Page 43 of Reputation (Tempt)

I shook my head. “No. Thank you. I appreciate you taking such good care of her.”

“Of course. She’s lucky to have such a caring fiancé,” the nurse said with a look that could only be described as adoration.

Down the hall, someone had her back to us, but I could see exactly what she was doing. Taking a selfie with me in the background. I tried not to outwardly react even though I was anxious to duck back into the room. To hide.

“I should return to Emerson.”

“Of course.” She smiled.

I darted into Emerson’s room before anyone else could spot me. I leaned against the door, feeling like a hunted animal, when I wanted to focus on what the nurse had told me. This wasn’t about me. Or at least, it shouldn’t be.

The news about Emerson was both encouraging and frustrating. But I didn’t have long to dwell on it because I was distracted by the sound of Emerson’s voice. She was singing “You Belong With Me.”

I tried to ignore my phone, silencing any notifications except those that came from Brooklyn or my household staff. I sent Brooklyn another quick update to let her know Emerson was okay. But there was one call I couldn’t continue to ignore.

“You good?” I asked Emerson.

“Yeah, but I have to pee.” She winced.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. I would’ve carried her if she’d let me, but I knew she’d throw a fit. “Come on.” I held out my arm. When she hesitated, I bit out her name. “Emerson.”

She rolled her eyes. “And here we go again. Just when you were being so nice.”

“Iamnice,” I growled.

She had no idea how nice I was. How hard it had been—how hardI’dbeen—these past few months. How much restraint it had taken to keep her at a distance. To keep myself in check.

And now…everything was spiraling out of control.

I was worried about Emerson. I knew Brooklyn was concerned despite my attempts to reassure her. And my phone was blowing up with news of our engagement.

“It’s a good thing you have carbon offsets.” Emerson wagged her finger. “Maybe you should smile again.”

I pulled a face and smiled. She immediately started laughing. Laughing so hard she plopped back down on the bed with a snort. It was quite adorable.

“Did you just snort?” I offered her my arm, concerned she’d fall.

“No!”

“You so did,” I said, gently guiding her toward the bathroom.

“After today, we shall never speak of this again.”

I wanted to agree, but judging from all the texts rolling in, that might be difficult.

I stood just outside the bathroom, scanning the messages from Pierce and promising to call soon. She’d just flushed the toilet when I heard a shriek. I nearly dropped my device.

“Are you okay?” I called.

“No. Yes!” What the hell was going on in there?

I placed my hand on the knob. “You have two seconds to tell me what’s wrong, or I’m coming in.”

“I, uh?—”

“One,” I said, my impatience growing along with my concern. I pulled open the door, not even bothering to wait. “Two.”

“Oh my god.” She covered her face with her hands. “Oh my god. You can’t be here. You need to go.Now!”

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