Kate Hardy - The Baby That Changed Everything

Even though he was polite and made conversation with the women he danced with, he was totally aware of Bailey throughout the entire evening. Her smile, her sparkle, her warmth. And she made him ache.

He wanted her. Really wanted her. But he knew she’d panicked as much as he had when they’d kissed, so it was a bad idea. They needed to go back to being strictly colleagues. Somehow.

At the end of the evening he said his goodbyes to Bailey’s family, trusting that she’d manage to get him out of a promise to see them soon.

‘I guess this is it, then,’ she said as she walked him to the door of the ballroom.

‘I’ll call a taxi and see you home first,’ he said.

She shook her head. ‘You don’t have to do that.’

He smiled. ‘Yes, I do. I’m old-fashioned. So let’s not argue about it—just humour me on this one, OK?’

She didn’t argue and let him organise a taxi. She didn’t say much on the journey back to her place; although Jared desperately wanted to reach for her hand, he kept a tight rein on himself and simply joined her in sitting quietly.

When the taxi stopped, he paid the cabbie.

‘Isn’t he taking you home now?’ Bailey asked, and he could see the panic in her eyes. Did she really think that he expected her to invite him in for a nightcap—or more?

‘No. I’m seeing you to your doorstep and waiting until you’re safely inside, then I’m taking the Tube home,’ Jared said. ‘And, yes, I know you can look after yourself, but it’s been a long day and you’re wearing incredibly high heels.’

‘Point taken.’ Her expression softened. ‘Thank you.’

She let him escort her to her doorstep.

‘Thank you for today,’ she said. ‘I really appreciate it.’

‘No worries.’ He leaned forward, intending to give her a reassuring—and strictly platonic—kiss on the cheek. But somewhere along the way one or both of them moved their head, and the next thing he knew his lips were skimming against hers.

What started out as a soft, sweet, gentle kiss quickly turned to something else entirely, and he was kissing her as if he was starving. She was kissing him right back, opening her mouth to let him deepen the kiss. And this felt so right, so perfect.

When she pulled away, his head was swimming.

‘No,’ she said. ‘We can’t do this.’

The panic was back in her face.

Her ex, whoever he was, must have really hurt her badly, Jared thought.

And he had no intention of making her feel worse.

‘It’s OK.’ He took her hand and squeezed it. Just once. The way she’d squeezed his hand when he’d talked about his knee injury. Sympathy, not pity. ‘You’re right. We’re colleagues, and just colleagues.’

And he needed to keep that in mind. He didn’t want the complication of falling for someone, either. The risk of everything going wrong. Been there, done that and learned from his mistakes.

The fear in her eyes faded—just a fraction, but she’d clearly heard what he’d said.

‘I’ll see you at work,’ he said.

‘Yeah. I’ll see you.’ She swallowed. ‘And I’m sorry.’

‘There’s nothing to be sorry for,’ he said.

He waited until she’d unlocked her front door and closed it again behind her, and then he left to find the Tube station. It was better this way. Being sensible.

Wasn’t it?

BAILEY SLEPT REALLY badly that night. Every time she closed her eyes, all she could see was Jared in that wretched suit, looking totally edible. Worse, her mouth tingled in memory of the way he’d kissed her.

OK, she’d admit it. She was attracted to Jared Fraser. Big time.

But, after the way her marriage had imploded, she wasn’t sure she could risk getting involved with anyone again. Letting herself be vulnerable. Risking the same thing happening all over again. After the ectopic pregnancy she’d ended up pushing Ed away—physically as well as emotionally—because she’d been so scared of getting pregnant again.

So, as much as she would like to date Jared—and to take things a lot further than they had at the wedding—she was going to be sensible and keep things between them just as colleagues. Because she didn’t want to hurt him, the way she’d hurt Ed.

Do you like kids?

And he’d said yes. She could imagine him as a father, especially after she’d seen him with the children at the wedding. And that was another sticking point. She wanted children, too. But the ectopic pregnancy had shredded her confidence. What if it happened again and her other tube ruptured, leaving her infertile?

She’d been terrified of getting pregnant again, and that had made her scared of sex—a vicious circle she hadn’t been able to break. Technically, Ed had been unfaithful to her; but Bailey blamed herself for it, because he’d only done it after she’d pushed him away and refused to let him touch her. She knew that the break-up of her marriage was all her fault.

Since her divorce, until Jared, she hadn’t met anyone she’d wanted to date. But how could she expect him to deal with all her baggage? It wouldn’t be fair.

So, the next morning, she sent Jared a text to clear the air—and also to make it very clear to him how she felt. And hopefully it would ease any potential awkwardness at work.

Sorry. Too much champagne yesterday. Hope I haven’t wrecked our professional relationship.

Jared read the message for the fourth time.

Too much champagne? Hardly. He’d been watching Bailey. She’d had one glass, maybe two. With a meal. Most of the time she’d been drinking sparkling water—as had he.

It was an excuse, and he knew it. She’d looked so scared. As panicky as he’d felt. But why?

Next time he saw her, he decided, he’d get her to talk to him. For now, he’d try to keep things easy between them.

Medicinal recommendation of a fry-up for the hangover, he texted back. See you on the pitch later in the week.

Facing Jared for the first time since the wedding made Bailey squirm inside. In the end, she decided to brazen it out. Hadn’t he said she was sparkly? Then she’d go into super-sparkly mode. So she chatted to all the players, gave Archie a smacking kiss hello on the cheek—while making quite sure she was out of grabbing reach half a second later—and gave Jared a lot of backchat about being too old and too stuck in his ways to do yoga with the boys in the team.

To her relief, he responded the same way, and things were back to the way they used to be. Before he’d kissed her.

Almost.

Because during the training session she looked up from her laptop and caught him looking at her; those amazing blue eyes were filled with wistfulness.

Yeah.

She’d like to repeat that kiss, too. Take things further. But she just couldn’t take the risk. She knew he’d end up being just as hurt as she was. She couldn’t destroy him, the way she’d destroyed Ed.

‘Can we have a word?’ Jared asked at the end of the training session.

‘Um—sure.’ Bailey looked spooked.

He waited until the players and Archie had gone into the dressing room. ‘Are you OK?’ he asked gently.

‘Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?’

‘You and me. Saturday night,’ he pointed out.

‘Too much champagne,’ she said swiftly.

‘I don’t think so.’ He kept his voice soft. ‘I think you’re running scared.’

She lifted her chin and gave him a look that was clearly supposed to be haughty, but instead he saw the vulnerability there. ‘I’m not scared.’

‘That,’ he said, ‘is pure bravado. And I know that, because this thing between us scares me, too.’

The fight went out of her. ‘Oh.’

‘So what are we going to do about it?’ he asked.