Stork Alert Read Online Free PDF

also had two other sterile buccal swabs enclosed in their equally sterile containers. One was for Kelly Manning. The other for Joseph. Even now, nearly thirty-six hours after her visit, Nick was still debating if he should give William’s DNA sample to her. A refusal might lessen the danger.
    Maybe.
    Or maybe it would just make her dig even harder to get to the truth.
    Digging in this case wouldn’t be a good thing. If her search alerted Eric’s people, and it almost certainly would, then it’d be more than her life at stake. So, it was probably best to give her the sample and then monitor anyone who had access to the results. If worse came to worst, then he could always alter the tests to keep everyone safe.
    Nick followed the cobblestone walk to the front porch. He paused a moment, to make sure he could pull off his famous iceman act, but the door opened before his pause had hardly started.
    And there she was.
    Kelly Manning was staring up at him through the clear glass storm door. “I’d just about decided that I’d have to make another visit to the ranch,” she greeted. She wiped her paint-splattered hands on an equally paint-splattered rag.
    The comment was friendly enough, but he heard the nerves simmering right there beneath the surface. The wait had obviously put her through hell. Little did she know it’d done the same to him.
    “Did I come at a bad time, Ms. Manning?” he asked.
    “Well, that’s the polite thing to ask, but you and I both know there is no good time for this.” She held open the storm door. “Oh, and drop the Ms. Manning part. Kelly will do.”
    “Nick,” he reciprocated.
    Without the door between them, Nick could see what she was wearing. Faded, well-worn jeans that rode low on her hips and a snug little stretchy top the color of a chili pepper. It outlined her breasts. Of course, her breasts were the last things that Nick wanted to notice. He was going to have to ignore the fact that she was attractive.
    Damn attractive.
    It was the lust factor. It had to be. Why his body began to hum and simmer when he was around this woman, he didn’t know. He didn’t want to know, either. Nick just wanted it to stop.
    “Come in.” She stepped aside so he could enter.
    The place didn’t smell like paint, even though she’d obviously been working on an oil portrait just a couple of yards away from the door. Instead, he caught a whiff of baby powder.
    And her.
    Something distinctly female. Somehow, it was that unique scent that cut through everything and made its way to his nose. Nick reminded his nose not to get any bad ideas to pass on to the rest of his body.
    He forced his attention away from her and looked around the simply furnished room. It evidentially did double duty as a living area and studio. It was clean, uncluttered and efficient. A lot like the woman who owned it. What was missing was the baby, Joseph. But there were two rooms just off to his left. One of them was probably the nursery.
    She motioned for him to take a seat on the perky floral sofa. “Why did you think the guards were necessary?” she immediately asked.
    Nick blinked. “Guards?”
    She pointed to the window. “The one up the street who followed me home the other night. Either he or his partner has been sitting out there the entire time. They’ve changed off shifts and cars, of course, probably so they wouldn’t be so conspicuous. It didn’t work.”
    This time he suppressed the blink. “The guards are just a precaution.”
    “You know, you do that a lot—avoid answering very direct questions.” She dropped down into the chair across from him and tucked her feet beneath her. “If the guards are here to keep an eye on me, to see if I’m up to anything criminal, then they’re wasting their time and your money.”
    “That’s one of the reasons they’re here,” he admitted. “But I was also concerned about your safety.”
    “How admirable of you.” And she didn’t sound as if she meant it. “But