Nine Month Countdown. Leah Ashton

      

       ‘Ivy, what’s going on?’

      She’d been staring unseeing down at her fingers, which she’d been wrapping and unwrapping around the stem of her champagne glass.

      She took a breath. The deepest breath she could remember taking.

      Then she lifted her gaze and met his.

      Even in the moody bar lighting she now finally had enough light to see the colour of his eyes. Hazel. They were lovely eyes, sexy eyes, but right now they were hard and unyielding.

      Yes, he’d worked out that this night wasn’t going to pan out the way he’d planned.

      ‘Angus—I’m pregnant.’

Dear Reader

      I started writing Ivy and Angus’s story just after my daughter turned one. The most amazing—and exhausting!—year of my life had come to an end, and I was finally writing again.

      It’s probably no surprise that a baby popped into this story! But Ivy’s story is very different from mine. Ivy certainly hasn’t planned her pregnancy. In fact Ivy falls pregnant at exactly the worst possible moment in her career. For Ivy, her career is everything—so it’s as if her whole world has collapsed around her. Plus she also has to deal with a gorgeous, charming soldier who just won’t go away!

      I now know first-hand how life-changing children are—in a way I never comprehended before. But what would it be like to share such a life-changing experience with a practical stranger? That question is where Ivy and Angus’s story begins, and I just had to keep writing until this unlikely couple made it to their happy-ever-after.

      I hope you enjoy Ivy and Angus’s story!

       Leah

      PS I’ll let you in on a secret—I often name my heroines using baby names I love but that my husband vetoed. I still think Ivy is a beautiful name!

      Nine Month Countdown

      Leah Ashton

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      An unashamed fan of all things happily-ever-after, LEAH ASHTON has been a lifelong reader of romance. Writing came a little bit later—although in hindsight she’s been dreaming up stories for as long as she can remember. Sadly, the most popular boy in school never did suddenly fall head over heels in love with her …

      Now she lives in Perth, Western Australia, with her own real-life hero, two gorgeous dogs and the world’s smartest cat. By day she works in IT-land; by night she considers herself incredibly lucky to be writing the type of books she loves to read and to have the opportunity to share her own characters’ happily-ever-afters with readers.

      You can visit Leah at www.leah-ashton.com

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      For Regan—

       who thinks all my heroes are based on him, but they’re not.

      You’re my hero, though, baby.

      I’m having so much fun

       sharing my happy-ever-after with you.

      Contents

       Cover

       Introduction

Dear Reader

       Title Page

       About the Author

       Dedication

ONE

TWO

THREE

       FOUR

       FIVE

       SIX

       SEVEN

       EIGHT

       NINE

       TEN

       ELEVEN

       TWELVE

       THIRTEEN

       FOURTEEN

       FIFTEEN

       EPILOGUE

       Extract

       Copyright

       ONE

      It had started exactly eleven steps down the aisle.

      Ivy knew this, because she’d been counting.

      Step, together one. Step, together two.

      Generally