His Best Mistake Read Online Free Page B

illness.
    Kevin crossed the room and dropped down in the chair in front of the desk. He decided to ease into the conversation while preparing to get into the crux of the matter at hand. “How’s it going with the wedding plans?”
    Kieran smiled. “At least we finally have a place to have it, which is good considering the ceremony’s in less than a month.”
    “Where did you decide to do it?” Kevin asked.
    “Logan’s father-in-law offered his garden. It’s going to be damn hot, but Erica wants an outdoor wedding.And it shouldn’t be too bad at sunset. Are you still willing to stand up for me under those conditions?”
    “You bet.” Kevin would gladly brave the elements to fulfill his duty as Kieran’s best man, although he’d never really been “the best man.” Not even close.
    Kieran inclined his head and sized him up. “If you don’t get a haircut before the wedding, people won’t be able to tell us apart. I don’t want my bride kissing the wrong man.”
    Kevin ran a hand through his hair and laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind. In the meantime, I’m going to let it grow out. I kind of want to hang on to it a little longer since I lost so much during the chemo.” The same chemo that could have altered his chances of having a child, which reminded him of why he’d come to see his brother.
    In preparation for the boom-lowering, Kevin drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Leah came by the house yesterday.”
    Kieran leaned back and rubbed a hand over his jaw. “I’ll be damned. What did she want?”
    Kevin reached into his gym bag, pulled out the items Leah had given him yesterday and offered the photo to Kieran. “She brought me this.”
    Kieran took the picture and stared at it for a long moment before he turned his attention back to Kevin. “Is this what I think it is?”
    “If you’re thinking that’s my daughter, you’d be right.” My daughter . Never in a thousand years would he have believed he’d be saying that. Nor did he expect to feel what he’d felt after learning the news.
    “She looks exactly like our baby pictures.” Kieran shook his head. “Man, this is a shock.”
    “Yeah. What a way to start a week.” What a way to change your life in a matter of minutes.
    Kieran laid the photo on the desk and slid it toward Kevin. “I can’t believe Leah waited this long to tell you.”
    “Considering what I did to her, I can’t really blame her. And as it turns out, she did try to tell me. She hung up when some woman answered, and I’m fairly sure that woman was a home health-care nurse who was giving me transfusions at the time. But I understand why she would assume otherwise.”
    “She assumed she’d been replaced,” Kieran said.
    Kevin couldn’t fault Leah for that, either. “She was going to try to tell me again right before the baby was born, but she went into premature labor.”
    Kieran frowned. “The baby’s okay?”
    Exactly the same thing Kevin had asked the baby’s mother. “She’s healthy, according to Leah. And since Leah’s a pediatrician, she should know.”
    Kieran grinned. “As far as I’m concerned, Kev, this is damn good news. I say tell Leah the whole story, and maybe you’ll get another chance with her.”
    If only that was a possibility. If only he’d done things differently, told her about his illness instead of using his pat confirmed-bachelor excuse. If only he hadn’t done irreparable damage to their relationship by trying to protect her, maybe he wouldn’t be in this predicament now. Then again, he wasn’t certain he would doanything differently, even knowing what he knew now. The last thing she’d needed during a pregnancy was dealing with his problems. “I don’t see any reason to tell her the whole story.”
    “You can dole out the advice, Kevin, but you can’t follow it.”
    Kevin couldn’t remember giving his brother any advice worthy of notice. “What are you talking about?”
    “When you were in the hospital,