      She was twenty-seven, a corporate lawyer. A good one. She had a career, a partner. Her life was carefully planned…

      Pregnancy wasn’t on the agenda.

      She closed her eyes, then opened them again.

      Jared. Her heart lurched in tandem with her stomach. What would his reaction be?

      One thing was sure…his surprise would match or outstrip her own.

      How would he accept fatherhood?

      A few differing scenarios swept through her mind, from enthusiasm and warmth, support…to the opposite end of the spectrum.

      No, a silent voice screamed from deep inside. Termination was out of the question. Without thought she placed a hand to her waistline in a gesture of protective reassurance.

      There could be no question this child was Jared’s…but it was also hers. And no matter how Jared viewed its existence, she intended to have it. Life as a solo mother wouldn’t be a piece of cake, but she’d manage.

      What if Jared proposed marriage? Oh, sure. Pigs flew, and cows jumped over the moon!

      There was little doubt he viewed their relationship as permanent…well, as permanent as any intimate liaison could be. Commitment, sans the sanctity of marriage.

      Until now, she’d been fine with the arrangement.

      Except there was a third life to consider in this equation. Decisions would need to be made. Only then would she know which direction her life would take.

      Without thinking she instinctively reached into her bag and retrieved her cell-phone, only to pause as she keyed in the first digit, then disconnect the call.

      Jared was due in court this afternoon, and his cell-phone would be switched through to his rooms. Any direct contact would have to wait until this evening.

      Besides, this sort of news should be imparted in person, not via a telephone!

      She could, she decided, plan a special candlelit dinner, dress in a provocative little number, be openly seductive during the main, then deliver the news over dessert.

      But not tonight. An unladylike curse slid from her lips with the sudden realisation they were due to dine out. A Law Society soirée, one of many organised throughout the year for differing reasons.

      Tasha stifled a slip into black humour at the thought of imparting her news sotto voce as they mixed and mingled with the city’s legal scions in the foyer of the grand hotel. Perhaps she could convey the information in a seductive whisper between the soup starter and the entrée?

      He might very well choke, whereupon someone would have to administer the Heimlich manoeuvre…and that would never do.

      Better, perhaps, to be more circumspect. She could always call into a babywear boutique, purchase a pair of white knitted bootees and place them on his pillow. How was that for subtlety?

      Tasha’s mind unconsciously slid to the man who was causing her so much grief…and didn’t know whether to smile or shed a few tears at the reflection.

      Jared North was known as one of Brisbane’s most sought-after barristers. In his late thirties, he was a brilliant man in his chosen field with the verbal skill to reduce the most hardened criminal to an insecure incoherent in the courtroom and tear the defence attorney’s testimony to shreds.

      She’d first met him three years ago at a dinner for the legal fraternity. His reputation preceded him, and, while she’d seen his photo in newspapers and magazines, nothing prepared her for seeing the man in the flesh.

      One look across a crowded room was all it took, and her insides began to melt. Tall, broad shoulders, the way he wore his impeccably cut suit set him apart from his associates. Hewn facial features sculpted by nature’s hand gifted him a strong jaw, wide cheekbones, a perfectly symmetrical nose. Muscle and skin assembled to provide almost a Latin look, a throwback it was said to his maternal Andulusian ancestry. But it was the eyes, well-set, dark and knowing as sin, that pulled a woman in. There was the promise of innate sensuality and unbridled passion beneath the sophisticated façade. And something else she recognised at a base level, but didn’t care to define.

      That night it was as if the room and its occupants faded from the periphery of her vision. There was only the man, and an awareness that fizzed her blood and sent her heart racing to an accelerated beat.

      He crossed the room, slowly weaving his way towards her, pausing momentarily as one associate or another sought his attention. But his gaze caught and held her own, his intention clear as she waited for him to join her.

      Afterwards she had no clear recollection of their conversation. Instead, she heard only the deep timbre of his voice, an intonation that hinted at education abroad. She became fascinated by his mouth, the sensual curve of his lower lip, the warmth portrayed when he smiled.

      An astute, clever and dangerous man, she perceived, instinctively aware even then he would have a profound effect on her life.

      After three months of dating Jared suggested she move in with him.