“Go down the first hall you see on your right and pass through the double doors. You can’t miss it.”
Ashley muttered her thanks, picked up the suitcase and sewing bag which seemed to have grown heavier, and started off. As she rounded the corner, she saw a tall, dark-haired man coming through the doors halfway down the hall. Even from this distance he looked instantly familiar.
Cord.
All the air seemed to leave her trembling body. She could tell it was her husband by the way he carried himself, those long swift strides which were headed in her direction.
She hadn’t had any sleep for the last two nights planning what she’d say to him when they first met again after all these months. But she didn’t need to worry because he swept right past her, intent on reaching the main hallway.
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.”
The whole time she was talking, Cord seemed to be looking straight through to her soul.
“One thing led to another and he decided to do a pregnancy test on me. He said stranger things had happened, that once in a while an infertile couple defied all the odds.
“When the first test came back saying I was pregnant, he did two more tests to be absolutely certain, then told me we’d made medical history.”
Her proud chin lifted a little higher. “It’s your baby, Cord. No one else’s.” Her voice throbbed.
A stillness came over him that pervaded the entire storeroom.
Like trick photography, his expression underwent a total transformation. Frame by frame she watched as if new life had just been breathed into his body. His well-defined chest heaved from the force of a dozen new emotions exploding inside him, needing expression.
Ashley could feel them because her body was undergoing a similar reaction. She’d lived with this secret knowledge too long, holding back for the moment when they were divorced and she was ready to tell him.
But circumstances had dictated that she tell him sooner, and now her husband knew the truth. With this knowledge, she realized everything was about to change...
“I presume you were going to tell me after the fact,” came the acid comment.
A fresh wave of guilt swept over her. “I—I thought it best to keep it to myself so our divorce would go through quickly. Sheila intimated that the two of you were anxious to—”
“Sheila be damned!” he interrupted cruelly. “You knew how much I’ve always wanted to have a baby, and you kept it from me. Good Lord, Ashley—”
Her heart almost failed her. “But, Cord—Sheila said—”
“I don’t ever want to hear her name mentioned again,” he bit out with barely controlled rage. “When is our child due?”
“May thirtieth, four weeks from now.”
“The day before my birthday,” he murmured in wonder, as if to himself. “Have you had an ultrasound?” he asked unexpectedly.
“Yes. As far as the doctor can tell, the baby is perfect and it’s a good size.”
She saw a little nerve throb along his forceful jaw, evidence of the emotion he was experiencing.
“Are we having a boy or a girl?”
Ashley averted her eyes. “I don’t know.”