Total pages in book: 56
Estimated words: 54056 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 270(@200wpm)___ 216(@250wpm)___ 180(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54056 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 270(@200wpm)___ 216(@250wpm)___ 180(@300wpm)
I bury my face in his shoulder, trying to get myself under control. Grateful that he’s here. That he knew I needed him. I think he’ll always know.
“I love you,” I whisper when I’ve finally got myself under control.
“I love you too.” He tips my head back, carefully drying my tears. “Are you okay now?”
“Yes,” I say with a nod. “I’m okay.”
“Are you sure? I’ll hold this bus up all day if that’s what I need to do, baby girl.” He cups my cheeks. “Whatever you need.”
I bite the inside of my cheek hard, trying to keep from bursting into tears again. Because I know he’d do it. If I told him I wasn’t okay, he’d stand right here with me all day, flight be damned.
And that’s what gives me the confidence to smile at him. It’s what makes me so sure that, sooner or later, Micah will come around. He’ll see the same thing I do—that Archer is exactly the guy he would have chosen for me if he weren’t so damn stubborn.
“I’m okay,” I promise. “They were mostly happy tears.”
“They didn’t look happy, Wren.”
“I didn’t expect him to get off the bus to talk to me. It made me emotional, that’s all.” I squeeze his arm. “Go, Archer, I promise, I’m okay.”
He stares at me for a long silent moment, reluctance written all over his face. And then he curses and drags me into his arms, kissing me again.
“I’ll call you as soon as we land.”
“Okay,” I whisper.
Archer is true to his word and calls me as soon as the plane touches down in Detroit. I’m at work, looking through intake paperwork for a set of twins who were born early. They’re both struggling to learn how to walk, and they’re nearly two. The little boy has cerebral palsy.
I set the paperwork aside, leaning back in my chair with my phone cradled to my ear. “Hey.”
“Hey, little bird. Are you okay?” He sounds worried.
“Archer, I’m fine,” I promise.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes!” I cry softly. “Stop worrying about me.”
“Never,” he growls. “It’s my job to worry about you.”
“Then I’m firing you.”
“You can’t fire me from loving you, Wren.”
I smile despite myself. Why is he so perfect? “What are you guys doing now that you’ve landed?”
“Going to the hotel and then to the arena to practice.” He heaves a sigh. “I’d rather be at home with you.”
“Yeah, well, you aren’t, so suck it up, buttercup,” I tease. “You have a team to lead and a game to win tomorrow. That’s what you should be worried about this weekend. They need you more than I do right now.”
“You saying you don’t need me, little bird?”
“I always need you, but your team needs you more right now,” I murmur. Things are a mess around there. They need their captain to pull them together and remind them that none of the outside noise matters. What they do on the ice is what matters. If anyone can help them shut out the barrage of noise and focus on winning, he can.
“I miss you already,” he sighs.
My stomach flutters. “I miss you too.”
“I gotta go, but I’ll call you later. I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
He grumbles and then disconnects. I just stare off into space with a big smile on my face for a long moment, the phone still in my hands. Micah is talking to me again. Archer loves me. It feels like the future of my dreams is right there, ready for me to grab it.
“Hey.” Laura pops her head into my office, her eyes wide. “There’s someone here to see you.”
“Who?”
“A reporter.” She hurries toward me with his card in his hand. “Um, he said it’s about your husband.”
My heart stops beating.
“I told him that he must have the wrong person, but he insisted.” She eyes me sideways, waiting for an explanation. But I don’t give her one. I can’t.
I take the card with shaking hands, panic coursing through me when I see Charles Montaque’s name etched across the top. He’s half the reason the team is struggling right now. He just tried to blow up Logan’s life. He broke the story on Nash and Emilia, too. If he knows about me and Archer, this is bad. Really bad.
What am I supposed to do? How does he know about us?
“Um, give me five minutes, and then show him back,” I mutter to Laura.
“O-kay,” she says before turning on her heel, clearly annoyed that I’m not spilling the beans to her. As if I would. The woman wields gossip like a weapon.
As soon as she’s out of my office, I dial Archer’s number. It rings twice before going to voicemail.
“Fuck,” I mumble, and then hesitate for a split second before I dial Micah.
He sends me to voicemail, too.
I dial Alice, praying she answers. There’s no way I can do this on my own. I need help. Or advice. Or something.