Inheriting His Secret Christmas Baby Read Free Page A

one-night stand and tell him she was pregnant. Her place to inform him that he had a son after Bradley had been born.
    But, of course, her sister hadn’t done either of those things. Oh, no, that would have been responsible and mature and right, a sign that she was finally growing up and might actually be ready to raise a child.
    Haylie honestly didn’t know what had been going through her sister’s head those long months of her pregnancy. Most of the time, Haylie had gotten the impression that the fact that she was a soon-to-be mother hadn’t really sunken in for Heather. She’d gone about her business almost as though nothing in her life had changed except her belt size.
    To the best of Haylie’s knowledge, Heather had stopped drinking and smoking, and she’d cut down on her penchant for partying once her growing belly had put a bit of a damper on the fun of that, but otherwise, Heather had gone through those nine months with her head in the clouds.
    Boy, talk about the cold slap of reality. Haylie didn’t think she’d ever seen anyone so surprised as her sister when she’d gone into labor. And for the first couple of weeks after Bradley’s birth, Haylie had actually thought Heather was growing up. Was going to step up to the plate and be a good, loving, reliable parent.
    As usual when it came to her younger sister, however, the show of sensibility had been as fleeting as a summer storm. Before Bradley was a month old, Heather had started falling into her predictable, selfish habits. Staying out all night and sleeping well into the afternoon…not paying her bills…and worst of all, ignoring Bradley.
    Despite her many shortcomings, Haylie loved her sister, but as far as Haylie was concerned, the last had been nearly unforgivable.
    Bradley wasn’t Haylie’s child, but from the moment he’d come into the world, she’d loved him with an intensity that made her understand a mama bear’s fierce instinct to protect her young. It was inconceivable to her that her sister—Bradley’s biological mother—didn’t share the same deep, powerful feelings for her own son.
    But the point was moot, Haylie supposed. It was her job now to protect and care for Bradley, and if she didn’t love the little boy so much, if she didn’t think he deserved the very best of everything and believe to the depth of her soul that he had the right to know his father—and that his father had the right to know him—she wouldn’t be at Jarrod Ridge right now, in Trevor Jarrod’s office, facing down a man who could not only have her thrown out of his family’s resort, but possibly barred from the entire state of Colorado.
    “You can call anyone you like,” she told him, her tone much more cool, calm and collected than she felt, “but it won’t change my reason for being here.”
    Carrying Bradley to one of the guest chairs in front of the desk, she started rooting in her purse with her free hand, then straightened, holding a small sheaf of papers. She crossed to Trevor, who was clutching the curved gold door handle in his long, bronzed fingers, but hadn’t yet opened the door. She offered him a photo from the top of the stack.
    “This is my sister, Heather,” she murmured, then had to swallow when her voice grew thick and tears threatened.
    At least Trevor was looking at the photograph, actually studying her sister’s features rather than dismissing her out of hand. But as he lifted his head and their eyes met, Haylie knew he had no recollection whatsoever of meeting and sleeping with Heather.
    With a mental sigh, she swallowed again and licked her lips before continuing. “You apparently met her while in Denver on business, at one of the clubs downtown. Heather was a beautiful young woman, but she liked to party. And she didn’t like to go home alone.”
    Something flickered in the depths of his dark sable eyes, and he said, “Was?”
    Haylie’s chest hitched as she gave a shaky nod and handed him the newspaper clipping