Page 36 of The Billionaire's Virgin

She looked at me with sympathy in her eyes. “Get some rest,” she said. “Jenna is fine, and when she wakes up, she’s going to want to see her father smile.”

“What aren’t you saying?” I asked.

“You don’t want to hear it right now,” Jennifer replied. “And in any case, you’re in no state to have a conversation right now. Just take a moment; be with your daughter. Stare at her to your heart’s content and when you’re satisfied she’s okay, then we can talk.”

“I had to do it, Jennifer,” I said because I didn’t want her to assume I was being cruel for no reason. She didn’t know the whole story. Taylor had messed up… big time. This was her fault.

No, I corrected myself. That was not true. I was just hiding behind that to avoid some of the blame. The truth was this was my fault. I had been the absent parent, again. I hadn’t seen the signs. I had done this once before, and Jenna had suffered because of it. Was I so shallow a man that I ignored the warning signs when beauty stared me in the face?

“This is Sofia all over again,” I added.

“I don’t think that’s very fair,” Jennifer said. “I know I just met the woman, but she doesn’t strike me as the crazy stalker type.”

“They never do,” I said.

Jennifer sighed. Then she came up to me and put her hand on my shoulder. “You look exhausted, Reed,” she said gently. “If you want to go home and take a shower—”

“I’m not leaving Jenna,” I said abruptly.

“Okay then,” Jennifer said, letting it go immediately. “Then you don’t have to. Stay, but get some sleep. There’s a couch over there in the corner. Do you want me to get you some food, something to drink?”

“Nothing,” I said, shaking my head. “I couldn’t keep anything down.”

“Okay,” Jennifer said. “Then wash your face at least. We don’t want to scare Jenna when she wakes up, do we?”

I almost smiled. “Fine, I’ll wash my face.”

“Thank you.”

“No, thank you,” I said. “I appreciate the fact that you came.”

“Of course I came,” Jennifer said, with a bracing smile. “We’re more than just colleagues. We’re friends.”

I nodded gratefully, and Jennifer patted me on the back and left the room to give me some alone time with Jenna. I went to her bedside once more and stared down at her.

“I’m sorry, baby girl,” I whispered to her. “You deserve better than me.”