Free Stork Alert by Delores Fossen Page A

attracted to you,” she admitted. Then, she shook her head as if disgusted with herself.
    He considered lying, but after that semikiss, the truth was way too obvious. “I’m attracted to you, too.”
    Kelly paused a moment. “I had a bad marriage. Really bad. In fact, the last thing I said to my husband were words shouted in anger.” She groaned. “And I have no idea why I just told you that because that has nothing to do with anything happening here.”
    “You told me because of this weird intimacy between us,” Nick explained. “It’s the danger. The adrenaline and the fear make strange bedfellows.”
    He mentally winced at his choice of words, but it caused her to smile. Only, it faded as quickly as it’d come. Nick hated that, because it had made him feel good just to be on the receiving end of a smile like that.
    “We have a difficult road ahead of us. It’s probably best if we stay…as neutral as possible toward each other,” she said.
    True. But Nick knew that was impossible. Already the barriers were breaking down.
    “You have visitors,” Cooper informed him over the intercom. “Paula Barker and Todd Burgess. They’re waiting for you in the solarium.”
    Nick huffed and finished off his cup of coffee. He’d need the final jolt of caffeine for this particular meeting.
    “Are they cops?” Kelly asked.
    “No.” But Nick had to see them. If they’d come to the ranch, then it had to be important. Hell. He didn’t need anything else on his plate.
    Kelly caught his arm when he started to leave. “I don’t know how to sugarcoat this, so I’m just going to come out and ask you for the truth. Do you believe that you’re Joseph’s biological father?”
    Nick didn’t have a quick answer for that. Yes, he believed he was, but there was no way he was going to admit it. Not to her. Not to anyone.
    There was another slight crackle of sound, and Nick heard Cooper’s voice again over the intercom. “Sir?”
    “I’m on the way to the solarium now,” Nick informed him. He headed for the door.
    “You have another visitor,” Cooper said.
    That stopped Nick in his tracks. “Who?”
    “Your brother, Eric. He’s here on the front porch, and he’s demanding to see you now.”
     
     
    K ELLY HURRIED out of Nick’s office and caught up with him while he was practically storming down the hall. “Does your brother come here often?” she asked.
    “Never.”
    Well, that didn’t do much to steady her suddenly raw nerves. It also didn’t help when Nick checked the gun he had tucked in a slide holster in the back of his jeans.
    “I don’t want you to be around when I talk to Eric,” Nick insisted.
    Kelly considered his order, mainly because hiding would be the easy and safe thing to do. But Eric was the man who likely tried to kidnap Joseph and her. She didn’t want to hide; she wanted to confront him.
    Cooper was waiting at the front door. He had his gun drawn, and he gave her a questioning glance.
    “I have a right to be here,” Kelly told him. “This involves me.”
    Nick stopped so abruptly that she nearly ran right into him, and he turned and took her by the shoulders. She could tell that he was about to launch into an argument as to why she shouldn’t come face-to-face with Eric. But Kelly gave her own argument before he could.
    “I can reassure Eric that I have no plans to produce your heir, and I can convince him to leave Joseph and me alone.” She hoped. Kelly wasn’t certain she could convince the man of anything, but she wanted the chance to confront him.
    “I’m not leaving,” she added. “Not when there’s this much at stake.”
    Nick obviously didn’t care about her argument. He moved her into the adjacent sitting room. “Eric’s capable of murder,” was all Nick said. He also motioned for Cooper to join her so they could make sure that she stayed put.
    Kelly did, sort of. She maneuvered herself to Cooper’s other side so she could see their visitor’s reflection in