Carrying the Lost Heir's Child

Lily had wanted to play the role of the late Rose Barrington since news of the project had first spread, and having Max Ford as the leading man was perfect. She and Max had been friends for years...so much so that he was like a brother to her.

Nash’s hands slid between them, started peeling down the top of her strapless sundress.

“If Max weren’t married with a baby, I’d think he was trying to steal my time with you.”

Baby. Just the word threw a dose of reality right smack-dab in the middle of their minor make-out session.

Lily covered Nash’s hands with her own and eased back. “We need to talk.”

Vibrant eyes stared back at her beneath heavy lids. “Sounds like you’re breaking things off. I know we never discussed being exclusive.” Nash attempted a smile. “Don’t take my Max joke so seriously.”

Shaking her head, Lily took a deep breath and pushed through her fear and doubts. “I didn’t take you for the jealous type. Besides, I know what this is between us.”

Or, what it had started out being.

“Oh, baby, I’m jealous.” He jerked her against his body. “Now that I’ve had you, I don’t like seeing another man’s hands on you, but I know this is your job and I love watching you work.”

“I can’t think when your hands are on me,” she told him, stepping back once again to try to put some distance between temptation and the truth.

A corner of Nash’s devilish mouth kicked up. “You say that like it’s a bad thing. Because I’m thinking plenty when my hands are on you.”

Smoothing a hand through her hair, Lily tried to form the right words. Since seeing the two blue lines on the stick this morning and confirming what she’d already assumed, she’d been playing conversations on how to break the news over and over in her mind. But now it was literally show time and she had nothing but fear and bundles of nerves consuming her.

“Nash...”

Abandoning his joking, Nash’s brows drew together as he reached for her once again. “What is it? If you’re worried about when you leave, I don’t expect anything from you.”

“If only it were that easy,” she whispered, looking down at his scuffed boots, inches from her pink polished toes.

Nash was a hard worker, so unlike the Hollywood playboys who always tried to capture her attention. Money and fame meant nothing to her—she had plenty of both. She preferred a man who worked hard, played hard and truly cared for other people...a man like Nash.

This wasn’t supposed to happen. None of it. Not the deeper feelings, not the lingering looks that teetered on falling beyond lust and certainly not a baby that would bind them forever.

“Lily, just say it. It can’t be that bad.”

She met and held his questioning stare. “I’m pregnant.”

* * *

Okay, maybe it could be that bad.

Pregnant? What the hell? Suddenly he felt like passing out himself.

Nash stared at Lily, knowing full well she wasn’t lying. After all, she looked just as freaked out as he felt and what would she have to gain by lying to him? She didn’t know his true identity, or how something like this would be perfect blackmail material.

In Lily’s eyes, and the eyes of everyone else on the estate, he was a simple groom who kept to himself and did his job. Little did they know the real reason he’d landed at the Barringtons’ doorstep.

And a baby thrown into the mix?

Talk about irony and coming full circle.

“You’re positive?” he asked, knowing she wouldn’t have told him had she not been sure.

Lily nodded, wrapping her arms around her middle and worrying her bottom lip. “I’ve had a suspicion for several days, but I confirmed this morning.”

Well, this certainly put a speed bump in all the plans he had for his immediate future here at Stony Ridge Acres. Not to mention life in general. A baby wasn’t something he was opposed to, just something he’d planned later down the road... after a wife came into the picture.

“I have no idea what to say,” he told her, raking a hand through his hair that was way longer than he’d ever had. “I...damn, I wasn’t expecting this.”

Lily kept looking at him as if she was waiting for him to explode or deny the fact the baby was his. Of course, she could’ve slept with someone else, but considering that they’d been together almost every night for nearly the past two months, he highly doubted it.

Besides, Lily wasn’t like that. He many not know much about her on a personal level, but he knew enough to know she wasn’t a woman who slept around. Despite that whole sex scandal she’d endured years ago, Nash wasn’t convinced she was some crazed nympho.

But he also wasn’t naive and he wasn’t just an average groom, so he needed to play this safe and protect himself from all angles.

“The baby is yours,” she stated, as if she could sense where his thoughts were going. “I haven’t been with anybody since months before I even came here.”

“I thought you said you were on birth control.”

“I am,” she countered. “Nothing is foolproof, though. I’m assuming it happened that one time we...”

“Didn’t use a condom.”

One time in all those secret rendezvous he had thought he’d put one in his wallet, but they’d used it already. They’d quickly discussed how they were both clean, amidst clothes flying all over the loft floor, and they’d come to the mutual decision to go ahead... Thus the reason for this milestone, life-altering talk they were having now.

Emotions, scenarios, endless questions all swirled through his mind. What on earth did he know about babies or parenting? All he knew was how hard his mother worked to keep them in a meager apartment. She’d never once complained, never once acted worried. She was the most courageous, determined woman he’d ever known. Traits she’d passed down to him, which gave him the strength to carry on with his original plans, even with the shocking news of the baby. He would not let his child down, but he had to follow through and take what he had come for.

“I don’t expect anything from you, Nash,” Lily went on as if she couldn’t handle the silence. “But I wasn’t going to keep this a secret, either. Secrets always become exposed at the wrong time and I felt you deserved to know. It’s up to you whether you want to be part of this baby’s life.”

Secrets, hidden babies. Wow. The irony kept getting harsher and harsher as if fate was laughing at him. This hurdle she’d placed in front of him really had him at a crossroads. What started out as a fling had now escalated into something personal, intimate...anchoring him in for the long term. Because now he couldn’t keep pretending to be someone he wasn’t, unfortunately he couldn’t come clean with his identity, either.

He wanted to give his child, and Lily, the absolute best of everything. Even though Lily wasn’t financially strained, Nash would be front and center in his child’s life in every single way. How the hell could he do that without her discovering his identity?

Damn it. He’d never, ever intended for her to be hurt, but he’d passed the point of no return and now the inevitable heartbreak lay in the very near future.

She was never supposed to know who he really was. She was supposed to be gone well before he revealed himself. But now she would be part of his life forever and there was no escaping that hard fact.

“I would never leave you alone in this, Lily.” He stepped forward, sliding his hands up over her smooth, bare shoulders. His thumbs caressed the edge of her jaw as an ache settled deep within him, knowing he would cause her even more pain. “How are you feeling? I assume the pregnancy is why you passed out?”

“I’m feeling okay. I’ve been very nauseous for several days, but this is the first time I’ve fainted.” Her eyes sought his as a smile tugged at her unpainted lips. “I’m glad you were there to catch me.”

“Me, too.”

He still craved her, ached for her, even with the stunning news. Nash slid his mouth across hers, needing the contact and comfort that only she could provide. When he’d go back to his small rental cottage at night, he’d long for her even though he’d just been intimate with her. Nash had never been swept into such a fast, intense affair before.

And his attraction had nothing to do with her celebrity or her status as one of Hollywood’s most beautiful leading ladies. Lily was genuine, not high maintenance or stuffy. Nash honestly admired her. The fact that she was sexy as hell and the best lover he’d ever had was just a bonus.

Her lips moved beneath his, her arms wrapped around his neck as her fingertips toyed with the ends of his hair. Even though they’d been secretly seeing each other for a couple of months, their passion had never once lessened. This woman was so responsive, so perfectly matched for him that he simply couldn’t get enough.