Page 60 of The Model

Resting my head against the wall, I let out an exhausted sigh. “I doubt it. I’ll probably wake up with an email from her and a hundred other things she needs for me to do before tomorrow.”

Reaching across the table, Raine rested her hand on mine. “Hey, if you need any help, you know I’m here for you.”

“Why did I think I could put a wedding together in a matter of days?”

“Uh…because you thought it would be a few simple things.” She giggled.

I had thought we’d head to a little white chapel one day during the time we had off since we’d agreed to get married while we were here. I had no family, and everyone important to me was here. I tried to reason with Ryder that his mom would be disappointed she missed it, but he was adamant she’d understand. When the hotel heard Ryder and I were getting married this week, they offered up their wedding services free of charge. Now I wish I had turned them down because I was up to my eyeballs in wedding stuff I didn’t care about. I tried to put on a happy face as Ryder placed his plate next to mine and slid in beside me.

His arm wrapped around my shoulders as he pulled me to him while he placed a kiss on the side of my head. It was sweet, and he was happy, so I wouldn’t complain. “You look tired. When did you fall asleep?” He picked up his phone to look at the time. “Yesterday? I’m so messed up on time right now.”

“We all are, but we have to shoot during the least busy times at the hotel, and that’s practically never. At least it’s warm, so your pool shots weren’t when it was freezing outside.” I let out a big yawn. All I wanted to do was close my eyes and fall asleep, but there was too much to do.

“Maybe we should pack up our breakfast and take it upstairs.”

“I’m fine.” I rested my head on his shoulder. “I need to eat, and I might as well do it here.”

“I’ll try to eat fast.” He shoved a bite of his omelet in his mouth and chewed. Ryder had no problem eating fast. He could have an entire plate full of food and finish faster than I could with a quarter of the food.

“Do you think we’ll run late tonight?”

Tonight, we had booked the rooftop for two hours to get some shots at sunset. They’d only let me close down one section in all the time we were shooting, and this was it. I couldn’t control the sun, and there were bound to be plenty of people wanting to hang out on the rooftop bar at sunset.

“If we don’t get the shot, we don’t get it, so it should be an early night.” And luckily, our last thing to shoot.

“Good, I want you to get some rest. I know we’re all dragging, but you’ve got a tiny human growing inside of you, and that’s much more important than work.”

I patted his thigh. I didn’t think Ryder would hate me for getting pregnant, but I never thought he’d be this accepting and supportive either.

“I promise to sleep. I’ll even silence my phone, so the wedding planner doesn’t wake me up with her thousand messages.”

“If she calls, I’ll take care of it.”

I wasn’t sure how he’d help when he didn’t know half the details, but at that point, I didn’t care if everything was messed up. Did the colors, flowers, and food really matter in the scheme of things? All I cared about was the man sitting next to me.

“Do you have kids?” Alyssa asked Sadie. She’d taken to eating and hanging out with us, and each day she seemed to be becoming a little bit bolder. Which was a good thing; she needed to be bold in this business.

I felt the shift in Ty and Sadie immediately. He looked down at his plate and started to move his food around, and Sadie’s lips turned down as she took in her husband. There definitely was a story there, but I wasn’t going to pry. They’d been wonderful about me hijacking their project to get Ryder here. Now they knew he was the best man for the job, but it still wasn’t my best move. I wouldn’t have done it if I knew of any way better to get him back in my life to tell him the news.

“No, but we do have an amazing dog that we spoil.” Sadie tried to sound upbeat but failed.

Alyssa wasn’t picking up on the clues that this was an unwanted topic. “Why not? You two would make beautiful babies.” She sighed dreamily as if she was conjuring up the images of them at that moment.

Lifting his head, Ty grimaced. “When I was in college, I had testicular cancer, and now I can’t have children.”

Alyssa’s caramel eyes widened before she looked around the table to see us all staring at her. I wasn’t sure what anyone else’s face looked like, but mine was one of sadness. It was obviously a sore topic, and she had ripped the band-aid right off. “I’m so sorry. I was just trying to make small talk. I never meant to offend or hurt anyone’s feelings. Please forgive me.” She looked close to crying, and I didn’t blame her. I wanted to cry for Ty and Sadie and their situation.

Sadie reached around her husband to pat Alyssa’s arm. “Nothing to forgive. How could you have known? We’re happy where we are in our life right now, but one day if we decide we want a child, we might adopt. Until then, we’re happy.”

“I think I’m ready for some sleep. Anyone else ready to head up?” The look on Ty’s face said he appreciated the break in the tension.

Ryder stretched his arms above his head and let out a dramatic yawn. I watched as his t-shirt rode up to reveal a tiny slice of his abs, but I was too tired to be turned on. I knew then I needed sleep and badly.

“I’m more than ready. Make sure you know your time to meet with hair, makeup, and wardrobe. I expect to see everyone up on the roof at three o’clock. No later,” I announced as I slipped out of the booth before we said our goodbyes to everyone.

We were halfway to the elevator when Ryder leaned down and spoke against the shell of my ear. “I like it when you’re bossy.”

“Good, because I’m one bossy bitch.”

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