Page 139 of Between Hate and Desire

“I may be biased, but I think you look cute,” I tell her honestly, my voice hoarse at the truth of my words. “I can’t even tell you’re pregnant from the back.”

“Oh great. I’ll walk backward from now on.”

Her serious expression has me laughing. Walking up behind her, I rest my hands on her shoulders and squeeze. “Lennon. Relax. Maybe you aren’t giving your coworkers enough credit. I bet once they find out, they’ll want to be there for you and support you in any way they can.”

“Yeah, maybe.” She shrugs, making my hands move up, and I quickly drop them. The longer I touch her, the harder it is to walk away.

“Lennon.” I look at her through the mirror, and she meets my eyes. “What’s this about?”

She drops her gaze and swallows hard. “I’m not sure. I should be glad for the change of pace and going back to my students. I know it’ll keep my mind busy, but it brings me right back to the week Brandon died and how everyone looked at me. Hell, how they treated me.”

“How?”

Lennon turns around and faces me. “Like I was damaged goods.”

Before I can think better of it, I pull her into my arms and hug her. She wraps hers around me, and we stay like that for longer than we should. Her heart is racing, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she can feel mine thumping hard. Anytime she’s close, it goes out of control.

“You’re not, Lennon. What happened to you is tragic, and oftentimes people don’t know how to react to that kind of news. It makes them feel uncomfortable, so it comes out in weird ways.”

I pull back slightly when I hear her sniffle. “You want me to be your fake husband at school too?” I ask, then wait and see if she’ll crack a smile at my pathetic attempt to make a joke out of this situation.

“Hmm…maybe, but it’d also come with even more questions.” She chuckles, which puts a wide grin on my face.

“Well, if you change your mind, you know where to find me.” I wink, and I swear her cheeks redden.

“I know. Always ready to save the day, Hunter.”

“Fake husband to the rescue,” I say, pretending a dagger isn’t shooting straight into my heart.

She smiles sweetly, and I take the awkward silence as an opportunity to leave. “Well, I’m gonna finish getting ready and head to work. Hope you have a great first day.” I kiss her forehead, then slowly release my arm from her waist. “Text me if you need me, okay?”

“You know I will.”

Fifteen minutes later, I’m on the road and almost to the office. Now that it’s getting closer to fall, projects are wrapping up, and new contracts are being signed. I’m up to my elbows in paperwork, so I spend the entire morning at my desk until it’s time to meet with the guys.

Mason and Liam are both in a booth with drinks by the time I arrive at Rob’s Burgers.

“Couldn’t wait for me, huh?” I sit next to Mason and grab the menu.

“We were thirsty,” Liam taunts, holding up his beer, then taking a swig. “Your bitch ass was late anyway.”

I look at my watch. “Three minutes, asshole.”

“You’re lucky I was able to hold him back from ordering,” Mason says.

“Hey, I’m starving, okay? I have a busy week with work, so today is my only downtime,” Liam explains.

“I kinda lost my appetite after the shitstorm I’ve been dealing with today, but I have to eat,” Mason tells us. He’s interning to be a forensic investigator and works part-time for his dad, who’s the district attorney. I can only imagine the shit he’s seen and heard working so closely to crime scenes. In fact, he’s told us about a few cases, but I’ve purposely blocked them from my memory. I don’t know how he does it, but shortly after he graduated from college, he took up boxing. Now he continues to do it because he needs an outlet from the shit he has to see and deal with on a regular basis. You wouldn’t know it by looking at him, but he’s strong as fuck, and even I wouldn’t want to get in a ring with him.

Liam makes a face, and I chuckle and shake my head as I look over the burger options. After the waitress comes over and takes my drink and food order, Liam gives me a pointed look.

“What?” I ask, grabbing my phone from my pocket. I sent Lennon a text before I arrived to see how her first day is going so far, but she hasn’t responded yet. I hope that’s a good sign.

Before Liam can respond, the waitress arrives with my water, and just as I take a sip, he speaks up. “Where’s your wedding ring?”

Choking on my drink, I clear my throat and blink. “What?”

Mason shakes his head, then slides his phone toward me. On the screen is Lennon’s fake Instagram feed of The Mrs. Manning.

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