Megan sucked hungrily, making a contented grunting sound at the same time. Jason watched, letting himself relax for the first time in hours and simply enjoying the moment instead of agonising over the complications his life now contained. Things would sort themselves out somehow.

They had to.

Oscar raised his head from Jason’s foot a minute or two later, floppy black ears pricked forward and the faint rumble of a growl coming from deep within the shaggy chest. Glancing up, Jason felt a rush of adrenalin tightening his muscles and wiping out any sense of relaxation.

‘Hi.’ Shelley was wearing a tiny singlet top with shoestring straps that left her belly and half her breasts exposed. The silk boxer shorts that sat low on her hips did nothing to conceal long, tanned legs. ‘Can I help?’

‘We’re fine, thanks.’ Jason had to clear his throat. There was no denying that Shelley was an extremely attractive young woman. It was all too easy to remember exactly what had led to their fateful night together. It had probably been all too easy for Laura to understand as well, Jason realised. He could only hope that Laura didn’t think he was still attracted, at least on anything more than an ‘enjoying the eye candy’ basis.

‘It’s very early.’ Jason turned his gaze back to the infant he was holding. ‘Why don’t you go back to bed for a while?’

Shelley said nothing and Jason felt the air in the room stir as she moved towards him. With fluid grace, she sat down and then curled her legs up beneath her on the other side of the couch. He looked up to see her head tilted provocatively to one side.

‘I will if you come with me.’

Jason swallowed hard. He could think of a great many men who would kill to be in his position right now, but it was totally wasted on him. He shouldn’t have offered Shelley a place to stay, but then he’d thought at the time that Laura would be here as well. He’d only offered because he hadn’t wanted to antagonise Shelley. They had things to sort out and Jason wanted that sorting out to be to his advantage. Their advantage. His and Laura’s.

Thanks to Laura’s defection, he was now going to have to avoid antagonising Shelley on a much more delicate issue. What was to stop her taking Megan and simply disappearing? Jason could imagine with how little urgency any authorities would view tracking down a child he hadn’t known even existed until a month ago and who was now back with its birth mother. Jason’s hold on Megan tightened imperceptibly. He was going to have to make sure that he kept both Megan and Shelley in sight at all times, so it probably was a good thing that she’d wanted to stay.

‘Well?’ Shelley ran the tip of her tongue across her upper lip. ‘What do you say, Jason? For old times’ sake, maybe?’

‘I don’t think that would be a good idea, Shelley.’ It was hard to believe he was looking at the same woman who had been overwhelmed by grief for her twin sister only hours ago. There was no hint of any lingering distress now.

‘I do.’ Shelley uncurled her legs and suddenly she was kneeling beside him on the couch. She pushed her fingers into his tousled hair and her lips tickled his ear as she spoke very softly. ‘I think it would be a lovely idea.’

The touch of her tongue in his ear was too much. Jason stood up. ‘Megan’s finished her milk,’ he said hurriedly. ‘She needs burping.’

Shelley sprawled on the couch, gazing up at him. The faint narrowing of her eyes faded and she smiled. ‘You want me, Jason. You know you do.’

Jason shook his head. ‘I’m in a relationship now,’ he told her. ‘One that means a lot. I’m not going to cheat on Laura.’

The snort from Shelley was contemptuous. ‘What’s she got that I couldn’t give you, Jason?’ She sat up. ‘More importantly, what have I got to give you that she hasn’t?’

Jason said nothing. He rubbed Megan’s back and felt like he was soothing himself as well as the baby. The burp she produced would have made Stick proud, and Jason smiled lopsidedly as he saw Shelley roll her lovely blue eyes with disgust. So much for all her protestations in front of Laura about how much she loved and had missed Megan.

‘You’re not really into babies, are you, Shelley?’

‘She was an unexpected little gift,’ Shelley said smoothly. ‘But I love her far too much to part with her now.’

‘Why did you decide to go through with the pregnancy?’ Jason asked bluntly.

Shelley licked her lips but it was a far from sensual action. It looked more like nervousness. ‘I…um…I didn’t realise until it was too late.’

‘So you didn’t want a baby, then.’

‘Of course not. I’m only twenty, Jason. I’ve got my whole life ahead of me.’

‘Of course you have.’ Jason was quite happy to sound sympathetic again. ‘It’s far too young to be tied into parenthood.’

Shelley nodded. ‘It’s not that I don’t love Megan,’ she added.

‘She’s a lovable baby all right,’ Jason agreed.

‘So you want to keep her?’

