Jules Bennett - Carrying The Lost Heir's Child

“Have you ever thought of doing calendars?”

Nash jerked around to see the object of his every desire standing in the stable entryway, the sunlight illuminating her rich hair, her curvy build.

“What are you doing here?”

“Is Cassie around?”

“She’s out riding.” He took a step closer, since no one was around and he couldn’t resist. So, he’d actually found one thing he had absolutely no control over. “You all right?”

With a soft smile, she nodded. “Yeah. I have a short break between scenes and I needed to ask her something.”

Fisting his shirt, Nash crossed his arms over his chest. “Care to elaborate?”

“I’m asking her what doctor she used while she was pregnant, if you must know,” she whispered.

“I already found out and you have an appointment.” He’d had to do some sneaky digging, or rather his assistant did, but he’d been able to find the doctor in town who Cassie had seen for her pregnancy. “I was going to tell you this evening because I wasn’t sure of your schedule today.”

Her eyes raked over his bare chest and he didn’t mind one bit being the recipient of her visual lick. “Keep looking at me like that and people are going to know more about us than we want them to.”

Her eyes snapped up to his. “I can’t even think when you’re working like that,” she muttered, gaze darting back down to his bare chest. “But thank you for arranging the doctor. When is he coming?”

“ She will be here on Thursday.”

Lily nodded. “That will be great. We’re supposed to finish filming Thursday, but they may have something else for me to do last minute. I’ll make sure I’m free, though.”

“We’re meeting at my house so there’s no question as to why she’s here.”

“Taking control again?” A corner of Lily’s lips kicked up into a grin. “This once I don’t mind and if we were alone, I’d show you how grateful I am for you taking care of this.”

Damn, his body responded immediately and he couldn’t wait to get back to her trailer. “We’ll be alone later and I’ll let you.”

At first all the sneaking around had been exciting, thrilling. Of course, that part was still arousing, but they basically knew nothing about each other. All he’d wanted was to confront his past, secure his future and now he was dealing with a whole new future.

Lily was an amazing woman, there was no denying that fact. But that didn’t make him ready to settle down and play house, either. Could he see himself with someone like her? Considering they only knew each other in the bedroom, sure. Reality might be a different story.

Why the hell was he thinking like this? They were having a baby, that didn’t mean they had to register for monogrammed towels.

“Hey, Lily.”

Nash turned to see the beautiful Barrington sisters as they led their horses into the stalls.

“Hi, Cassie, Tessa.” Lily walked around him, sending her signature scent of lilac straight through him. “I had a break from filming and thought I’d come see you guys since I rarely get in here.”

Good save.

Nash went on with his duties, trying to ignore the feminine laughter of the three women in his life...only two of them had no clue just how close to him they were.

He’d created a complete and utter mess and he had to gain control and figure out how the hell to keep his plans and deception from blowing up in his face.

As much as he didn’t want to admit it, he’d come to care for this family. Even though he hadn’t let them in beyond work, he knew these sisters, saw the love their father had for them, witnessed bonding moments when they thought no one was around.

They were a family. A tight-knit, perfectly woven-together family. And when Nash ended up besting Damon, Nash had no clue where that would leave him in the family tree.

* * *

Ridding her body of her meager breakfast of dry toast was not a promising start to her day. It was the final day of shooting and Lily just wanted to crawl back into bed and tell the crew to do the scene without her. With her stomach revolting, she didn’t care that she was the female lead, she just wanted to lie in her bed and die, because she was positive that’s what was happening.

She was already fifteen minutes late for hair and makeup. She was never late. Some actors and actresses had a reputation for being divas while filming, often times making the rest of the crew wait on them, but Lily had prided herself on being professional. Her time wasn’t worth any more than any other person’s on set.

She slapped her sunglasses on, hoping to hide the dark circles until she got to the makeup chair. She’d had enough energy to throw on her strapless maxi dress and flip-flops before heading out. But her mind wasn’t on filming. Besides the baby, Lily was seriously starting to worry about her and Nash.

Her and Nash? Why did they instantly click like a couple inside her mind?

Because that’s the way her mind—and her heart—had started leaning. The man exuded strength, not just in his physical job, but with everything he did. Since he found out about the baby he’d been ready to control every aspect of this pregnancy, to anticipate her every need. And, as much as it pained her to admit it, his dominating presence only deepened her attraction to him.

There was so much to the man and she wanted to discover it all. She completely trusted him with her body, now she wanted to see if she could trust him with more.

What did he want? Did he want more with her? If he did, would he be able to handle the very public life she led? One worry after another cycled through her head.

The overcast clouds were about as cheery and pleasant as she felt at the moment. She really hoped the first trimester passed quickly and she was a textbook case pregnancy because, while she was excited about the little life growing inside her, she was so over feeling carsick, as if she was riding a roller coaster and spinning in circles all at once.

Adding all of that to the uncertainty about Nash and what move they would take next was about to break her.

“I was just coming to check on you.” Ian fell into step beside her. “Everything okay?”

Tears pricked her eyes. Was everything okay? Not really. She was pregnant by a man she knew little about and she was falling in love with him. That chaotic mess had somehow become her life and she had no clue how to sort out all these emotions to make sense of things.

Ian stared at her, waiting on her to answer. Shoving her hair away from her shoulders, Lily blinked back tears, thankful for the sunglasses.

“I wasn’t feeling very well this morning.”

He gripped her elbow and pulled her gently to a stop. “You’re looking a little pale. Are you okay?”

Lily sniffed and shook her head. “No, I’m not, but I will be.”

Ian’s brows drew together as he glanced around, then focused back on her. “You’re crying. That’s not okay. Did something happen with your mom?”

“No, my mom is fine.”

Lily reached beneath her sunglasses and swiped the tips of her fingers at the tears just starting to escape. Why couldn’t she control her emotions? She just wanted to wrap up this day of filming and go back to her trailer where she could think of how to gently let Nash know she was developing stronger feelings for him.

“If you’re sick, maybe I should see about putting your scene off. A few more hours shouldn’t make a difference.”

A few hours? She needed a few weeks, or months, depending on how long this state of feeling like death lingered. Of course by that time she’d resemble a whale which would totally knock her out of playing Rose Barrington.

“A few hours won’t make a difference, but thanks.”