Read Online Return of the Secret Heir by Rachel Bailey - Free Book Online

with my child.”
    Her eyes became large and round. “I’m not. I can’t be.” But her huge eyes reflected that same concern, then slid away. She’d wondered the same thing, too. And she was just as horrified by the prospect.
    His head pounded. He stroked his fingers across his scalp to try to relieve some of the pressure building there. He had to do something, use the adrenaline coursing through his body. Find out the facts so they could make a plan.
    He looked down at her, sitting on the bench. So vulnerable despite her reluctance to admit it. This situation needed to be addressed as soon as possible for both their sakes. “Are you okay to walk?”
    â€œYes,” she said, her voice wavering on the one word. Tentatively, she stood and smoothed down her dress before facing him with a falsely bright smile.
    â€œGood.” He nodded once. “We’re leaving. I’ll bring my car to the side entrance so you don’t have to walk far.”
    She stood a little straighter, seeming to have found her strength again. “We didn’t come together.”
    â€œNo, but we’re leaving together.” With a hand at the small of her back, he guided her out into the sunlight, back to the real world. “Don’t worry, you won’t be seen with me—my car has tinted windows and you won’t need to get out.”
    She allowed him to lead her, but she held her chin high, not capitulating completely. “Where are you proposing we go?”
    â€œTo the nearest drugstore.” He looked down into her anguished eyes and felt that same emotion coursing through his body. “To buy a pregnancy test.”

Five
    T hey pulled up outside her apartment in JT’s silver coupe, but Pia didn’t move. She sat, gripping the pregnancy test, stomach churning, wishing she were anywhere but here, about to do this test. Why had she thought she was safe? She’d been taking her daily protection, but hadn’t considered that her cold might reduce the pill’s effectiveness.
    JT had been silent on the trip, probably as lost in his own thoughts and memories as she’d been in hers. The first time they’d taken a pregnancy test together, they’d been scared, but so full of love for each other and the life they’d created that anything had seemed possible. Both so certain they’d be together forever, starting a family had seemed natural and thrilling, if earlier than they’d planned.
    What had they known? Her heart spiraled low. They’d been two clueless teenagers with rose-tinted glasses. The family they’d planned had become a train wreck—theirlittle girl gone before she’d lived, and her parents not seeing each other again until now.
    She glanced over at JT’s profile as he stared out the windshield, his hands clutched tight to the steering wheel of his stationary car. This was an even less auspicious start for a child than Brianna’s had been.
    Please, God, don’t let me have brought a baby into this mess.
    And yet a rebel flicker registered behind her breastbone, an awakening of maternal yearning. She squeezed her eyes shut against its power. Not here. Not now. Not with this man.
    JT blew out a harsh breath and pulled his keys from the ignition. “Let’s get this over with.”
    â€œJT, if—”
    â€œWe’ll do the test first,” he said with harsh certainty, “and talk about everything else after we know the result.” He stepped from the car, ending any chance for discussion.
    She sighed. He was right. There was no point generating options until they had the facts of the situation. She released her seat belt as JT opened her door. Searching his face for his feelings, she took his extended hand and stepped out onto the sidewalk, but his aviator sunglasses effectively hid any clues.
    He placed an impersonal hand at her back as they crossed the street, passed through her foyer and into