Secret Baby Santos Read Online Free PDF Page A

Maggie,” he said tightly. “Whatever it is you think of me, I haven’t sunk that low, yet.”
    â€œI’m sorry.” Distress narrowed her eyes. “I didn’t mean it that way. I just thought you might have spoken before you realized what you were letting yourself in for. I was offering you an out.”
    â€œI’ll let you know when I need an out.” He bent down to study the bike. “I can straighten the wheel, but I may have to order a couple of new parts. Come by my shop tomorrow with the bike and Drew. I’ll give you both the nickel tour.” He relaxed, gave her a slow, easy grin. “I even promise not to hit on you.”
    She smiled back, the first real smile he’d managed to lure from her. Her eyes softened and for the first time since he’d plucked her out of that stack of tumbled green beans, the tension between them eased.
    Damn if she wasn’t even more beautiful when she smiled like that, and damn if he hadn’t promised not to do anything about it.
    All he had to figure out now was how to get her interested without coming on to her.
    This was a first for him, he realized, and brightened at the prospect. It wasn’t going to be easy. Even now,
in the face of her rejection, all he could think about was pulling her into his arms and tasting that gorgeous mouth of hers.
    In the meantime, he thought with a sigh, since he couldn’t have what he really wanted, roast beef and mashed potatoes smothered in gravy would have to keep him satisfied.

Three
    S he couldn’t sleep. Hot shower, warm milk, counting sheep, three chapters of a boring book. Nothing had worked. She was wide awake, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t stop thinking about Nick.
    Dinner with him tonight had been the longest two hours of her entire life.
    She’d sat beside him, said grace, then passed him the potatoes as nonchalantly as if he were any other guest at her parents’ table for any other dinner.
    But it was hardly just any other dinner, and Nick was hardly just any other guest.
    He certainly had a healthy appetite, Maggie thought. The way he packed food away, she couldn’t believe he wasn’t at least twenty pounds heavier. But there wasn’t an ounce of fat on the man. She’d discovered that firsthand when Drew had tackled her straight into those strong arms and Nick had held her against his broad
chest. He was solid muscle, every last inch of his six-foot-four-inch frame.
    Exactly as she remembered him five years ago.
    How could he just show up here like this now, throwing her entire life into turmoil?
    With a groan she sat and turned on the bedside lamp. Running into Nick at the store had been one thing. That she could have handled. But him showing up here, charming everyone in sight, including Drew, was another matter entirely.
    The image of her son placing his small hand in Nick’s would be burned in her memory forever.
    At that moment she’d felt as if time had stopped, as if the world had stopped and nothing else existed but the two of them. The two men in her life who had changed her the most, both of them unintentionally altering her life forever. And neither one of them had a clue how important they were to her.
    When her heart had started beating again, when she’d recovered her ability to breathe, all she could do was watch them, watch them in amazement and disbelief that two such wonderful people had touched her life.
    She’d found a calm in that moment. As if she’d been waiting for that moment without even realizing it, and now that it had happened, she felt an incredible relief. She’d also realized she’d been acting like an idiot. There’d been no reason for her to be so afraid of them meeting.
    In a hundred years Nick Santos would have no reason to believe that Drew was his son.
    How could he, when Nick himself didn’t even realize that he’d made love to her?
    Sometimes even