Wild Stallion by Delores Fossen Read Free Book Online Page A

those highly paid lawyers will tell you to consent to anything this woman wants.”
    Jackson stayed quiet a moment. “Probably not.” Another pause. “But arrange for the test anyway.” He went inside with Evan right on his heels.
    Had she just heard Jackson correctly? Was he really going to allow the test, or was this some kind of trick to placate her?
    “You can’t do this,” Evan insisted. “She could be a scam artist.”
    “Then the test will prove that.”
    Still stunned about Jackson’s possible cooperation, Bailey continued to follow the men so she could listen.
    “But it could prove… other things,” Evan said, lowering his voice to a near whisper. Bailey heard him anyway.
    Yes, it could prove the adoption was illegal. Jackson could lose custody of the baby he was trying to adopt.
    Jackson had been practically iron-jawed during this conversation, and for that matter, the crazy events of the day, but she saw the flash of pain on his face. Pain she understood. He wasn’t just Caden’s soon-to-be adoptive father, he obviously loved the child, and ironically, if Caden was her son, Jackson had spent more time with the baby than she had.
    Bailey hadn’t even gotten to hold him.
    “Do the background checks on the adoption attorney and the two women from the hospital,” Jackson continued, talking to Evan. The pain was gone, and the iron-dragon persona was back in place. “Get that DNA test here today.”
    Evan’s chin came up, and there was fire in his eyes. “And if I object?”
    “You won’t,” Jackson simply answered, and he walked away.
    Obviously fuming now, Evan started to leave, but then he turned to her. He pointed his finger in her face. “So help me, if you do anything to hurt Jackson or the baby, I’ll make sure you’re locked up for the rest of your life.”
    That was yet another surprise. Here, Jackson had just butted heads with the man, and yet Evan was protecting his boss. And his boss’s son. Part of her appreciated that, because Bailey was worried that all of them might need protection before this was over.
    “Your business manager obviously doesn’t want me here,” Bailey mumbled as Evan walked away.
    “Neither do I,” Jackson mumbled back. He looked over his shoulder at her, his gaze searing right into her.
    That seemed to be her cue to leave. But Bailey didn’t want to do that until she had tried one more time. “May I see Caden?”
    Jackson turned so quickly that it startled her. Bailey jumped back, overbalancing herself, just as he caught her. Unlike before though when he had stopped her from falling, the grip he had on her arms felt punishing.
    “No,” he answered, though she had no idea how he could speak with his jaw clench that tight.
    It seemed as if he wanted to say something else, but he shook his head and tightened his grip even more.
    She winced, made a small sound of pain, and just like that, he jerked back. He stared at his hands a moment and then gently pushed up her sleeve.
    “I’m sorry,” he whispered.
    Bailey looked down at her forearm. “You didn’t bruise me,” she let him know.
    “But I came damn close.” He groaned and rolled his eyes toward the ornate ceiling. “There was a time in my life when I would have intimidated you into leaving.”
    She nodded. “There was a time in my life when I would have been intimidated. Not now, though. Not with the possibility of finding my baby at stake.”
    Bailey inched closer and reached out. Mercy, she was afraid to touch him. Not because she didn’t want to do exactly that, but because she knew that touching was the last thing they needed. Their minds were both racing with the possibilities of her and Caden’s DNA.
    And racing with other things, too.
    For some reason, being around Jackson reminded her that it had been well over a year since a man had touched her in any kind of way. Over a year since she had been in a man’s arms. A year since she’d felt that trickle of heat in her body.
    Jackson