Page 69 of Breaking News

“I’m really scared about this, Dad,” she said, the shakiness in her voice catching me off guard.

My grip around her small body tightened. I’d really been trying to keep it together, but I couldn’t hold the tears backanymore. I rested my chin on top of her head. “I know,” I said, wiping one of my eyes. “But you’ve got me, your mom, and Pete to support you through this, kid.”

“And Richie,” she said, pulling back to look into my eyes. “He’s been so good about all of this, Dad. You have no idea.”

I pressed my lips together, unable to picture that kid as the father of my first grandchild. I couldn’t even think about that right now. “Yeah, good,” I said, trying not to sound too dismissive.

“And do you know who else has been really supportive?” Olivia asked with a hopeful voice, her shoulders finally relaxing. She didn’t wait for me to guess. “Jill.”

My lips parted. “You told… Jill?”

“Yeah, and she gave me advice about telling you and Mom. And then today, she gave me a pregnancy journal so I could keep track of everything. It was so sweet.”

I was too stunned to speak. Jill never spoke a word about this. But I couldn't be upset, because my daughter had confided in her, and that meant something, didn’t it?

“You know how some people talk about having a ‘work wife’ or a ‘work husband’?” Olivia continued, inching toward the door. “Jill’s kind of like my ‘work mom.’” She laughed on her way out of her bedroom.

Work mom.

I glanced down at the teal rug on Olivia’s floor, smiling to myself as I rubbed the back of my neck. “Work mom” was a hell of a lot better than “cool older sister.” I could live with that.

If I survived being the father of a teen mom.

chapter twenty-six

Jillian

"You’ve been keeping secrets from me, Jill,” Graham whispered as I took the seat to his right in the conference room Monday. It was late morning, and we were the first two in the room for our planning meeting.

I widened my eyes as I opened my notebook to a fresh page. “Yes, but I had to keep my promise not to tell you,” I said, worried he might actually be a little irked with me.

But his facial expression softened as he glanced up from the laptop screen in front of him. “I’m glad she can trust you.”

With a quiet sigh of relief, I clicked my pen and smiled over at him, casually resting my chin on my fist. “And how are you feeling about all of this?”

His lips parted with an audiblesmackbefore closing again as he considered his response. “Let’s just say I’m going through a range of emotions similar to the stages of grief.”

“Have you reached acceptance yet?”

“Getting there,” he said with a little chuckle. His eyes found mine, and I could see some happiness. This wasn’t totallydestroying him. There was at least some part of him that was looking forward to holding that baby, I just knew it. Even if he wouldn’t admit that out loud.

But his next question took me by surprise.

“Do I seem older to you now?”

Did he? When I thought about it, I knew the answer was yes. This new development made the age gap between us more real than ever. I’d become hyper-aware we were at two very different stages in our lives.

Yet it didn’t detract from his sexiness. If anything, it amplified it. Just picturing Graham with a fresh newborn in his arms made my heart feel like it might burst.

A flirty smile formed on my face, and Graham stared back at me with one eyebrow raised. “A GILF is way hotter than a DILF, in my eyes,” I said, batting my eyelashes.

Graham stared at me, struggling to sputter out some response to my GILF comment. The moment was cut short when Chase walked in and plopped his notebook down on the table across from me. We both greeted him like we hadn’t just been flirting like a couple of horny high schoolers.

Marco joined us soon after, coffee in hand and sleeves rolled up like he was ready for business. Graham took the lead, going over the logistics and how the new dynamic might work. Marco had some ideas for segment timing and branding for the show.

Chase didn’t say much, mostly nodding and scribbling notes, and I was impressed by how much calmer he seemed—though maybe that had something to do with Meghan’s pacing outside of the conference room doors every ten minutes. She kind of grounded him, in a way.

The meeting dragged on longer than necessary, mostly because Marco and Graham butted heads over the fine details. I didn’t intervene. I just quietly kept my notes and tried not to laugh when Chase took his glasses off and pinched the bridgeof his nose like he was regretting every career choice he’d made that led to this moment.

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