Baby for My Stepbrother

Chapter 3

Turning her attention back to Dane, the technician smiled. “It’s been so long since we’ve seen each other. I can’t believe you never called. We had such a great night.”

She stepped forward and rana perfectly polished fingernail down the front of his shirt, lowering her voice to a seductive purr when she said, “How sweet of you to bring your sister for her ultrasound. I always knew you were the type of guy who would be there for family.”

Grabbing her hand, he pushed it away from his body, “Actually, Nancy …” “Marcia,” she corrected with a little too much annoyance in her voice.

Dane’s eyes flicked tome for assistance, but I smiled and shook my head, letting him know he was on his own. For years, Dane had been the epitome of a player. His job kept him in constant contact with women on the prowl and he’d taken advantage of that far too many times to have an easy out when finally confronted by one of the women he’d used for a fun night.

“Marcia, I’m here because …”

Interrupting him, I said, “Because he’s super excited to see if I’m having a boy or a girl. Right? So, can we get this ultrasound over with? I really need to get something to eat.”

Marcia looked at me, and I patted my belly. “The baby is hungry,” I said from behind my megawatt smile. “Oh! Of course. That’s why we’re here, isn’t it?”

She walked over to the table, hitting buttons to fire up the equipment. Dane took his place at my side, glaring down at me in a way that made me laugh out loud. I shrugged a shoulder at him and pasted on my fake smile when Marcia turned back to look at me.

“Aren’t you excited about finding out what you’re having? I know that actually having the baby is the best part of pregnancy, but I like to think that this is the first opportunity for parents to meet their child.”

Her eyes flicked to Dane, her tongue peeking out to run along her lip as if she were contemplating eating him for dinner. “Well, or in this case, meeting their child, and meeting their niece or nephew for the first time. Right, Dane?”

Dane opened his mouth to respond, but I was having way too much fun leaving Marcia in the dark to not interrupt again.

“Let’s get this show on the road.”

Dane’s face turned an amusing shade of crimson when he glared at me. I knew I was in trouble the minute we walked out of this place, but for the moment, I was completely satisfied with the way this situation was turning out.

“Lie back on the table, Luna, and raise your shirt up so that we get a full view ofyour belly. I’m going to apply some gel to your skin and then we can take a look at the little one.”

Doing as I was instructed, I pulled up my shirt and said, “I don’t want to know what I’m having, by the way. I would like for it to be a surprise when he or she is born.”

Marcia nodded and said, “That’s fine. I’ll need to determine the sex of the child for record keeping purposes, but I won’t let you know.”

“I want to know,” Dane objected.

With a mischievous grin painted on my face, I slapped at him and said, “You’re just the uncle. You can’t demand to know.” His face turned a darker shade of crimson and I knew I was skirting the edge ofpushing him into a full-blown temper fit. Bu

it was too much fun. I couldn’t stop.

“I’m not the uncle,” he said, “I’m the …”

Marcia interrupted and said, “Now, Dane! That’s not very nice. I know she’s only your stepsister, but that doesn’t mean you won’t bean uncle to her kid. Just because you two aren’t related by blood doesn’t mean …”

The sound ofthe baby’s heartbeat filled the space and I shushed both Dane and Marcia to listen to it. “Listen! It’s Bean.”

It was a sound I would never grow tired of hearing. The soft, fast paced beat that reminded me that a life was growing inside me.

Marcia smiled and pointed to the monitor. “Look. There’s your baby’s head.” Bean was moving around inside me, and I was amazed to see it.

“Can you feel the baby moving yet?” Marcia asked as she moved the wand over my belly to get a better look at Bean. “No,” I answered. “ Should I be able to feel it yet?”

Marcia gave me a kind smile and I suddenly felt bad for screwing around with her. It wasn’t her fault that Dane was a mega- asshole who used women for a good time without telling them that they’d most likely never hear from again. Just the thought of what he used to be like made me realize how much he’d changed since Bean came into our lives.