Read Online Caroselli's Accidental Heir by Michelle Celmer - Free Book Online

time,” he said, his cheek still pressed to her belly. The tickle of his beard, the warm fan of his breath, the desire to tunnel her fingers through his hair, were almost too much to take. “She’s been known to overstep her boundaries from time to time.”
    “The truth is, she was really nice to me. Probably more than I deserved under the circumstances.”
    “You did what you thought was right. No one can fault you for that.”
    No, she had done what was easy. She ran. Sticking around meant facing her mistakes, and living with the consequences. That was the hard part.
    “I talked to my sister Chris today. I got the names and numbers of her OBGYN and pediatrician. I took the liberty and made us an appointment for tomorrow morning at nine with the former.”
    “I’m surprised you got us in so fast. They must have had a cancellation.”
    “Not necessarily.” He grinned and said, “I can be very persuasive.”
    Tell me about it.
    “After the appointment we’ll go shopping. We’ll get you whatever you need. And don’t bother saying that you’ll pay me back. This one is on me.”
    That was exactly what she had been about to say. And normally she would have put up at least a little bit of a fight, but she was just too darned tired. It would feel good, for once in her life, to let someone take care of her. It went against everything she had learned, but she was determined to try.
    “I had an interesting visit with Nonno today,” Tony said.
    “You saw your grandfather?”
    Tony nodded, the scrape of his beard creating a whole new round of sensations she shouldn’t be feeling. “He called and asked me to come by.”
    According to Tony, when Nonno called, you didn’t tell him no. “Is he angry with you?”
    “He wants to meet you.”
    Her stomach bottomed out.
    Her look must have said it all. “Don’t worry. I made him promise to be civilized.”
    The fact that he’d felt it necessary to make Nonno promise was a bad sign. Besides, there were degrees of civilized.
    “I’m sorry I left this morning,” Tony said. “I should have stuck around until you woke up. And fed you. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
    “You were thinking what you always think when I spend the night. That in the morning you go to work, and I go home. That’s the way it’s always been. So don’t beat yourself up over it. Okay?”
    “You can’t deny that things are a little different now.”
    “They don’t have to be. Why can’t we just pick up where we left off?”
    He peered up at her wearing that look and she knew exactly what he was thinking.
    “Except for that. ”
    “Damn,” he said, with a grin that melted her like butter. “Can’t blame a guy for trying.”
    No, not once or twice. But if he kept trying, she might forget to tell him no, and then where would they be? She was already pregnant, so what was the worst that could happen? She would fall more in love with him? Compromise her dignity a little? Shred her heart?
    Piece of cake.
    “The only other real difference is that I won’t go home in the morning,” she said.
    “So what you’re saying is, we’ll be like roommates.”
    “Yes, exactly.”
    It was a little sad that after a year, and a pregnancy, all they had managed to progress to was roommates. Which was actually a step back from their friends with benefits status. Why did she suddenly feel as if they were going in the wrong direction?
    Unfortunately, for the sake of everyone involved, including the baby, that was the only place they could go.
    * * *
    Lucy sat on the exam table, clutching together at the front a way-too-large white paper gown, waiting for Dr. Hannan. Tony sat in one of the two chairs, his long legs stretched out in front of him, checking his email on his phone. Unlike the free clinic or health department where she received her care in Florida, this place was state-of-the-art. According to Tony’s sister, all of their mothers and female cousins went there.
    Since leaving her alone