Free Their Baby Surprise by Jennifer Taylor Page A

their first time or their hundredth.’
    ‘I agree, although I suppose that must sound rather hypocritical.’
    ‘Hypocritical?’ He frowned. ‘What do you mean?’
    ‘That I’m hardly a shining example of how to behave sensibly seeing as I was a teenage mum myself,’ she explained wryly.
    ‘That’s just plain silly, Rachel. All right, so you didn’t plan on having Ross, but everyone is allowed to make one mistake in their lives.’
    ‘Thank you. And I have to confess that I wouldn’t change things even if I could. Having Ross was the best thing that ever happened to me. I know I worked twice as hard as I would have done if I hadn’t had to support him.’
    ‘There you go, then. You’ve nothing to feel bad about. In fact, I can’t think of a better role model for the kids than you.’
    Matt heard the husky note in his voice and picked up his glass of water, hoping that Rachel wouldn’t thank him for the compliment. If she did he might be tempted to hand out a few more and that would be the wrong thing to do. He had to remember that he wasn’t in a position to court her.
    The incongruity of the old-fashioned term should have made him laugh, yet it was the best way to describe how he felt. He wanted to court her, to woo her and charm her into liking him. He tried to remember if he had felt the same way when he had met Claire but it was too long ago to recall his feelings. His love for Claire had been both rich and fulfilling, but it had changed over the years they’d been married. Their passion had mellowed, the urgency they had felt in the beginning turning into a closeness that had sustained them both. But all of a sudden he knew that if he fell in love with Rachel it wouldn’t be the same. It couldn’t be. He couldn’t imagine the passion he felt for her growing weaker with time.
    Matt’s breath caught as he was forced to acknowledge the truth. Loving Rachel would be a very different experience from loving Claire. Admitting it seemed like the ultimate betrayal.

CHAPTER SEVEN
    R ACHEL sensed a certain undercurrent bubbling away while they ate. It wasn’t anything Matt said, but a feeling she had that something was troubling him. To all intents and purposes he behaved exactly the same as normal but she was too sensitive when it came to him to miss even the smallest signs. The thought unsettled her so that when he suggested having coffee after their meal, she refused. It seemed wiser to bring the evening to an end rather than prolong it.
    They left the restaurant a short time later and walked over to where they had parked the car. There was a thick layer of frost on the windscreen and once Matt had settled her in the passenger seat, he got out a can of de-icer and set to work. Rachel huddled deeper into her coat, although it wasn’t the chill of the night that was making her feel so cold but the worry of it all. Had Matt sensed something amiss from her own behaviour, perhaps?
    ‘Let’s get this heater going.’ Matt got into the car, bringing with him a blast of icy air. He frowned when he saw her shiver. ‘You’re frozen solid! I should have turned on the engine instead of leaving you sitting here.’
    He sounded genuinely upset and she couldn’t bear to hear him berate himself when she was the one at fault. She had to get over this ridiculous crush and set everything back on a normal footing.
    ‘I’ll live,’ she said lightly, making a determined effort to sound upbeat. ‘I’ll have you know that I’m a lot tougher than I look!’
    ‘Oh, I don’t doubt it.’ He grinned at her. ‘I bet you tear up telephone directories with your bare hands for fun, don’t you?’
    ‘You’d better believe it!’ Rachel flexed her fingers and laughed, feeling easier now that their usual harmony had been restored. Maybe she had been reading too much into the situation, she thought, glancing at Matt as he drove them out of the car park. He’d probably been concentrating on the pros and cons of this new