Page 42 of Wicked Little Secret

He must have noticed her frown because he gave her a sheepish smile. “I’m sorry about that night; I thought you were someone else looking for my brother.”

She wasn’t going to cut him any slack.

“Nope. Just a woman pregnant with his child trying to get in touch with him so she could tell him.”

Derrick closed his eyes and groaned. “I had no idea. You didn’t look pregnant!”

Maverick half-coughed, half-laughed, obviously uncomfortable. He reached down to lift the car seat up. “And this little guy is Sawyer.”

When the Mitchell men looked at the sleeping boy, they broke into matching grins, Nick included. Olivia hoped Sawyer inherited their smile.

“You’re right, Nick. He does look like you,” Gabe said as he stared at Sawyer.

Nick shrugged. “Well, that’s what my mom said, anyway.”

Maverick jerked his head up with a frown. “Your mom knows?”

“I hope it’s okay that I told her.”

He scrubbed his hand across his chin. “Yeah, of course. I’m sure she had plenty to say about it.”

“Well, at first, she giggled and said, ‘Better him than me,’ but then she said she was happy for you.”

“Sounds like Patricia,” Beau said with a laugh.

It struck Olivia how much history these people had together, and that she was the outsider in this equation. Probably how Maverick felt at the hospital when she was surrounded by her family, friends, and colleagues.

“No, I think she really is,” Nick said, defending his mom. “She wants him to be happy. I think she feels guilty that she and Ken are so happy while Dad has been alone.”

“She doesn’t need to worry about me,” Maverick groused.

Derrick knelt down and stroked Sawyer’s tight fist, making the baby whimper and shift in his seat. The man looked up at Olivia with a crooked grin. “He’s definitely not alone now.”

Chapter Fifteen

Olivia

She was stretched out on a chaise lounge, nursing Sawyer in front of the fire Maverick had built in the fireplace of the owner’s suite before he walked his family out.

“Hey,” he said quietly when he came in and tucked the throw around her. “I’m going to make dinner. Lasagna okay?”

Olivia cocked her head. “You’re making lasagna?”

“Well, I’m going to put it in the oven. My housekeeper preps and freezes meals for me, so even though I don’t cook I still have home-cooked meals regularly.”

“That’s brilliant.”

He gave her a tender smile. “She’ll be happy to have someone new to cook for. I think she’s tired of making the same five things I ask for.”

She moved Sawyer to her other breast, then sighed. “Pete, you know I can’t move in here.”

Tearing his gaze away from her exposed breast, she noticed him clench and unclench his jaw. “Actually, I don’t see how you can’t.” His eyes locked with hers. “I will fight you for custody, Olivia. Your boyfriend’s not worth it.”

Her boyfr—? Oh yeah, she’d told him she had a boyfriend.

“You don’t know that. This doesn’t have to be a fight; I’m not a jerk, Pete. I’m willing to share custody.”

“I’m not. And I’m not willing to let another man raise my son this time.”

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