Intimate Strangers Read Online Free PDF Page B

life anyways!”
    Shit. Tiaan sat up just in time to see Chelsea swinging a bag over her shoulder and then she bolted from the room like it was on fire. A slew of curses slipped over his tongue. Mac laughed, he actually bloody well laughed.
    “Bastard.” Tiaan threw a pillow at him.
    That only made the other man grab his sides and howl even harder.

    ~~~

    It probably wasn’t the best idea to be getting into her car and driving anywhere so Chelsea borrowed the smaller stroller that Hannah said she could use. The final buckles were clipped when she heard someone behind her at the entrance to the garage. Probably Christiaan, coming to fling some more degrading words at her. Steeling herself, she held her shoulders back and gripped the handles of the stroller.
    “I don’t want you anywhere near my son,” Chelsea warned.
    “Wow…okay…sorry.”
    Darn, it was only Kayla. “No, honey, I’m sorry. I thought you were someone else.” Her eyes filled up and Chelsea rooted through the diaper bag in search of something to dry the tears before they fell.
    “Does this have anything to do with my dad’s friend?” Kayla bent down in front of Ruan, offering her finger for him to drool on. “Whoa, wait, is he the father or something? ‘Cause now that I think about it, Ruan looks a lot like him.”
    Why did she have to be so perceptive?
    Tears that had simply been threatening now slipped fast and hard down her cheeks. Chelsea dropped to her butt right there on the unfinished garage floor. Screw him! She was the one attempting to regain some shred of semblance in her life. Losing her parents’ support, her placement in med school, the scholarship she worked so hard to achieve. She had nothing to show for that one night of passion except for Ruan.
    Chelsea loved her little guy more than life itself and she’d continue giving up everything she had for him, but it was damn hard being so strong all the time when all she wanted to do was break down. Well, now she’d gotten her chance. The tears came and they just wouldn’t stop, like somehow, the Niagara Falls was pouring from her ducts.
    Behind her, Kayla mumbled something and Chelsea heard the name Hannah being mentioned. Ruan’s gurgles, too. There was no time to be egotistical, wallowing in self-pity and regret. She had to get on with her day and finish running errands. This was her only day off this week. She needed to return a few things to the library and at four, she had to get to the bank to discuss her loan re-payments.
    Plenty of women ended up in this very situation. Broke, in debt, single with a baby, and nowhere to go. Thanks to Hannah and Mac, she had a job and a place to stay, not to mention three responsible people to help her with Ruan. Without them, it pained her to imagine where she would be right now.
    “Chels, I just heard.”
    She looked up to see Hannah running through the open garage door, long hair flying wildly behind her. Hannah Magnus-Dunlop was easily the nicest person this world had ever known. Together, she and Mackenzie made the most incredible couple. Someday she hoped to have something even remotely similar to their love, but she wasn’t holding out for anyone now.
    Besides, not many men were lining up to receive an instant family.
    “I swear, if I’d known Christiaan was that guy, he wouldn’t be staying here.” Embracing Chelsea from behind, Hannah held her in a tight grip. If she meant for her actions to help put a stop to the rushing tears, it had the opposite effect.
    “He said he doesn’t even want kids,” Chelsea sobbed, “but he wants a paternity test. Why can’t he just leave Ruan alone if he doesn’t want him? Do you think he’ll try and take him away from me? Oh God, I couldn’t bear it!”
    Breaking away from Hannah, she crawled on her knees to where her baby slept peacefully in his stroller. Every little thing about him was absolutely perfect, from his lightly tanned skin, dark eyes with thick sable lashes, to his tiny