The Kissing Season by Rachael Johns Read Free Book Online Page B

make a good husband for Hannah, not like that flake she married.”
    “Luke, don’t start,” Nikki warned.
    Hannah didn’t know Luke was acquainted with Matt, but that wasn’t the point she wanted to make.
    “You never even met Larry.” She practically spat the words at her brother—probably because he was spot-on and she hated his being right. “And I’m not looking for another...actually, just
no
. I’m not talking about this with you or anyone right now.”
    Before Luke could respond, Hannah stormed off to find Shaun and Melissa and beg them to take her home.
    * * *
    T HE NEXT DAY she was still in a foul mood—angry with her family but even angrier with herself and her hyped-up libido, which hadn’t allowed her a wink of sleep. Despite being physically exhausted from early pregnancy, her mind brimmed with thoughts of Matt’s lips teasing hers. She couldn’t get the idea of sleeping with him out of her head. Hell, she couldn’t get the idea of
him
out of her head. She’d never felt this way about Larry. Then again, she’d married him within twenty-four hours of meeting him, so there’d been no thrill of the chase there.
    Frustrated in more ways than one, Hannah dragged herself out of bed, indulged in a long, hot shower and followed up with a large cup of coffee, the first she’d had since she’d seen the positive on the pregnancy test. She hoped the little bundle would cope, but some sins were necessary—this was the lesser of two evils.
    Sitting at the kitchen table, she stared at her reflection in the window and decided she looked ready to head down to Elliot’s for a day of schmoozing potential clients. But looks could be deceiving. Hannah already knew her head would be up in the clouds all day trying to lure her over to the dark side in which she relented and let the Italian show her a little festive cheer.
    “Oh.” She moaned out loud at the thought and quivered at the rush of warmth flooding her body. Wasn’t it the second trimester when her sex drive was meant to ramp up? And it wasn’t as if she’d been in a drought for long. She had absolutely no excuse.
    “You okay, honey?” Her mum chose that moment to waltz into the kitchen.
    “Yeah. Fine.” She swallowed, trying to summon moisture to her mouth, stood and crossed the room to dump her mug into the sink. “Just realized I’ve forgotten someone’s Christmas present.”
    “Hope it’s not mine,” Emily chirped.
    “No, ’course not. See ya, Mum.” With that, she pressed a quick kiss against her mum’s cheek and fled the house.
    It was a short walk to Elliot’s from home and one she didn’t need to take because any one of her brothers would have picked her up, but she relished time alone to think and the opportunity to work off some of her pent-up frustration. The solution to her little problem appeared loud and clear once she was in the fresh summer air—she should sleep with Matt and get him out of her system.
    There. A simple plan with only a couple of potholes.
    Quite aside from the fact that she’d been vocal and definite in her refusal of him, she was pregnant with someone else’s baby. Even if he did only want a fling—and by his words and actions, she concluded that was the case—the pregnant thing made her an unlikely candidate. She had to admit she was tempted not to tell him, to indulge in one last hurrah before she got serious about life and motherhood, but the more sensible option was to tell him.
    If he was a typical male, she’d only need to say the word
baby
and he’d run a mile.
    * * *
    H AVING PICKED UP the keys to his mum’s Christmas present from the real estate agent early, Matt headed to the house to wait for the arrival of the new furniture from Elliot’s. He contemplated stopping in at the emporium under the guise of checking if everything was ready to be delivered, but forced himself to ignore the urge. If Hannah was there, the real reason for his visit would be obvious and although he