Claimed: The Pregnant Heiress

The boxes continued whispering, and with an exclamation of annoyance, she snatched the first of the pregnancy tests off the counter—the noisiest of the twelve—and ripped it open. She scanned the literature, determined to get the test over with as soon as possible. Maybe then the boxes would shut up and leave her alone.

The directions informed her that it only took One Minute! to obtain the results. Just Sixty Seconds!!—for those who needed further clarification as to the meaning of a minute. The directions didn’t lie. As promised, precisely One Minute! later she had her answer. Stripping off Chase’s dress shirt, she stumbled into the shower and stood beneath the pounding spray struggling to keep from hyperventilating.

How odd that in Just Sixty Seconds!! her life could change so dramatically. From One Minute! to the next she went from being an average healthy woman to someone carrying the spark of new life. She snatched a deep breath. Okay, it wasn’t the end of the world, not even close. It simply confirmed what she already suspected in her heart. She could deal with this, she told herself. Sure she could.

Sometimes life brought her to her knees with a blow so hard she didn’t think she could endure it. But she always fought her way back. She always came out swinging. She always triumphed. She’d handled far worse events during the past twenty-five years—the death of her mother, for one—and managed to survive the ordeal. She blinked against the painful burning in her eyes. She would on this occasion, too. Plus, a baby wasn’t a death to grieve or some horrible disaster, but a life to celebrate, even if unplanned.

Another possibility struck. Tests like these weren’t always accurate. Lots of times they gave off false readings. What if this was one of those times? What if she’d read the directions wrong or hadn’t followed them correctly? She’d been in a hurry. It could have happened. She turned off the water, grabbed one of Chase’s large, fluffy towels from the built-in linen closet beside the tiled shower stall and wrapped it around herself. This time she’d read everything twice. Be meticulous. Make sure she followed the instructions exactly.

Thirty minutes later she stood in front of the bathroom sink, one lined with a full dozen little sticks and wands and trays with circular windows. She clutched the stack of instructions for each of the tests while she went down the row, comparing picture to actuality.

Two pink lines. Pregnant.

A plus mark. Pregnant.

Little window that actually spelled out pregnant.

Another little window that had forgotten the not in front of that all-important word.

Two blue lines. Very pregnant.

On down the row she went until she reached the very last tray. They all said the same thing. The little windows glared up at her with their little lines and crosses and plus marks and those P words. She backed away from them until she hit the wall next to the shower stall and sank back onto the bathroom floor. She should be horrified. She should be terrified. In a panic. Her brows drew together. Why wasn’t she in a panic?

Her hand stole across her abdomen. She was pregnant. Her baby grew here, nestled deep within her womb. Hers and Chase’s. She wasn’t panicked, she realized, any more than she was horrified or terrified. A child. Dear heaven, she’d been given a child. She’d been given the chance to have a family again, one not torn apart by death and disaster, dishonesty and despair. The tears came then, but to her amazement, she discovered they weren’t tears of misery or fear.

They were tears of wonder.

Chase frowned at the bathroom door, a firmly closed bathroom door. How long did a simple pregnancy test take, anyway? He thought he’d seen one of the packages exclaiming: Response in just one minute! Maybe she hadn’t used that one. Maybe she’d used the one that read: Response whenever we damn well want to give it to you!

Unable to wait another second, he tapped on the door. “Emma? Do you need help?” He shut his eyes. Help? That was wrong on every possible level. “I have your tea and crackers.” Of course, the tea was now iced tea and the crackers were probably stale. The hell with it. “Emma, I’m coming in.”

He found her more or less where he left her, curled up on the floor. Only now she wore a towel instead of his shirt. He couldn’t decide if that was a good sign or a bad one. She looked up when he entered and waved a slim hand in the direction of the counter.

“Take a look,” she said.

To his surprise, she’d used all twelve tests. “No wonder it’s taken you so long. How much water did you have to drink to pull this off?”

“Think camel and add a gallon or two.”

“So, what’s the verdict.” He examined the lineup and stiffened. “Some of these say pregnant.”

“All of them say pregnant.”

“All?”

