Having Nathan's Baby Read Online Free Page A

Instead, like a tap left to run, trepidation was quickly filling me to the brim and threatening to overflow.
    He was seemingly oblivious. He eased away. “I’ve got to go, baby.”
    “Nathan, we need to talk,” I said, recovering my wits.
    “Sure.” He leaned across and kissed me lingeringly. “We should be done around eleven.”
    Clasping his wrist, I said, “We should meet at my apartment.”
    He frowned. “I can’t, sweetheart, I’m on my way to Vermont tonight.”
    “Vermont?” I swiveled on the couch, placing my heels on the floor and coming into a sitting position beside him. I replaced my skirt carefully around my knees. I chose not to analyze why he’d be going to Vermont of all places. “You can spare ten minutes before you go, surely?”
    “This pla ce gets crazy after these shows,” he said, and he was distracted, slipping his jeans on, standing up to zip them. “Groupies … hangers-on … I just want to get out and get on the road.” He reached for a t-shirt on the back of his chair and his expression brightened. “Why don’t you come with me? It’s Friday night; take a weekend off for a change.” His tone warmed to the topic, even though he was still distracted. “You’re going to love this big old farmhouse I bought out there, right on the lake. They just finished the renovation. We could lie around, watch some T.V.” He spared a second to glance at me. His slow smile returned. “Christen the master bed…”
    My defenses rose like a tsunami at the light in his eyes. “Nathan, I really do need to speak to you for ten minutes,” I said. “It’s important.” I was floundering for words, trying to tell him without telling him. So much for the expert litigator… I narrowed my gaze on him. “We don’t need a whole weekend in Vermont-”
    “ Well, we won’t be talking all weekend,” he said, his tone teasing. At my silence, he paused. Considering me for a minute, he then pulled the t-shirt over his head. His expression was taut for a moment. “What do you mean ‘important’?” A smile sliced through the tension. “Are you getting married or something?”
    “No!” The accusation zapped my like a livewire. A belated laugh surprised me. “You think I’d have sex with you if I was getting married?”
    His smile reappeared with a vengeance. “I don’t know. Would you?”
    I balked at the question. Was he sleeping with other women at the moment? I felt the onset of nausea rock me.
    “So what is it, then?” he asked. His smile deepened into an ironic chuckle. “Are you pregnant?”
    The expression on my face froze. I wasn’t even sure what it was, although shock would have been a good guess. I certainly felt shocked; shell-shocked, as though I’d just experienced an earthquake. I stared at him, unable to find a civilized way of responding. I’d never told a man before that I was having his baby.
    He laughed. There was a loaded pause. He looked away for a moment, grabbed his watch, and then looked back at my still frozen expression as he put it on. There was a trace of warm humor in his eyes. Then the silence extended; he stopped putting on his watch and considered me with a heavy frown. When he spoke again, his tone was stagnant. “Are you pregnant?”
    “I’m-”
    “You’re pregnant?” A stark realization flickered behind his eyes; his body flinched. “You are pregnant!” He stepped back as though I were infectious.
    I lifted my hands in a conciliatory gesture. “Nathan-”
    “Are you kidding me? We just had sex!”
    “Well, it’s not like you can get me pregnant again-”
    “Are you kidding me?” His whole body seemed to be on alert. “You didn’t think to tell me before we had sex that you were pregnant?” His expression was stretched into sheer astonishment. “Whose is it?”
    Shock slackened my jaw for a split second. “It’s yours!” I cried.
    There was a knock at the door, barely heard over the echo of Nathan’s enraged baritone. “Two