Bedding The Billionaire (Bedding the Bachelors Book 3) by Virna Depaul Page B

unfit mother, Ms. Conrad. The specifics will be in the paperwork I’ll email you. After that, if you’d like to meet…”
    Lucy listened to the rest of Mr. Cummings spiel but the words seemed to be coming from underwater. All the words, that is, except, “unfit mother,” which echoed loud and clear inside her head.
     
    * * *
     
    When Lucy got off the phone, Jamie put his arm around her and she laid her head on his shoulder. He got the feeling she was trying really hard not to cry. He didn’t ask her any questions, just quietly held her until he felt her body stop shaking. Only then did he ask, “Do you want to talk about it?”
    Lucy sighed deeply and said, “My sister left custody of her baby to me.”
    He’d figured as much, and he hoped he’d managed to hide his surprise. It wasn’t that he didn’t think she would be a wonderful mother, but from what little she’d told him about her family, it really shocked him her sister would.
    “How do you feel about that?” he said.
    “I—I don’t know,” she whispered. “I mean, two weeks ago I didn’t even know Milly existed. I’ve only ‘talked’ to her a few times on the phone and I haven’t even seen her yet, but my first instinct is…”
    “What?”
    “She’s Gail’s child. I know I’m not going to be anyone’s first choice for mother of the year, but if Gail trusted me to care for Milly, well…I want to do my very best for her.”
    Jamie smiled and kissed her temple. “You know what? I think she made a great decision, and I think Milly’s a lucky little girl to have you.”
    She pulled away from him. “You didn’t let me finish. I’m not sure me having custody is the best things for her.”
    “That’s ridiculous, Lucy. You’d make a great mother.”
    She barked out a laugh. “Right. Me and all my maternal instincts. How do you figure?”
    He tipped his head to the side and brought a hand up to trace a line along her jaw. “You’re fun. Energetic. A strong role model. Ethical. Courageous. Everything a child could learn from, especially in this day and age.”
    For a moment, she allowed her eyes to flutter closed. To lean her cheek into his palm. Then she opened her eyes, pulled away, and focused on a lamp in the corner of the room. She shook her head, giving him a sad smile. “Thanks for that vote of confidence, but there are those who don’t agree with you.”
    “Right,” he said, remembering more of the conversation he’d overheard. “Mason’s family is contesting it?”
    She nodded.
    “Why?” he asked. “It’s what their son and daughter-in-law wanted.”
    She toyed with a wrinkle on the duvet. “That still surprises me. A lot. And given the fact my father has my cell phone number and didn’t call me after the lawyer spoke with him, I won’t be surprised if my own parents contest Gail’s decisions, as well.”
    Silence followed, then a quiet, “The reason you’re estranged from them…It’s about more than you not wanting to conform to their expectations, isn’t it?”
    She nodded.
    “Tell me.”
    “I was the black sheep and I could never do anything right. Our family was new to the world of wealth. We weren’t like you Whitcombs, with generations and generations of money and power and prestige behind you. Nope, my dad made a fortune early on selling stocks, and made sure everyone knew we had money. And that everyone knew we had a ‘place’ in society. Even if we didn’t.”
    “Sounds like your dad has issues.”
    “Yeah, that about sums it up. But Gail and I had to be ambassadors for our family. We had to play the part. Act the role. Be ladies. Gail got an A+. I failed. But it wasn’t just Dad who was disappointed in me.”
    When she hesitated going further, Jamie caught her hand, which was still playing with the fold in the duvet, and entwined his fingers with hers.
    “I used to date Mason.”
    “Wait…your brother-in-law?”
    She nodded. “He was the first guy I slept with. I thought we were going