Expecting the Playboy's Baby Read Online Free Page A

the manor.”
    “No, don’t take me there. I can’t face them knowing this.” Linda pulled out of the parking space and began driving in the direction of her parents’ house. They lived outside the city in an eight bedroom manor with a front entrance that reminded Jennifer of an entrance to a hotel. She loved her parents. They didn’t like the way she was living. Even though Linda was from a similar background, they felt she was a bad seed for their prospective daughter. Linda’s mother had been a model. Jennifer never understood what was wrong with Linda’s family. Jennifer had been accepted from a young age into their family.
    “I’ve got to take you, Jen. You know they hate me, and it will just give them more arguments when they’re at a gathering with my own parents. I’m sorry.”
    “Fine, you’re coming inside with me, and we’re leaving at the first opportunity.”
    “I think your brother is there as well,” Linda said.
    “Great, now I’ll have my parents and Evan berating me. My life is about to end.”
    She leaned back in her chair and put a pair of sunglasses over her eyes. Seeing her parents after having been told by the doctors she was pregnant was daunting. She wanted to get a movie, curl up on the sofa, and eat ice cream. Her parents wouldn’t allow her to get a job, and she had an allowance deposited into her bank account. Linda could work if she wanted. Her friend was currently writing a book in her time at home.
    Jennifer pressed a hand to her stomach. “You don’t think they’ll make me get rid of it, do you?”
    “Even your family couldn’t do that.”
    “They’d cut me off.”
    “Would that be a bad thing?” Linda asked. “You’d be free to do what you wanted without fear of them demanding something from you. They’ve got a lot of hold over you.”
    Jennifer couldn’t argue with her friend’s assessment. When she’d left college she’d had so many plans, which had soon been nipped in the bud because her family refused to let her work. None of their friends’ daughters worked. The women got married and raised a family.
    “When we get home I’ll order pizza and ice cream. We’ll veg out on the sofa and watch soppy love stories,” Linda said.
    “You’re such a good friend.”
    Linda smiled.
    Jennifer climbed out of the car when Linda parked the car in her parent’s driveway several minutes later. Several of the staff were preparing for the summer ball her folks liked to host. The garden was being turned into a garden fit for a queen.
    She passed them, nodding her head in acknowledgement.
    Linda walked by her side with her arm linked through hers. “We’ll get through this. Do you remember when you climbed out of your bedroom window to my house?” Linda asked.
    “This is more serious than escaping the bedroom, Linda. I’m coming home pregnant by a man I bet they don’t approve of.”
    “I wouldn’t be so sure of that, Jen,” Linda said.
    “Why? What do you know?”
    They walked up through the entrance of the house. She turned to the left and made for the family sitting room. Linda tightened her hold on Jennifer’s arm.
    Jennifer saw her mother and father standing by the fire place. Her mother was on the phone while her father glared at the person sitting on the sofa.
    “Hi,” she said, gaining their attention.
    Evan, her brother, sat in the chair in the far corner. The man on the sofa turned around to face her. Patrick Thompson was staring at her. His green eyes looked deep into her soul.
    She stopped in her tracks. His green eyes were all she could make out before everything went black.
    ****
    “Crap, she’s fainted,” her friend said.
    Patrick reacted. Jennifer had hit the floor before he caught her. He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her onto the couch. She looked as beautiful as he remembered. In fact, she was more beautiful without the make-up and the artifice she’d been wearing that night.
    “Linda, language. I know your own home may