Bittersweet Love - Cathy Williams [55]
‘How come the sudden hostess act?’ he interrupted drily. He sat back in the sofa and folded his arms. ‘Don’t tell me that your headache has brought on a change of temperament.’
‘I’m always a good hostess,’ Natalie informed him, twisting her fingers nervously together, and immediately pulling herself up short when he noticed the unconscious motion.
‘Let me get you something.’ He stood up and flexed his arms, and she followed the movement with hungry absorption. ‘You don’t exactly look very good. You’re as white as a sheet. I had no idea you were prone to such bad headaches. You never had them when you were working for me.’ He paused and then said mockingly, ‘Maybe working for Tony Harding doesn’t agree with you.’
Wouldn’t you like me to agree to that one? Natalie thought bitterly. Then you could use all that charm to try and persuade me that working for you would take care of all my headaches. And you’d have all the time in the world to plan and execute your seduction.
The thought was so nightmarish that she actually shuddered. She had no idea how pregnant she was, but sooner or later she would begin to show, and when that time arrived she would have to make sure that she was as far as possible away from Kane Marshall, even if it meant buying herself a one-way ticket to Timbuktu.
‘It’ s been a bit muggy today,’ she offered by way of feeble explanation. ‘That’s probably it’
‘Now, what can I get you?’
Natalie looked up at him and sighed. He wasn’t about to leave and there was no point in forcing the issue. That would just convince him that something really was wrong, and once he began thinking along those lines it would only be a matter of time before he arrived at the correct explanation. He was damned clever and very shrewd with it.
‘There’s some orange juice in the fridge,’ she said, defeated, and he vanished towards the kitchen.
Natalie lay back and stared at the ceiling. Why couldn’t her life have been straightforward? she asked herself. Why did she have to go and fall in love with Kane Marshall, and then, to top it off, find herself pregnant by him? It was all her fault, of course, but pointing the finger of blame wasn’t going to change anything.
When he returned to the lounge he was carrying a plate of scrambled eggs on toast, as well as the glass of juice, both of which he deposited on the coffee-table in front of her. The gesture brought a lump to Natalie’s throat. She knew that he could be thoughtful, she had seen evidence of it in the past, but right now that particular trait didn’t help matters at all.
Thank you,’ she murmured huskily. ‘You needn’t have gone to all this bother.’
He sat next to her and grinned. ‘Believe me, scrambled eggs on toast don’t rate as cordon-bleu cooking.’
Natalie looked across at him and their eyes tangled.
‘You know what I mean,’ she said, addled. It tasted good too, she thought, looking away and digging into the plateful of food. She was hungrier than she had thought. Starving, in fact. There was something terribly relaxing about his presence just now. Unthreatening and comfortable. She must be losing her mind, she decided. All the same, it was nice to have someone with her. And not just someone, the father of her baby. The enormity of the thought brought a flush of colour to her cheeks.
‘I had no idea you were this domestic,’ she said in a rush, to hide the sudden flare of panic. ‘Egg on toast, orange juice.’ She laughed nervously. ‘I know it’ s not haute cuisine, but I still never associated cooking with you.’
There was a little silence, then Kane said with a mixture of levity and seriousness, ‘Nor did I.’
She scraped the plate clean and gave a little sigh. Oh, wouldn’t it be nice to pretend that this fantasy could last forever? To be able to pretend that she could actually climb out of this awful whirlpool into which she had been sucked?
‘Headache feeling any better?’ he asked and she nodded, her eyes half closed. ‘Your colour’s returned,’ he informed her.
‘Being nice to me isn’t going to get me