‘Yes.’ A simple word. Why did it have the effect of making Jason’s heart skip and a prickle of perspiration break out down the length of his spine?

‘You can keep her,’ Shelley said softly. ‘She can be yours, Jason.’

‘In return for?’

‘Marrying me.’

‘What?’ Jason stared at Shelley. ‘Are you crazy?’

‘No.’ Shelley shook her hair back from her face and her expression hardened. ‘Look, you don’t have to sleep with me if you don’t want to. Though I’m sure that’s only a matter of time.’ Her gaze flicked up and down the length of Jason’s body. ‘I’ve no objections.’

Jason wished he was wearing more than his pyjama bottoms. He also vowed never to look at a woman again in a way that could be construed as sizing up their potential performance in bed. It didn’t feel like he was being appreciated. It was downright degrading, but he managed to keep the ‘in your dreams’ comment silent.

‘You’ll have to live with me, though,’ Shelley said calmly. ‘And make it look like more than a marriage in name only. And it’ll have to last long enough for me to get my permanent resident’s status. That will take a year or so after you agree to sponsor me and make an application to the immigration department.’

‘You’ve got it all worked out, haven’t you?’

‘I know what I want.’ Shelley stood up and walked towards the door. ‘And I intend to get it. I’m sure that fat girlfriend of yours will understand. She can live with us too, if she wants. We could use a nanny.’

She turned as she reached the door. ‘The alternative is that I take Megan back to England and you never see either of us ever again. I might have her adopted, and it will probably be at least twenty years before you manage to track her down. Your choice, Jason. Have a think about it. I’m going back to bed.’

‘I don’t know what to do.’

‘How about drinking that coffee before it’s stone cold?’

‘I mean, I’d love to just kick her out, but she says that if she goes then Megan goes with her.’ Jason picked up his coffee mug but then put it down without drinking from it. ‘She doesn’t give a damn about Megan. OK, she might have got up at five a.m. yesterday but helping to feed a baby wasn’t what she had in mind.’

‘Oh?’ Laura felt the cold, hard knot in her stomach grow a little heavier. ‘Did she try and seduce you, Jase?’

Jason shook his head but it was a movement of disgust rather than denial. ‘She’s making a big mistake if she thinks she can use sex to get what she wants.’

Laura stared into the remaining liquid at the bottom of her own coffee mug. Shelley was probably very successful in using sex to get exactly what she wanted. Just how far had the attempted seduction gone? Laura felt sick. It wasn’t as if she had any real claim on Jason. She was an aberration in his normal lifestyle as far as women were concerned, and she had won her place purely because of Megan’s presence. How long would it take for Jason to revert to type with that kind of temptation laid out on a plate?

‘What are you going to do, Jase?’

‘I don’t know,’ Jason said miserably. ‘It’s really doing my head in.’ He glanced at the baby sleeping peacefully in the car seat beside his chair, then his gaze took in the rest of the kitchen and the small adjoining living area. ‘This is a really nice little house, Laura. Could Megan and I stay here with you for a few days, maybe?’

‘What would that solve?’

‘It would get me away from Shelley. Give me some time to think of what to do. She’s so bloody determined to get what she wants and I can’t talk any sense into her.’

What Shelley wanted was Jason. And Jason clearly wasn’t prepared to risk losing his child if he could find a way to keep her.

‘Have you spoken to a solicitor? Asked about trying to get custody?’

‘No.’ Jason pushed his fingers through his hair in a frustrated gesture that created spikes in the blond-streaked waves. ‘That would antagonise her right now. I’ve made it bad enough by saying I’m not prepared to marry her.’

‘She wants you to marry her? Just like that?’

Jason nodded unhappily. ‘She’s been quite upfront about it. She wants to live in New Zealand and marriage is the easiest ticket to permanent residency. She says if I don’t marry her she’ll go back to England and I’ll never see Megan again. She’s threatened to have her adopted so I can’t even trace where she is. I don’t know what the adoption laws in England are like but I’m not going to find out by letting that happen.’

Laura could feel the tension in her jaw as she unconsciously gritted her teeth. Shelley was some kind of monster. How could anyone play with a child’s life like that? And this wasn’t just any baby. This was Megan they were talking about.

Jason caught Laura’s gaze. ‘She also says it doesn’t have to be a real marriage. As long as we live together and make it look real. She’s even got that planned out. She reckons that big old house on the corner of the street would be cheap and I could do it up on my days off. Then we could sell it for a great profit, get divorced and everyone would be happy.’