Married To The Mum-To-Be. Helen Lacey

to say it out loud. “With Ash stopping by to show me the flyers for the benefit it was just easier to stay at the apartment to avoid too many questions.”

      He shrugged loosely. “I know how much the museum means to you Kayla...and I support your work and all you do and how passionate you are about the hospital benefit. But I don’t want to get used to sleeping alone.”

      Her back straightened. “So this is about sex?”

      His gaze narrowed instantly. “What?”

      “Sex,” she said again. “You know, that thing we do when we’re together.”

      “This isn’t about sex,” he assured her, his voice so husky it warmed her through to her bones. “It’s about you and me. It’s about our relationship...our marriage. And we can’t have a marriage if you’re holed up here in your old apartment every chance you get.”

      It was the same old song. Her apartment. His house by the river. Kayla had been dividing herself between the two places for months. More so since their spur-of-the-moment wedding. “We’ve been through this before, Liam. You know how I feel and I can’t simply switch myself off from the rest of my life.” Emotion thickened her throat. “I know what you want from me, but I can’t break my father’s heart because it suits me to do so.”

      “Are you so sure that you will?”

      “Yes,” she shot back quickly. “I know my father. And I know he will have trouble accepting this...accepting you...accepting us. You’re J.D. O’Sullivan’s son and I’m Derek Rickard’s daughter. In his eyes it will be...impossible.”

      He frowned a little. “Nonetheless, it’s a fact. One that can’t be avoided forever.”

      “I can’t do it,” she insisted. “Not yet. I know I said I would...but I need more time, especially now that I’m possibly pregnant. You know my grandmother hasn’t been well and I don’t want to make things worse for my parents. Not right now. Please try to understand.”

      Thinking about her ailing grandmother made her ache inside. She loved her family dearly. But she loved Liam, too. And to her parents it would be seen as the worst kind of betrayal.

      But if there is a baby...

      She would have to tell them. She would have to choose. Liam and her child, or her parents and her child. It was untenable. Unthinkable.

      “Then, when?” he asked, clearly stuck on the idea. “When our kid is twenty-one?”

      Kayla met his eyes and watched as his expression shifted. She recognized the way his strong jaw was suddenly tense and his shoulders twitched. He was mad. With her. At her. And obviously in spite of himself because Liam rarely let anyone witness his moods.

      “You’re being impossible,” she said hotly and then shrugged, knowing it would inflame him, but she wasn’t about to start appeasing his moods.

      “Once you start showing you won’t have anything to hide behind,” he shot back. “Unless you plan on saying the baby is someone else’s.”

      Irritation curled up her spine. “Of course I don’t. And I’m not hiding,” she refuted. “Frankly, I don’t understand this sudden need to announce our relationship to the world,” she said and raised both brows. “Unless you want to deliberately stick it to your father, because let’s be honest—he won’t be any happier about this than my dad will be.”

      He stayed perfectly still. “My father has nothing to do with this. Neither should yours.”

      That was where they differed, she thought hotly. “Perhaps I’m not as good at trampling over people’s feelings as you are.”

      “Really?” he fired back, his blue eyes glittering. “Because you seem to do a damned fine job of trampling over mine!”

      There it was. Out in the open. Exactly what he believed.

      Emotion clutched at her throat. Kayla hadn’t planned on crying, but tears filled her eyes just the same. She blinked, forcing back the heat behind her eyes, and then swallowed hard. He saw it all and within seconds was in front of her. He reached out to touch her, but she stepped back, her legs colliding with the edge of the sofa as she folded her arms tightly.

      “Kayla...” He said her name, quieter now, his anger quickly defused. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to shout at you. I’m just so...” His words trailed off as he ran a hand through his hair. “I’m just really...”

      Kayla knew exactly what he was. Frustrated. Annoyed. And impatient.

      With good reason...

      Logically, she knew he had every right to be angry. But when it came to hurting her parents, logic flew out the window. “You should go,” she said flatly. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

      He sighed heavily. “Is this really how you want to leave things tonight?”

      She shrugged. “I don’t have the energy for another argument.”

      He winced, like she’d struck a nerve. Then he reached out to cup her cheek. Kayla pulled back instinctively and he frowned as he dropped his hand. “Okay, I’ll leave you alone. Good night, Kayla.”

      “Good night.”

      Any other time he would have passionately kissed her good-night. Held her and touched her a while before he left. And she would have let him. But tonight felt different. There was more tension than usual between them. More unsaid words. More distance.

      Then he was gone. Out of the apartment. Out of the building. And Kayla didn’t take a breath until she heard his footsteps going down the stairs.