The Pregnancy Proposition

by Andrea Laurence

  Get it together, Eve.

  Graham jerked the sheet aside and stalked across the room to gather his clothes. The man was completely comfortable with his body and she was completely comfortable enjoying the view.

  Eve smoothed her silk robe with shaky hands before adjusting the covers and pillows on the bed. She needed to focus on something other than the sexy man in her bedroom, who never failed to satisfy her every desire, and the unborn child they’d made.

  Graham would demand to know how this happened. She’d told him she was on birth control, and she was. But she’d switched types right about the time of the children’s hospital charity ball...their first night together.

  Strong arms circled her waist as she fell back against Graham’s hard chest. Her body instantly responded to his touch and when his lips caressed the side of her neck, Eve couldn’t stop her head from tilting, her lashes from closing and a moan from seeping out. She had no willpower when it came to Graham and the bedroom. Obviously.

  “Maybe I could help you with preparing for this meeting,” he muttered against her ear. “I do my best thinking in the shower.”

  Eve had been prepared for this meeting for weeks. That was her thing. She was always professional, always prompt, and she always had a plan B. Her spreadsheets had spreadsheets, and her period was never a day late.

  Which is how she’d known when she needed to buy a pregnancy test.

  And, if Graham really knew her, he would’ve caught her in the lie about needing to get ready for a meeting. He would’ve known she had her notes and speech down pat in order to win over the prospective new company. Which just went to prove, they didn’t know each other very well at all outside the bedroom.

  With a quick, effective tug, Graham pulled the knot free on her robe. Eve gripped his hands. “You may think in the shower, but I guarantee I won’t be able to.”

  Graham playfully nipped at her earlobe and released her. “You’re always flattering me.”

  As if his ego needed any more stroking.

  Eve finished making the bed as Graham sat in the corner accent chair and slipped his dress shoes on. The man was hot as hell naked, but designer suits did some amazing things for him. And each time he showed up after work, she had a hard time resisting that GQ look with a touch of unkempt hair going on. How could one look like one needed a haircut and still have the entire Chicago power-lawyer look going?

  It was the side eye. He had the sexiest side eye she’d ever seen. He’d tip his head in that George Clooney kind of way and peer at you from beneath those thick lashes. Yeah, those aqua eyes were the main component of his charm to get you hooked. Once he had you under his spell, he pulled you in tighter, snaring you with the rest of all of his seductive ways.

  “I actually have a case I’m working on.” He came to his feet and rolled up the sleeves of his black dress shirt. “Brooks and I are meeting later. Say the word, though, and I’ll gladly cancel.”

  Laughing, Eve shook her head. “We both have meetings. And if our families keep noticing how you and I are both MIA at the same time, they’re going to stage an intervention.”

  Without a word, he closed the space between them, wrapped her in his arms and kissed her. Could something so potent, toe-curling and heart-clenching be summed up in such a simple word as kiss? Being kissed by Graham was an event, something she should prepare for, but there was no way she could ever prepare her body for the onslaught of passion and desire that slammed into her each time he touched her.

  He ran his hands up and down her back, the silky material gliding against her skin. Nipping at her lips, he murmured, “I’ll be back tonight.”

  With that whispered promise, he released her and walked away. Eve remained still, clutching her robe, staring at the neatly made bed and trying to figure out exactly how this unplanned pregnancy would weave into her perfectly planned life...and how Graham would take the news that he was going to be a father.

  * * *

  “Sutton will not win in the end,” Brooks threatened. “If it’s the last thing I do, I’ll expose that man for the cheating bastard he is.”

  Pinching the bridge of his nose between his finger and thumb, Graham blew out a breath. Sutton Lazarus Winchester had always been a thorn in their side—his real estate business was Newport Corporation’s main competition—but ever since they’d discovered Sutton had had an affair with their mother, Cynthia Newport, things had been much worse.

  It had all started when she had first come to Chicago. Her real name was Amy Jo Turner, which she’d used until she fled her abusive father when she’d been pregnant with twins. With a brand-new name and town, Cynthia had gone to work in a coffee shop, saving money to raise two boys. She’d ultimately been taken under the wing of Gerty, a retired waitress. It was at this coffee shop that Cynthia met Sutton and wound up going to work for him. Cue illicit affair and their half brother, Carson.

  The entire string of events was a complete mess. But now that the DNA test was official, Graham and Brooks knew for a fact Sutton wasn’t their father. Which had made Graham’s seduction of Eve possible. The woman kept him tied in knots. He counted down the time to when he could get his hands on her again, have her panting his name and wrapping that curvy body around his.

  “Are you even listening?”

  Graham dropped his hand to the arm of the leather club chair in his brother’s office and sighed. He was half listening, half fantasizing new ways to make Eve lose control.

  “I hear you,” he confirmed. “And I agree. Carson is entitled to an inheritance when Sutton passes. It’s only fair seeing as how Carson is his child, as well. The estate shouldn’t just be split among the girls.”

  Sutton’s three daughters were fighting this battle, as well. Nora, Grace and Eve weren’t quite ready to welcome another sibling, but too bad, because the tests proved Carson was indeed a Winchester no matter how many people disliked the fact.

