Total pages in book: 151
Estimated words: 142976 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 715(@200wpm)___ 572(@250wpm)___ 477(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 142976 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 715(@200wpm)___ 572(@250wpm)___ 477(@300wpm)
“I’d like that too,” Fern said, a tentative smile blooming on her lips.
Iris grinned and held out her hand. “Fantastic! Give me your phone.”
“What?” Fern was confused by the abrupt demand.
“Come on, hand it over,” Iris said, wiggling her fingers. Fern reached for her purse and pulled out her phone in bemusement, unlocking it before handing it to the woman.
Iris flashed her a quick grin, swiped and tapped on the screen before handing the phone back
“There you go. I’ve saved my number into your contacts and given myself a missed call so I have yours. How long are you staying in London?”
“I don’t kn—”
“Not long,” Cade said, coming up to join them, leaving Trystan and Mike to continue their conversation. His easy interruption told Fern he’d been listening in on her and Iris’s discussion for a while.
His reply startled her though, she’d been under the impression that they were back here for good.
“We’re heading back to Cape Town in a week.” Fern tried to hide her surprise from him.
“Nice! Trystan and I met in South Africa. We’re looking to buy some property there. In the Cape. We’re mostly based here though, but I’m hoping we can make that our home away from home.”
Mike and Trystan joined them a moment later, with the talk show host thanking them all effusively for being on his show. He shook the men’s hands warmly, Iris got up to give him a quick, affectionate hug, and he bent down to drop air kisses on Fern’s cheeks.
The unexpected gesture shocked Fern so much she didn’t have time to react before it was over. She wasn’t used to strangers getting so close to her.
But Mike was upright seconds later, and after few more words of farewell left them—and Chance, the bodyguard—in the green room.
“We have to get going as well, baby,” Trystan told his wife with an affectionate smile. “Got to feed Luna. We’re already an hour late. She’s going to hold it against us.”
“Luna’s our dog,” Iris explained with a laugh. “And she can get a little stroppy if we’re not home on time to feed her. Gives us a handy excuse to escape any unwanted social interactions.”
Her face reddened before she groaned.
“Not that I think this is an unwanted social interaction,” she said and Fern laughed.
“I know what you meant.”
“Oh good, because I don’t want to hurt your feelings or offend you and I would love for us to be friends.” She sat down again to give Fern a quick, hard hug that—once more—took her by surprise. But she found that she minded this genuine show of affection a lot less than Mike Holmes’s practiced air kisses. “I’ll text. I’m so happy we met.”
She was up a second later, and Trystan claimed her hand before he gave Fern a friendly nod and then shook Cade’s hand.
“Good to meet you both,” he said. “Since my gorgeous wife has decided that Fern is going to be one of her besties, I have no doubt we’ll see each other again. Good luck with all that other shit. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to reach out.”
With that the other couple and their hulking, handsome bodyguard were gone.
“That was…” Fern inhaled deeply, still a little shaken by the surreal evening and everything that had occurred.
“Our driver is waiting,” Cade cut her off abruptly and she winced, as she recalled the other thing that had happened tonight. She moved to get up and he was beside her in an instant, his hand on her elbow to help her up.
The drive back to Cade’s exquisite five-bedroom townhouse in Knightsbridge was completed in strained silence and once they were back in the privacy of his home, Fern turned to him.
“I know you’re upset and that we probably should’ve discussed it first but, it felt like the right moment,” she said hurriedly.
He grasped his nape and squeezed, shutting his eyes for a moment.
“You keep doing shit like this,” he said, his voice a low, menacing growl. “That business with my name. Telling Beth that you’re pregnant without even considering how I would feel about you doing that. Now this. It would be a lot more helpful if you’d just—”
“Keep my mouth shut?” she finished in a tight voice, fighting to keep her tears at bay, but refusing to show him that weakness. “Stay docile and quiet…that’s how everyone would prefer me, right? An obedient little mouse without an independent or intelligent thought in her brain. So much easier to use and manipulate someone who’s too afraid to speak her own mind.”
“Christ almighty, stop putting words in my mouth.”
“Cade, I know you’d rather not think about it, but I am pregnant and I’ll be showing sooner rather than later. There’s no point in hiding it or never speaking of it. I can’t be a biddable little puppet any longer.”