Forbidden: A Stepbrother Secret Baby Romance by Vesper Vaughn Page B

shaking, and my full stomach is emboldening me. "You know what, Paul? Fuck off." I hang up the phone.
    I stand facing the wall of the kitchen, hearing the scraping of metal utensils against a plate, Richard's heavy footsteps, and then the dull thud of china being placed upon the tablecloth. Jax's breakfast is served. I keep waiting for more tears to sting at my eyes, but they never come. I turn around and walk back to the table, sitting down and placing my cloth napkin back over my lap. The newspaper is closed on the table and Jax is chewing his breakfast slowly. "Everything okay?" he asks, not looking at me.
    I take a deep breath. "Paul isn't going to be able to make it out this week after all," I reply as evenly as I can. "Work commitment." I keep hearing that woman's voice in my head. I try to identify it. It sort of sounds like his assistant, but not really. I'm probably being paranoid. No. I know that isn't true. But what proof do I have other than that phone call and Paul's general behavior?
    "Mm," Jax mumbles. "Too bad." I see something like contempt flash across his face.
    I set my fork down. "I'm sorry, do you have something to say?"
    Jax holds up his hands in defense. "No, of course not." I go back to eating, angrily spearing a piece of egg onto my fork and shoving it into my mouth. Jax speaks anyway. "It's just that-well. I'm not really surprised that he isn't coming."
    I nearly choke. I swallow some of my now-lukewarm coffee to clear my throat. "Is there something else you'd care to share with the class?" I ask him.
    He opens his mouth to speak but my mother has returned, Ryan in tow. We both look over at her. "Ta-dah!" she announces. I gape. She and Ryan are wearing coordinating outfits. She has on a cashmere twinset of a pale baby blue with a khaki pencil skirt. My baby is wearing a miniature version of that same sweater with khaki pants and brown, lace-up shoes. He would look like an old man were it not for the matching cashmere bonnet that is tied under his chin. "So, what do you think?" she asks, twirling around. Ryan looks confused but not unhappy.
    "It's...great," I reply. "You look great, Mother. Both of you."
    I can tell that Jax is attempting to hold back a smile. "Cassie, you are simply radiant. Those harpies at the club won't know what hit them when you two show up."
    My mother positively and predictably glows at this compliment. Flattery will get a person everywhere when it comes to my mother. "Well, we need to hit the road."
    "Wait, you need the diaper bag and his food," I say.
    My mother holds up her hand to stop me from standing. "I had Susan gather everything up. Don't worry, we’ll be fine."
    I shrug. "Well, have fun. You have my cell number if anything goes wrong?"
    My mother waves away my concerns. "I raised you just fine, Tessa, don't be silly. Enjoy your day and we will enjoy ours." She taps Ryan's nose with her pointer finger and he laughs. I stand up and kiss him on the head, a white-hot knife of guilt slicing through me as I remember that his father won't be coming after all. "You have fun, Tubbs," I say to him, using the nickname I’d invented to describe his delicious rolls.
    My mother turns to face Jax. "Won't you come with me and the baby and leave Tessa here to whatever she plans on doing today? Assuming you change first, of course." My mother's eyes flick disapprovingly toward Jax’s tattoos.
    For some reason, I feel my stomach swoop in disappointment at this proposition. I hastily look over at Jax, his dark hair piled on top of his head and his muscles bulging out through his grey t-shirt.
    "I have work to do, Cassie," he says, his words sending a jolt of excitement through me once again.
    My mother looks crushed. "Really? Over the holiday and everything?" she asks him.
    He nods solemnly. "An entrepreneur's work is never done."
    She nods back and pinches his cheek in a motherly way. "Like father like son."
    Something like disgust fills Jax’s face. He clearly doesn’t like being