Page 94 of Love In The Spotlight

“No reason you should. You did what felt right to you. You stand by your decision and never let anyone, I mean anyone, tell you it’s wrong to put your child’s security and protection first.”

“I won’t,” he said.

They were silent for the rest of the drive. She figured he’d said enough about his parents.

When they were in the jet and flying back to New York, she asked, “What did you tell your parents about the woman who gave birth to Penelope?”

“Nothing,” he said. “Or not much. They didn’t even ask. I said Penelope was mine, her mother was no longer alive and I had full custody.”

“They didn’t ask?” she asked. “My mother would want every single detail known to mankind. She’d find it if I didn’t tell it.”

“Is she going to be looking into this?” he asked. “She won’t find anything.”

“No,” she said. “She won’t. I’m saying if it was one of her kids, she’d want to know.”

“The difference is none of you would have kept that from your mother,” he said.

“No,” she said, “we wouldn’t.”

“My parents didn’t ask because they didn’t want to know. In their eyes, I had a child out of wedlock and the woman wasn’t in the picture. I was clear I had Penelope from the day she was born. That was the end of it.”

“That’s their loss,” she said.

“It is,” he said. “I won’t keep my daughter from her grandparents, but I’m not going to foster something at the expense of my mental frustration. I can’t put myself out there anymore to be stepped on.”

“It’s not healthy,” she said. “And we know you are a healthy person.”

“I’ve got you,” he said. “That’s enough for me. Is it enough for you? I know we haven’t talked about the fact that I come as a package deal.”

She laughed. “Are you kidding me? We don’t need to talk about it. I knew it from day one. If I had a problem with it, I would have shut you down after that first kiss.”

She’d lifted her chin and wiggled her shoulders.

“You think you could have, but you know it wasn’t possible. I’m irresistible.”

“You kind of are, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have some strong willpower. Good thing I don’t need to use it.”

Since they were in mid-flight, they were sitting on the sectional in the middle of the plane and she moved over and snuggled next to his side.

“I want to be enough for someone in my life, Laken. This is me putting it out there. Not just my daughter, but the woman I love.”

“You’re enough, Jamie. Don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise.”

“I don’t care about other people,” he said. “I just care about you.”

“You’re enough for me,” she said quietly. And that told her that maybe she wasn’t that far down in second place in his life after all.

30

HAD TO BE DONE

“We’ve got two special guests here today with a big announcement after this commercial break.”

Jamie looked at West sitting next to him in front of the cameras as they were getting ready to be introduced.

His heart was racing.

This was bigger in his mind than anything else in his life.

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