Page 47 of Where the Little Birds Are (Little Bird Duet 2)

Pressing his lips together, he loosens a sigh. It doesn’t make me feel better. If they both truly wanted this separation, those papers would be signed by now. She’s angry, rightfully so. I doubt she’ll concede anytime soon.

“I can’t hide in my house for the rest of this pregnancy, Corbin.” My free hand keeps the pillow pressed against me. “I won’t be able to hide it. People will see me and ask questions.”

His head slowly nods. “We haven’t talked about all the details, have we? Like if it’s…” To my surprise, his eyes are glassy when I look at him. “Do you know what you’re—we’re—having?”

Swallowing, I shake my head. “It’s too early. They wouldn’t be able to see anything until sixteen to twenty weeks in, so the earliest I’d find out is my next appointment if the baby is positioned right.”

He doesn’t say anything.

“We do that too much.”

His head cocks. “What?”

“Rush into the wrong priorities. Struggle to communicate when it matters,” I answer quietly, playing with the fringe on the pillow.

“That’s not—”

“What happens if she doesn’t sign?”

He squeezes my hand. “Then other people will get involved. She can’t force me to stay married, Kinley. Eventually she’ll get tired of her charade. But…” His thumb brushes the back of my hand leisurely. “You and I are going to need to talk to our managers about the repercussions of a worst-case scenario situation.”

The beat of my heart speeds. “Like?”

Instead of looking at me, his gaze stays on our hands. “I used to say we’d be the talk of the town. I didn’t mean like this.”

“Corbin,” I press.

“We both know that things will be rough one way or another for us. My manager already told me that I need to give it time before going public with you, but—”

“What?” I screech, eyes narrowing. “You told your manager about me? Do you really think that’s a good idea?”

“He guessed,” he insists.

“He guessed.” My deadpan expression causes him to shrug like it’s not a big deal. Maybe he thinks his money will silence him, but I know what happened to his first manager. Mark King is locked up for a reason. He isn’t a good man. People will do anything for money.

My internal freak out must be lost on him because he replies, “I guess I’m not as good of an actor as I thought I was when it comes to my feelings.”

Scoffing, I pull my hand away. “Well alert the damn media. Let that be the lead story instead of my face for a change.”

“Kinley, come on.”

“I haven’t said a word about you,” I say, hugging the pillow close to me.

Hurt resonates in his features.

My jaw ticks. “All I’m saying is that we need to be careful about who knows what. Jamie has no idea about our current situation because I haven’t known what to say. There’s a lot I need to tell her, but the time isn’t right.”

“When is the time going to be right?”

“I…” I look down. “I’m not sure.”

He takes the pillow away and pins me with firm eyes. “There’s never going to be a good time to tell the world that I married somebody I don’t love much less that I cheated on her with somebody that I always have.”

My lips part.

“We’ve done this all wrong,” he agrees, blowing out a breath and swiping a palm down the side of his face. “But we’re not going back because we’ve already done that. This is our time now. Finally.”

“It’s also our battle.”

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