Total pages in book: 34
Estimated words: 33887 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 169(@200wpm)___ 136(@250wpm)___ 113(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33887 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 169(@200wpm)___ 136(@250wpm)___ 113(@300wpm)
“No,” Hale told him. “You’re a father. And both your daughters get media attention. So I think you understand me.”
“I very much do,” Ned murmured.
Hale turned back to Tom, and he still didn’t ask about the honeymoon or Tom’s new bride.
He kept laying it out.
“That said, until Hudson pointed it out, I didn’t realize that was my problem. I just felt guilt that something negative was happening in my head when something so positive was happening in my life.”
“You do know, like Ned, I have some experience with this, Hale,” Tom pointed out carefully.
“Well, since I didn’t know what was fucking with me, I couldn’t talk to you about it either. Now that you’re back in the city, I’d planned to connect with you to hash it out.”
“Let’s do that tomorrow as a priority. Mika and I’ll have you both over for dinner,” Tom invited.
“Appreciated,” Hale muttered. And louder, he added, “And I look forward to hearing about your honeymoon.”
“There isn’t much to say. I’m sure Bora Bora is lovely,” Tom replied. “Though Mika and I didn’t see much of it.”
That mean the honeymoon wasn’t good.
It was great.
Hale relaxed slightly and shot Tom a smile.
“Elsa is angry now, but when she knows the issue, she won’t be,” Ned put in, perhaps sensing Hale was still tense. “You know that, don’t you?”
“It makes me feel weak,” Hale admitted.
Ned’s brows shot together. “Because you want to protect your woman and your child?”
“Because I wasn’t smart enough to figure out what was going on with me until it got to the point my woman got pissed at me because she hasn’t missed it, and now she thinks I have some reservations about starting our family,” Hale explained.
“This begs the question of why you’re now talking to us instead of her,” Ned replied.
“Because Elsa needs to flare out,” Hale told him. “We both have quick tempers. But fortunately, that means they don’t last long.”
“Ah,” Ned said on a grin.
“It’ll be okay, Hale,” Tom said with reassurance.
“You can’t know that,” Hale returned.
“What I know is, you don’t have any control over it. So you have to find a way not to let it control you.” Tom shook his head. “Not for now. We’ll talk tomorrow. Now…incoming.”
Hale turned because Tom’s gaze had drifted over his shoulder, and he saw Elsa and Mika approaching.
He kissed Mika’s cheek then took his woman’s hand.
She glowered at him.
Right then.
Not over it yet.
Well…
Tough.
He couldn’t have her thinking he had issues with their growing family, so he was going to see to that directly.
“If you’ll excuse us,” he said, and pulled her to a deserted alcove.
“Just so you know, I’ve bid approximately one point seven million dollars on silent auction items,” she declared when he boxed her into the space with his back to the room.
“I don’t give a fuck.”
“I overbid significantly, so it’s unlikely anyone will outbid me.”
“I’ll repeat, I don’t give a fuck.”
“One of them is a diamond necklace,” she shared tartly. “And in case you aren’t getting this, you’ll be writing the check when I win.”
“One minute, you were sitting beside me and smiling. Ten minutes later, you were sitting by the basin in a men’s restroom, covered in blood.”
Her face grew slack with shock, then soft with understanding.
“Handsome,” she whispered.
“The second I saw you in that bathroom, I had an overwhelming surge of different emotions. Terror. Concern. Guilt. Anger. It was too much. I couldn’t cope.”
“I know,” she said gently.
“Now, if something happened to you while you’re carrying our child. Or something happens to our child once she’s with us, I wouldn’t be able to deal.”
She sidled close to him in order to tuck herself to his front. “You would, Hale.”
“No, Elsa, I would not. There’s not another woman on this earth who is meant for me. There is no Mika. There is no Nora once Jamie sorts his shit. It’s you. Only you. And the baby we make…”
He couldn’t finish that.
She lifted a hand to cup his jaw. “Honey, why didn’t you tell me this was on your mind?”
“Because I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me,” he explained. “I was happy, and I was freaked way the fuck out, and I felt shame because I was freaked out, even if I didn’t know why.”
“All this is understandable.”
“I know that now. Until Hudson diagnosed my condition half an hour ago, I didn’t know it.”
“Hudson gets a raise,” she decreed.
He couldn’t believe it, but that urged a smile to his lips.
“And you need to talk to Tom,” she advised.
“I already have. We’re going there for dinner tomorrow night.”
Hale saw her relax, so he wrapped his arms around her.
“I’m sorry I—” he began.
“Stop it, honey. You got there in the end.”
He shut up.
“I don’t think I can change my bids,” she warned.
Only Elsa could make him laugh after all of that, something she did.