  And Graham despised that he and his brothers were technically teaming up against Eve and her sisters. But it was only fair that when Sutton finally passed, Carson got his fair share of what was rightfully his. It would be in the Winchesters’ best interest not to fight this matter because Graham would fight back...and win.

  This entire mess was just another reason Graham and Eve had to keep their affair a secret and 100 percent physical. Nothing too heavy, no commitments and nothing long-term.

  And no way in hell could their siblings ever come to know the full truth of just how hot their attraction burned. They’d not been too secretive about their initial attraction, but quickly discovered discretion was the best way to go. Considering what he and Eve did was no one’s business, they’d opted to take things to the bedroom and ignore the turmoil surrounding them.

  Keeping things simple—no talk of families or wills and Sutton’s health—was the only way this affair was working and Graham was in no hurry to end it. A physical relationship with a woman who matched his passion like no other wasn’t something he was ready to toss aside.

  “So I need you to subpoena Eve.”

  The cold, harsh words jerked him from his thoughts. Graham sat up in his seat. “Excuse me?”

  “I didn’t think you were listening,” Brooks growled. “We need her and her sisters to testify at the hearing regarding Sutton’s estate. I need you to hand deliver those subpoenas.”

  So much for attempting to keep his relationship with Eve impersonal. Damn it. He wholeheartedly agreed that Carson was due his percentage, but he didn’t want to go to battle with Eve. Not that he wouldn’t win. Winning had never been an issue because when Graham Newport went into a courtroom, he was there for battle and came out on top. Always. But to get into a war with Eve... He blew out a breath. That would destroy this chemistry they’d discovered.

  Not that he wanted anything long-term or serious with her, but he wasn’t ready to put the brakes on this amazing secret affair they had going. And he had to admit, the whole sneaking-around thing did thrill him on a new level he
never knew existed. Sex had always come easy for him, but to know Eve matched his passion, his fire, was something he’d never found before. So, for now, he’d really like to keep this subpoena out of his personal life.

  “When’s the court date?” Graham asked.

  Brooks rested his forearms on his neat, mahogany desk. “Two weeks. I’d rather have it moved up because, with Sutton’s health declining, I don’t want to take any chances.”

  Sutton wasn’t doing well at all. The man was on his last leg and Graham wasn’t sorry the old bastard was fading. Sure, that sounded cold and harsh, but it was fitting for the man who was ruthless and conniving. The man had taken advantage of Graham’s mother, whether she would’ve admitted it or not. He’d gotten her pregnant, unbeknownst to him, but he’d still tossed Cynthia aside when he was done with her. Clearly his high-society wife was all he needed at the end of the day, though she’d ultimately ended up leaving him.

  Graham’s own mother had recently died, too, which is how the paternity issues had come to light in the first place. But the loss was still too fresh, too heart wrenching, so he turned his focus back to Brooks. Letting the void in his heart consume him would be all too easy.

  “What did Roman find out?”

  The private investigator Brooks had hired to uncover Brooks and Graham’s paternity had been working diligently on the case, yet hadn’t come up with a name yet. They’d never known who their father was and, for a brief time, they feared Sutton was the one. Now that Roman Slater had found out that Sutton had fathered Carson and abandoned their mother, Brooks and Graham were out for blood. The only way to take Sutton down was to hit him where he’d feel it the most. Considering the man didn’t have a heart, Brooks and Graham were going after his finances on Carson’s behalf, and ultimately that would trickle down to his daughters. Graham ignored the guilt gnawing away at his chest. Business and sex were two areas where he never got emotionally attached.

  “I’m waiting to find out, but he’s almost positive he’s uncovered more children Sutton fathered from his affairs. If that’s the case, I won’t hesitate to use it against him.”

  Graham muttered a curse and stared out the floor-to-ceiling window behind Brooks. The Chicago skyline was one he never took for granted. He loved his city, loved working here and taking charge. The ambiance of such a powerful city gave him ammunition each day to fight his battles.

  “If he uncovers too many, they’ll all want a share of Sutton’s assets.”

  Graham crossed his ankle over his knee and raked a hand over the back of his neck. Maybe he should get a haircut. No. He liked Eve’s fingers running through his hair. He liked the way she toyed with the strands on his neck when...

  Damn it. He was here for Brooks. How could he concentrate when Eve kept creeping to the forefront of his mind?

  “I thought of that, too,” Brooks agreed. “Which is another reason I want this finalized before Sutton passes. So those subpoenas need to be delivered as soon as you can draw them up.”

  Graham nodded. He might not want to do this, he might hate mixing this business with his personal life, but there was no other way. And Graham knew Brooks wasn’t usually this ruthless. But his twin was angry, hurt. They both were. With Sutton so hush-hush about what he knew, and right on the tail of their mother’s passing, there was just so much emotion and nowhere to put it all.

  Sutton was a man who deserved to be destroyed, and if Eve and her sisters got in the Newports’ way, well...they better just cooperate because Graham would win this fight for Carson. Taking prisoners along the way wasn’t ideal, but he’d do so for the sake of his brothers. Family was everything, after all.

  Copyright © 2016 by Harlequin Books S.A.

  ISBN: 9781488002007

  THE PREGNANCY PROPOSITION

  Copyright © 2016 by Andrea Laurence

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