Page 11 of 2 Books in One Bundle

‘I’m bleeding, Zander, and I’m cramping. It hurts. A lot. I think I may be miscarrying.’

His blood froze. His heart stopped. The ground rocked beneath his feet and his stomach went into freefall, which meant that he had to ignore the sudden crushing pressure in his chest and switch to the practical. ‘Where are you?’

‘On my way to hospital,’ she said with a sharp intake of breath that turned into a shuddery sort of a sob.

‘Text me the details,’ he said, already at the lift that would zoom him down to the garage, with his coat, his wallet, his keys. ‘I’ll be there as soon as I can.’

CHAPTER FIVE

MIAEMERGEDFROMthe clinic a lot less terrified than she’d been when she’d gone in. She’d never felt fear like it and hoped never to again.

It had all happened so suddenly. One minute she’d been deboning a chicken while humming along to the radio, in an effort to not think about Zander’s arrogant presumption in emailing his request for her birth certificate, as if her feelings on the subject of marriage were so immaterial they could simply be bulldozed to bits, the next a shooting pain had sliced across her abdomen and a wet warmth had seeped between her legs.

Stunned, devastated, she’d dropped the knife and doubled over, clutching at her midriff, tears springing to her eyes, a voice in her head screamingNo, no, no!

With trembling hands, her chest aching as if her heart had been yanked out, she’d called her doctor, who’d advised her to go straight to hospital, and then she’d rung Zander. She had no idea why. It wasn’t as if she didn’t have friends and, for all she knew, her number might still be blocked. But it wasn’t. He must have meant what he’d said about intending to be involved at every stage and reinstated it.

When he’d turned up at the hospital ten minutes after her, however, taking charge and demanding answers, she’d never been so glad to see anyone in her life. She really hadn’t wanted to go through whatever she was going through alone, and whywouldn’tshe have called him when anything to do with the pregnancy and their baby was his business too? He’d dealt with the estimated eight-hour wait by whisking her off to a private clinic where she’d been seen immediately, and she was now even more convinced she’d made the right decision in contacting him.

Still shaky and raw, despite the positive outcome of the appointment, Mia pushed through the door that opened into the lobby, her gaze landing on the man pacing up and down in front of the reception desk. In his beautiful charcoal grey coat that probably cost more than she turned over in a month, he looked far more at home here among the wood panelling and cream carpet than the chaos of Accident and Emergency.

‘Well?’ he said, striding over to her, his jaw tight as he raked his gaze over her.

‘Everything’s fine.’

He came to an abrupt stop and his brows snapped together. Shadows lurked in the depths of his eyes and his thick dark hair was dishevelled. ‘Fine?’ he demanded. ‘What do you mean, fine? You look as if you’ve been crying.’

That was because she had. But not with grief. ‘The baby’s OK,’ she hastened to assure him with a stab at a watery smile. ‘We’re both OK.’

‘Are you certain?’

‘So I’ve been told.’

‘You’re not miscarrying?’

‘No. I had an ultrasound. I heard the heartbeat. It sounded a bit like galloping horses. It was kind of mind-blowing.’

And the relief when the quick, strong, rhythmic pulses had filled the room... God, therelief. She’d wept with it and only just refrained from hugging the sonographer when he’d told her everything was all right.

‘They gave me two pictures of the baby,’ she said, swallowing down the hot, tight lump in her throat and blinking back the fresh sting of tears. ‘Here. This one’s for you.’

As she handed him the tiny black and white photo his fingers touched hers and an unexpected sizzle of heat rushed through her. He stared at the grainy image, thankfully too absorbed in it to notice the tiny gasp she gave in both shock and horror, because here and now was neither the time nor the place for that sort of thing, and muttered something in Greek before falling silent.

Determinedly ignoring the memories of the steamy night they’d spent together, which were now inappropriately trying to muscle their way in to her head, Mia sought to fill the oddly intimate quiet.

‘I feel a bit foolish, actually,’ she said, shifting her weight from one foot to the other, her cheeks heating when she recalled how overwrought she’d been when she’d called him. ‘There was pain and blood, and I automatically assumed the worst. But apparently it’s not that uncommon at this stage of pregnancy. I’m so sorry to have dragged you away from work for nothing.’

‘Forget it.’

That was unlikely. She didn’t think she’deverforget the terror and the desolation she’d felt. ‘Thank you for your help.’

‘Any time,’ he muttered as he tucked the photo into the top inside pocket of his coat. ‘So is that it?’ He lifted his dark gaze to hers, his expression oddly inscrutable. ‘No treatment? You don’t need to stay here for observation?’

‘No, that’s it,’ she said. ‘Well, I was advised to rest for a week or two,’ she amended with a faint frown, ‘but that’s not likely to happen. I mean it’s December and I’m a caterer. It’s my busiest time of year. Tonight, for example, I have a drinks party for a hundred.’

His eyebrows shot up. ‘A hundred?’

‘Yes.’

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