Page 37 of Bound By Her Baby Revelation (Hot Winter Escapes)

Kaya stared at him in speechless silence. So much for all the mental preparation she’d tried to do. None of it had been worth a penny the second he had decided to touch her.

She edged back as far as she could, terrified that he would reach out again, ninety percent sure she would have the strength to resist, but terrified that there was still that ten percent that would abandon everything just to have him touch her.

But wasn’t that what love did—made her weak and helpless? She’d never really believed that until now, until she was in the grip of its power.

‘I haven’t come for sex, Leo.’

‘Why else would you be here, Kaya?’ Leo frowned, utterly perplexed and physically aching from his libido having to climb down from its excruciating high.

Kaya breathed in deeply and felt faint. She weakened, luxuriating in the fantasy that he loved her, that this was a normal situation...that they were lovers waking up to the beauty of becoming parents together.

The fantasy didn’t last.

‘Leo, I know I didn’t have to come here to tell you this face to face, but I didn’t think it was something I could convey over the phone, or worse, by text...’

Kaya watched the way he went very still and, before he could start guessing games, allowing her unconsciously to dodge the obvious, she said, quietly, ‘Leo, I’m pregnant.’

She saw every flicker of emotion he tried to conceal, from puzzlement that he might have misheard what she had said, all the way through to dawning comprehension, shock and then, inevitably, disbelief.

‘You’re kidding.’

‘I’ve never been more serious. Why would I come all the way over here to spin you a fairy story?’

‘But it’s not possible!’

‘It happened. I’m pregnant, Leo, and, much as I knew that this wasn’t going to be what you wanted to hear, I couldn’t keep something this big from you.’

‘No, youcan’t be.’

Who was he kidding? Leo looked at the gravity of her expression and knew in a heartbeat that she was telling the truth.

She was as straight as an arrow and honest to a fault.

She was pregnant. He was going to be a father and life as he knew it was going to come to an end.

He could continue thinking of various different ways of transmitting his incredulity and shock but what would be the point of that? Reality was going to remain the same, however much he tried to push it aside.

The room suddenly felt too small...the villa felt too small...the world he’d known was closing in on him and he vaulted to his feet, his movements jerky and lacking in their usual grace.

‘When did you find out?’ He turned to look at her.

‘A few days ago.’

‘What a mess.’ He rubbed his eyes with the pads of his thumbs.

‘I’m sorry.’ In none of her wildest dreams had Kaya ever contemplated something that could be a joyous event turning out like this. She had always had such regimented plans for her life, plans that would avoid her ending up in a place where she was vulnerable, and yet what had she gone and done? Fallen hard for someone who didn’t want her for anything but sex; someone who was incapable of sharing his heart and soul with another person. Someone who could leave that journal behind.

‘Why? It takes two to tango, as they say.’ Leo vaulted upright and raked his fingers through his hair. ‘I think I need something very stiff.’

‘Yes,’ Kaya murmured, arresting him before he could head off to get the drink he felt he needed. ‘A stiff drink is just what you need for the mess you’re now in.’ She placed her hand protectively on her stomach and banked down the searing hurt inside her.

‘My apologies,’ Leo muttered. ‘This has come as a shock.’

‘And a very unpleasant one, from the looks of it,’ Kaya said with raw emotion, tilting her chin at a defiant angle. ‘You think your life is over. You think... Maybe you think that you won’t be the free bachelor you were before. You’re wrong. I came here to tell you about the pregnancy because you deserved to know. I didn’t come here to try and pin you down or force you to change your lifestyle! I would never do that. I would never be so selfish, especially when I’ve known from the beginning that you’re not a guy who wants longevity when it comes to relationships.’

She bunched her hands into clenched fists.

‘Come again?’

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