A Baby for My Billionaire Stepbrother by Cassandra Zara Read Free Book Online

could hear that look on your face over the phone. What happened with James after you guys left?"
    I glanced at her in shock.
    "Oh shit!" she shouted, just as we walked inside. That drew a few stares and a few shaking heads from a table of older ladies. "I was just fishing!" she said under her breath. "Spill. Now."
    "After I get something hot to drink," I promised.
    We ordered and I picked the table furthest in the back and farthest from any eavesdroppers. Then I told her, with all the detail I could, what had happened.
    There was a pause after I finished. It unnerved me a little bit. "What? Why are you so serious? You’re freaking me out," I said, sipping at my mocha.
    "Okay, look," she said, leaning in, much too solemn for my liking. Tessa was never serious. Like, ever. "You have two options here. Option one, forget it happened, go on with your life, and in a few years neither of you will care or remember some drunk kiss the day before Christmas eve. Probably."
    "And option two?"
    "Do you need an option two?"
    "I’d like to hear it," I said, evasively.
    Tessa grimaced. "Yeah, that’s what I thought."
    "What?"
    "So do you like, love him? Or just want to fuck him?"
    I almost spat out my mocha. "Do I what?"
    "Come on. Seriously. All this ‘I hate you so much’ crap I’ve been listening to for the last five years, it’s textbook. No fucking around. Be honest. Are you or are you not in love with him?"
    I held my cup with both hands and stared down at it.
    "I don’t know. There is something about him, I guess. I mean I feel something ," I sighed in frustration. "It’s complicated..."
    "Okay, let me just shut you up right there. Option two is you go to Boston, confront him, and tell him you want to jump his bones."
    "That’s not a real option," I told her. "Have you forgotten a little detail? He’s my brother ."
    "He’s your step brother. So what, you two are a little freaky. Who cares?"
    "Uhm, the rest of Western society?"
    "Fuck them. What did they ever do for you? You think the world is going to do you some favor because you were a good girl who didn’t fuck her brother?"
    Tessa’s voice was too loud. An old lady three tables over glanced at us. Tessa shot her a sarcastic smile. "Sorry, I’ll try to keep it down, grandma."
    "Jesus, Tessa."
    "I’m just telling you how it is. He’s not your brother. His mom fucks your dad and he lived in your house for a while. Some people won’t like it, but there’s always something people aren’t going to like about you."
    "I just... I don’t know. I mean he was on the cover of a fucking magazine by the cash register! He’s a billionaire now, he doesn't have a shortage of girls to pick from. And even if he had the same feelings that I think I do for him, how could he act on them? He’s under a spotlight now. People will find out."
    "Whoa, stop the fucking cart. You’re getting way ahead of yourself. Keep it simple for now. Go to Boston. Go and see him. Tell him, jump on him, whatever. Depending on what happens up there, we can sort out all that other stuff afterward."
    "Do you really think I can do it?"
    "No. I don’t think you have the balls to do it, personally. Which is a shame because I think this thing is a lot more serious than you’re telling me or maybe than your even telling yourself."
    "All right. Thanks for the advice. No, I mean it. But can we just talk about something else now?" I said. "I don’t want to drive myself crazy when I have an eight hour drive on my own to look forward to."
    Thankfully, Tessa let me drop it, and after a little banal girl talk and a really big hug, I drove her home and got on the thruway, headed towards my apartment in Manhattan.

Chapter Seven
    I spent the next two weeks distracting myself until classes started again and I could lose myself in my studies. I cleaned the apartment in places light hadn’t touched for months. I scrubbed pots and pans until they looked new. I emptied the refrigerator and cleaned out the freezer. I