Pregnancy Clause in Their Paper Marriage by Kate Hewitt

Author:Kate Hewitt
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2023-12-04T18:19:34+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

LANA STARTED TO SMILE, only to see that Christos was utterly serious. She felt the smile slide off her face like a pancake off a plate as she stared at him, incredulous, uncertain, appalled, hopeful. The jumble of her emotions felt like too much to process.

‘What?’ she said finally. ‘You’re...’ She meant to say joking, but at the sight of the almost sombre look on his face, she found she couldn’t.

‘I’m serious,’ he replied in the affable tone he so often used, but she sensed something underneath—an uncertainty, perhaps, or a defensiveness. ‘Although admittedly, it wasn’t for lack of trying, at least at first.’

She frowned, unsure how she felt about that. ‘What is that supposed to mean, exactly?’

He shrugged as he walked into the bedroom, towards the champagne. Lana watched him peel the foil from the cork and realised she was still only in her underwear, and right then it felt a little...exposing. She grabbed the thick, velvety-soft robe off the back of the bathroom door and shrugged into it, the heavy material enveloping her like one of the fur coats from the kids in Narnia.

‘Christos?’ she prompted when it didn’t seem as if he was going to say anything more.

‘When we first made our deal,’ he explained carefully, his gaze on the bottle of champagne he was opening, ‘I thought I’d do exactly what you’d suggested, and have...liaisons. Very discreet, very brief ones. It seemed reasonable, considering our arrangement as well as your own suggestion, and I decided it didn’t go against my personal ethics.’

No surprises there, then. Lana folded her arms and waited for more. Christos popped the cork on the champagne and then neatly poured two flutes right to the top, managing to make sure that the fizz didn’t overflow.

‘Very nicely done,’ she murmured, and he gave her a quick, rakish smile before handing her a glass. ‘To us,’ he said, and Lana clinked glasses.

‘To us,’ she agreed, although she wondered what aspect of us he was referring to. The deal they’d made three years, or three days ago? The incredible sex they’d just had, which she was still reeling from? ‘So, you tried to have a...liaison,’ she stated after she’d taken a sip of the crisp bubbles, realising she didn’t actually like to imagine it in any detail. ‘What happened?’

Christos grimaced wryly. ‘Well, I won’t embarrass myself by going into the specifics, but let’s just say it didn’t go according to plan.’

‘What does that mean?’

His grimaced deepened, although she could tell he was trying to find the humour in it. ‘Let’s just say I disappointed the lady in question.’

Lana was surprised to find a bubble of laughter rising up in her throat. ‘Are you implying what I...think you’re implying?’

Christos shrugged, his eyes sparkling over the rim of his glass as he took a sip of his champagne. ‘Fortunately, this lady did not take it as a personal insult.’

‘I can’t believe—’

‘I couldn’t, either. And I don’t intend to find myself in that situation ever again.’ His eyes glinted into hers.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.