Found: One Secret Baby by Nancy Holland Page A

back from her face. He stifled a sigh. Such a pretty face.
    Rosalie’s breath caught at the sight of Morgan on her couch, her cats spread across his feet and lap, a relaxed look on his face that didn’t quite fit with his uptight businessman suit. A suit that would now be covered with white fur for the rest of the day.
    The smile he gave Joey, however, set off alarm bells in her head.
    This man was the enemy.
    “Sorry about the cats,” she said. “Off the sofa, guys.”
    When the cats left, Smudge in the lead, she sat on the couch, a wriggling Joey in her lap.
    “Okay, kid.” Morgan’s gentle tone tugged at Rosalie’s heart a moment before it sent another cascade of alarm through her.
    “Goey,” Joey repeated with a wary look at the stranger.
    “Yeah, Joey. Open wide.”
    Rosalie had to suppress a giggle when Joey clamped his mouth shut.
    Morgan reached out and tickled under the boy’s chin.
    “You can do better than that for me, can’t you, buddy?” When Joey only responded with a glare, Morgan turned to Rosalie. “A little help here?”
    His air of command made her want to refuse, but what would be the point?
    “Hey, big boy, how about you let your step-uncle here put two nasty swabs in your mouth and make it feel yucky?”
    Morgan quirked an eyebrow at her choice of words. Luckily Joey responded to her tone of voice and smiled, but kept his mouth closed tight.
    “Can you show your step-uncle how many teeth you have?”
    The smile faded and Joey shook his head.
    Morgan had moved closer. The heat of his body was so close to her bare arm that the musky scent of his undoubtedly expensive soap tickled her nose. Her heart beat faster. A half-forgotten warmth spread through her system. The magic of the moment when they had almost kissed reverberated through her.
    Morgan’s voice broke through the momentary sensual haze. “Yeah, kid, show me your chompers. Betcha only have one tooth. Is that all the teeth you have?”
    Leave it to a couple of males to make this a competition. But the little mouth stayed shut.
    “If you open up for your step-uncle, I’ll take you to the park,” Rosalie tried.
    Joey shot her an indignant look, as if to ask whose side she was on, and shook his head.
    Morgan stretched out one long finger and tickled Joey’s tummy. The boy laughed, then gave his step-uncle a wide grin. Okay, so the man had a few good instincts with kids. Damn him.
    “Okay, let’s count teeth,” Morgan said. “Open wider so I can get them all.”
    Joey opened his mouth and let Morgan take two quick swabs inside his cheek under the pretense of slowly counting his teeth.
    “Wow, that’s a lot of teeth for a kid your age, I bet.”
    Morgan’s fake enthusiasm brought out all Rosalie’s maternal instincts. She had to protect Joey from Morgan’s, and his family’s, attempts to manipulate him.
    But Joey saw right through the man. “No.”
    Morgan frowned at the rebuke, then turned away to put the swabs back in the plastic bag.
    To Rosalie’s shame, the loss of his heat near her body made her shiver. She pulled Joey a little closer while their guest took a pen from the breast pocket of his suit jacket, and filled in the information on the bag.
    “When will you have the results?” she asked, for lack of any other way to fill the awkward silence.
    “About the same time as the other test.”
    All the warmth was gone from his voice. The all-business, arrogant jerk who’d walked into her office that first day was back. She could feel her hackles rise in response.
    Joey whimpered at the sudden edge of ice in the air. Morgan’s face softened for a moment when he looked down at the child, then the aristocratic mask was back.
    “Once Joey’s paternity is verified, you’ll hear from his grandmother’s lawyer.”
    Rosalie’s heart was in her throat. “Asking for visitation rights?”
    “For custody. As a blood relative, she believes her claim is stronger than yours, despite Ms. Mendelev’s will.”
    “And