Read Online My Best Friend's Baby by Lisa Plumley - Free Book Online Page B

they were speaking truths, Chloe figured she might as well play
along.
    "So did you."
    He frowned. "I didn't. I can't. I
won't ."
    Her hopes rose. She couldn't help it. "Which
is it?"
    Nick slammed his hands onto her bright
Spanish-tiled countertop hard enough to make her wince. That had to
hurt, but he didn't seem to notice. He squeezed the edge hard
enough to whiten his knuckles. "I won't."
    Why not ? part of her wailed.
    "I won't come between you and—" He ducked
his head and his gaze shifted to her non-pregnant looking belly.
"—and the father of your baby."
    Chloe stared at him, openmouthed. This was a
wrinkle she hadn't anticipated.
    "Who is it?" Nick asked.
    Tell him the truth! part of her
urged. But the Chicken Little side of her personality
prevailed.
    "I—I told you. It's over." Over because he
didn't love her. Over because having a family now would ruin Nick's
inventing career.
    Most of all, over because she owed it to her
baby to accept nothing less than a father who loved and wanted
children. The kind of father she'd never known.
    "Even now, it's over?" Nick asked, turning
to lean on the countertop instead of mangle it in his hands. "Even
with the baby? Babies change things—"
    "Not for him." Not if she could help it.
    He frowned. "You're wrong. I know you
haven't dated that many men lately, Chloe, but—"
    "Now you're the expert on the men I date?"
she interrupted, crossing her arms over her chest. "Thanks, Mr.
Dating Game, but—"
    "—but I think," he continued patiently,
holding her gaze with his own, "whoever he is, he deserves to know
he's going to be a father."
    "No!"
    Chloe jumped and grabbed the mangled Twinkie
box. If he wouldn't move on, then she would. She'd move right on to
a hundred fat grams' worth of distraction, if that's what it took,
and nobody had better try to stop her. Cellophane rustled as her
fingers touched the Twinkie pancakes inside the box. Then Nick's
hand closed over the outside.
    She snatched it out of his reach. "I'm
hormonal," she snapped. "Cut me some slack, okay?"
    He raised both hands and grinned. That grin
alone was enough to break her heart. How had coming so close that
night only wound up pulling them apart now?
    "Okay ... if you tell me who your baby's
father is."
    Chloe made a face at him. "Like a dog with a
bone."
    "Ruff." His grin widened. "Well?"
    "No deal." She unwrapped a Twinkie and
licked up some of the sweet, squished-out filling, trying not to
show all the sidestepping going on in her brain. "Drop it, Nick.
He's ... he's gone, and he's not coming back."
    "Gone? Gone where?" Nick spread his arms
wide, turning a circle between her kitchen table and the sink as
though looking for something. "He didn't just vanish."
    "No, he—he—he—" Oh, great. Now he'd rendered
her tongue-tied and stammering, she, who'd never been at a loss for
words in her life. Frustrated, she cried, "I don't need him. I can
do this on my own!"
    "Like you do everything else?" He slammed
his hand onto the kitchen table. "Dammit, Chloe! You don't have to
do everything all by yourself!"
    Why not? She always had . "I'm doing
this," she said quietly.
    Nick's hands touched her shoulders. Slowly,
she looked up at him, then licked some filling from her fingertip.
"I'll be okay."
    He squeezed gently, his gaze stuck on her
mouth, then blinked up at her. "Let someone help you. Let him help you. He has a responsibility to you."
    She shook her head.
    "Dammit, don't tell me he ran out on
you!"
    The sudden fury in his face caught her off
guard. Chloe stepped back, stammering out a reply.
    "He—he didn't run out on me."
    Nick arched his eyebrows. I'm
waiting , his expression said.
    Oh, cripes. This just got worse and worse.
She'd thought she could handle it at first, but ... .
    "That wasn't it at all. No, he—he—he—"
Desperate, Chloe wheeled her arm in a circle as though that might
kick-start her imagination. "He—"
    "He ... ?"
    She looked around, seeking inspiration. Her
gaze landed on the "Macho