Bled Dry by Erin McCarthy Read Free Book Online Page B

a minivan full of her kids and their friends back and forth to soccer practice. It’s sort of a general term for a suburban mom who spends a lot of time ferrying kids around.”
    “Ah,” he said, but it didn’t look like he was getting it.
    “How were you raised?”
    “My parents were very wealthy French landowners who escaped to England during the Terror. I was born in London, but was sent to boarding school in France when we returned to the Continent after the defeat of Napoleon. My early years were spent learning to fence, learning to ride, and tending to my education. I did not spend much time with my parents, as it would have been unseemly for them to attend to my daily care.”
    Wonderful. They could just scratch using their own experiences off their parenting skills checklist. If they did that, Brittany would be popping Vicodin and Corbin would be too busy with his opera house mistress to ever see them. They were going to have to use common sense and do this their own way.
    “Okay, if we’re putting this in a nineteenth-century context, think of me as coming from a middle-class merchant family. How would a tradesman have raised his child?”
    It was meant to get him to look at child-rearing in a more hands-on way, but Corbin merely stared blankly at her.
    “How should I know?” he asked. “I was not a tradesman.”
    Brittany felt the urge to smile, but squeezed her lips together tightly. “Maybe we should hit the bookstore and get some parenting books.”
    That seemed to offend him. “I do not need to read a book to learn how to raise a child. Zat is absurd.”
    “I mean it as an information-gathering expedition. We should know our facts, see where we stand on the issues.”
    “I know the facts. You are expecting my child. That is the only fact that is relevant.”
    Yeesh, he was damn cute when he was being so French.
    “Thank you,” he said. “Though I am not fond of the descriptive cute .”
    “What... ” Brittany felt her cheeks heat up. “Get out of my head, Corbin! Stop listening to my thoughts.”
    “They were wide open to me,” he said with a twirl of his hand. “I was not fishing. They floated over to me.”
    That was so annoying. Brittany attempted to do a mental door slam on her thoughts. “ Anyway . How do you feel about an epidural versus a natural childbirth?”
    “I think that is entirely your decision since you are the parent giving birth. I would not presume to tell you what to do.”
    Score one point for Corbin. Brittany smiled at him. “Inducing labor? Cesarean sections?”
    “I am not an obstetrician. We will discuss those issues with your doctor should they arise.”
    Geez, he was unshakable, with an answer for everything. He was looking stiff and determined, resigned to do his duty, and didn’t look like he’d be curling up with a baby-naming book anytime soon. While she was grateful he wanted to do the responsible thing, she didn’t want her child to have a father who resented his role.
    “Do you think a baby can ever get too much love?” She wouldn’t be able to stand it if Corbin was going to ride her for spoiling their child with attention. She was a cuddler, and she was going to cuddle the heck out of their baby while she had the chance.
    His eyes narrowed. “Am I being interviewed for the role of father?”
    “No!” Not really. “Of course not. I just think it’s important we get to know each other’s parenting style. See where the other one is coming from, so we can iron out any differences ahead of time before we’re up to our ankles in diapers and bottles.”
    He continued like she hadn’t spoken. “Because I am the father and zat is indelible. Unchangeable.”
    Next he’d be slapping her face with a glove and challenging her to a duel. He was so outraged in an old-fashioned way and she thought he was adorable. “I know. Chill out.”
    “I will not chill, as you say. I will answer all your questions, but then I demand the right to ask some of my