Page 43 of Love Me Again

“Shayla, you’re going to be an amazing mum,” Jo says and watches while I shake my head, getting up off the bed.

“I can’t. I’m sorry, I need some air.” I walk out of the room. I stand out on the terrace and inhale deeply, filling my flaming lungs with air.

Josh and the girls have been my absolute rock lately, and I appreciate them and so much, but these moments, us getting the nursery ready for the baby was supposed to be mine and Cole's moments together. Now, I have to figure out how the hell I’m going to be a single parent on top of everything else. Like everything else in my life, I’ll do this on my own too. Even if it kills me, I’ll love my baby enough for the both of us. She’ll never know that her father ripped the very soul right out of me and left me for dead like we never meant a damn to one another.

* * *

The followingday I was sitting in my office going over the contract before Blake arrived to pick me up for our lunch. I was avoiding Cole like the plague after what happened the night before.

I tried my best to push it out of my mind, but every time I saw him walking toward my office, my heart would race, only for him to walk past it. I wondered what happened between him and Sophie after I left. The more I tried to convince myself I didn't care, the more it was bugging me, so much so that I couldn't focus on a damn thing on this contract. "Shay?"

I look up when I hear my name and see Cole standing at the door. Oh shit. "Yes?”

"Can we talk for a second?"

I sigh, "If it's about work, yes, we can. If it's not, then no." I tell him, dropping my pen, and he exhales.

"Shayla—" Cole interjects, but my intercom goes off, interrupting whatever he was going to say. He scowls at it.

"Mrs Hoult, Mr Bryant is here and waiting for you in the lobby." Jenny, the receptionist at the front desk, informs me.

"Thank you, Jenny, please tell him I'll be right down," I respond and gather up the papers for the contract.

"Why is Blake waiting for you? Are you going somewhere?" Cole questions and I nod, avoiding his gaze.

"Yes, he's taking me to lunch." I slide my phone in my bag before I walk to the door, but Cole blocks my way. I lift my gaze up to him, and he stares back at me gravely.

"Why?" He asks, narrowing his green eyes at me.

"To eat food, Cole, why else do people go to lunch?" I retort, trying to sidestep him, but he moves in front of me again. "Cole, get out of my way. He's waiting." I glare up at him, and he glares right back.

"I don't care. Let him wait. Why is he taking you to lunch when we have a perfectly good conference room where you can discuss work matters?" Cole queries, his dark brows knitted together tightly.

I sigh and close my eyes momentarily, "Maybe he doesn't want it to be so formal. How am I supposed to know?" I utter, growing agitated, and try to brush past him, but he blocks me off again. "Get out of my way, Cole." I hiss through clenched teeth, and he glares at me, his jaw set tight.

"I don't like him."

"That's your problem. Excuse me." I say and push past him. I look back at him as I wait for the elevator. Cole looks over at me and shakes his head before he storms out of my office toward his own. What right does he have to question me when he was hauled up in his office with Sophie doing god only knows what last night?

Unbelievable.

I push Cole Hoult out of my mind, or I try to for the duration of my lunch with Blake. "The contract looks great, Shayla," Blake says, smiling warmly as he picks up the pen and signs every page I marked for him. "Now that we're done with work matters, let's eat because I'm absolutely famished." He smiles, picking up his menu as I slide the contract into my bag. "They have the best lasagne here,"

I look at him and smile politely while picking up my menu, I skim over the items, and nothing catches my attention, so I decided to go with his recommendation. "Actually, lasagne sounds great," I tell him. Blake beams at me and calls the waiter over to place our orders. Once the waiter walks away, he turns his attention to me and licks his lips, his azure eyes searching mine.

"You're wonderingwhy I've invited you to lunch when we could have done this at the office, aren't you?" He enquires, and I smile and nod a little.

"Actually, I am."

Blake leans forward, smiling. He laces his fingers on top of the table and looks at them for a long moment before lifting his eyes to mine. "I know this is going to sound really odd, but that day we had that meeting, I noticed a deep sadness in your eyes; even right now, you're trying your best to mask it, but I saw and still do see so much misery in your eyes." He states and smiles faintly, dropping his gaze from mine.

"I recognise that look all too well because that was the look I had in my eyes not too long ago." I frown, waiting for him to continue. "I lost my wife, Demi, a year ago. She died during childbirth." He explains, biting his lip thoughtfully.

"Oh, Blake, I'm so sorry," I gasp, reaching over and place my hand on his in an attempt to console him. Blake nods dolefully and covers my hand with his.

"It was honestly the worst year of my life, and if it wasn't for my daughter Elle, I don't know if Iwould have survived." Blake declares, looking at me again. "I heard about Tristan's unfortunate accident, and obviously, I knew you before, and I sensed a lot of animosity between the two of you."

Itake a breath,pulling my hand away from his, and scratch my forehead, "Uh, that's because we broke up." I admit looking around the restaurant, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable.

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