His Pregnant Bride: Pregnant by the Greek Tycoon / His Pregnant Princess / Pregnant: Father Needed

‘And you married me on a whim—is that what you’re saying?’

Her mouth twisted in a cynical smile of self-derision. ‘I like to think of it more as temporary insanity.’

Oblivious to the fact that her confidence had caused Angolos to stiffen, she took the top item on a pile of freshly laundered clothes waiting to be put away and began to fold it with geometric precision. The mundane action helped steady her nerves.

‘It’s a pity really we didn’t just have sex as my dad suggested.’

‘Your father told you to sleep with me?’

His outraged tone brought her head up and she found herself looking into eyes that had narrowed into icy, incredulous slits.

‘Well, wouldn’t you prefer your daughter to sleep with the wrong man rather than marry him?’ she charged impatiently.

‘If my daughter was involved with the wrong man I would not advise her to have sex with him,’ he assured her grimly.

‘What would you do?’ she asked, even though she could hazard a guess from his expression.

‘I would remove the man from her life.’

‘And if he didn’t want to go?’

He looked astonished that she needed to ask. ‘I would not give him a choice.’

She shook her head. ‘I think it’s just as well that Nicky wasn’t a girl.’

‘Our next child might be, though.’

The colour drained from her face. ‘What did you say?’ she choked.

His brows lifted. ‘Would you condemn Nicky to be an only child?’ he wanted to know.

‘Me condemn…! You really are a piece of work. Don’t you dare try and use moral blackmail on me.’

‘Moral blackmail.’

‘Don’t give me that innocent look. I’ve seen wolves who looked more innocent than you.’

The accusation drew a grin from him. ‘I believe that wolves suffer from a very bad press. They are not the bad guys of popular fiction. Did you know they mate for life?’ he asked.

‘I’m willing to give wolves the benefit of the doubt,’ she gritted. ‘But we both know that you’d do whatever it took to get what you wanted.’

‘You don’t want another baby?’ Despite his mild tone his eyes were fixed with a curious intensity on her face.

She blinked; the question took her aback. Did she want another baby? ‘That’s not the point—’

‘I would say it’s very much the point,’ he inserted drily.

‘It’s far too early…’ She stopped and angled a searching look at his lean face. ‘Do you want a baby?’

‘And if I said I did, would it make a difference to you?’

She looked from the sensual curve of his mouth to the velvety darkness of his eyes and felt her concentration slipping… Her expression hardened.

‘You expect me to believe you give a damn about what I think?’ She released a scornful trill of laughter and saw the anger flicker in his liquid dark eyes. ‘Let’s not drift into fantasy land here…’

Angolos cut across her. ‘Actually I don’t feel that having a baby at this time would be a sensible idea.’

The colour in her cheeks receded. She ought to welcome his comment, she told herself crossly. Anyone would think I wanted to have his baby. ‘When we don’t even know if we’ll be together in two weeks’ time, let alone two years, I couldn’t agree more,’ she contended coolly.

‘The positive attitude again. You know, Georgette, cynical doesn’t suit you.’

‘Get used to it, Angolos,’ she suggested, maintaining her indifferent pose.

‘Do you realise that the moment I start to get close to you…’ He took an actual step towards her and without thinking Georgie retreated two steps. ‘I was going to say, you push me away, but maybe that should have been you run away.’

A defiant frown formed on her face as she met his ironic smile. ‘I’m really not in the mood for your silly games.’

‘I’m not playing games, Georgette. I know you want to punish me,’ he revealed in a harsh voice, ‘but hasn’t it occurred to you that I’m not the only one suffering here? You’re hurting too. You want me, Georgette. We both know that.’

She opened her mouth to angrily rebut this claim and stopped. She released a long, slow, shuddering breath. ‘I am hurting, but there’s not a lot I can do about it. And I doubt very much if getting into your bed is going to make that hurt go away. I will probably sleep with you, Angolos.’ She saw triumph flare in his eyes and added with a self-derisive shrug, ‘You’re right—I have very little self-control where you are concerned. But I can’t let myself trust you again, Angolos; you hurt me so much.’

The taut silence lengthened. Angolos walked over to the window. ‘That cuts both ways.’

Bewildered, she stared at his broad back. ‘I hurt you…?’

Angolos turned back; he didn’t want to hear another denial. ‘I really think there is no point dissecting what went wrong between us.’

On one level he could recognise how the situation could have driven her into another man’s arms: she had felt isolated; he had been too busy with work to give her the attention she needed…recognise but never forgive.

‘I thought you wanted to talk,’ she protested, bewildered by his swift change of mood.

‘I think we should talk about the future.’

‘Suits me.’ She shot him a wary glance. ‘But let’s not go over ground we’ve already covered,’ she cautioned.

‘What ground would that be?’

‘Babies,’ she elaborated.

‘I was not…I actually think you’re a marvellous mother.’

Georgie’s eyes widened. Coming from Angolos, who didn’t throw around the compliments, this was praise indeed. ‘I’m a fairly all right mother,’ she corrected. ‘I’m a long way from marvellous. I make loads of mistakes. I expect you will too. It’s a steep learning curve so don’t expect to get it right the first time. I suppose it’s not unlike riding a bike or…’

‘Or?’

‘I forget,’ she said, unable to think on the spur of the moment of a more convincing lie. Angolos didn’t look convinced.

She released a hiss of angry frustration and she shot him a look of fulminating frustration. ‘I was going to say making love, but I’m sure you were always perfect at that, damn you!’ she added with a resentful sniff.