Stepping Over the Line: A Stepbrother Novel (Shamed) Read Online Free PDF Page B

Back then, he’d accused Jennie of being a poor mother.
    I cupped my belly, afraid the same could already be said of me.
    During my night with Garrett, I’d taken what I’d always wanted. If this baby did turn out to be his, of course he deserved to know the truth, and I would tell him. But this early in my pregnancy, the only paternity tests were invasive and potentially harmful to my child. With luck, my son or daughter would be Chad’s, and the whole issue would vanish.
    If only I could so easily erase my memory of Garrett cradling that darling infant that day on the beach. If only I could know he’d make a lousy parent or husband. Unfortunately, deep down, I suspected just the opposite would be true.
    Someday, some lucky lady would win Garrett’s heart.
    Sadly, because our carefully structured social world saw us as brother and sister, that woman would never be me.

Chapter 5
Garrett
    Snatches of the conversation between Savannah and her mom floated to me from the upstairs hall.
    …This baby could have come at a more convenient time.
    …
I’ll come for visits, and so will Chad’s mom.
    Now that there was a reason for the hasty nuptials, I understood.
    My mind flashed on our lone time together. The fact that we hadn’t used protection.
    Could the baby be mine?
Christ
…
    I swiped my hands through my hair and paced. I mean, sure, anything was possible. But Savannah was a fucking doctor. If anyone knew whose baby she was having, it would be her.
    With my blessing, my childhood room had been transformed into a nondescript guest repository. Magnolia wallpaper, roomy four-poster bed, and enough lace to knot into a decent-length rope to restrain a Constance-
du jour
to the bed.
    I now paced the, no-doubt, pricey Persian rug.
    I didn’t want to be here.
    I was a fraud. Attending parties and toasting the happy couple when all I really wanted was to toss my stepsister caveman-style over my shoulder and carry her off into the great beyond. I had money. We could escape. Hell, if she wanted, I’d even take her to some godforsaken third world country where she could save the locals from diphtheria and malaria and whatever
-ia
that needed curing.
    For her, for
us,
I’d give up everything.
    And because of that realization, in that moment, I knew it was time to not only regroup, but get my priorities in order. There was no us—would
never
be.
    The sooner I got that through my apparently thick skull, the better.
    —
    Twenty minutes later, I stood in front of the main kitchen’s fridge, eating cottage cheese straight from the container when Savannah wandered in.
    “Excuse me.” She nudged me aside and took a Sprite from the side door.
    I wished the sweep of her forearm against mine didn’t bring our night roaring back. The brush of her lips against my neck, the curtain of her hair. The floating sensation of being so deep inside her that I’d finally found home. In a ridiculous attempt to banish the memory of her tequila taste, I took another bite of cottage cheese, then retreated to a barstool at the kitchen’s center island.
    Without saying a word, she opened her beverage, chugged, then closed the fridge door and left the room.
    I should have let her go, but couldn’t.
    “Congrats on the baby.”
Is it mine?
    She froze. “How do you know?”
    “The upstairs walls are thin. Your secret’s safe with me.”
    “Whatever.”
    “I have to ask…”
    “No. The baby’s not yours.”
She’d thought about it, too?
    “How do you know?” My mouth went dry. The mere thought of us sharing a child stole all strength from my grip. I dropped the spoon into the plastic tub I’d been eating from.
    “I know, okay?”
    “Well, sure. You’re a doctor, but
how
do you know? Is there some special test?”
    She sighed before drinking more of her Sprite. “Yes.”
    Damn.
I’d seen enough
Jerry Springer
during college to know she must have tested Chad’s DNA against the baby’s. I thought the kid had to be further along to