A muscle flickered along the line of his jaw and he felt his anger curdle, swirling and separating into fury and frustration. Turning, he strode back into his office.
There was no way he could second-guess this. He had to know for certain.
‘Tell Mike to bring the car round to the front of the building—now,’ he barked at Jenny. ‘I need to get to the airport.’
Ten minutes later he was slouched in the back of his limo. His head was beginning to clear finally, and now his anger was as cold and hostile as the arctic tundra.
How could she do this?
Treating him as if he didn’t matter, as if he’d only had some walk-on part in her life. If he was the father, he should be centre stage.
His hands clenched in his lap. He hated the feeling of being sidelined, of being secondary to the key players in the drama, for it reminded him of his childhood, and the years he’d spent trying to fit into his parents’ complex relationship.
But he wasn’t a child anymore. He was man who might be about to have a child of his own.
His breath stilled in his throat.
Only how could he be the father? She had told him she was safe. But there was always an element of risk—particularly for a man like him, a man who would be expected to provide generous financial support for his child. Which was why he always used precautions of his own.
Except that night with Nola.
He’d wanted her so badly that he couldn’t bring himself to do anything that might have risked them pausing, maybe changing their minds—like putting on a condom.
Feeling the car slow, he glanced up, his pulse starting to accelerate.
Was the baby his? He would soon find out.
Before the limo had even come to a stop, he was opening the door and stepping onto the pavement.
* * *
Dragging her suitcase through the airport, Nola frowned. She had waited as long as possible before arriving at the airport, and now she was worried she would be too late to check in her luggage.
But any worry she might be feeling now was nothing to the stress of staying at the office. Knowing he was in the building had been unsettling enough, but the fact that Ram had asked to see her—
She didn’t need to worry about that now and, curving her hand protectively over her stomach, she breathed out slowly, trying to calm herself as she stopped in front of the departures board.
She was just trying to locate her flight when there was some kind of commotion behind her and, turning, she saw that there was a crowd of people pointing and milling around.
‘They’re shooting a commercial,’ the woman standing next to her said knowledgeably. ‘It was in the paper. It’s for beer. Apparently it’s got that rugby player in it, and a crocodile.’
‘A real one?’
The woman laughed. ‘Yes, but it’s not here. I just meant in the advert. I don’t think they’d be allowed to bring a real croc to an airport. That’d be way too dangerous.’
Nodding politely, Nola smiled—and then she caught her breath for, striding towards her, his lean, muscular body parting the crowds like a mythical wind, and looking more dangerous than any wild animal, was Ram Walker.
CHAPTER FIVE
AS SHE WATCHED his broad shoulders cutting through the clumps of passengers like a scythe through wheat Nola couldn’t move. Or speak, or even think. Shock seemed to have robbed her of the ability to do anything but gape.
And as he made his way across the departures lounge towards her she couldn’t decide if it was shock or desire that was making her heart feel as if it was about to burst.
Mind numb, she stood frozen, like a movie on pause. It was just over three months since she’d last seen him. Three months of trying and failing to forget the man who had changed her life completely.
She’d assumed she just needed more time, that eventually his memory would fade. Only now he was here, and she knew she’d been kidding herself. She would never forget Ram—and not just because she was pregnant with his baby.
Her body began to shake, and instinctively she folded her arms over her stomach.