Falling for Mr. Wrong Read Online Free

being. This morning, when Marie had summoned her at 8:00 a.m., claiming she had an emergency, Kelsey had assumed she was in for more of the same. She should have known Marie wouldn’t be crazy enough to leave a helpless six-week-old infant in her unskilled arms.
    She looked around for something to throw at Marie, but then the creature moved, and it startled her so badly she almost dropped it. “Jesus, Marie, don’t distract me while I’m holding this thing.”
    “That thing is a baby, hon, not a tarantula.”
    “Maybe to you. You spent your childhood carrying around so many babies you developed hips when you were eight.”
    “What are you saying?” Marie padded her rounded curves. “Are you suggesting I’ve got big hips?”
    “You’re perfect,” Kelsey said. “I’m the one who finds newborns as terrifying as the winged monkeys from The Wizard of Oz . Between which, by the way, there is a very strong resemblance. Other than the skin color.”
    “And the lack of wings?”
    “Whatever. It’s the fear they engender that’s similar. And the freaky little monkey faces. Besides, tarantulas are cute. Fuzzy. Like eight-legged teddy bears.”
    Marie shuddered. “I am fully aware that you had the most unnatural childhood of anyone I’ve ever met. But if you tell me you were given a tarantula to play with when you were a baby I’m going to lose it.”
    “Nope,” Kelsey said. “Just the occasional rhesus monkey. Now, before I throw up on top of your adorable little charge, why don’t you tell me what you want?”
    Marie’s cell phone dinged. She picked it up and studied it for a moment, then sighed. “Hope just e-mailed me from the hospital. She’s so dehydrated they had to start an IV.”
    Hope was one of Marie’s nannies. Kelsey’s spine tingled with suspicion. Perhaps now she would find out exactly why Marie had called her this morning. “What’s wrong with her?” She cautiously adjusted the infant so it would rest more squarely on her lap.
    Marie shook her head. “Same thing that’s wrong with Genevieve, Marianne, Andie, and Sariah. Apparently the restaurant we ate at for our anniversary dinner last night had a little salmonella problem with their chicken.”
    “That’s horrible. Is everyone going to be okay?” She turned her head to the side and tried to take a deep breath. Marie could joke around all she wanted, but baby-induced nausea was nothing to mess around with.
    Marie continued staring at her phone, flicking her finger across the screen as she read. “Yeah, no one’s going to die. They’re just in varying stages of sick, sicker, and can’t stop vomiting.”
    “How did you escape?” Kelsey was getting a little light-headed from not breathing, so she opened her mouth and tried to avoid using her nose. The baby left a warm impression in the crook of her arm.
    “I decided last week to try being a vegetarian. No chicken for me.”
    The infant whimpered and opened his eyes. He stared, unfocused, in Kelsey’s direction for a minute before squinching up his face and letting out an enormous wail.
    She recoiled in panic. “Marie, I’m sorry, I don’t know what happened.” She held the squalling infant out in front of her, terrified.
    Marie laughed. “You didn’t do anything, silly. Babies cry. It’s their nature. Just walk around a little. Bounce him. He loves that. They all do.”
    Kelsey shook her head and grimaced. Walk around with it? Was Marie on crack? “Oh no. You take him.”
    Marie held up her phone again. “I’ve got to e-mail Hope back. You’ll be fine.”
    “But he’s crying.”
    “He just finished a bottle. He’s probably got a bubble. Put him over your shoulder and pat his back.”
    Kelsey stared at the bundle in her arms, which was slowly turning red as it continued to wail. Awkwardly, she tried to shift it onto her shoulder, while still maintaining her support of its large, untethered head. The maneuver seemed ripe for disaster.
    Marie tapped on her phone