Page 47 of Her Billionaire's Baby Secret

Chapter 13

Kane desperately needed to talk to Sariah. He’d tried calling her last night, and she hadn’t returned his call. He had a feeling she might be avoiding him. His mind was full of questions about how she was feeling. He’d called his grandfather after waiting for Sariah to call him back and not having any luck. His grandfather wanted him to make sure Sariah kept the knowledge of his new baby coming under wraps.

His biggest worry was that she was pulling away because she felt like him having a kid would be too much baggage. There was no way Orchid would have wanted to be with him back in the day if she’d found out he’d had a kid.

He wasn’t expecting to run into Sariah at the sandwich shop. Kane had gone there with Chase to talk over his options. He’d told Chase about the baby coming on their way to the restaurant and had sworn him to secrecy. His grandpa had loosened up about who he could tell. He’d explained how hard it was for him to keep something like that such a big secret. Chase was trustworthy anyway. As a well-known musician, he understood the need for privacy. The guy knew more about dodging the paparazzi than Kane did.

Chase had been surprised about the baby but was happy for him too. He didn’t seem to mind that Kane had been keeping it a secret from him, but he understood how Sariah might be upset. Kane had sensed that Sariah was a little freaked out with the whole baby thing. He hoped that she would come around.

His heart ached for Sariah. He’d been falling for her again since he’d come back in town, and he was at the point that he couldn’t ignore how strong it had gotten. It didn’t matter anymore that he was fresh out of a divorce or that he had a baby coming. He had to figure out a way to be with her.

The problem was, he didn’t know if she felt the same way about him. And what if she did? It wasn’t like they could do anything about it. Unless they were willing to do the long-distance thing. It was a possibility, but she hadn’t wanted to do it back in high school. Who was to say she’d be okay with it now?

He approached her table. “Sariah, can we talk privately?”

Sariah and Carrington exchanged a glance, and Carrington nodded to her.

Sariah turned to him. “Sure.” She grabbed what was left of her sandwich and bunched the wrapper around it. She grabbed it along with her chips and drink and stood to follow him.

“Do you want me to order some food for you?” Chase asked.

“Sure. Just get me the ham and Swiss on wheat with a Coke.”

“You got it.” Chase got in line.

“Want to go sit in my car for a minute?” Kane asked.

“That’s fine.” She didn’t sound very excited to talk to him.

His stomach sunk. He wasn’t so sure about how this conversation was going to go down.

They settled in his car, and he blew out a pent-up breath. “I’m sorry you had to find out I’m going to be a dad that way. I feel really bad about the way it went down”

“Why? Because your secret was spilled when you wanted it quiet?” Sariah bit out the words.

“No.” He dragged the word out. This wasn’t off to a very good start.

“I trusted you, Kane. I thought you were being open and honest with me. I told you I had issues with guys keeping secrets from me.”

“I know, and I’m sorry. I thought you might be upset when you found out.”

“Mostly, I felt betrayed. I just can’t understand why you didn’t tell me. Why keep something that big a secret?”

“I get how you might feel that way. My grandfather wants me to keep it quiet. Right now, our company is going through a merger, and we need to keep the drama to a minimum.”

“Why would going through a merger make you have to keep something like that a secret?”

“The company we’re merging with is run by a pro family group. They were attracted to working with us because we were such a family-oriented company. My grandfather thinks the drama with Orchid should be kept to a minimum. It’s bad enough that she’s been showing up at the office, causing all kinds of trouble, demanding money from me.”

“So you couldn’t tell me because of your job?”

“That’s right.”

Sariah sat quietly for a moment with her gaze turned away from him. Her expression was unreadable. “The secrecy is a hard one for me. I get why it was important, but I still feel upset.”

“My ex kept big secrets from me too, so I understand some of what you must feel.”

“At least you aren’t addicted to painkillers. I don’t think I could handle something like that again.”

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