Kristen Lewis had a thing for hotels.

       She loved the luxury, the hustle and bustle, even those tiny toiletries designed to slather and splurge and make a weary soul feel like a million dollars for that split second in time. 

       But most of all she loved the anonymity where people from all walks of life passed each other without knowing or caring why a successful, thirty-five year old woman at the top of her game would be sitting alone at a bar sipping a spritzer.

       "Men," she muttered, stabbing at the lemon wedge in her glass with a swizzle stick, wondering if the ability to blow off other people was a genetic thing.

       Even as friends they couldn't be trusted.

       She took another stab at the piece of lemon, which was starting to resemble Swiss cheese with the number of jabs she'd taken at it in the last five minutes, as she glanced around the Oasis bar of the Grand Hyatt hotel in Singapore.

       She loved this place with its sleek chrome lines, trendy black furniture and the occasional splash of red, and had spent many hours here with clients and work colleagues during her four year stint working at a Singapore TV station. The hotel's grandeur screamed 'special occasion', the reason why she'd chosen to meet Nigel here tonight, envisioning a fun evening with her best work buddy where she'd share her amazing news.  Unfortunately, Nigel had had a better offer from a twenty-two year old temp and had given her the brush off in the foyer without even hearing her news.

       "Buddy my butt," she muttered, taking a sip of her favourite white wine and soda combo as her gaze locked with a guy sitting at the other end of the bar.

       Not bad, flashed across her mind as she took in his dark eyes, dark hair, slight bump in the nose which added character to his model-handsome face and sardonic expression highlighted by a slight quirk of his lips at the corners.

       Dropping her gaze quickly, she returned to studying coasters while mentally listing Nigel's faults, the main one being that he preferred a romantic evening with a bimbo rather than celebrating the news she'd be returning to Australia shortly.  Not that she should be surprised.  If Nigel had a choice between wining and dining his latest prospective conquest or sharing a drink with a friend, she lost every time.

       Letting her gaze sweep the room again in a general fly-by, it unerringly zeroed in on the good looking guy and she prepared for a quick look-away.  From past experience guys who looked like that sitting alone at a bar would still be staring at her trying to make eye contact before moving in for the kill.

       Instead, Mr. Handsome was staring morosely into his drink, a sombre expression on his striking face and crazily she sighed in disappointment.  She'd never believed in fate or karma or any of that airy-fairy rubbish yet when she'd locked gazes with the guy a second ago something intangible had zinged between them, almost like kindred spirits meeting and shaking hands before fading away. 

       Now he wore the same brooding, gloomy expression which matched her mood perfectly and for an irrational moment she wondered if she should go over there and share sob stories with him.

       Shaking her head, she finished off her spritzer-had to more wine than soda in it for her to be contemplating such an uncharacteristic action-and scrummaged in her handbag for money.

       "Is this yours?"

       Looking up from the giant cavernous hole which sucked up purses, tissues, pens, make up and everything else she needed on a daily basis, making them vanish with a flick of its clasp, she stared into the darkest eyes she'd ever seen.

       A dark chocolate bordering on black, they stared at her with polite interest as if expecting something from her.

       "Is this your coat?"

       His voice, as deep and mysterious and impressive as his eyes washed over her and she blinked, realising he did expect something from her; an answer.

       "Oh.  Yes, thanks.  Was it on the floor?"

       She couldn't look away, lost in his hypnotic stare, floundering when she would usually give Mr. Handsome a confident smile, a polite nod and terse reply.

       He was probably pulling some slick, practised move on her and she gave guys like that short shift.  Instead, she stood there like a mannequin, stiff and wide-eyed, unable to shake the feeling that this guy was on her wavelength.

       Smiling, he nodded.  "Yes, you knocked it off the back of your stool while searching in that suitcase of yours."

       "Suitcase?" 

       If his eyes had mesmerised her they had nothing on his smile, which had her surreptitiously leaning against the bar for support.

       He pointed to her handbag.  "Looks big enough to store the odd suit and a pair of shoes or two."

       She laughed and snapped the 'suitcase' shut.  "I'm on the go a lot so like to have everything at my fingertips.  You know, important stuff like pens and notebooks and all the other paraphernalia I couldn't possibly find anywhere if I left all this at home."

       His smile widened but somehow it didn't reach his eyes, a flicker of sadness darkening their depths to almost black and she felt another twinge, an uncharacteristic urge to reach out and comfort him.  "Speaking of being on the go, I should catch some sleep.  I've got an early plane to catch tomorrow."

       "Here on business?"

       "Yes."

       "I live here," she blurted, filled with a desperate urge to keep him talking, to find out more about the mysterious guy who saved ladies' coats from death-by-trampling yet wore an invisible cloak of sadness around his broad shoulders.

       "Really?  By your Aussie accent I assumed you're here on business too?"

       "I could be on holiday," she said, hating the stilted stand up conversation they were having, which is exactly why she didn't hang out at places like this.

       "You're not on holiday."

       She raised an eyebrow, surprised by his matter of fact tone.  "How do you know that?"

       "Because holiday makers have a relaxed look about them, an excited glow and you don't have it."

       "Gee, thanks.  So I've lost my glow too," she muttered, wondering what she was doing here making small talk with a guy she didn't know and who'd only stopped because she was a klutz.

