The Secret Baby Bargain

by MELANIE MILBURNE

She was just about to go in and kiss Lachlan goodnight when she heard the murmur of voices in his room, Lachlan’s higher pitched childish insertions once or twice, and the deep burr of Jake’s as he finished the story he was reading. She stopped outside the open door, despising herself for eavesdropping but unable to stop herself.

  ‘I love stories about dogs,’ Lachlan was saying. ‘I’ve always wanted a puppy but Granny has al…al…’

  ‘Allergies?’ Jake offered helpfully.

  ‘Yes, I think that’s what it’s called. She sneezes all the time and has to have a puffer thing.’

  ‘I had a dog once…a long time ago now,’ Jake said. ‘Her name was Patch.’

  ‘That’s a funny name.’ Lachlan chuckled.

  ‘Yeah… I guess…’

  ‘What was she like?’

  Ashleigh heard the sound of the mattress squeaking as Jake shifted his weight on the edge of the bed.

  ‘She was the best friend I ever had.’

  ‘Do you still miss her?’

  ‘Sometimes…’ Jake sighed and the mattress made another noise as he stood up. ‘I should let you get some sleep.’

  ‘Daddy?’

  Ashleigh felt her breath lock in her throat and, before she could stop herself, she turned her head so she could see into the room to where Jake was standing looking down at his little son lying in the narrow bed.

  ‘Yes?’ Jake asked.

  Lachlan’s fingers began to fidget with the hem of his racing car sheet, his eyes not quite able to meet his father’s.

  ‘Have you changed your mind about wanting to be a daddy?’

  It seemed a very long time before Jake answered, Ashleigh thought, her heart thumping heavily as she counted the seconds.

  ‘I’ve changed my mind about a lot of things, Lachlan,’ he said at last. ‘Now go to sleep and we’ll talk some more tomorrow.’

  Jake took a couple of strides towards the door.

  ‘Daddy?’

  He turned to look at his son, something inside him shifting almost painfully when he saw the open adoration on the little guy’s face.

  ‘I love you, Daddy,’ Lachlan said.

  Jake swallowed the tight constriction in his throat but, no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t locate his voice.

  ‘I loved you even when I didn’t know who you were,’ Lachlan went on. ‘You can ask Mummy, ’cause I told her. I’ve always wanted a daddy.’

  Ashleigh hadn’t been aware of making a sound but suddenly Lachlan saw her at the door and sent her a big smile.

  ‘Mummy! Can I blow the light out now?’ he asked.

  ‘Not until I give you a big kiss goodnight,’ she said and, moving past the silent figure of Jake, gathered her son in her arms and squeezed him soundly before kissing the tip of his nose, both his cheeks and each and every one of his little fingertips.

  She straightened and went back to the door where the light switch was but as she put her hand out to it Jake’s came over the top of hers and held it there.

  ‘On the count of three, Lachlan,’ Jake said, his voice sounding even deeper than usual. ‘One…two…three!’

  The light was extinguished on Lachlan’s big puff of breath and he giggled delightedly as he burrowed back into his bedclothes.

  Ashleigh slipped her hand out from under Jake’s and met his eyes. She’d thought she had seen just about every emotion in those dark depths in the past but never until this moment had she seen the glitter of unshed tears.

  ‘Jake?’

  He reached around her to close Lachlan’s door softly, his eyes moving away from hers.

  ‘Come on, your parents are waiting to congratulate us,’ he said and, without waiting for her, moved down the hall.

  Ashleigh watched his tall figure stride away, the set of his broad shoulders so familiar and yet so foreign. She had shared his body that afternoon and yet he did not want to share his heart.

  Did he even have one?

  Or was it too late?

  Had his father destroyed that, along with every other joy he should have experienced as a child?

  ‘Darling!’ Gwen Forrester swept her daughter into her arms as soon as she came into the lounge. ‘Congratulations! We are so very thrilled for you and Jake.’

  Her father came over and hugged her tightly and Ashleigh buried her head into his shoulder, wondering if he knew how confused she really was.

  ‘Jake.’ Gwen started bustling about with her usual motherly fuss. ‘Come and sit down and have a drink. Mia? Get your brother-in-law-to-be some champagne, or would you prefer a beer?’

