Contract Baby

‘Turning somersaults,’ Polly said brittly. ‘Leafing through my frantically crammed social diary to see what I’ll be doing today. Do I really need to stay here much longer?’

‘Rod thinks so,’ Raul reminded her. ‘Look, I’ll be away on business for the next week. I wanted to leave a contact number with you so that you can get in touch if you need to.’

‘I can’t imagine there being any need when I’m surrounded by medical staff and being waited on hand and foot.’

‘OK. I’ll phone you—’

Polly breathed in deep. ‘Would you mind i

f I asked you not to?’

‘I don’t like having this type of conversation on the phone. It’s a very female method of warfare,’ Raul drawled grimly.

‘I was just asking for a little space,’ Polly countered tightly. ‘In the circumstances, I don’t think that’s unreasonable. You may be the father of my child, but we don’t have a personal relationship.’

‘I’ll see you when I get back from Paris, Polly.’

The line went dead. But Polly continued to grip the receiver frantically tight. She didn’t want to see him; she didn’t want to hear from him. Her eyes smarted. But the tears were nothing to do with him. Late on in pregnancy women were often more emotional and tearful, she reminded herself staunchly.

Mid-morning, late in the following week, Polly had just put on a loose red jersey dress with a V-neckline and short sleeves when Raul arrived to visit her. Hearing the knock on the door of her room, she emerged from the bathroom, still struggling to brush her long hair. She fell still in an awkward pose when she realised who it was.

Her heart skipped a complete beat. Raul was wearing a navy pinstriped business suit so sharply tailored it fitted his magnificent physique like a glove. Worn with a dark blue shirt and red silk tie, it made him look sensationally attractive and dynamic. Her throat closed over. It felt like a hundred years since she had last seen him. She wanted to move closer, had to forcefully still her feet where she stood.

Raul strolled forward and casually reached up to pluck the brush from her loosened hold. Gently turning her round by her shoulders, he teased loose the tangle she had been fighting with before returning the brush to her hand. ‘I owe you an apology for my behaviour on my last visit,’ he murmured with conviction.

Polly tensed. There was a mirror on the back of the bathroom door. She could see his reflection, the cool gravity of his expression, the dark brilliance of his assessing gaze.

Colour stained Polly’s cheeks but she managed to laugh. ‘For goodness’ sake,’ she said with determined lightness, ‘there’s no need for an apology. It was just a kiss...no big deal!’

Something bright flared in his dark eyes and then they were veiled, his sensual mouth curling slightly. ‘Bueno. I wondered if you would like to have lunch out today?’

In surprise, Polly swivelled round, all constraint put to flight by that unexpected but very welcome suggestion that she might return to the outside world for a few hours. ‘I’d love to!’

In the foyer they ran into Janice Grey.

‘Oh, dear, were you coming to visit me?’ Polly muttered with a dismay made all the more pungent by a guilty sense of relief. ‘I’m so sorry. I’m afraid we’re going out for lunch.’

‘That does surprise me.’ Janice raised an enquiring brow. ‘I understood you were here to rest.’

‘I’m under the strictest instructions to see that she doesn’t overtire herself, Mrs Grey,’ Raul interposed with a coolly pleasant smile. ‘I’m also grateful to have the opportunity to thank you for all the support you have given Polly in recent weeks.’

The middle-aged blonde gave him a thin smile and turned to Polly. ‘Henry said that you weren’t coming back to stay with us.’ She then shot Raul an arch look that didn’t conceal her hostility. ‘Do I hear wedding bells in the air?’

Polly paled, and then hot, mortified colour flooded her cheeks. The silence simmered.

Raul stepped calmly into the breach. ‘I’m sure Polly will keep you in touch with events, Mrs Grey.

‘A tough cookie,’ Raul remarked of the older woman as he settled Polly into the limousine a few minutes later. ‘I’m relieved that you didn’t choose to confide in her about our legal agreement. But why the hell did you look so uncomfortable? ’

Polly thought of those crazy weeks in Vermont, when she had foolishly allowed herself to be wildly, recklessly in love with Raul. Her imagination had known no limits when every moment she could she’d tried to forget the fact that she was pregnant. Those stupid girlish daydreams about marrying Raul were now a severe embarrassment to recall. She had to think fast to come up with another explanation for her discomfiture.

‘Janice was kind to me...but she’d never have offered me a room if she hadn’t known about my inheritance. She couldn’t understand why I wasn’t prepared to marry Henry for the sake of that money. She thought I was being very foolish and shortsighted.’

‘You don’t need to make a choice like that now. In any case, gatita...you’re far too young to be thinking about marriage.’

An awkward little silence fell. Polly was very tense. She was already scolding herself for having reacted to Raul’s invitation as if his only aim was to give her a pleasant outing. Raul did nothing without good reason. Over lunch, Raul was undoubtedly planning to open a serious discussion about their baby’s future. The subject could not be avoided any longer, and this time she would try to be as calm and rational as possible.

‘Waiting to hear what you’re going to say makes me very nervous,’ she nonetheless heard herself confide abruptly. ‘I may be pregnant, but I’m not likely to pop off at the first piece of bad news. Do you think you could just tell me right now up front whether or not you’re planning to take me to court after the baby’s born?’