Had she changed so much?
Staggered that he didn’t recognize her, she turned around to go after him, then froze in place because he suddenly swung on his heel and stared back at her in total disbelief.
They couldn’t be more than six feet apart, yet it was close enough for her to watch the blood drain out of his face. He looked so gaunt, she thought he might faint. Because he was wearing the familiar pewter-gray business suit with the paisley silk tie she liked so much, she could tell he’d lost weight.
He looked ill.
“Hello, Cord.” She managed to find her voice at last.
He drew closer, his intense gaze taking in her face and hair before inspecting every square inch of her pregnant body with eyes as frigid and dark as the Arctic. As each second ticked by, she saw the tightening of his chiseled features, the way his body went rigid and his hands formed into fists at his sides.
A shadow passed over his face. “Who’s the father?” he bit out with unconcealed fury.
CHAPTER TWO
Ashley shouldn’t have been surprised by the question, but somehow she had expected any response, any comment, any question but that one. Her fidelity to him was not in question here! But incredibly it seemed that her husband believed someone else had fathered their child.
She supposed he could be forgiven for coming to that conclusion. But at the same time, did he honestly believe she could sleep with another man while she was still married to him?
What an amazing irony. She could have laughed out loud if she hadn’t felt like sobbing.
“Can we talk about this in private?” she whispered because people were walking in the hallways from both directions. Right now his mood was too volatile to trust in the company of others.
Like an automaton, he picked up the bag and suitcase, then grasped her elbow in an almost painful grip. Before she knew how it had happened, he’d ushered them down another hallway to an open housekeeping storeroom.
“Cord—we can’t come in here!” she cried softly.
“We just did.”
He turned on a light and slammed the door, barring any hope of a quick exit with his unquestionably masculine frame.
She hadn’t been this close to him for so long, she forgot how susceptible she was to his potent male appeal, the scent of the soap he used in the shower, the warmth of his hard body electrifying hers.
Strong hands reached out and covered her shoulders, forcing her closer, but her swollen belly prevented a merging of their bodies.
“Look at me,” he demanded in a deceptively quiet voice.
Afraid to do otherwise, she lifted her head and met his piercing glance.
“Tell me who he is, Ashley.” His voice grated.
She tried swallowing, but it was impossible. “I’m surprised you have to ask.”
A glint of pain flashed in the depths of his eyes. “It’s Greg’s baby, isn’t it?” came the tortured utterance.
“Greg!” she blurted incredulously.
The hands on her shoulders bit in to her skin. “He’s always been crazy about you. It’s the reason he hired you to work for him after we found out I couldn’t give you a baby. It’s the reason he’s been so damn loyal to you. Good Lord— To think my wife and my best friend could get involved—” he ground out. His haunted tone devastated her.
Right now would be the perfect time to throw Sheila in his face and make him realize what their affair had done to her, Ashley. But she couldn’t.
“Please, Cord. Your hands— You don’t know your own strength.” In his pain, he had unconsciously gripped her too hard.
When her entreaty got through to him, he let go of her, looking like the lone survivor of a horrendous battle.
Taking a deep draft of air she began to explain. “The night before I left the house, y-you came to my room, and you know what happened. Within a few weeks, I had all the signs of flu and went to see Dr. Noble.
“He ran a lot of tests, but everything came back normal. He joked with me that my symptoms sounded like morning sickness, then asked me when was the last time that you and I had slept together.”