  ‘Champagne is fine,’ Jake said.

  ‘When are you going to get married?’ Ellie asked.

  ‘In a month’s time,’ Jake answered. ‘It takes that long to process the licence.’

  ‘Wow! A month isn’t very long,’ Mia said. ‘Can I be bridesmaid?’

  ‘Me, too!’ Ellie put in.

  Ashleigh stretched her mouth into a smile but inside she felt her anger simmering just beneath the surface.

  ‘Will you have a big wedding?’ Gwen asked.

  ‘No, I don’t think—’ Ashleigh began but Jake cut her off.

  ‘No point getting married if you don’t do it properly.’ He sent her a smile. ‘After all, Ashleigh has always wanted to be a bride, haven’t you, darling?’

  She gave him what she hoped looked like a blissful smile although her jaw ached with the effort.

  ‘How did Howard take the news?’ Ellie asked, twirling her champagne glass in one hand.

  Jake didn’t give Ashleigh the chance to respond. His smile encompassed everyone as he said, ‘He was a true gentleman. He wanted what was best for Ashleigh and wished us both joy.’

  Ashleigh was sure her dentist was going to retire on the work she’d need done after this. She ground her teeth behind her smile and downed the contents of her glass, her head spinning slightly as she set it back down on the nearest surface.

  ‘How soon will you be able to move into the house at Lindfield?’ Heath asked.

  ‘It will take most of the month, I’m afraid. I’m starting work on it this weekend,’ Jake answered. ‘In fact, I was hoping Ashleigh and Lachlan would come with me. It will be our first weekend as a family.’

  Ashleigh knew she would look a fool if she said she had other plans so stayed silent.

  ‘Are you sure Lachlan won’t be in the way?’ Mia gave her sister a mischievous wink.

  ‘I’d like to spend some time with him,’ Jake said. ‘I won’t let him come to any harm. The workmen won’t arrive till Monday to do the major renovations, so it will be quite safe.’ He turned to Ellie. ‘I was hoping to take Ashleigh out tonight to celebrate on our own. Is your offer to babysit still on?’

  ‘Sure!’ Ellie beamed. ‘Go out and have a good time. In fact, why don’t you take her to stay out all night at your hotel? Lachlan won’t wake up till morning and it’s Saturday tomorrow so there’s no rush to get him to crèche or anything.’

  ‘But I—’

  ‘I wouldn’t want to impose…’ Jake said before Ashleigh could get her protest out.

  ‘Rubbish!’ Gwen joined in heartily. ‘Go on, the two of you, have some time to yourselves. After all, four and a half years is a lot of time to catch up on.’

  ‘Thank you,’ he said and turned to face Ashleigh. ‘How long will it take you to get ready, darling?’

  How about another four and a half years? she felt like retorting.

  ‘Five minutes,’ she said and left the room.

  ‘You’re very quiet,’ Jake commented once they were on their way to the city a short time later.

  She swivelled in her seat to glare at him. ‘How could you do that to me?’

  ‘Do what?’ He flashed a look of pure innocence her way.

  ‘Act as if you’re the devoted fiancé who can’t wait to get me all alone.’

  ‘But I can’t wait to get you all alone.’

  She sucked in a shaky breath as his words hit home, he
r stomach doing a crazy little somersault.

  ‘That’s beside the point…’ She floundered for a moment. ‘You had no right to pretend everything is perfectly normal, that we’ve patched things up as if the past didn’t happen. Quite frankly I’m surprised my family couldn’t see through it.’

  ‘I had a long talk with your father before you came home,’ he said. ‘I told him I’d changed my mind about marriage and that I wanted to be a real and involved father to Lachlan. I also told him that I would look after you, provide for you and protect you.’

  She folded her arms crossly and tossed her head to stare out of the passenger window. ‘No doubt you threw in a whole bunch of lies about loving me, too, just for good measure.’

  The swish of the tyres on the bitumen was the only sound in the long stretching silence.

  Ashleigh silently cursed herself for revealing her vulnerability in such a way. What was she thinking? He hadn’t even been able to utter the words to his three-year-old son. What hope did she have of ever hearing them directed at her?

