Reckless With Their Hearts by Terri Anne Browning, Anna Howard Page A

me.”
    “This is where I belong.” His teeth bit into her neck, making her forget about everything but the man inside of her. “Say it, Eve. Say it!”
    “This is where you belong.” She got out breathlessly. “Always!”
    --
    “You can wait here for me.” Eve told Benoit as he assisted her out of the town car in front of the Medical Plaza.
    The Royal Guard gave her a concerned look. “Are you well, Mlle. Patel?”
    She offered him a reassuring smile. “Just a checkup, Ben. Nothing to drastic.” He seemed relieved and she gave him a wave over her shoulder as she entered the building.
    Inside she took the elevator up to the fourth floor and entered the offices of Dr. Claire Madison. She was one of the top rated OB/GYN’s in all of New York. Dr. Madison had been able to squeeze her in quickly when Eve had called that morning. The receptionist greeted Eve warmly and handed her an iPad to fill out some digital paperwork.
    Eve took a seat. The waiting room was half full and she ended up beside of an older woman in a wheelchair and what had to be her daughter and granddaughter. The granddaughter, well into her pregnancy sat between the two older females and was reading the articles of a celebrity magazine to the elderly woman.
    The older woman’s daughter shook her head at her mother and daughter. “I can’t see why the two of you like those trashy things. Most of it is made up anyway.”
    The grandmother grinned and Eve could tell that she was a feisty woman. “Don’t begrudge an old woman her few pleasures, young woman. Besides these things are better than my stories in the afternoons.”
    “Oh, Mother!”
    “We know that most of it isn’t true, Mom.” The pregnant girl sighed. “Besides, I like to look at the hot guys and imagine that I’m the gorgeous girl in their arms. I don’t really care about what they are doing.”
    A few minutes later the pregnant girl was called back and her mother went with her, leaving the grandmother alone. She was flipping through the magazine that the girl had left for her, but squinting as she attempted to read the articles. Eve offered to read them for her.
    The old woman’s eyes lit up. “Oh would you, dear? My granddaughter just bought this thing downstairs, and she usually takes them home with her. So I’m stuck wondering what happened next.”
    Eve laughed. “I understand. May I?” The old woman handed over the magazine. She read a few articles on celebrities and what they had planned for Valentine’s Day later in the week. It was a weekly edition and some of the articles talked about what some of Hollywood’s hottest new stars had done over the weekend.
    Eve was actually enjoying herself, what with the old lady’s commentary on each article that she read to her. The woman, who told Eve her name was Helen, was witty and had a dry sense of humor that made Eve forget about her anxiety for a moment…
    Still laughing with Helen she flipped to the next page and sucked in a deep breath at the picture that took up the whole of one page. Her heart stuttered and she nearly dropped the magazine because her hands began to shake. Helen gave her a concerned look. “Are you okay, dear?”
    Eve gave her a shaky smile. “Yes. I’m just suddenly not feeling well.”
    “Poor dear. Pregnancy is such a bitch sometimes, isn’t it? I had five children and every one of my pregnancies was full of up and down moments. One minute I would be right as rain, the next I couldn’t hold my head up.”
    “Yes…It is full of surprises.” She murmured, closing the magazine. “I’m sorry. I…I don’t think I can continue.”
    “Don’t worry about it. I’m sure that whatever is in that thing will be on tonight’s entertainment news.”
    A few minutes later Eve was seated in a paper gown in an exam room. The nurse told her that the doctor wouldn’t be able to do a full exam that day because, when asked by the nurse, Eve had told her that she had had sex the night before, which