hands froze as she reached to flush the commode. Oh, no. No. This timing had to be coincidental. Fate wouldn’t be this cruel to her … would it?
Easing back on her heels, her mind raced, calculating the date.
Oh, God.
Her period had always been on an odd cycle, but she’d never gone this long without one. Her eyes immediately went to her stomach. Surely there wasn’t a baby growing inside her. She refused to believe it. Unfortunately, the facts were piling up fast, leaving her heart beating heavy against her chest, giving her a whole new reason to be nauseous.
Damn, she didn’t have one of those at-home pregnancy tests on hand. She never thought she’d need one. But even if she ran out and bought one, were they 100 percent accurate? She had no clue what to do here. She’d never found herself in this predicament.
She needed to get to the doctor. Now. She needed to know the truth.
On shaky legs and with her thoughts moving through her mind faster than she could process them, Mia washed her face, brushed her teeth and threw on a strapless yellow sundress and flip-flops.
Grabbing her keys and handbag, she raced to the attached garage, pulling her cell out of her purse. By the time she got in her car, the receptionist told her they could do a walk-in test, no appointment needed. Thank God. She only hoped her sickness eased off long enough for her to find out the results.
Wait, shouldn’t she be hoping for a negative test? An upset stomach was the least of her worries right now.
Mia raced down palm-lined streets, never more afraid or eager to go to the doctor. Once this scare was behind her, she could focus on her dinner with Bronson tonight and everything that went along with it.
But this night could have a totally different outcome if the pregnancy test came back positive.
Another scandal with her name all over it was the last thing she wanted. She was still trying to recover from the media painting her as the “other woman” in Anthony’s marriage. Damn the paparazzi for adding to the already growing personal issues for Anthony and his wife. Not to mention the lies they made up about her all for the sake of a story.
Mia pulled into a parking spot on the street and tried not to run to the door, but a brisk walk was absolutely necessary. After entering the cool, air-conditioned building, Mia took the elevator to the third floor where her doctor’s office was located, and thankfully had weekend hours.
She entered the carpeted waiting room and signed in on the walk-in tablet. In no time a nurse called her name and Mia started feeling queasy all over again. She could do this. She had to know.
Thirty minutes later when Mia stumbled out of the office, she rested against the wall in the empty hallway, trying to fathom what her life would be like now.
Because in thirty-four weeks, she and Bronson were going to have a baby.
Scandal with a Hollywood Hotshot: Take Two.
Mia wanted nothing more than to forget the date with Bronson and hide in her house for the duration of her pregnancy.
Her pregnancy. She never thought those words would come to her mind when she wasn’t in love, wasn’t married and wasn’t planning for a baby. But there was nothing she could do now except move forward and be upfront and honest with Bronson. And she would have to tell him … sooner rather than later.
But no matter how Bronson reacted, she wouldn’t think of this baby as a mistake or a burden. The baby didn’t ask to be conceived by two people who couldn’t control their emotions.
Talk about a mood spoiler. Mia didn’t put on her ugliest, lounge-around-the-house bra and panties, but her plans for her best lingerie were swiftly abandoned. After she dropped this bombshell tonight, she seriously doubted Bronson would want to see how she filled out her newest Victoria’s Secret purchase. And why was she even having those thoughts? That’s the same path of destruction that had gotten her in this situation.
Dammit, they’d used a condom.
If she thought she’d been nervous before she found out the results, that anxiety was nothing compared to the thought of telling Bronson that he was going to be a father. She recalled that he’d been engaged before and they’d been expecting a baby, but his ex-fiancée had miscarried. What would he feel now? How would he react to another baby?
She’d rehearsed in her head over and over just the right way to say it, but was there really a right way to upend someone’s life? She certainly wasn’t his fiancée, was barely his lover. So how were they going to handle this arrangement?
Not only that, this scandal would send the media into another feeding frenzy. First she’s accused of sleeping with Anthony and breaking up his marriage, and now she’s carrying Bronson’s child.
Just wait until the media circus discovered the two men were brothers. Wouldn’t that just burn up the phone lines from reporter to reporter? She didn’t want to even think about the headlines surrounding her when that time came.
Mia nearly laughed at the irony. Now she knew two secrets that would surely have Bronson reevaluating life and the hand it dealt him.
When her doorbell rang, she jumped. With a calming breath and a quick prayer, Mia left the comfort of her bedroom, smoothed a hand down her blue halter dress and went to answer the door.
She greeted Bronson with a smile, but just seeing him caused an ache she hadn’t expected. She truly cared what he would do and say, but she was especially interested to see how he would handle this news emotionally, because soon another bomb would drop in his life that was just as big as him being a father.
His eyes raked over her. “You have no idea how glad I am we aren’t going out. You look amazing.”
Mia swallowed the lump of guilt and tamped down the arousal from his words. “Thank you.”
She closed the door behind her and accepted his hand as he led her to his black luxury SUV. Just as she grabbed for the handle, he reached around her and opened the door. But before she could climb in, he took her shoulders and turned her back against the side of the car.
“I can’t wait any longer for a sample.”
Bronson’s lips came down on hers and Mia had no choice but to melt into him. His hands settled on her waist as he pulled her lower body against his. With a grip on his muscular biceps, Mia returned the kiss with all the passion she had because—baby or no baby—she still craved this man like no other.
Obviously, their time apart hadn’t banished her from his mind. In a sense she was thrilled that the ever-present attraction wasn’t one-sided, but his feelings were likely going to change when he learned about the baby.
Bronson stepped back. “We may have to have the main course first.”
Mia didn’t even have to ask—she knew the main course was not something his chef had whipped up in the kitchen.
She climbed up into the SUV, sighing when he closed her door. She could do this. Millions of women broke the
