Her Best Friend's Baby Read Online Free Page B

once?
    Oh hell!
    She had already missed her period! Why hadn’t she noticed? Wait, this wasn’t a big deal. She sometimes swung later and earlier and didn’t always hit a twenty-eight day cycle. Then the fact that she’d been ill this morning when she woke came to mind and the extra tiredness. Perhaps that couldn’t all be attributed to long work hours. Either way, she would not jump to conclusions. Since her lunch break neared the end, she would need to go to the drug store after work to buy a pregnancy test.
    “And good luck focusing on work now,” she muttered to herself as she returned to her desk.
    The day wore on with Zaierra getting little done. She perfected looking busy, and no one bothered her. Several times, she caught sight of Leith on the way to and from meetings. He fixed her with his sharp gaze and appeared to start over there in her direction, but someone grabbed him each time, calming the rising panic in the pit of her stomach. Twice Leith looked at her as if he knew something was wrong, but she’d forced a smile and waved. At last, the day ended, and she hurried off to buy what she needed.
    At home in the privacy of her own bathroom, Zaierra read the packaging on the test. “As early as five days before a missed period. Damn.” Two tests were in the box. She planned to use them both. In two minutes, the results appeared on the strip, and Zaierra bent over, her head spinning. “Plus sign. Oh crap, I’m pregnant. I’m having my best friend’s baby! Leith’s baby.”
    She shut her eyes, and tears rolled down her cheeks. On one hand, it thrilled her to be having the baby she wanted, and to have his or her daddy be Leith, the man she now knew she loved, was a bonus. At the same time, her heart broke knowing there could never be anything between them. She could not put this burden on him since she’d said she would take full responsibility. Even still, she knew if he ever wanted to be, Leith would make a great dad.
    Her decision to tell him made, she stood up, showered, and put on fresh clothes. Just like Leith had a key to her place, she had one to his. She knew he had a business meeting tonight, and if he weren’t back from that yet, she’d let herself in and wait for him. There was no danger of finding a woman there, of course. Leith might like to sleep around, but he never brought any of them to his house. Well, none except that skank Jenna. She’d been the one to grab such a tight hold of him, Zaierra had wondered if he’d end up marrying her. When she learned it was over between the two of them, she’d been delirious with relief. Leith deserved worlds better than that ho.
    A short while later, Zaierra let herself into Leith’s house. She wasn’t lying when she said it was a mansion. He had five bedrooms, and the entryway extended up two floors. The winding staircase across from the foyer said money, and Leith lived in this awesome place alone. Yet, he spent more time either at a lover’s house or at her apartment. She wondered if he felt lonely here. That thought led to her to considering if he would come home at all. Maybe she should have texted him to let him know she waited over here.
    Just as she pulled out her phone, voices reached her from one of the rooms. She frowned. She hadn’t checked the garage for his car, and the door had been shut. He usually watched TV in the basement not in what she called the fancy music room. As she approached, the voices became clearer.
    “And I’m telling you I’m pregnant,” Jenna snapped. “With your baby.”
    Zaierra’s stomach plummeted as if she were descending the rails on a roller coaster. She grabbed hold of the back of a dining room chair. Her throat dried. She wanted to turn heel and escape, but the strength to do so abandoned her.
    “I can’t believe you’re springing this on me now,” Leith growled. Zaierra imagined him running a hand over his hair, making it a mess. He always did that when something agitated him. “How do I