       "You've got a glow," he said, in a tight, strangled tone which made her look up and register the fleeting interest in his eyes.  "Just not a holiday one."

       Kristen didn't know if it was her bruised ego courtesy of being stood up by Nigel, the spritzer she'd had on an empty stomach or the nebulous connection she felt for this sad stranger but she found herself doing something completely out of character.

       "If you're not too tired and can hold off on the zzzs a while longer, maybe you'd like to hear about my non-holiday glow?"

       He didn't move, surprise mingling with something else-regret, hope, desire?-in his eyes and she wished the ground would open up as heat surged into her cheeks. 

       "Look, don't worry.  I'm sure you have more important things-"

        "I'd like that," he said, hanging her coat over the back of the stool and holding it out for her.

       "Great."

       She sat down, baffled by her behaviour and the simple pleasure derived from his acceptance.

       "Would you like a drink?"

       "A lemon, lime and bitters, please."

       If the splash of wine in the spritzer was responsible for her erratic behaviour, she'd better stick to the soft stuff otherwise no telling what she might do.

       After placing their order with the waiter-who had a knowing smile like he'd seen this scenario a thousand times before-Mr. Handsome turned to her.

       "I'm Nate."

       Smiling, she held out her hand.  "I'm Kris.  Non-holiday maker.  Living in Singapore and loving it."

       Warmth enveloped her hand as he shook it with a solid grip.  She liked that, hating when guys gave her the limp-fish handshake because of her sex, though she usually showed them, turning their condescension into awe when she wowed them in the business arena.

       "Family reasons?"

       She shook her head, wondering if he were fishing for info about a significant other before ditching the idea.         Nate seemed too up-front to play those sorts of games.  If he were interested he would've asked and sadly she had a feeling he was sitting here chatting to her out of pity rather than desire for her as a woman.  Something in the way he'd looked at her when she'd invited him to share a drink, as if he'd like to refuse but didn't want to hurt her feelings.

       Oh well, she didn't care.  Right now, it felt good to talk to someone-she'd been fit to burst with her news earlier-especially with a guy who looked like Nate regardless of his motivations for sitting here with a sad case like her.

       "No, I don't have much family.  Two sisters back in Sydney, that's it.  I've been here working, producing one of Singapore's travel shows."

       "Sounds interesting."

       He thanked the waiter as their drinks were placed in front of them and signed the bill slip, giving her ample opportunity to study him. 

       White business shirt unbuttoned at the collar and rolled up at the sleeves revealing strong forearms, shirt tucked into the waistband of black trousers encasing long legs ending in a pair of designer shoes.  However, the clothes weren't the interesting part, it was the body beneath: lean, streamlined, a physique hinting at subtle strength.

       Very, very nice!

       Usually, she wouldn't have given this stranger the time of day let alone invited him to share a drink yet there was something so…so…haunting about him, an underlying vulnerability that had her wanting to cuddle him close and pat him comfortingly on the back.

       "Can I ask you something?"

       Her gaze snapped up from somewhere in the vicinity of his collar where it parted to reveal a tantalising V of tanned skin, an expanse of skin she found infinitely fascinating for no other reason than what it hinted at as the rest of his chest filled out the shirt rather well.

       "Sure."

       "You were muttering into your drink earlier.  Is everything okay?"

       Once again, heat seeped into her cheeks.  Could this get any more embarrassing, the gallant guy having a pity drink with the desperate ditched?

       "You know what they say about talking to yourself being the first sign of madness?  Well, I'm mad all right.  Mad enough to want to throttle my buddy Nigel for bailing on me."

       "Ouch."

       Nate winced and she squared her shoulders, ready to rebuff his pity.  Instead, she saw a glimmer of amusement lighting his eyes.  "Did he stand you up?"

       "Sure did, the louse.  Said he had a better offer from this girl he's been chasing for a while, so he ditches a friend for a bit of fluff.  Nice."

       "Very poor form," Nate said, his eyes twinkling beneath a mock frown.  "Friends should always come first."

       He was making light of her situation and rather than being insulted, laughter bubbled within her at the big deal she'd made out of something pretty insignificant.  "Why did you think he stood me up?"

       Nate's amusement spread to his mouth, tilting upwards at the corners.  "Well, if I'd taken one look at that bag and the maniacal gleam in your eyes, I would've made a run for it."

       She laughed, surprised the annoyance of being stood up by Nigel had receded only to be replaced by a surprising need to share confidences with this guy.

       "Ah, but you didn't.  You're sitting here, aren't you?"

       "Good point."

       He tipped his glass in her direction before taking a long sip of beer, his gaze never leaving hers.

       She couldn't figure him out.

       He wasn't flirting with her or making suggestive comments or even hinting at anything untoward but when he stared at her like that, steady, unwavering, loaded, the air between them sizzled with an invisible current and had her reaching for her own drink which she gulped in record time.

               

From employee to mommy-to-be...

Career-girl Kristen Lewis is at the top of her field.

She's driven, sensible-and her spur-of-the-moment decision to have one perfect night with sexy Nate was totally out of character! She puts it behind her...until she's faced with two shocks: she's pregnant...with her boss's baby!

Nathan Boyd, one of Australia's leading entrepeneurs, buries himself in work to forget his private torment. But now he's faced with a dilemma: the first woman to tempt him in a long time is his employee.

Read an excerpt or find out behind-the-scenes info with under the covers!