"Who the hell is Blake, and more importantly, is he hot?" Aimee questions and I set my phone aside and shrug.
"Blake Bryant is an investor for one of our projects, and yes, he's a very handsome man," I explain with a sigh, and they nod slowly, still looking at me expectantly. "What?"
"What do you mean, what? Why is he asking you out?" Jo questions, her brows drawn together.
I roll my eyes, "He's not. It's a business lunch to go through the contract for the project, that's all." I clarify, and Aimee doesn't seem convinced.
"He went out of his way to find your personal number to call you, out of office hours to invite you for a business lunch?" She drawls sardonically, and I nod and shrug. Aimee looks at Jo, and they shake their heads. "It's definitely a lunch date." Aimee snorts.
"What does he look like?" Jo questions, intrigued, and I shrug indifferently.
"I don't know, tall, dark hair, blue eyes," I explain, chewing on my lip. "Oh, actually
The following day I was sitting in my office going over the contract before Blake arrived to pick me up for our lunch. I was avoiding Cole like the plague after what happened the night before.I tried my best to push it out of my mind, but every time I saw him walking toward my office, my heart would race, only for him to walk past it. I wondered what happened between him and Sophie after I left. The more I tried to convince myself I didn't care, the more it was bugging me, so much so that I couldn't focus on a damn thing on this contract. "Shay?"I look up when I hear my name and see Cole standing at the door. Oh shit. "Yes?”"Can we talk for a second?"I sigh, "If it's about work, yes, we can. If it's not, then no." I tell him, dropping my pen, and he exhales."Shayla—" Cole interjects, but my intercom goes off, interrupting whatever he was going to say. He scowls at it."Mrs Hoult, Mr Bryant is here and waiting for you in the lobby." Jenn
Two weeks later.“What are you doing?” I jump startled, look back, and see Josh standing behind me as I watch Shayla smiling at a basket of some sort and flowers she just received. “Are you spying on Shayla?”I rub the back of my neck and shake my head. “What? No.” I utter, glancing at her again, and Josh chuckles.“Right, so you’re hiding behind the wall looking into her office why?” I sigh, relenting.“Fine, I was spying…a little,” I say, looking at him before I look over at her opening a book and skimming through it. “Who sent her those, and what the hell is that basket?”“Uh, it’s a nappy basket. It’s filled with blankets and booties and clothes for the baby.” He explains, looking over at her with a smile. “She said it’s a gift from Blake Bryant.”I grate my teeth; every hair on my body goes up when I hear that man’s name. “Why? Why is he sending my wife gifts?”Josh’s brows furrow, and he looks at me surprised. “Your wife? Weren’
I shake my head as I climb in next to her and pull her into my arms. “No, the hospital will take too long to see her. I’ll get a doctor to come home and check her over,” I tell him as he gets in the driver’s seat and he drives out of the car park. I press my lips against her forehead, her fever seems to be getting worse, and she feels all clammy. Shayla coughs again and groans, burying her face into my chest.“Cole..” she whimpers. “I don’t feel good.”“I know, sweetheart, I know you don’t, but you’re going to be okay, I promise,” I assure her brushing my fingers through her hair while I dial our family doctor’s number. “Doctor Giles, I need you to come over to the address I’m going to send you. My wife is sick, and she’s pregnant.”“Okay, what are her symptoms?”I look down at Shayla, “She’s burning up, coughing, headache. She can barely stand.” I tell him. “Please hurry.”“I’m on my way, Mr Hoult. How far along is she in the pregnancy?” He asks, and
I set the compress on the side and lay down beside her. “I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere,” I assure her while I comb my fingers through her hair. Shayla shifts closer and lays her head on my chest, nestling herself into me. I wrap my arm around her, pulling her closer against me, and I press my lips to her forehead.“I love you, baby.” She whispers with a breathy sigh. I close my eyes and bite my lip.“I love you, too, sweetheart,” I tell her, and her lips quirk ever so slightly.“Say it again, baby.” She moans, nuzzling my neck. I smile, shaking my head.“I love you, baby,” I whisper, kissing her nose, and she smiles content before she falls asleep. I don’t know what made me say those words to her, but it felt—right. It didn’t feel forced or false, which left me somewhat bewildered. I thought I was just telling her what she needed to hear in an attempt to comfort her, but what if, deep down, I actually meant it?I feel the baby’s movements
Pull away, Shay! Don't get sucked in again. Pull. Away. What are you doing, you stupid girl?!Thankfully, I start coughing uncontrollably and take a step back from Cole. My head was swimming, half from being so close to him and the other from this stupid virus that has my head thumping like someone was bashing it in with a cleaver.I avoid looking at Cole and brush past him to walk to the bathroom.What is wrong with me? Why have I got no might when it comes to this man? One-touch, and I melt, ready and willing to let him do whatever he wants with me.It's borderline pathetic. And I don't get him either. What the hell is he doing? I'm honestly getting real fed up with asking myself that question and trying to figure him out. He says he doesn't want this baby or me and wants to be with Sophie, then he goes off in a rage when another man shows any interest in me, and now he suddenly wants the baby and is trying to kiss me? Did he wake up from the coma with
"She said she was going to erase what little memories you have of me while she fucks your brains out and gets pregnant while I'm at home taking care of my brat!" I reply stormily, and Cole looks at me, stunned."What? I can't believe she would ever say such a thing." Cole shakes his head, and I roll my eyes in annoyance."Of course, you wouldn't believe it," I state dryly. "I know you want to believe she's this great girl Cole, but she's not. You know what, I'm going to let you figure this one out for yourself because sooner or later, her true colours will come out." I inform him while searching around the room for my bra. "She's ready and willing to give you a baby if you're so eager to be a Dad. By all means, go right ahead and knock yourself out. Just leave my baby and me alone," I state further, picking up my bra off the back of the chair while Cole watches me, a deep scowl on his face."I don't want a fucking baby with her!" Cole retorts, and I look back at
A couple of hours later, Cole had me hauled up in bed and was currently trying to force-feed me some vile-looking vegetable noodle soup. "I don't want it." I croak with a grimace, and I turn my face away."Shayla, my mother said it's good for you and the baby. You have to drink a little, come on." Cole insists, and I wrinkle my nose in distaste but open my mouth and begrudgingly eat the soup. It didn't taste as bad as it smelt, but I still wasn't impressed.Cole stayed by my side the entire time until I was feeling better. We watched films in bed; he even read me a book and played a song on his guitar. Save for our bickering, we almost felt like us again-- the old us back when we first met, and everything was a lot less complicated."Can I give you a lift home?" Cole offers the following day while I walk out of the bathroom. I shake my head and hold up my phone."Aimee is on her way," I reply with a shrug and force a smile on my face. "Thank you again for tak
“Cole, for the love of God, man, slow down,” I hear Josh groan as he holds the punching bag while I put my fist through it furiously. “You’re going to hurt yourself.”I ignore him and continue to plough my fist into the bag as hard as I could. My arms were aching, and my lungs burned, but I didn’t stop. “She’s in a relationship with him,” I mutter sourly, even saying those words left a bad taste in my mouth. “She can’t be in a relationship with him!” I growl, driving my fist into the bag hard. I feel the skin on my knuckles split in the gloves, but it didn’t phase me.Josh frowns, watching me, wincing every time I hit the bag, and it hit his chest, “Why can’t she be?”I stop and glare at him, “Because she can’t!” I gripe irately, and Josh sighs with a roll of his eyes.“Well, it seems she is, bro.” He states calmly. “What did you think was going to happen? You think she was going to wait around for you to get your head out of your arse forever?”“O