AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Rick nodded. “You want to save her. You know, you haven’t been your grumpy self. I mean, you’ve been grumpy, but not as abrasive. It’s kind of nice.”
“Watch it. My muse if gone. I’m liable to unleash all my stored-up anger at any moment.”
He let loose a soft chuckle. “She does make you a little more bearable is all I’m saying.”
“If I’m so bad, why do you put up with me?” I heard a ping from my phone and glanced down to see a message from work. An instant scowl crossed my face. I hated my job. I hated any connection to my father and even though he was long dead, dealing with my uncle, who he’d left in charge, was just as bad.
“Because you make me look like an angel.” He turned and saw the hard expression on my face. “Damn, that didn’t last long. What’s the matter?”
“Work.”
“You hate that job. Why don’t you just quit? You know, you get away from that place long enough, and you’re a totally different person. It’s not just Bella who makes you better. You’re hindered by that fucking place.”
“I agree, but I can’t do anything until I get my money.”
“But you just said you didn’t care if she got pregnant or not-”
I shook my head and smiled. “She might be anyway. I mean, I did what I was supposed to do to make that happen.”
He looked at me, incredulous. “So, you might not have to tell her about the stipulation.”
“Hopefully not,” I answered.
Rick shook his head and I could see that he disapproved. “It’s wrong, man. You’ll always know you’ve deceived her. How can you live with that?”
“As a fucking billionaire? Pretty comfortably. But how do I tell her that? She’ll always question if I care about her, which I do. She’ll always have it in the back of her head that she’s some baby machine, and that what I feel for her means nothing.”
Rick just looked at me like I’d finally lost my mind. I didn’t care. I loved Bella and I was going to have it all.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN - BELLA
I had messaged Reed as soon as my plane landed, but I wasn’t about to call so soon. I needed a moment to think about what I’d left behind and to what I was returning. So much had changed since I’d left Phoenix and despite my new relationship, which I was determined to take super slow since it was a bit unexpected, I had to find a place to live. Staying with Kayla was temporary, and I had a feeling that she’d be leaving to go back to Dallas for Rick before all was said and done.
She’d talked about him nonstop on the flight home, which was fine with me. It kept her from asking me too much about Reed and even better, from comparing him to Gavin.
As Kayla and I walked into her apartment, my phone let out a ping. “Welcome home.” I read the message aloud, and Kayla’s eyes narrowed.
“What’s that?” Kayla was the first to drop her luggage to the floor and mine soon followed.
“Not what. Who. It’s Gavin. He knows I’m back in town somehow. That’s impossible, right?” I flipped through my phone and scratched my head. He’d never said anything about where I’d been in his past conversations.
“Does he have you on his GPS? He might have a locator on you through your phone.” I’d never thought of that, and the confirmation came through in the next message.
“How was Fort Worth?” I glanced at her sideways not quite understanding how Gavin knew.
“Reed’s house is technically in Fort Worth, not Dallas, so that has to be it.” She crossed the room and took my phone and swiped through it. “Look. This is the ap that he’s using. Let’s delete it.”
“Please. I had no idea. Though now I know why he used to question me so much about my whereabouts; he was trying to catch me in a lie” We sat on the couch as she looked through my phone.
Kayla’s thumbs moved on the screen as she let out a breath. “What a controlling asshole. You’re so much better off with Reed. Even though he’s a bit hard too.”
“He has a soft, gooey center.” I thought of the way he could make me melt inside and warmed a little as the heat of needing him washed through me. He could be very attentive.
“I bet you had a taste of it too, didn’t you?” She gave me a wide smile, and my cheeks reddened as I nudged her.
“You’re disgusting.” I giggled as she nudged me back. “We’re not going there.”
“Oh, we so went there. Rick’s got a nice creamy—”
