Page 25 of His Best Mistake

Stella’s first thought, as she stared at the beautiful brunette standing on her doo

rstep with her hands on her hips and loathing in her eyes, was that this was clearly Cora Maclean, who’d obviously found out about everything. Her second was that, yes, that tagline sounded every bit as hideous as she’d imagined. And her third was, oh, how she wished she’d never answered the door because she really wasn’t prepared for this.

She’d been running on her treadmill – for the first time in years – when the bell had rung. Initially she’d ignored it and had merely turned up the volume on her phone because she was just hitting her stride and feeling better than she had in days. But it had rung again, this time for longer, as if indicating that the caller wasn’t going anywhere, and so with a sigh of frustration she’d switched off the treadmill and hopped off.

She didn’t like to think about the sight she presented. She was wearing tatty old leggings and a baggy grey T-shirt. She could feel sweat beading her brow and heat in her cheeks. She was a mess, and just to highlight her sorry state, Cora was looking stunning in a gorgeous knee-length leather coat and skinny jeans, her make-up and hair immaculate. Not that it mattered one jot what either of them was wearing, of course, but a suit of armour would have been her preferred choice because Stella had the feeling she was going to need the protection.

“Cora,” she said, plastering on a smile and holding the door back. “Come in.”

Cora swept past her, throwing her a filthy look as she did so.

“Tea?” Stella offered, heading into the kitchen, aware with every step that Cora was right behind her. She could feel the other woman’s eyes boring into her back like lasers. “Water?” she added over her shoulder. “Or something stronger?”

“No, thank you,” said Cora, sitting down at the table and looking as if she’d been just invited to sup with the devil. “I don’t want anything from you except to know what the hell you think you’re playing at.”

Hmm. Which bit? Stella leaned back against the counter and wished she could down a double gin and tonic. “What exactly are you talking about?” she said.

“I saw Jack last night,” said Cora icily. “He told me about the two of you. What happened in Scotland. He also told me you were pregnant.”

“I see,” said Stella, thinking it would have been nice if Jack could have warned her.

“Imagine my shock.”

“It can’t have been any greater than mine.”

“Really?” Cora said, raising a disbelieving eyebrow. “Pregnancy wasn’t part of the master plan? Forgive me for being just the teensiest bit sceptical.”

“I did not trap your brother into this,” said Stella, her eyes narrowing a fraction.

“No?”

“Why would I?”

“Why would you trap my single, billionaire brother into a relationship? I honestly have no idea.”

“He came on to me,” said Stella, and it had probably been his condom that had failed, so in actual fact she could well be within her rights to wonder if it hadn’t actually been the other way round.

“I find that hard to believe,” said Cora scathingly. “Especially since he described you as rather average and nothing special.”

Had he? thought Stella with a wince. Ouch. Still, it didn’t matter what Jack thought of her. Much. She’d had enough of this. Cora was clearly furious and hurt, and she had every right to be, but she didn’t have the right to take it out on her. Stella could hardly go into details about that night at the cottage, but what she could address was the elephant in the room that was Brad.

Pushing herself off the counter, Stella took the seat opposite Cora and fixed her with a steady look. “Before we go any further,” she said, “I’d like to get something out of the way.”

“What?”

“I’m truly sorry for what happened with Brad, Cora, but I didn’t know about you. I really didn’t. He was the one who asked me for my card and then rang me up to ask me on a date. I asked him if he was single, and he said yes. He played me like a piano and I fell for it.”

“Right,” said Cora sarcastically.

Ignoring it, Stella continued, “When you called me on New Year’s Eve and told me who you were it was like my life exploded. The man I’d been seeing for three months had lied to me and cheated on me. He didn’t just betray you, Cora, he betrayed me too and he wasn’t even mine.” She paused to give herself a moment to absorb the faint stab of hurt and regret she was expecting to strike her in the heart, but it didn’t come. The only thing she felt was relief at being able to finally get this all off her chest properly. “There is no way I’d ever deliberately set out to steal a man off anyone,” she continued, feeling a bit giddy at the idea of genuinely being over Brad. “Being the other woman is not a role I’d ever willingly seek. Engagement and marriage are things that mean something to me. You have no idea how much I’ve wished I never met that low-life bastard.”

“Prove it.”

Stella started. “What?”

“You must have texts,” said Cora, her chin up, eyes flashing. “And voice mails. So prove it.”

“Fine.”

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