Page 303 of The Christmas Wife

"I suppose it’s opportune that he proposed to you?"

I scowl at her. "I’m not going to marry him just because I’m pregnant."

"It’s as good a reason as any."

"When—if—I marry, it will be because not only am I in love with the man, but I also see him as a partner in every way."

"And you don’t with Hunter?"

I squeeze the bridge of my nose. "I don’t know."

"I think you do know, but you don’t want to accept it."

"Eh?" I lower my arm and stare at her. "What are you talking about?"

"You’ve been prejudiced against Hunter from the beginning. You’ve held his background against him."

"No, I haven’t." I gape at her.

"Haven’t you?" She half-smiles. "It’s normal, though. You’ve worked hard to get to where you are, and a part of you resents that he seems to have gotten everything so easily."

I squirm in my seat. Is that true? Do I begrudge Hunter his success so far? Have I held him up to a standard of my own making and found him lacking? Just because he was born into money... Do I hold that against him? Is his success less credible because he, seemingly, didn’t have to jump through the hoops toget to where he is, unlike me? I lower my chin to my chest. "Oh, god, Isla, do you think I’ve misjudged him? Do you think I'm holding him up to a standard that he could never match?"

"Zara, I?—"

A knock on the door interrupts us. Then Liam pops his head through. "Everything okay in here?"

"Hey, babe," Isla beckons to him. Liam walks over to Isla and leans a hip against her armrest. The two of them kiss, and they’ve only been separated for half an hour. Gosh, they’re so sweet together, it’s almost too much.

I hear footsteps before Hunter enters the room, followed by my brother. Cade sports a shiner, which only adds to his good looks. The two of them stop halfway inside the room, then glower at each other. O-k-a-y, so apparently, whatever they were discussing didn’t go down well.

Isla rises to her feet. "I think Liam and I are gonna leave now." She walks over to me and kisses my cheek. "Keep me posted on everything," she says in a low voice. I nod and hug her back. She steps back, then heads for my brother.

"I’m Isla, Zara’s friend."

Cade’s features break into a smile. "My pleasure." He brings her hand to his lips and kisses it.

Liam instantly closes the distance to them and wraps his arm about Isla. "Well played on your last innings. That was some record-breaking century you made." He’s referring to the last cricket match, where my brother scored enough to win the tournament for his team.

"Thanks, man!" He releases Isla’s hand, and nods in Liam’s direction.

Liam holds out his hand, "Liam Kincaid."

"Cade Kingston."

The two men shake hands.

"Looking forward to seeing you play at Lord’s next month." Liam refers to the upcoming match at the well-known cricket grounds.

"Can’t wait to play there; it’s my favorite venue," Cade acknowledges.

"We’ll be off then." Liam heads toward the door with Isla in tow. He and Hunter exchange chin jerks in the manner of friends who know each other enough to say a lot to each other without saying anything. The door snicks shut.

I glance between the two men who are resolutely not looking at each other. Which means both of them are glowering at me. I blow out a breath. "Care to take a seat? Or do the two of you prefer to stand there and ignore each other?"

"Prefer to ignore each other," they reply at the same time.

A dull ache stabs behind my eyes. My stomach jumps in response. I rub at my temple and resist the urge to rub at my stomach. Oh, god, I can’t really be preggers… And if I am? Best to wait until I have a positive test before I begin to panic, though truth be told, a part of me already knows.

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