Free Inheriting His Secret Christmas Baby by Heidi Betts Page A

her knees, he took a breath and gave voice to the words he hadn’t even let himself truly consider yet. “There’s a chance Bradley is my son.”
    For a second, his sister didn’t respond. Then she blinked and did the owl thing again, looking from him to Haylie, him to Haylie…or possibly from him to the child on Haylie’s lap.
    “Oh, my goodness,” she muttered, putting a hand to her heart.
    “Yeah, I know,” he agreed, wincing.
    “You’re my brother, and I love you, so forgive me for saying this, but…” She shook her head. “All that womanizing was bound to catch up with you eventually.”
    “I’m not a womanizer,” he grumbled with a scowl.
    Her eyes widened and she cocked her head to one side. “No, you’re simply a connoisseur of the fairer sex and like to try a different flavor every week.”
    Which was merely a creative way of calling him a womanizer, he thought, his scowl deepening. But before he could argue the point further, Erica was out of her seat and crossing his office, making a beeline for the baby.
    “You mean this might be my nephew? Why, he’s just the cutest thing ever. May I?”
    Haylie nodded and lifted the baby into Erica’s waiting arms. “His name is Bradley.”
    “Hello, Bradley,” Erica said in a high, baby-talk voice by way of introduction. “I’m your aunt Erica. Maybe.”
    Pushing to his feet, Trevor crossed to the two women, a frown still marring his brow.
    “This is why I wanted you to know what’s going on,” he told his sister. Crossing his arms in front of his chest, he tapped the toe of one foot in irritation. “You can’t let anyone hear you referring to him as your nephew. You can’t link him to me or the rest of the Jarrod family at all, in any way, until we’re sure.”
    Erica’s head bobbed up and down in what could have been interpreted as a nod, but since she was busy cooing and laughing at Bradley, Trevor wasn’t sure she was listening to a single word he had to say.
    “This is important, Erica,” he stressed in a firm voice, turning on his heel and beginning to pace. “We’ve already gone for blood tests, but the results won’t be in for at least two weeks.”
    A dilemma his instincts were still screaming for him to throw money at. Cutting a generous check or paying for a new wing to be built at the local hospital had a way of speeding up test results, but that would only draw even more attention to a situation he was determined to keep strictly confidential.
    “I’ve invited Haylie to stay with me until we find out for sure,” he continued, uncrossing his arms from his chest and stuffing his hands into the pockets of his tailored slacks instead. “But she’s concerned about being away from work for that long. She’s a party planner, as you know, and has her own event firm in Denver. That’s where you come in.”
    Stopping in front of his sister, he waited until she met his gaze and he was sure he had her full attention. “I thought perhaps if we could hire her to plan an event for us, she wouldn’t feel quite as uncomfortable about sticking around.”
    It was Haylie’s turn to cross her arms. “I am in the room, you know,” she chastised him. “And stop pressuring her. I won’t have your sister or anyone else ‘hiring me’ for a job they don’t need done just so you can keep me on a short leash until the tests come back.”
    Trevor opened his mouth, not sure whether he intended to apologize or strengthen his position and stand his ground, when Erica piped up.
    “Actually, I’m glad you’re here, Haylie. I really do have a wedding to plan, and just thinking about it is turning me into a nervous wreck. So let’s go to lunch and have a nice, long chat, and if I end up hiring you, you can rest assured it will be because I want and need your help, not just because Trevor asked me to. Sound good?”
    A beat passed while Haylie considered that. Then the tautness in her shoulders and spine seemed to wash away and she let her