He whipped around, feeling sucker punched. Until that moment he’d refused to consider the possibility that she might actually be pregnant, had maintained an emotional distance from the unfolding events. He’d managed to convince himself that Emma had made an understandable mistake, one rectified by a simple test. After all, why stress until there was something to stress about? Well, there sure as hell was something to stress about now.

“All?” he repeated.

“Every last one. Look, I’d rather not discuss this dressed in a towel, if you don’t mind,” Emma said in an excruciatingly polite tone of voice. She pushed herself upward. “I need to get dressed.”

His brain switched to automatic, processing and stringing words together in a seemingly calm and coherent manner. “You can wear your dress from last night, although it’s pretty wrinkled. Or I have a T-shirt and running shorts you can borrow.”

“Thank you. I think the tee and shorts would be more comfortable.”

He realized he blocked her exit and stepped back into the bedroom. Emma trailed after him. Still moving on automatic pilot—dear God, a baby—he opened a dresser drawer, retrieved the promised clothes and set them on the bed.

He gave her a searching glance. She remained ghost-pale, though not as shell-shocked as he undoubtedly looked. In fact, her poise impressed the hell out of him. “We need to talk,” he announced.

“In all honesty, I’d rather go home. Perhaps we can meet in a few days and discuss the situation then. That will give us time to assimilate the information.”

Assimilate the information? What was he, a Borg? He’d already assimilated all he needed to know. Emma was pregnant and she’d pasted a big, fat red arrow over his head, labeled Daddy. Still, it wasn’t worth arguing with her, not when she didn’t feel well. Since she couldn’t go home without his driving her there, she couldn’t very well control what he chose to say or discuss between now and then. Nor would he allow her to leave without feeding her first. Feeding their child. He shot a hand through his hair. Aw, hell.

“Get dressed, sweetheart. I’ll freshen up your tea and crackers.”

“Thanks. I’m actually starting to feel a little hungry.”

She joined him a short time later and he smiled at the droop of his running shorts on her daintier frame, while something visceral swept through him at the sight of her breasts outlined by the thin cotton of his T-shirt. Were they larger due to the pregnancy, or was it his imagination?

“Since you said you were hungry, I opened up a very mild bean dip to go with the crackers, if you want. Or, if you’re in the mood for eggs, I can scramble up some more.”

“More?”

He shrugged. “I made some earlier. The trashcan says thank you.”

She smiled at that. “Believe it or not, the bean dip sounds great. Do you have any fruit?”

Good thing he’d decided to pick up a few of the basic necessities from each food group. Even better, he actually considered fruit a food group. “In the fridge.”

She pulled out an orange and proceeded to strip away the rind and section it, then went back for a kiwi and some black grapes. Satisfied with her selection, she arranged the dip, crackers and fruit onto plates, her artistry impressing the hell out of him. Then, with uncanny accuracy she crossed to the cupboard that contained place mats and linen napkins and proceeded to set the table with the same style and eye appeal.

“Okay, how do you do that?” he demanded.

Her smile grew. “Years of practice entertaining my father’s clients. My mother—” She faltered for a split second before continuing. “My mother was an artist. I guess I inherited her eye for color and space.”

“Do you paint?”

Emma took a seat at one of the chairs surrounding the glass breakfast table and waved him to the one opposite her. “Not so much as a brush stroke.” She unfolded the napkin and placed it in her lap. Even when enjoying a casual breakfast dressed in his running clothes, she exuded a natural elegance in the way she sat and moved. “I’m lucky if I can draw a straight line.”

“But you wish you could draw,” he guessed shrewdly.

She nibbled on a cracker smeared with bean dip. “You’re right. I do.”

“Maybe our baby will inherit her abilities,” he said, deliberately introducing the subject of Emma’s pregnancy.

“Let’s hope that’s all he or she inherits,” Emma murmured.

His gaze sharpened and he made a mental note to research Ronald’s late wife. Chase vaguely remembered some sort of scandal from his youth, but couldn’t quite recall the details. It must have been after he’d moved to New York to live with his father. He didn’t think his mother had ever mentioned it, though she hadn’t moved in the same circles as the Worths then—or now.