Total pages in book: 45
Estimated words: 41725 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 209(@200wpm)___ 167(@250wpm)___ 139(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 41725 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 209(@200wpm)___ 167(@250wpm)___ 139(@300wpm)
“Is it true? You and Dad… got married?” Her face held a combination of hope and fear, but I wasn’t sure which outcome she hoped for and which she feared.
I hesitated… and that was all the answer she needed. She jerked out of my reach and bolted toward the ladies’ room.
Shit.
“Brody, we’re so sorry. We didn’t see her,” Margot began, but I didn’t stop to reassure her or explain.
“Watch the girls, please!” I yelled, and then I hurled myself off the side of the chaise, only pausing to grab my phone, and ran after Jacey, who was heading for the clubhouse.
When she disappeared inside the women’s changing room, I dialed Grant.
“Dr. Brighton,” he said in his clipped work tone.
Thank god.
“Everyone’s okay. We’re fine,” I reassured him first. I’d learned the hard way that a call from me in the middle of the day gave him an immediate surge of adrenaline because, as a trauma surgeon, he assumed the worst. “But there’s a problem with our, uh… secret.” I glanced around and lowered my voice further. “The neighborhood parents found out that we got married, and when they asked me about it, Jacey overheard and ran off. She seemed upset.”
“Fuck.”
My heart leaped up into my throat. Grant rarely cursed in public, and he sure as hell didn’t at work. “I’m sorry,” I blurted, as if I’d splashed it all over social media.
“Not your fault, Brody.” His voice was filled with regret. “It was naive of me to think we could keep it a secret. This was my doing.”
“Our doing,” I corrected. “I agreed to it. Don’t forget that.”
“No,” he whispered, low and intimate. “I haven’t forgotten.”
I knew, logically, that he was only lowering his voice so he wouldn’t be overheard at work, but my stupid heart couldn’t help interpreting his tone in a different way—a way that made logic fly out the window, just as it had the other night when I’d agreed to this scheme.
There were a billion reasons why marrying Grant was the most ridiculous thing I’d ever done and bound to end in disaster—Fen had laid out every single one to me in scathing detail when I’d told her about this yesterday—but the most important by far was that we’d created a situation where the girls could get hurt… and now one of them had.
I should have seen this coming a mile off, and my own ceaseless wanting had made me blind to it.
“She ran into the changing room,” I told him. “I’m going to try to talk to her when she comes out. To explain. I’m going to tell her the truth. Unless… do you want to tell her yourself?”
“No. You know I trust you.” Grant blew out a breath. “Please tell her why we did it and why we kept it quiet. And I suppose I can look into getting an annulment and finding the girls another school, if it comes to that.”
“If we have to,” I hedged. “But that’s a last resort. I think Jacey will understand once I explain that we did it for the girls.”
I could almost hear Fen’s laughing voice from last night, as though she was standing here with me. Oh, sure. You did it for the girls. It has nothing at all to do with your need to cling to the Brighton kids and their father for as long as you can, right?
“I hope so. I don’t want Jacey to be upset at you when you’re only trying to help her.” Grant took a breath. I could picture his long fingers threading through his hair. “I’m sorry, Brody. I should have asked. Are you okay?”
His kindness caught me off guard, and tears filled my eyes.
No. No, I’m not. I’m calling you Grant in my head all the time now, even though I haven’t said it out loud. I’m finding it even harder to keep my distance. Jacey’s upset, and I’m afraid I’m going to get my heart broken, and it’s still not real… and I should really regret marrying you more than I do.
“You don’t need to worry about me,” I said softly.
“But I do.” Grant’s voice was hard to make out over the sound of the hospital’s intercom system paging people. Any minute, he’d be called away to get back to work. “We’ll figure this out, okay? We’ll do whatever we have to do. If you need me to leave early, I’ll—” A commotion came over the line, and I heard Grant bark that he’d be right there. “Shit. Brody, I’ve got to go. But call me again if you need me. And I promise, no matter what happens, I’ll make sure you’re taken care of. Okay?”
I shut my eyes. God, I wished he meant that in a way that had nothing to do with money and contracts.
“Yeah,” I whispered. “I’ll let you know how it goes. Maybe Jacey will have an idea we haven’t thought of. She’s brilliant, even if she’s only fourteen.”