Page 11 of The Venetian One-Night Baby

Sabrina glanced across the table at her friend. ‘What about Zack? You guys share everything, right?’

Holly gnawed at her lip. ‘Yeah, well, that’s what people in love do.’

She tried to ignore the little dart of jealousy she felt at Holly’s happiness. Her friend was preparing for her wedding to Zack Knight in a matter of weeks and what did Sabrina have on her love radar? Nothing. Nada. Zilch.

A mild wave of nausea assailed her. Was it possible to be lovesick without actually being in love? Okay. She was in love. In love with Max’s lovemaking. Deeply in love. She couldn’t stop thinking about him and the things he had done to her. The things they had done together. The things she had done to him. She placed a hand on her squeamish tummy and swallowed. She had to get a grip. She couldn’t be bitter and sick to her stomach about her best friend’s joy at marrying the man she loved. So what if Holly was having the most amazing sex with Zack while all Sabrina had was memories of one night with Max?

Holly leaned across the worktable. ‘Hey, are you okay? You’ve gone as white as that French lace.’

Sabrina grimaced as her stomach contents swished and swirled and soured. ‘I’m just feeling a little...off.’

Holly did a double blink. ‘Off? As in nauseous?’

She opened her mouth to answer but had to clamp her hand over it because a surge of sickness rose up from her stomach. ‘Excuse me...’ Her hand muffled her choked apology and she bolted to the bathroom, not even stopping to close the door.

Holly came in behind her and handed her some paper towels from the dispenser on the wall. ‘Is that a dodgy curry or too much champagne?’

Sabrina looked up from the toilet bowl. ‘Ack. Don’t mention food.’

Holly bent down beside her and placed a hand on Sabrina’s shoulder. ‘How long have you been feeling unwell?’

‘Just today...’ Sabrina swallowed against another tide of excessive saliva. ‘I must have a stomach bug...or something...’

‘Would the “or something” have anything to do with your weekend in Venice with Max, which you, obstinately and totally out of character, refuse to discuss?’

Sabrina’s scalp prickled like army ants on a military parade. Max had used a condom. He’d used three over the course of the night. She was taking the lowest dose of the Pill to regulate her cycle because the others she’d tried had messed with her mood. ‘I can’t possibly be pregnant...’

Holly helped her to her feet. ‘Are you saying you didn’t sleep with him?’

Sabrina pulled her hair back from her face and sighed. ‘Okay, so I did sleep with him. But you have to promise you won’t tell anyone. Not even Zack.’

‘Honey, I can trust Zack to keep it quiet.’ Holly stroked Sabrina’s arm. ‘Did Max use a condom?’

Sabrina nodded. ‘Three.’

Holly’s eyes bulged. ‘At a time?’

‘No, we made love three times.’ She closed the toilet seat and pressed the flush button. ‘We made a promise not to talk about it. To anyone. Ever.’

‘But why?’

Sabrina turned to wash her hands and face at the basin. ‘We both agreed it was the best thing considering how our families go on and on about us getting together. We had a one-night stand to get it out of our system. End of story. Neither of us wants be involved with the other.’

‘Or so you say.’ Holly’s tone was so sceptical she could have moonlighted as a detective.

Sabrina made a business of drying her face and hands. ‘It’s true. We would be hopeless as a couple. We fight all the time.’

Holly leaned against the door jamb, arms folded. ‘Clearly not all the time if you had sex three times. Unless it was combative sex?’

Sabrina glanced at her friend in the reflection of the mirror. ‘No...it wasn’t combative sex. It was...amazing sex.’ She had to stop speaking as the tiny frisson of remembered delight trickled over her flesh.

‘Have you seen Max since that weekend?’

‘No. We agreed to keep our distance as if nothing happened.’ Sabrina sighed. ‘He even checked out early from the hotel after our night together. He wasn’t there when I woke up. He sent me a text from the airport to say he’d covered the bill for the suite and that’s the last time I heard from him.’ It had hurt to find the suite empty the next morning. Hurt badly. So much for her following the Fling Handbook guidelines. She’d foolishly expected a good morning kiss or two...or more.

‘If you’re not suffering from a stomach bug, then you’ll have to see him sooner or later,’ Holly said.

Sabrina put her hand on her abdomen, her heart beginning to pound with an echo of dread. She couldn’t possibly be pregnant... Could she? What on earth would she say to Max? Max, who had already made it known he didn’t want children. How could she announce he was the father of her child?

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