LITMIR.BIZ

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course.”

      She smiled. “And you know I’m completely excited that you’re letting me take over your apartment when you move in with Max …”

      “I know.”

      “But,” Amanda said, leaning forward to pat Julia’s hand, “if you’re really worried about this, don’t do it.”

      “What?” Julia glanced across the room when someone laughed too loudly. Then, looking back at Amanda, she said, “I have to.”

      “No, you don’t. You’ve already faced the worst part. You’ve told your parents.”

      “And the blackmail?” Julia shook her head slowly, despite being grateful for what Amanda was trying to tell her. God knew, after the afternoon with her parents, Julia was even more thankful to have Amanda’s unswerving support. But the simple truth was, she had to marry Max. Otherwise, her child would be the subject of vicious gossip before it was even born. And she wouldn’t allow that. “I appreciate it, sweetie,” Julia said. “But I have to marry Max.”

      “Getting married for the wrong reasons is so not a good idea,” Amanda said softly.

      “Marriage for any reason isn’t usually a good idea.” A deep voice resonated from just behind Julia and she swiveled to look up at the man staring down at her.

      “Hello, Max.”

      Six

      “Okay,” Amanda said, grabbing her drink and standing up in one smooth move. “That’s my cue to hit the road.”

      “You don’t have to go on my account,” Max said, already dropping onto the couch beside Julia.

      “No, it’s okay. I’ve got lots of calls to make,” Amanda told him, then shifted her gaze to Julia’s. “We’ll talk later at home, okay?”

      “Sure, see you later.” Julia watched her friend leave, then turned her head to look at Max, who was studying her carefully.

      “Your friend trying to talk you out of this?”

      “She’s worried about me.”

      “Should she be?” He ran the tips of his fingers down the length of her arm, and even through her linen shirt Julia felt heat, a heat that began to slide through her veins.

      “Good question,” she said, and shifted slightly, drawing her arm back and away from him. How could she think when he was touching her?

      “Is there an answer?” He eased back, the sides of his black suit jacket falling to either side of him, displaying what she knew to be a rock-solid chest and abdomen hidden beneath the custom-made dress shirt.

      She lifted her gaze to his and blew out a breath. “I don’t know. Max, Amanda’s my friend. She’s trying to be supportive, letting me know she’s on my side no matter what.”

      “She knows what’s going on?” he asked. “The baby?

      The blackmail?”

      “Yes.” Julia glanced around the coffee shop, checking to see who was watching them. Who might be listening. She knew darn well that whoever was behind the blackmail had to have overheard her and Max talking about the baby in here. When she looked back to him, though, she let the worry go. The blackmail had already happened. What more could this person do to her? “I told her everything.”

      “Including the name of the father of your baby?” he wondered aloud, his gaze narrowing slightly.

      “Max …” Irritation spiked inside her and Julia fought the distinct urge to kick him in the shins. Honestly. She’d lived her whole life by the rules. She’d maintained the sophisticated facade that life in society demanded. She’d never stepped out of line, always done just what she should.

      And the minute she met Max, all that had disappeared. Not only had she slept with him right away, she’d gotten pregnant. Not only was she being blackmailed, she was marrying a man she hardly knew. Not only was he the father of her child, but she couldn’t make him believe she wasn’t a liar. And now, the well-behaved, always discreet Julia Prentice wanted to kick a man and scream at him in public, and the only thing keeping her from doing just that was what was left of her self-control.

      “Wow,” he mused aloud, a barely concealed chuckle in his tone, “you just had quite the talk with yourself, didn’t you?”

      “What?”

      He sat up, braced his elbows on his knees and locked his gaze with hers. “Your face. It’s so easy to read, it’s ridiculous. You don’t keep secrets well, do you.”

      “No, I really don’t,” she muttered, disturbed a little at how easily he could read her. But then she told herself it didn’t matter, since even reading her face so expertly, he didn’t believe what he saw. “I’m not a good liar, Max. That’s why I don’t lie.”

      “Uh-huh.” Max would have liked to believe her, but how could he? Those big blue eyes of hers seemed to look right through him, and he wondered what she saw in him. What she’d seen from the beginning that had sent her to him for help when her world had crashed down around her.

      He glanced around the café and reassured himself no one was paying the slightest attention to the two of them. Turning back to Julia, he watched her squirm uncomfortably on the couch and read her body language easily enough. She was uneasy in his presence and he thought he knew why.

      “You went to see your parents yesterday, didn’t you?”

      Her eyes darkened a bit in memory, and Max knew he’d guessed right. He was willing to bet that the elder Prentices hadn’t been happy with their daughter’s news.

      “Yes.”

      “Told them about the baby?”

      “Yes.” She shifted, tugged the hem of her pale blue skirt closer to her knees and crossed her feet daintily at the ankle. As neatly as a nun, she folded her hands together in her lap. “They were … unhappy.”

      He laughed shortly. “I’m guessing that’s an understatement.”

      She winced. “Pretty much.”

      Max didn’t need her to explain what that conversation had been like. He’d met her parents briefly at some social function in the city and hadn’t exactly been impressed with their warmth. In fact, he found it amazing that a woman with the fire Julia had could have come from people so inherently cold.

      Oddly enough, looking at her now, seeing the distress that still clouded her eyes at the mention of her parents, Max realized that he’d like nothing better than to go see them. Tell them what he thought of parents who couldn’t bring themselves to support their own child.

      “My mother,” Julia said, capturing his attention, “is appalled at the idea of being labeled a grandmother.”

      “Her loss,” he said tightly, and was rewarded by a flash of light in her eyes. Wanting to see that spark again, he said, “My mother would have been on cloud nine.”

      “Really?”

      Max smiled. He didn’t often think of his parents, because memories only made him miss them more. But now he allowed his mother’s smiling image to fill his mind. “Oh, yeah. She used to harp on me all the time about making her a grandmother. She’d have been excited at the prospect.”

      Julia’s mouth curved gently, sadly. “I’m sorry she’s not here to know you’re going to be a father.”

      Instantly his insides tightened. “We both know that’s not true, though, don’t we?”

      “Max, please believe me,” she said, reaching out one hand to him. Her fingers closed around his and in response, he felt heat shoot up the length of his arm and slam into his chest.

      And because that sensation was so strong, he battled it

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