Page 69 of Snowed In with My Best Friend's Dad

Connie pulled out her phone, scrolling through it and then handing it to me. "Is this the woman you've knocked up?"

I stared down at Lindsay’s social media profile that had her and Miranda grinning like two best friends. It occurred to me that if I were on social media, I would have known Miranda’s name and what she looked like. That would have saved me a great deal of angst. Granted, I couldn’t resist her when I did know who she was, but I felt chances were good that I wouldn’t have seduced her that first night outside the paper shop if I’d known who she was. And yet, I couldn’t help but be grateful that I didn’t know her. As fucked up as everything was, the hope she gave me for something fuller in life was worth it.

I handed the phone back to her. "Yes." It really wasn't her business, except for the fact that she couldn't do her job if I kept important things from her.

She sniffed, glaring at me in annoyance. "That woman, not the one today but the one in the picture, was here."

"Just now?" Fucking hell.

"No. It was several weeks ago."

"And you didn't send her in?" My head was reeling. Miranda had been here? Why?

"She didn't have an appointment."

"Did she say who she was?"

"If you mean did she tell me that you knocked her up? No. She told me she needed to see you and I told her that was impossible. Besides, you weren't here. She left without giving me a name."

My gut burned until I thought I might be sick. Had she come here to tell me about the baby? This news made what I did at her house the other night all the worse. I felt justified in my anger if she'd planned to never tell me about the baby. It was the way I'd gone about it that was wrong. But now, it was possible that she had planned to tell me but hadn't been able to see me.

I rose from my desk and grabbed my coat. "And what about the stepmother? What did she want?"

Connie had an expression on her face that suggested she thought the stepmother was no good. I had a sinking feeling she'd given Miranda a similar expression. "We didn't get that far. She did say something about making you pay, but it's not like you haven't heard that before."

She wasn't wrong. Janine had said it plenty of times. And before I figured out how to read women when looking for a no-strings-attached hookup, a few had hunted me down, angry at my dumping them and threatening to make me pay.

I wasn’t worried about the stepmom. My concern was that Miranda had come to visit me. I left my office and sped like a demon over to Miranda's house. When I banged on the door, I realized I needed to take a calming breath. I didn't need her thinking that I was showing up as Mr. Hyde again.

She opened the door, and her expression reminded me of Lindsay in the height of her teenage years, her hand on her hip and a large eye roll. "Why are you here?"

"Did you try to see me at my office?"

She blinked, her expression immediately changing to suspicion. "Why?"

Annoyance took root, but I did my best to rein it in. "Why do you have to fight me on every little thing? It’s just a question.”

She blew out a breath. "Yes."

"Was it to tell me about the baby?"

She glanced out the door, and I turned to where she was looking. A neighbor who was walking from their car to the house was looking over in our direction.

She stood back, opening the door. "I don't need any more gossip about me from the neighborhood."

Inwardly thanking the neighbor, I entered the house. It appeared that she intended for us to stay in the entryway, but I made my way to the living room, taking a seat on the couch.

With weary eyes, she followed me but remained standing with her arms crossed.

"Were you there to tell me about the baby? I asked again.

"Yes. But your secretary wouldn't let me see you. She told me you weren't there, but I know you were."

I frowned because Connie told me I hadn't been there either. "Didn't you leave your name or a message?"

"She threatened to call security if I didn't leave. She told me if I wanted to join the gym, I should do that, but not to bother an important person like Brett McKinnon. She looked at me like I was a fat slob, and how dare me to try to see you?"

I closed my eyes, rethinking the benefit of having Connie as my admin.

---