My Stepbrother's Secret Baby: A Billionaire Stepbrother Romance by Addison Albaugh Page B

soon.”
     
    “Of course,” I replied. “As soon as you get back, why don’t you go out and treat yourself.”
     
    “Only if you insist,” she teased. She knew I spoiled her. “Say, I was going to ask you if I could maybe stay another week out here? I’ve really missed my grandmother, and there’s still so much to do back here.”
     
    I paused. I wasn’t expecting her to ask that, and I sure as hell wasn’t expecting to feel the way I felt. Punched in the gut. Grasping for something that wasn’t there. I hadn’t had those kinds of feelings since Tierney and the Hamptons.
     
    None of it made sense. Brenna wasn’t my girlfriend, but suddenly I found myself missing her on a deeper level, especially since I knew it’d be another week or so until I saw her again.
     
    “Trenton?” she asked. “I can come home Friday if you want …”
     
    “No, no,” I insisted. “It’s fine.”
     
    “You sure?”
     
    “Yes,” I said. “I look forward to seeing you next week.”
     
    “Okay,” she said. “Believe it or not I miss our dinners and our evening chats. You can call me more if you want. It’s not weird or anything, at least not for me.”
     
    “Goodnight, Brenna,” I replied, unsure of what to say. I hung up the phone, placed it on the charger, and retired to my bedroom for the night. It was going to be a long nine days.
     
     
     

EIGHT
 
     
     
    BRENNA
     
     
     
    I grabbed my luggage from the carousel and headed outside to the pick up lane at JFK where Trenton’s car was waiting for me. His driver popped out and opened the door for me as he hoisted my luggage into the truck.
     
    Immediately greeted by the familiar scent of Trenton’s vetiver cologne, I was shocked to look over and see him sitting there, dressed in his signature suit and wool coat combo, chatting on his phone. He hung up the second I climbed in.
     
    “Hey, stranger,” I said, unable to hide my smile. “You wanted to pick me up?”
     
    “I took a half day at work,” he said. “It just made sense for me to accompany my driver.”
     
    “Sure,” I razzed him.
     
    “I thought I’d take you out for lunch and some shopping? Get you some new maternity clothes?”
     
    “Really? That sounds great, Trenton,” I said. “I’m on board.”
     
    We lunched at Tavern on the Green where I wolfed down half our appetizer, my full entre, two glasses of sparkling water, and half an Italian dessert.
     
    “They don’t feed you on the planes anymore?” Trenton asked.
     
    “Not anything that would fill up a pregnant lady,” I said with an eye roll. “They pretty much feed us rocks and sticks.”
     
    He chuckled as he watched me inhale my massive feast. I didn’t care though. I was starving. That baby was growing like crazy.
     
    “Ready to shop?” he asked as he paid the tab a bit later. We headed outside and climbed into his car, where we drove for a while and were then let out in a cutesy little shopping area.
     
    “I didn’t know this part of the city existed,” I said.
     
    “I know this city like the back of my hand,” he boasted. “I know every nook and cranny.”
     
    “I see that.” We strolled side by side into a little maternity boutique where I was immediately drawn to rack upon rack of maternity jeans in the back of the store. My jeans were too tight, and I’d been looping a hair tie just to get them to stay put lately. I pulled jean after jean in my size and carried them off to the fitting room. After picking out a few pairs and grabbing a few maternity tops, we checked out.
     
    “That was quick,” Trenton said. “I barely got any work done while you were shopping.”
     
    “I thought you took a half day?”
     
    “What else was I supposed to do while you were looking at clothes?”
     
    “I forgot. You pay people to shop for you.”
     
    I jabbed him playfully with my elbow as he carried my shopping bags for me and we walked to where his car was parked.
     
    “Really, Trenton.