  ‘I saw no reason to lie to your father,’ Jake said evenly.

  She frowned, trying to decipher his statement, but before she had any success he spoke again.

  ‘Your family want what is best for you, Ashleigh. They know that you haven’t been happy for a long time, and to their credit they are prepared to put any past prejudices they may have held against me to one side in order to welcome me into the family.’ He sent her a teasing little glance. ‘Besides, both your sisters think I’m a much better deal than dear old Howard.’

  ‘I wish you wouldn’t speak of him in that way.’

  ‘I still can’t believe you were considering marrying him.’

  ‘Yeah? Well, at least he had the decency to ask me,’ she threw at him resentfully.

  Jake’s hands tightened on the wheel as her hard-bitten words hit their mark. He gritted his teeth against the surge of anger he felt. What did she expect? Some promise of blissful happy ever after, when all he could promise was to…was to what?

  He dragged in a prickly breath and tried to concentrate on the line of traffic ahead, watching as each car edged closer and closer together, as if to nudge the red light signal into changing. His foot hovered on the accelerator, biding his time to go forward, his fingers drumming the steering wheel in increasing agitation.

  All he could promise was to what?

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  ASHLEIGH was so determined she wasn’t going to say another word to Jake for the rest of the journey, if not the rest of the evening, that it took her a quite a while to realise that he hadn’t directed a single word her way for several minutes. She cast him covert glances every now and again as he negotiated the city traffic, but his eyes didn’t once turn her way and the stiff line of his mouth clearly indicated that he had no desire to engage in conversation with her.

  OK, so he hadn’t appreciated her little dig about his forceful proposal.

  Fine.

  She could handle his stonewalling. It would make for a long and tense evening, but why should she always be the one to smooth things over? Besides, he was the one who’d steamrollered her into committing to a marriage she knew he would never have been insisting on if it wasn’t for Lachlan’s existence.

  How was that supposed to make her feel? He hadn’t even tried to pretend to have any feelings for her, other than displaying his usual rampant desire which he no doubt felt for any woman between the ages of nineteen and forty.

  Admittedly, he’d somehow convinced her family that things were now all rosy and romantic between them, but she knew that was probably because Howard had always seemed to them to be not quite the right partner for her. Her parents, of course, had known better than to say so out loud, but Mia and Ellie hadn’t abided by any such polite boundaries. The open joy on their faces as they’d toasted her engagement to Jake that evening was testament to their relief that she had finally come to her senses. But exactly what was sensible about marrying a man who not only didn’t love her but loathed the whole notion of marriage and family life?

  The hotel valet parking attendant greeted Jake by name as he drove into the reception bay. Ashleigh stepped out of the car when one of the uniformed bell boys opened her door for her and stood waiting for Jake, who was exchanging pleasantries with another staff member.

  ‘I’ll have the young lady’s luggage brought up to your room immediately,’ the young man said as he took the keys from Jake.

  Ashleigh gave an audible snort. Her small tote bag could hardly be described as luggage; she’d barely put a thing in it besides her cosmetics purse and her oldest, most unflattering, nightgown. If Jake thought he was in for a hot night of passion with her in his hotel bedroom he could think again.

  ‘Will you require a reservation for dinner in the restaurant this evening or will you be ordering room service, Mr Marriott?’ The concierge asked as they approached reception for Jake to collect his mail.

  ‘Room service will be fine,’ Jake answered without even consulting Ashleigh. ‘Were there any messages left for me today?’

  The concierge handed him two or three envelopes. ‘That’s all so far. Is there anything else we can do for you, Mr Marriott?’

  ‘Yes.’ Jake’s mouth tilted into a smug sort of smile. ‘Have the bar send up a bottle of your very best champagne and two glasses.’

  ‘Right away, Mr Marriott.’ The concierge’s eyes went to Ashleigh, standing rigidly to one side. ‘May I ask, are we celebrating something special this evening?’

