Free The Surgeon's Surprise Twins by Jacqueline Diamond

“The reason I’m living here is that Phyllis and Boone are having this cash flow problem. I was fronting the money for the doctor bills, only I couldn’t afford that anymore. When the renter moved out, my sister offered to let me live here as compensation.”
    â€œThey’re broke?” Concern and anger flashed across Owen’s face.
    â€œNot broke!” They couldn’t be. They were managing her lifesavings, and a lot of other people’s, too. Besides, Phyllis wouldn’t lie to her. “It’s just that funds are temporarily tight, that’s all.”
    Owen leaned forward. “When was the last time you had a checkup?”
    She couldn’t keep dodging the truth. “Six weeks ago.”
    He smacked the water with his palm, splashing them both. “Of all the irresponsible…”
    â€œI didn’t confide in you so you could criticize me!” Bailey might have slammed water right back in his face, except that this was far too serious a matter for roughhousing.
    â€œNot you. Boone and your sister.” Owen scowled past her, as if visualizing his brother. “They had no business commissioning you as a surrogate if they’re in a financialbind. Let alone taking you to some clinic in L.A., and then neglecting to pay for your treatment.”
    Hearing her worries put into words gave Bailey a sick feeing in the pit of her stomach. “What’s done is done,” she said miserably. “I’m carrying their child. I just have to make the best of it. Besides, Phyllis and I grew up without any money. Poor people deserve to have children, too.”
    â€œThey don’t deserve to talk their trusting sister into bearing a child for them! Especially when…” He stopped in midsentence. “This is getting us nowhere. Let’s go give you a checkup.”
    â€œWhat?” She hadn’t expected him to offer. “I should ask Nora.”
    His jaw clenched. Why on earth did he care? Being an uncle didn’t exactly make him intimately involved, and Bailey doubted that the formidable Dr. T. had performed an ultrasound on a patient in years. While obstetricians were trained to do them, most assigned the job to a technician.
    â€œYou said yourself this is a family matter,” he said tightly. “If there’s a problem, I’ll help you deal with it.”
    Bailey wasn’t sure how to react. In her experience, men didn’t take care of you. They stuck around for the fun and games, and then made themselves scarce. Obviously, Owen had a strong sense of responsibility about his brother’s failure to provide for her.
    â€œYou mean right now?” she asked.
    â€œSure. I’ve got a key to the office.” He arose, dripping, an impressive sight from her angle. Lots of muscles, a hard stomach and…why was she looking at that part of his anatomy? “Need a hand up?”
    â€œI can manage.” She braced on the pool’s lip and levered herself upright.
    Owen might be doing her a favor this once, but she didn’t intend to start counting on a guy for support,literally or figuratively. Because despite his generosity, he’d soon get distracted by more pressing matters.
    Men always did.
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    A S A CHILD , O WEN HAD ADORED his smart, slick, fast-talking older brother. Boone had sheltered him in return, coming to his aid in junior high when a bully at school repeatedly taunted Owen, stole his badly needed lunch money and trashed his backpack. After complaints to the principal’s office failed to resolve the problem, Boone had paid the school a visit and managed—he’d never disclosed the details—to plant marijuana in the guy’s locker and get him transferred to a program for troubled students.
    A couple of years ago, when his brother discovered that he suffered from a low sperm count, Owen hadn’t hesitated to donate his own. And although Boone should have informed Owen about