Free Carrying the Lost Heir's Child by Jules Bennett

he was embarrassed. He was a groom, she was a movie star, but couldn’t he see that she saw them as equals?
    She’d had very humble beginnings and she’d tried to express how money meant nothing to her. All she wanted was a man she could trust and rely on. The fact Nash turned her inside out with his seduction was just icing on the proverbial cake.
    When Nash pulled to a stop in front of his house, Lily hopped out and grabbed some bags while Nash took the others and headed up the porch to unlock the door. Once they were settled inside and the bags were dropped onto the floor inside the foyer, Lily turned to Nash.
    “Do you mind if we talk?”
    Tossing his keys onto the small table, he turned back to meet her gaze. “I’d hoped we’d be doing other activities. What do you want to talk about?”
    Lily stepped forward and reached up to wrap her arms around his neck. Instantly his strong arms enveloped her, always making her feel safe, protected...loved. Could he love her? Was he even thinking along those lines?
    “Anything,” she said. “I just feel like all we do is get naked and I think we really have so much to discuss. The future, what we’re doing, the baby. I still don’t know much about you.”
    Nash pulled back, literally and figuratively, as he stepped around her and let out a sigh. “You know all you need to right now.”
    Lily turned and followed him into the living room, refusing to accept his evasive tactics. “I know you grew up around horses and that you are close with your mother. That’s all.”
    Across the room, Nash rested his hands on the mantel, his head dropped as tension crackled in the silence between them. Something weighed heavily on those wide shoulders of his, something he didn’t want her to know.
    Was he worried she’d think less of him? Did he wonder how much he should share just because they had different pasts?
    Dread settled deep in the pit of her stomach. Was he hiding something worse? Endless possibilities flooded her mind.
    “Nash, I know you’re keeping something from me.” She eased farther into the room, skirting around the sofa and coming to stand just behind him. “You’re scaring me with the silence. It can’t be that bad, can it?”
    She hoped not. Had her judgment been so off again?
Please, no. Please let it be something that is in actuality very, very minor.
    “You deserve the truth,” he muttered, still gripping onto the mantel so tightly his knuckles were white. “This is harder than I thought.”
    Lily slid a hand over her stomach. What had she done? She stepped back until her hip hit the edge of the sofa arm. She gripped the back of the cushion for support.
    What bomb was he about to drop and how would this affect the life of her and her child?
    Nash turned, his eyes full of vulnerability and fear. Raking a hand through his hair, he met her gaze across the room.
    “Damon Barrington is my father.”

Seven
    S
he’d been played for a fool...again.
    Her shaky legs threatened to give out. How could she be so foolish? Was she so blinded by men with pretty words and charming attitudes that she couldn’t pick out the liars?
    Damon Barrington, billionaire horse racing icon, was Nash’s father?
Her eyes sought his across the room. He hadn’t moved, had hardly blinked as he watched her to gauge her reaction. So many thoughts swirled around in her mind she didn’t know how she was supposed to react.
    “You lied to me.”
    That was the bottom line.
    Oh, no. Nash’s father was a wealthy mogul and famous in his own right in the horse racing industry. How would the media spin this story once word got out who her baby’s father was?
    The muscle in his jaw ticked as he crossed those muscular arms over his chest. “Yes, I lied.”
    No defense? Was he just going to reveal that jaw-dropping fact and not elaborate?
    Lily rubbed her forehead, hoping to chase away the impending headache. She wouldn’t beg him to let her in. He either wanted to tell her or he