Anne Fraser - Cinderella of Harley Street

‘What’s his name?’ she asked, swallowing hard.

‘Peter.’

‘Where do they live?’

‘In Bristol.’

‘So what next?’

Leith raked a hand through his hair again and stared back at the computer screen, his expression bleak. ‘As soon as I get back to London, I’m going to consult a lawyer. If necessary, I’ll have him removed from his mother’s care.’

‘Perhaps you should meet Peter and his mother first? Talk to her. Maybe there will be no need for lawyers. If you involve them now, it’s possible Peter will be taken into care while access is sorted. Is that what you want? Think of him. Sometimes any sort of mother—if she loves the child—is better than a substitute.’

Leith narrowed his eyes. ‘I want my son. And if Jude isn’t able to look after him, then I want him away from her.’

This steel was a side to the normally easygoing Leith she hadn’t seen before. Chilled, she went back to bed and huddled under the thin duvet.

Leith’s pager buzzed. He cursed as he looked at the message that had come up. ‘There’s an emergency in Theatre and they need my help. Can we talk about this later?’

‘I’m leaving before the ship sails,’ she reminded him.

‘I’ll be back as soon as I can.’ He tugged on his shirt. ‘Damn the timing. I haven’t even got your address or phone number,’ he groaned, tossing his mobile to her. ‘Could you put it in for me?’ He glanced at his watch, hopping on one foot as he pulled his left shoe on. ‘But be sure to come and find me if I get held up.’ Then he gathered her against him and kissed her hungrily.

Despite everything, Cassie melted into him and responded with a passion that, until she’d met Leith, she hadn’t known she was capable of.

He released her reluctantly. ‘God, I would give anything to be back in bed with you, woman, but I have to go. I’ll see you later.’ And with that he was gone.

For a long time after Leith had left Cassie lay on the bed, wrestling with her thoughts.

Leith had a child and that changed everything.

When she’d agreed to keep in touch that had been before … before she’d known he had a child.

She couldn’t be with Leith if he had a child. Particularly one who was bound to be needy. The parallels between her life and Peter’s were uncanny and she couldn’t, just couldn’t, risk becoming even slightly involved in the life of a vulnerable child and riding the emotional roller-coaster along with him and his father.

But , a little voice whispered, it’s not as if he’s asking you to be a mother to his child .

It didn’t matter if he was asking or not. He wasn’t the kind of man who would put his child aside for anyone. If he had been, she couldn’t love him the way she did.

And she did. Love him. With all her heart and soul, and would for the rest of her days.

But be a mother to his child? If it ever came to that?

No.

She didn’t know how.

She wasn’t up to the task. She couldn’t be objective enough, and soon, in all likelihood, she and Leith would end up disagreeing about what was best for Peter and he would be caught in the middle, her own objectivity compromised by a lifetime of hurt. Of course it was impossible.

She couldn’t be with Leith. Her throat closed. All her dreams of a fairy-tale ending had been just that—a dream.

Flinging back the covers, Cassie dragged herself out of bed and started getting dressed. There was still the rest of her packing and a thousand other things to do and she didn’t want to be here when he returned. Better to end it now, quickly and as pain-free as possible. Leith and his son deserved better. They deserved someone who could be part of their family, not a damaged woman who had no intention of being a mother—not even a stepmother— particularly not a stepmother. If she couldn’t risk not loving a child of her own enough, how could she risk not loving Leith’s son? And Leith would demand it. If she were in his shoes, she would feel the same.

As for Peter … The little boy had enough to cope with without a new woman in his father’s life—one who might be there one minute and gone the next.

She tasted the salt of her tears. She loved Leith too much to get in the way of a life with his son. He would forget about her soon enough. But just in case she had to make sure he wouldn’t come after her.

The tightness in her chest hurt.

She scrawled a few lines on a piece of paper she found next to his computer. Then she opened the door and slipped outside.

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