Read Just a Little Misgiving (Shades of Deception, Book 3) for Free Online

of us needs a legal mess."
    "A solution of sorts," she said, disconcerted by the conclusions that he'd leapt to."Martin, I didn't tell him. Myles found the adoption papers in Gloria's strongbox. I thought we agreed that you would keep those."
    "I did. She must have gotten a copy from the secretary. Hang on a minute, Faith." She heard him shuffling papers in the background, followed by the gruff message that he'd be in the meeting shortly. When he came back on the line, he said, "Sorry, but I'm going to have to cut this short. Just tell me one thing. How are you and Myles doing? Are you... I don't know how to say this exactly, but, are you helping each other get through this?"
    "We're... coming along."
    "I'm glad to hear it. I'd hate to think of the two of you getting into a custody battle. I know that's not what Gloria had in mind."
    "What Gloria had in mind? What do you mean by that?"
    "Just that—" He coughed, then as though he were making a lawyer's closing statement, he smoothly added, "Only the obvious. She loved you both and would have hated to see anything bad become of something that was meant to bring happiness."
    "Yes," she agreed. "Gloria always wanted the best for everyone. I miss her terribly."
    "Don't we all." After a few seconds he tacked on, "Do me a favor? Let me know if anything, uh, personal develops."
    Faith pulled away from the receiver and stared at it as though it were Martin's face and he had just revealed a ghastly family secret.
    "Faith? Faith, are you still there?"
    "I'm here," she answered, then added under her breath, "Kind of. I think."
    "How is pregnancy agreeing with you? No complications?"
    Only emotional ones, she thought. "When I'm not in tears or pigging out, I love it. It's... miraculous."
    "You'd do it again, then?"
    "I'd do it again... and maybe even again." She wriggled her toes into the plush rug beneath her feet, relishing the image of conceiving a baby with Myles in a moment of love and passion. "Actually, Martin," she added, "I have to confess, I never much liked wearing shoes."
    She hung up with a smile, feeling better for having talked to Martin. Yet she had the intuitive feeling that he was hiding something, and that his meeting had come at a very convenient time in their conversation. What would Martin have to hide?
    * * *
    "No nausea this morning?" Myles inquired, inhaling the aroma of the fresh coffee she handed to him.
    "So far, so good. But I'm not pushing my luck by joining you." She pulled her white bathrobe tighter around her, feeling self-conscious.
    It was the first morning she'd ventured down without getting dressed first. But now she wished she'd spent more time on her hair and added a subtle dash of makeup. Myles hadn't touched her since that weekend, and the seven days that had passed seemed more like years. The way she probably looked this morning, he might never want to touch her again.
    "I'm glad you're not drinking coffee. From everything I've read, caffeine's not too good for the baby."
    "So, you've been reading up on the subject, have you?"
    "Everything I can get my hands on."
    The hands in question were large, strong, and well cared for, she thought, despite the stubborn bit of grease under his fingernails. He got it from tinkering with his "toy"—a one-of-a-kind automobile he nursed and cajoled and cursed in his backyard shop.
    "I like your suit," she said, shifting her attention. "It's very... European."
    "I call it my corporate straitjacket." He chuckled. "Damn monkey suit. Almost makes me wish I was back where I started—on the assembly line with Dad right out of high school. I always did like the nuts-and-bolts end of the business. Good thing, I guess. My ideas and designs wouldn't have gone too far if I didn't know how to make things stop and go."
    "You were on the fast track before you were twenty," Faith said, feeling a familiar pride. He was a self-made man, and she had great respect for that. "The name Myles Wellington was legendary by the time I