Page 46 of Prognosis Christmas Baby

She nodded. ‘Yes.’

He wouldn’t be here for that. Or to see her belly grow round. And he may well miss the birth. What other things would he miss out on?

First words. First steps.

‘I can send you the pictures from the ultrasound if you like. Hell we can FaceTime during it. In fact, we can FaceTime every day if you want.’ While her heart slowly broke. ‘You’ll probably see more of him than a lot of men do of their kids who live under the same roof.’

Nash considered it. Maybe she was right. It was only for the first couple of years. When he returned they could work out a better arrangement. Maybe she’d come back home with him. She might be willing to do that when he was back in the same country. There’d be nothing to stop her.

Unless...

A sudden thought sent a chill straight up his spine, needling into the base of his skull.

‘What if you meet someone else, Maggie?’ How would he handle another man being a father to his child?

Another man sharing her bed?

Maggie’s hand tightened against her stomach and she forced out a laugh. ‘That won’t happen.’

He frowned. ‘How can you be so sure?’

Because I love you, idiot! Because he’d ruined her for all men.

‘There’s no room left in here.’ She tapped her chest. ‘It’s full up with love for this little guy. Nothing’s more important than this.’ She patted her stomach. ‘No one’s ever going to take my focus off him. No one.’

Maggie wished she could wring the same commitment from Nash. The thought of all those English girls falling for his country-boy charm had her hovering between depression and jealousy. But that had been one of the perils of getting involved with a much younger man.

And she’d known it.

Nash was young and unattached — he was supposed to be out there, playing the field.

Nash blinked at the conviction in her voice. He believed her. Still, it sounded like a lonely life for her. And for a second he worried that Maggie was shutting herself off from life’s possibilities. But then, perversely, as a naked flame of jealousy scorched his veins, he didn’t care. He didn’t want to ever have to think about another man touching her like he had. To share what they’d shared.

It was horrendously selfish and he should be ashamed of himself. But he wasn’t. And he didn’t care.

The waitress brought the bill and Nash paid it as Maggie stood. ‘So? What do you think?’ she asked. ‘Do you think we’ve come to a reasonable compromise?’

Nash mulled over her question. The truth was it didn’t sit well with him. It still felt like he was shirking his responsibilities.

He doubted his parents would be impressed.

But, as she’d said, it was a compromise. He could hardly drag her to London when she didn’t want to go.

He had no doubt there was legal recourse but he knew if he forced her to do something she didn’t want to do, it could do irreparable damage to their relationship. And she was the mother of his child. It was in both their interests and particularly in the interest of his unborn son — oh, God he was doing it now — to keep things amicable.

Hell. How had their fun, easy relationship become so complicated?

‘It sounds like a start,’ he said.

They walked in silence the short distance to their cars. Maggie turned as she reached for her door handle. ‘Should we shake on it?’ She held out her hand.

Nash looked at it, then up into her face. She was looking at him with her big brown eyes and he wanted nothing more than to go back to her place and hold her while they fell asleep.

He lifted a hand, stroking her fringe back and tracing her cheekbone until he was cupping her jaw. ‘I think we’ve passed that, don’t you?’

His voice was soft and his gaze was on her mouth and Maggie couldn’t have stopped her eyes fluttering shut or the sway of her body towards his had her life depended on it. It had been days since he’d kissed her and she yearned for the feel of his lips.

Nash lowered his head and dropped a soft kiss against her pliant mouth. Her sigh encouraged him to linger a little longer and he deepened the kiss. But when she moaned he knew they were treading on dangerous ground. She was tired and he knew this wasn’t the kind of intimacy she’d allow if she had her wits about her.

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