More Than He Expected Read Free Page B

muscles seized, allowing him to neither pull
away nor spin her around to see the truth with his own two eyes.
    “Busy,” she whispered, repeating his words. “And as you may
have noticed, pregnant.”
    * * *
    The hands on Gwen’s rounded stomach had turned from a
gentle caress to a grip of immovable stone in an instant. The pressing of his
fingertips into her belly were almost painful in their intensity. She put her
hands over his and pried them away so she could turn around and finally face
him.
    Gwen hadn’t been sure how she would feel seeing Alex again. The
boyishly handsome face was just as she remembered it, sending her heart racing
unexpectedly in her chest. Her fingers itched to run through his messy, blond
hair. Her lips ached to leave a trail of kisses along the faint stubble of his
jaw. In an instant, it was as if the last few months apart had never
happened.
    But at the same time, Gwen wondered if coming here had been a
mistake.
    The golden-hazel eyes that had once sparkled with mischievous
passion were now wide with unexpressed emotions and burrowing into her stomach.
Granted, it was hard to ignore. To say she’d blossomed in the last month was an
understatement. She’d gone from a small pooch of a belly to full-blown second
trimester almost overnight.
    But it wasn’t the surprise on Alex’s face that concerned her.
She expected that. It was the red blotches spreading across his skin and the
hard, angry line of his jaw. He was always so laid-back and carefree. She’d
never seen him upset, but she supposed when you had enough money, you could fix
any problem. Now his personality had taken a one-eighty swing, and Gwen wasn’t
even certain he’d taken a breath for the last two minutes.
    “Breathe, honey, before you pass right out.”
    His gaze darted to meet hers, the intensity of it making her
chest tight. She wanted to squirm and move away from him, but she stood her
ground. She hadn’t done anything wrong. Why should she run?
    “Breathe?” he said at last. “You show up here pregnant without
saying a word to me about it and tell me to breathe? Were you saving the news
for my birthday or something?”
    “It’s none of your business what I do. We aren’t an item. Why
would I…?” Gwen started to argue, then stopped, realizing her mistake. She’d
never thought for a minute that Alex would think this child was his. She was
only five months along, but the furious set of his jaw indicated he wasn’t
familiar enough with a female gestational cycle to make that distinction.
    They’d slept together and now she was pregnant. He’d obviously
jumped to the wrong conclusion.
    “This isn’t your baby,” Gwen quickly clarified.
    Alex opened his mouth to start arguing with her, but her sudden
and unexpected response stopped him short. “Are you certain?” he asked, his face
almost pained by the words.
    “One hundred percent. I haven’t seen you since November, and
I’m only at twenty-two weeks. Unless some of your li’l swimmers decided to camp
out in my apartment for the holidays and attack when I was least expecting it,
you’re in the clear.”
    His brow furrowed, and she could see the anger slowly fade away
as the muscles in his neck relaxed. His whole body started to uncoil and he took
a deep breath, the casual, easygoing posture she remembered finally gaining
hold.
    Alex ran a hand through the shaggy strands of his golden hair
and shook his head. “You really scared the hell out of me, Gwen.”
    She was certain of that. Blended in with the anger glittering
in his amber eyes had been a healthy dose of fear. When they were together,
they’d been quite meticulous when it came to taking all the proper precautions.
They both had their reasons. Alex said he didn’t want the entanglement of a
child, although she expected there was more to it than just that. And as for
Gwen, well, she was sure he couldn’t guess why it had been so important for her
at the time, but an unexpected pregnancy