Read Online The Switched Baby Scandal (A Scandals of San Sebastian Novel) (Entangled Bliss) by Theresa Meyers - Free Book Online Page B

Emily. Did your mama pick that out for you?” He glanced at Taylor, whose quirked brow told him the answer before Emily said a word.
    “No. She wanted me to wear my old pink jumper, but I wanted to wear my best dress.” She opened the edges of her jacket to show off more of her dress. “Do you really like it? Pink is my favorite color. Look what I can do!” She spun in a circle, her netting skirt flaring out in a twist of pink froth.
    Reece laughed, keenly aware of how good it felt to experience a child’s joy. “That’s great! I didn’t know you were a ballerina.”
    “I can even dance on my toes.” To prove her point Emily danced on her tiptoes into the next room, leaving Reece alone with Taylor.
    He looked at her and took a deep breath. A jolt of awareness shimmied through him, making him sensitive to her scent, heat, and presence. She was rigid, and he wanted to comfort her but knew he’d placed that distance between them through his actions. No matter how close he was physically, she was holding an emotional gap between them.
    “I didn’t do it to hurt you. I was trying to do everything by the book so I have the right to visit Emily and give her every benefit I can.”
    She stiffened. “I’m not here to talk about it, Reece, so just save your breath. Obviously we’re going to do that in court. I’m here for only two things, Emily and Alyssa.”
    “I just want to help shoulder the legal responsibility of caring for Emily emotionally, physically, and financially, and I have to go through the courts to do that. Is that so bad?”
    She stared at him for a moment, her eyes clouding with a deeper emotion, then looked away, the rigid set of her body softening. “No.”
    “Then can we at least call a truce for the evening, for Emily’s sake?”
    …
    Taylor nodded, then shrugged out of her jacket and handed it to him before she followed Emily into a beautifully furnished living room. She spared it a brief glance as she looked for her daughter. “Emily, where are you?”
    The little girl popped up from behind the arm of the massive black leather sofa. “Here I am!”
    Taylor noticed that several of the coffee-table books on the elegant chrome-and-glass table in front of the couch were flipped open, their covers untucked and hanging open. One sat overturned on the floor. Apparently, Emily was making herself right at home and had even dumped her jacket in a pile on the floor.
    Of course who wouldn’t want to be at home in a place like this? She crooked a finger for Emily to come to her, then took a second, better look at the room. She was impressed with the simple lines, cool colors, and intrinsic balance. A large, round mirror hung over the hearth. “Did you have them use Feng Shui when they decorated?”
    She glanced at Reece, and he was smiling. “You have a good eye for detail.”
    “Most interior designers do.”
    There was a tug at the bottom of her sweater. “Mommy, did you know that there are five books on the table?”
    “Are there? I see you were looking at them. Which picture was your favorite?”
    Emily pointed to the green field dotted with wildflowers and accented with an abandoned rope and plank swing shaded by a great oak tree under a cloudless blue sky. “Reece, do you have a swing like that?”
    Before Reece had time to answer, Taylor set the albums she’d been carrying on the coffee table and took Emily’s hand protectively in her own. “Perhaps Mr. Wallace will show us some more pictures later.”
    “I’d like that.” Emily pulled at her arm, then reached out and grabbed Reece’s hand so that she stood between them. Taylor looked over at him and saw a sadness in his face that made her feel petty. She might not feel like sharing, but this wasn’t about her. It was about Emily. It always had been. She needed to remember that.
    “What’s for dinner?”
    He gave Emily a big grin that split Taylor’s heart. She couldn’t blame Emily for responding to him. How could any woman