  ‘Yes. Ms Ashleigh Forrester and I are celebrating our engagement and forthcoming marriage,’ Jake said and, tucking the envelopes in his back pocket, added, ‘Oh…and could you also contact the press and make a formal announcement on my behalf?’ He took one of the gold pens off the reception counter and, reaching for a hotel notepad, quickly wrote down what he wanted to appear in the following day’s paper and handed it back to the concierge.

  ‘Consider it done, Mr Marriott. And on behalf of the hotel management and staff may I offer you our most sincere congratulations.’ He turned towards Ashleigh and gave her a polite smile. ‘Nice to meet you, Ms Forrester.’

  Ashleigh mumbled something in reply and stumbled after Jake as he led her by the elbow towards the bank of lifts.

  Once they were out of earshot of the reception area she tugged herself out of his hold and dusted off her elbow as if to remove something particularly nasty from it before sending him a furious glare. ‘You’ve got a dammed hide!’

  Jake pressed the call button without answering and, folding his arms across his chest, leaned indolently against the wall.

  Ashleigh felt like stamping her foot in frustration.

  ‘You know what the staff are all thinking, don’t you?’ she hissed at him. ‘They think we’re going to hole ourselves up in your room for a night of raunchy sex, fortifying ourselves with champagne and bloody room service!’

  Jake’s eyes were still and dark as they met her flashing ones. ‘Is that a problem for you?’

  She let out a whooshing breath. ‘Of course it’s a problem for me! This time yesterday I was engaged to Howard Caule. What will everyone think when they see tomorrow’s paper and hear that you are now my fiancé?’

  The lift doors opened and Jake stood back to allow her to enter first. The door hissed shut behind them before he responded smoothly. ‘They will think the best man won.’

  She let out another infuriated breath. ‘This is all a game to you, isn’t it, Jake? All this talk about winning and losing, as if I’m some sort of prize that everyone’s been bidding for.’

  She caught her lip with her teeth and looked away from the glint of satire in his dark eyes. ‘I don’t want to even be here with you, much less sleep with you,’ she said, privately hoping she had the strength of will to follow through on her rash words.

  ‘You know you don’t mean that, Ashleigh, so don’t go making me get all fired up just so I have to prove it to you.’

 
; She felt a flicker of betraying need between her thighs at his statement, the smouldering fire in his challenging gaze threatening to consume her on the spot.

  The lift doors opened and she almost fell out in relief, her lungs dragging in air as if she’d been holding her breath for hours instead of a mere few seconds.

  She suddenly felt faint, light-headed and disoriented, the carpeted floor rolling up towards her, the swirling colours getting all mixed up in a stomach-churning pattern that seemed to make the floor unstable beneath her feet…

  ‘Are you all right?’

  She heard Jake’s voice as if he was speaking to her through a long tunnel, the words rising and falling like an echo, here one second, gone the next.

  ‘I… I think I’m going to… She wobbled, one of her hands clutching at mid-air until she found something strong and immovable to keep her upright.

  Jake held her tightly against him as he swiped his key card to his room and, shouldering open the door, scooped her up and carried her inside, the door clicking shut behind him.

  ‘I… I… I’m going to be sick…’Ashleigh gasped as she put a shaky hand up to her mouth.

  ‘The bathroom is just through—’

  Too late.

  Ashleigh threw up the contents of her stomach all over his chest.

  Jake managed to salvage the cream carpet by tugging his shirt out of his trousers to act as a sort of bib-cum-scoop as he led her to the bathroom. He set her down on the edge of the bath, one hand still holding the contents of his T-shirt as he frowned in concern at the pallor of her face.

  ‘Oh, God…’

  She swayed for a moment and then lunged for the toilet bowl. He winced as she threw up again, each harsh tortured expulsion of her throat reminding him of the weeks after she’d left him in London when a daily bottle of Jack Daniels had been his only comfort.

  He gingerly removed himself from his T-shirt, leaving it in the bottom of the shower stall, and reaching for one of the hand towels, wet it under the cold tap before applying it to her shockingly pale face.

  ‘Hasn’t anyone ever told you never to drink champagne on an empty stomach?’ he said, gently mopping her brow.

  She gave him a withering glance and looked as if she was about to throw a stinging comment his way when her face suddenly drained of all colour once more and she lurched towards the toilet bowl again.