The Kincaids: Southern Seduction. Kathie DeNosky

slithered down Lily’s spine when she thought of how poorly she had been treated at the dinner party she and Daniel attended at Addison House, just before Christmas. His mother was, without a shadow of a doubt, the coldest, most unpleasant woman Lily had ever had the misfortune to meet. The woman had even gone so far as to accuse Lily of trying to elevate her social standing by being associated with Daniel—implying that because her father’s fortune didn’t go back several generations, Lily wasn’t worthy of circulating among those considered to come from “old money.”

      She shuddered at the thought of ever being near the woman again. But more upsetting was that Charlotte Addison was the paternal grandmother of Lily’s child.

      Lily nibbled on her lower lip as she tried to calm the butterflies in her stomach. She was having Daniel’s baby and at some point she was going to have to tell him. But how? How was she going to break the news to a man who had no interest in ever having a child of his own that whether he wanted to or not, he was going to be a daddy? And considering his feelings about children, would he try to get her to end the pregnancy?

      She placed a protective hand over her still flat stomach. She truly didn’t think he would ask that of her, but it wouldn’t matter if he did. This baby was hers and she loved it with all of her heart.

      Rising to her feet, she wandered into her studio and glanced at the drawings for the latest children’s book she was illustrating. Children were so very important to her and she couldn’t imagine anyone not wanting to have a child to enrich their life.

      She released a shuddering breath. It would just be his loss, she thought sadly. Whether he wanted anything to do with the baby or not, it was only right to let him know about her pregnancy, and as soon as she found a good time, she fully intended to do just that.

      As she stood there pondering how to go about telling him that he had fathered a child, the phone rang. When she answered, she wasn’t at all surprised to hear her oldest sister’s concerned voice.

      “Are you all right, Lily?” Laurel asked.

      “I’m fine now,” Lily said, smiling.

      She loved her family and the closeness they shared. But she hadn’t told them about her pregnancy and she wasn’t sure how to broach the subject. It was a given they would be supportive, but they were all busy with their own lives and she hated to add her problems to theirs. As public relations director for The Kincaid Group, Laurel was going to have to handle the media frenzy the scandal was sure to cause, as well as get ready for her upcoming wedding. Thankfully, their sister Kara was using her skills as a wedding and party planner to pull it all together for Laurel, but at the same time she was booked up with jobs for her thriving business, Prestige Events.

      Lily could always turn to her brothers for advice, but they were no less busy than her sisters. Until today, RJ had his hands full being interim CEO of The Kincaid Group since their father’s death, but she suspected he would soon be turning his attention to a legal battle as he tried to regain control of the business now that Jack Sinclair held the majority of the shares. That left Matt. Poor Matt was so busy trying to juggle his job as director of New Business at TKG and being a single father, that he didn’t have time for himself, let alone to give her advice on how she should handle this new twist in her life.

      “You left so quickly this morning, I wanted to make sure that you’re feeling better,” Laurel went on.

      “I just needed some air,” Lily said, sorry for the worry she had caused her sibling. “I still can’t believe that Daddy left the biggest part of the company to that awful man.”

      “I know,” Laurel agreed, sounding as disillusioned as Lily. “We’re looking into finding who owns the missing ten percent. If we can get whoever it is to vote with us, then as a whole, we’ll have controlling interest in TKG. And at this point, that’s imperative. After you left, Jack smugly told RJ and Matt that he expected a full report of assets, expenses, projected growth and a comprehensive customer list for TKG by the end of the month.”

      “What is he going to do with it?” Lily asked, alarmed. Did he intend to sell his shares back to the Kincaids at a ridiculously high price? Or was he planning to split the company and sell it off piece by piece?

      “At this point, it’s anyone’s guess what he’ll do with the information.” Laurel’s sigh echoed in Lily’s ear. “But RJ and Matt are going to be busy working practically around the clock to get things together.”

      “I can only imagine how frustrated and angry RJ feels about all this.” RJ was not the type of man to put up with Jack Sinclair’s arrogance any longer than it took him to find a way to defeat him.

      “RJ doesn’t have a choice,” Laurel said. “But I don’t want you to worry about any of this, Lily. RJ and Matt will figure it out and if there’s a way for us to regain control of TKG, they’ll find it.”

      “Asking me not to worry is like asking me to make the sun rise in the west tomorrow morning. But I do promise I’ll try.” A knock on the front door had her walking out of her studio. “I have to go, Laurel. Someone’s at the door. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Love you.”

      “Love you, too,” Laurel said, ending the conversation.

      Lily put the cordless unit on the charger, then continued to the door. It was probably one of her other siblings dropping by to check on her. After the way she’d fled Mr. Parsons’s office this morning, she really wasn’t surprised. Since she was the youngest in the family, her brothers and sisters had always watched out for her and she loved them all the more for it.

      But when she opened the door, she found Daniel standing on the other side with a large paper bag in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other. “I was beginning to think you might still be napping,” he said as he brushed past her and walked toward the dining area at the opposite end of the room.

      “What are you doing here, Daniel?” she asked, closing the door to follow him.

      Looking over his shoulder, he gave her an indulgent smile. “Don’t you remember? I told you I would be back with dinner around six.”

      She frowned. “I remember telling you that you didn’t need to bother stopping by, but I don’t recall anything about you bringing dinner.”

      “You might have fallen asleep by that time,” he said, pulling cartons of delicious-smelling food from the paper bag to place them on the table.

      “Might have?” She shook her head. “It’s more likely that you purposely waited until I had gone to sleep to mention bringing dinner.”

      He shrugged as he removed his coat, then walked over to lay it on the back of one of the armchairs. “Either way, I did mention it.” He returned to the table and picked up the bottle of wine. “Besides, you have to eat and I didn’t think you would feel like making something for yourself.”

      Even though the food he had brought smelled heavenly and she was ravenous, she wasn’t willing to give in so easily. “I might have plans,” she said stubbornly.

      “But you don’t.” He gave her a smile that caused her to feel warm all over. “Now, why don’t we sit down and enjoy this before it gets cold?”

      If there was one thing about Daniel Addison that she had learned in the past several months, it was that he never lacked confidence. She only wished she could say the same for herself, especially now that she was going to have to find a way to tell him about her pregnancy.

      When he reached for two wineglasses on top of her small liquor cabinet, she shook her head. “I’m going to have a glass of milk.”

      He nodded as he removed the corkscrew from the cabinet drawer and popped the cork on the wine bottle. “Considering how sick you were this morning, that’s probably a good idea.”

      She didn’t comment as she walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. It would probably be best if he was sitting down when she told him the reason behind her illness this morning and why she wasn’t drinking wine with her meal.

      When