The Playboy's Baby Read Online Free Page A

sudden chill in the air woke Annie from a peaceful slumber. The baby’s fussing seemed to echo the nervous knot in Emma’s stomach.
    She twisted in her seat to readjust the blanket and smiled at the chubby little face. “You ready for this, sweet girl?”
    Slate blue eyes blinked at her and began to fill with tears. A fat bottom lip popped out. The baby let out a long, tired whimper.
    Emma sighed. “Yeah, me neither.”
    She turned back around and stared at the wooden light pole in front of her. She was going to have to be in his house, surrounded by his things, immersed in his scent—a fact that made her stomach somersault to think about. She hadn’t anticipated remembering that night. The way it changed her view of him. How was it she’d known him for most of her life and never discovered Dillon James had a heart? Why had it changed her view of him entirely?
    She always attributed the stress of the funeral to the new buds of emotions that sprouted around her memories of him, but he’d done it again. He comforted her in a weak moment, and she found his arms a disturbingly safe place to be.
    Now, the thought of being alone with him, having to discuss intimate topics with him, all of which revolved around his relationship with Janey, made her tremble with a bad case of nerves. Dillon would have to tell her things she didn’t want to know.
    On top of it, somehow in the middle of all that, she had to convince him to not take Annie away from her.
    Emma let her head fall back against the headrest and closed her eyes. God give me strength .
    “Come on, sweetie.” Mind set, Emma opened her eyes and smiled in the rearview mirror before shifting the car into gear. “Let’s get this over with.”
     
     
    * * *
     
     
    Bent over the open oven, Dillon jerked his head up at the knock on the front door. Emma. He shoved the rack back inside and closed the oven door before glancing at the microwave clock. Damn. The woman couldn’t be five minutes late?
    “Coming,” he bellowed in the general direction of the front door then stepped to his right. He scooped up the place settings he’d gotten out and deposited them on the dining room table on his way through.
    He was running late. He woke later than intended this afternoon, and from there the entire day had been off. Paperwork at the club had taken longer than expected. Now dinner wasn’t done and he hadn’t managed to set the table yet. It didn’t help any that his stomach had twisted itself into a nervous knot. He felt like a damn kid on his first date because Emma would be here , in his house. He’d always attributed his infatuation with her to a teenage crush, but holding her in his arms Friday night, the emotion flared all over again. How good her soft curves felt against him.
    He stopped in front of the door and raked a hand through his hair, tried to prepare himself for the night ahead. Above all the awkward emotions, he knew whatever news she still had for him couldn’t possibly be good. He wasn’t looking forward to hearing it.
    He smoothed his hands on his jeans then stepped forward and pulled the door open. He was even more unprepared for the sight that greeted him. Emma stood on his doorstep with her hair free flowing around her shoulders, looking gorgeous.
    And an overstuffed diaper bag slung over one shoulder. He jerked his gaze to the car seat dangling from her other hand, the top of which had been covered by a fuzzy pink blanket. The bundle contained within squirmed and whimpered until the blanket fell away to reveal a chubby little face. Big, watery blue eyes rimmed with long red lashes peered up at him.
    A baby.
    “Wow.” He shifted his attention from the now fussing child back to Emma. “I didn’t even know you were married.”
    All the implications of that revelation quickly assaulted his senses. His stomach tightened, the green-eyed monster rearing its ugly head. Hatred for a man he didn’t even know. A man who so obviously got what he’d only