Page 42 of His Impossible Heir

“This is really good!” Emma replied, standing up. Her eyes moved over Amanda’s figure. “Why have you lost so much weight?”

Amanda’s hand shifted to her thighs, because her slacks were hanging off her hips. She shrugged. “I don’t know. I just…feel sick a lot.” She touched her forehead. “I think I’m coming down with something.”

Emma’s head tilted slightly. “Hmmm.” Then she turned and opened the house door. “Let’s get you some food. You need to put on those ten pounds you’ve lost.”

Amanda followed, and by the time they were sitting down at a Mexican restaurant with a basket of warm tortilla chips and spicy salsa, Amanda was starting to feel better. In fact, the more salsa she ate, the better she felt. “Oh my gosh, this is so good!” she gasped, loading another chip with the tomato and jalapeno based goodness.

“So, what have you been up to since you left Paris?” Emma asked.

Amanda told her about the book series she was working on and Emma told her about the newest investigation she’d started. But Amanda could tell that Emma was holding something back.

By the time dessert arrived, Amanda couldn’t hold back her curiosity. “So…? What’s therealreason for your visit?”

Emma put down her spoon and looked at Amanda from across the table. “The fact that you haven’t answered your phone, barely respond to my texts, and have lost more weight than you can afford to lose isn’t enough?”

Amanda rolled her eyes. “You read what I’ve been working on. It’s more complicated than my previous stories and I’ve had to concentrate.”

“I’m calling BS,” she said, picking up her spoon and pointing it at Amanda. “Why are you so sad? Why aren’t you sleeping? Why have you lost so much weight?” She paused in her interrogation, narrowing her eyes. “Does all of this,” she waved her spoon at Amanda’s figure, “have something to do with a certain handsome prince you met in Paris?”

“Of course not,” Amanda muttered, the lie tasting sour on her tongue. She looked wistfully down at the bowl of cheesecake with a spicy, sweet jalapeno sauce dripping over the side. Her appetite had vanished. “How’s Rayed?”

“He’s fine. We’re going to have a baby, so-“

Amanda screamed, jumping up and coming around the table to hug her best friend. “That’s wonderful! Why did you wait until dessert to tell me?”

Emma laughed, returning Amanda’s hug with interest. “Because you look like hell,” she admitted.

Amanda sat back down, still grinning, utterly delighted for her friend. If a small bit of jealousy tempered her excitement, well, she’d hide it and analyze it later. Once she was alone again.

They talked about babies and due dates, Emma’s health and Rayed’s joy. Apparently, Emma’s husband was already buying out every local toy store, more than ready to spoil his first child.

When Amanda returned to her house later that evening, after giving Emma several more congratulatory hugs, she locked the door and looked around with a sigh. Her house was a mess! She wasn’t eating properly and she was working too much. Emma was happy and…okay, Amanda wasn’t. She’d probably never be happy without Daniesh, but she could at least stop living like a slob.

So for the next two hours, she cleaned. She did several loads of laundry, washed the dishes, scrubbed the kitchen floor, vacuumed, dusted, and straightened up her space. After she finished folding and putting away the third load of laundry, she looked around and felt significantly better.

“Maybe I’ll be able to sleep tonight,” she whispered hopefully as she went into the bathroom to brush her teeth. But instead of grabbing her toothbrush, she rushed to the recently scrubbed toilet and…threw up the delicious meal she’d just enjoyed with Emma! The wrenching was painful, the salsa made it far worse, and she was more exhausted afterwards than she’d thought possible.

Pulling herself up, she rinsed out her mouth and brushed her teeth. Not bothering to change into a nightshirt, she simply climbed into bed and closed her eyes, falling asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

Chapter 14

The knock on the door woke her the following morning and she padded barefoot to answer it, but before she could make it to the door, she turned and rushed into the bathroom. The nausea that she’d been battling the previous…however long…was in full riot mode. She threw up again and this time it was worse, since she didn’t have anything left in her stomach.

The pounding was louder now, more urgent. She knew that it was probably Emma coming by to take her out for breakfast, but the thought of food made her feel even worse.

She rinsed out her mouth and made it to the door just as Emma pulled out her phone. “I was about to call the police,” she announced, pushing through the door. “What’s wrong?” she demanded.

Amanda dropped onto the couch, holding her head in her hands. “ I’m just not feeling well,” she muttered.

Emma sat down next to her. “I know that you were with Daniesh recently.”

Amanda leaned her head back against the sofa, closing her eyes at the flood of painful memories. “That was three months…” she froze. Three months. And she’d been feeling sick for…how long? She couldn’t remember for sure. The nausea had been a near constant companion over the past several weeks. In fact, she couldn’t remember the last time she hadn’t felt horrible.

“Are you pregnant too?” Emma whispered.

Amanda’s eyes popped open and she stared at her friend with open-mouthed shock. “No!” she gasped, denying the possibility even as a part of her wondered if it was possible. “No. I can’t be pregnant. Daniesh said that…he couldn’t. That it wasn’t possible.”

“Which means that you two didn’t use protection?”

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