AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Those six words are what my grandfather said to me every time I saw him. Until the last time when he told me he loved me and that he was proud of the man I'd become.
***
"Tell me why you didn't want to meet at the shoebox, Ellie." I clench my hands together in front of me on the table. "This café is hopping for this time of night. I had no idea so many people drank coffee before bed."
"Maybe they aren't planning on going to bed," she shoots back with a straight face.
Apparently, we're not going to bed together tonight either. It was an easy conclusion to jump to after she called to ask me to meet her at this coffee shop less than a block from her place. I suggested the shoebox apartment, but she was adamant that it had to be here. I wanted to see her, so I jumped on board and walked over.
"What's going on?" I lean back in the solid wooden chair I sat in while I waited for her to arrive. I'd stood to greet her with a kiss, but she bypassed me completely. She headed straight for the counter and ordered herself a mug of hot fruity tea.
She blows on the steaming liquid, her tongue darting out to touch her top lip. If she's trying to remind me of what I'm not getting tonight, it's working.
"Ellie?" I prompt with a pat of my hand on the top of the table. "Is everything okay?"
She sets the mug down without taking a sip. "I'm not the jealous type, Nolan."
I am. I'm so fucking jealous that I spent much of my morning calling anyone I could think of who works for the NYPD. I was looking for someone that might be able to score Ellie a place in the Police Academy. I pulled up profiles on social media for three guys I haven't spoken to since high school, but who all wanted to be police officers. I struck out, three for three.
Foolish pride may be the driving force behind my actions, but I want to be the one to help her get her dream job. Sebastian Wolf is a homicide detective, and from what Kristof dug up, he's not well liked on the force. The
guy has broken every rule in the book so if Ellie's hoping he'll be her ticket to securing a uniform; she's got a long wait ahead of her.
"I know you were with Shelby last night." Her voice is tinged with sadness.
Fuck. Just fuck.
I try to keep it together. My gut instinct is to accuse her of following me, but I want that. I want her to want me all to herself. I need Ellie to feel as compelled to know everything about me as I am to know everything about her.
"Gretel saw you," she offers, her chin high, her eyes focused on mine. "Adley and I were picking up dinner at a deli and Gretel was there getting snacks for Leila. She said you and Shelby were at Normand's Pub having a drink."
"Shelby had lemon water. I had a scotch, a double."
She stares at me for a minute, her eyes darting from my face to the mug of tea. "I don’t care what either of you ordered. I care that you were there with her."
Somewhere inside of me I feel elation at knowing that. I feel hope seeing the pained expression on her face. It matters to her that I was with Shelby. What matters to me is that she understands why.
"I went out for a drink with Crew after May fell asleep."
"Gretel didn't mention seeing Crew and I'm pretty sure she would have if he were there." She shrugs. "She was specific when she said that she saw you and Shelby talking."
"Shelby showed up and Crew moved to another table so we could talk." I'm not going to try and hide what's going on. My intention after I spoke to Shelby last night was to talk to Ellie. I want her to know what Shelby said to me. I want her to understand before Shelby follows through on her threat to sell her story to the most popular gossip site on the internet. I told her to do it. I have no idea if she was serious but I want Ellie to hear Shelby's fucked up accusations from me, not read about them online.
"Talk about what, Nolan?" She asks incredulously, her hands shakily reaching for the mug.
I lean forward to stop her hands in place. I cover them with mine. I can't risk her burning herself, or me, when she hears what I'm about to say. "Shelby is pregnant, Ellie. She says the baby is mine."
Chapter 38
Ellie
This was not how this conversation went in any of the dozen scenarios I played over in my head since last night. Not once would I have guessed that they were sitting on that patio talking about a baby. He's going to have another child. This time with a supermodel who moonlights as a petty thief. Good for him. I don't want any part of this.
"I'm leaving." I try to stand, but his grip on my hands is too tight.
"You're going to sit here and let me explain, Ellie."
I've been waiting all day to talk to him. I went up to his office right after lunch to see if he was available, but Eda told me he'd left for the day. I was tempted to call him, but I wanted to respect his time with his daughter. Maybe he wasn't even with her. He was probably with Shelby picking the furniture for a new nursery.
