The Blackmail Pregnancy Read Online Free PDF Page B

She looked so cool, so composed, but still he wondered…
    ‘How are your parents?’ she asked.
    He gave his coffee another absent stir and Cara saw the hint of a small smile of affection briefly lift the corners of his mouth.
    ‘They’re fine. Fighting fit. Dad has taken up golf and Mum is part of a bridge club.’
    ‘And your twin brothers and sister?’
    He pushed his half-finished coffee aside and met her interested gaze.
    ‘Patrick eventually married Sally, and they have five-year-old twins—Katie and Kirstie. Leon and Olivia now have three kids—Ben, seven, Bethany, five, and Clare is three. Fliss has two-year-old Thomas, and is apparently expecting a girl this time.’
    Cara drained her glass and set it aside.
    ‘And your business?’ she added. ‘It finally took off?’
    ‘Like you would never believe,’ he said, and then added with a rueful twist to his mouth, ‘You should’ve hung around.’
    She didn’t respond. The waitress appeared with the sandwiches he’d ordered earlier, and she stared at the food set down before her and wondered how she’d ever force it down her restricted throat.
    She’d never doubted he’d be successful as a property developer; he came from a long line of very successful moneyed men. What surprised her was how little that success had fulfilled him. She’d imagined him married, with the brood of kids he’d always wanted, but he was still single—and asking her to resume their relationship temporarily. She didn’t understand him. Perhaps she never had.
    Some endless minutes passed before either of them spoke.
    ‘My parents send their regards,’ Byron said. ‘I was speaking to them last night.’
    Cara met his eyes across the table and looked away again.
    ‘Please send on my own. I’ve thought of them over the years.’
    ‘What about me?’ he asked after a tiny pause. ‘Have you thought about me?’
    She fidgeted with her napkin, ignoring the untouched food in front of her.
    ‘A bit.’
    ‘Just a bit?’
    ‘A lot.’
    He seemed satisfied with her answer and she instantly regretted saying anything that would make Byron think she was still hankering after him, like a lovelorn ex-wife who couldn’t get her life back on track.
    ‘Did Felicity finish her degree?’ She asked the first question that came into her mind.
    ‘With honours. We’re very proud of her. She’s the first Rockcliffe female to complete a doctorate. My mother got as far as her master’s, but it took Fliss’s determination and brilliance to lift the game that next notch.’
    ‘I always thought she’d do it,’ Cara said. ‘She’s got what it takes.’
    ‘Evidently so have you,’ he observed. ‘That’s an impressive degree hanging on your office wall.’
    ‘It came at a high price.’
    ‘But worth it, surely?’ he asked. ‘You’ve made your mark on Sydney’s design intelligentsia.’
    ‘But not on the bank manager.’
    ‘No, but they’re hard to please at the best of times.’
    She felt a smile tug at her mouth.
    ‘Trevor would be glad to hear you say that,’ she said.
    ‘Did you meet him at design school?’
    She nodded. ‘He was a friend of a friend—you know how it goes.’
    ‘Have you got a boyfriend? A lover?’
    Cara bent her head over her food, playing with the salad garnish. ‘I can’t see that it’s any of your business. What about you?’ She lifted her eyes gamely to his.
    His dark gaze gave nothing away. ‘Suffice it to say I’m in between appointments.’
    Her heart squeezed at the thought of him involved with someone else, but she fought against revealing her feelings to him. It was none of her business who he slept with—now.
    ‘So I take it your offer to me is some sort of stop-gap?’
    ‘You might like to see it that way, but I prefer to see it as an investment in the future.’
    ‘There’s not much future for children without two loving parents,’ she pointed out. ‘Surely all children are entitled to at least that?’
    ‘That’s the