Free Flora's Defiance by Lynne Graham

‘That’s a very short skirt,’ he heard himself remark stiffly.
    ‘No, it’s not. I don’t wear
very
short skirts—I just happen to have
very
long legs!’ Flora snapped defensively.
    Angelo found that unnecessary information, for he was already imagining those limbs wrapped round his waist again and his all-too-male body was reacting accordingly. So hard and full of repressed lust that he physically hurt, he swallowed back a curse and yanked open the front door. ‘Come on,’ he urged curtly.
    Flora was taken aback to find a chauffeur-driven limo awaiting them on the street. She climbed into the very spacious interior and watched without surprise as Angelo flipped out a laptop to work on and proceeded to ignore her. Telling herself that she was relieved by his businesslike attitude, she lifted the English newspaper lying on the seat and proceeded to read it. As she read Angelo proved what a dynamo of business energy he was while he made and received calls in more than one language and rapped out commands and advice to various underlings. Listening to the level of innate authority and conviction with which he spoke, Flora was not at all surprised that she was seated in his limo speeding towards an appointment that he had arranged for her. It would take a very tough and obstinate woman to stand up to a male as determined as Angelo van Zaal, but she was convinced that she had the backbone if he pushed her hard enough.
    It was late afternoon by the time they arrived at Dr Natalie Ellwood’s smart private surgery in an upmarket part of central London. Flora sat edgily in the waitingroom while Angelo continued to do business, just as he had during the journey. If someone had warned her that there was about to be a flood she would have left him to drown with his mobile phone still clutched in his hand. She had met some obsessively hard workers in her time, but Angelo van Zaal was in a class of his own. Mariska’s would-be adoptive father was an unashamed workaholic.
    ‘Angelo!’ An elegant brunette in a beautifully cut trouser suit emerged wreathed in smiles and swam up to Angelo to kiss him effusively on both cheeks.
    ‘Flora. This is Dr Ellwood. Natalie, your new patient,’ Angelo drawled smoothly.
    ‘Have you known Angelo for long? ‘ Natalie asked Flora as she showed her into her surgery.
    ‘No, not for long. You?’ Flora could not resist asking, although she had noticed that the brunette wore a wedding ring.
    ‘Oh, for ever. We went to university together. He’s one of my oldest friends,’ Natalie carolled with enthusiasm, her brown eyes resting on Flora with a bright questioning curiosity that she couldn’t hide.
    During the period that followed, Flora was examined and subjected to several tests. Natalie and her nurse were very pleasant. Finally, Flora sat down to face the doctor across her desk. ‘Well?’ she pressed nervously.
    ‘Yes, I can confirm that you are pregnant.’
    Flora lost colour. ‘Are you absolutely certain?’
    ‘Yes, I am. Is this an unintentional conception?’ the brunette doctor asked delicately.
    Flora was too much in shock to do anything other than nod like a rather vacant puppet.
Pregnant!
Andby Angelo van Zaal! Dry-mouthed and on wobbly legs, she indicated that she did not wish to discuss the matter further and she returned to the waiting area where Angelo was engaged on yet another phone call, this time in French. Snatches of dialogue about defective materials and an inefficient supplier buzzed in and out of her head while her dazed green gaze sought out his. She encountered brilliant blue eyes of cool enquiry and stared at him with some of the shocked disbelief she was experiencing. She registered the exact moment that he realised what news she had just received because he said something curiously indistinct for a change and, lowering his phone and ending the call, he sprang restively upright.
    Every time they met she forgot how tall Angelo was until he stood beside her