Page 29 of More Bite than Bark

Hex didn’t say anything, only held her, and waited, though it was difficult to resist the urge to lean in and kiss the top of her head, so he gave in, inhaling the scent that was uniquely her while he was there.He found her scent a little different than usual, probably because she’d used his body wash when she’d taken a shower.He took a closer look and found she no longer wore the clothes she’d had on the night before, the pajamas she’d had delivered to her hotel and had slept in.Instead, she had on one of his t-shirts and what looked like a pair of his sweats.

“Glad you found something to wear,” Hex said, one corner of his mouth quirking upward.

Elle looked down at herself, then back up to him.

“Sorry.I showered and wanted something clean, but comfortable and the things I ordered yesterday were scratchy.”

“Not worries, sugar.I like seeing you in my clothes.And I love that you are comfortable enough here to go looking.That you’re at home enough with me to want to wear my things and smell me every time you move.”He tightened his arms in a quick hug, then eased his grip.“Want to tell me what that was all about?”

She nodded, then shook her head.He didn’t say anything, just watched her for a moment, until she looked up at him.She took a breath and let it out before speaking.

“I would if I knew.But thank you for not trying to stop it or fix me.I think I just got overwhelmed and needed to let it out.”

“Overwhelmed by what?”He gave the phone she still clutched a look, as if to say he suspected her crying jag had something to do with the device.

“I talked to Mama.”She put her head back on his shoulder.

“What did she say?”

“She isn’t happy, but I knew she wouldn’t be.She’s worried about what everyone will say.I told her I’m pregnant and it’s not Michael’s.She wanted to know why I didn’t just pass it off as his.Said it’s been done for generations.”

He couldn’t help the way his entire body stiffened at that.Had Elle thought about not telling him?How close had he come to never knowing he and Elle had created a life?

“I told her I couldn’t do that.I couldn’t not tell you.”

“So, she knows you’re with me?”

Elle shook her head.“I refused to tell her where I am.She asked, but I didn’t tell her.I also didn’t tell her that you’re the one.”

“I’m surprised she let you off the phone without telling her.”He’d known Sandy Williamson most of his life, and knew that typically she was like a dog with a bone when she wanted to know something.

“She tried, but I wouldn’t tell her.I told her that I didn’t want any chance of word getting back to you before I had a chance to tell you.”

“You lied to her?”He didn’t even try to keep the surprise out of his voice.

“No, but I skirted the truth.She asked who, I said I wouldn’t tell her because I thought the father deserved to know first.She asked when it would be, I said I had to find you first.She wasn’t happy about that, but I got around it.And it wasn’t a lie, I knew where you went, but I didn’t know exactly where you were, so I did need to find you.And you do deserve to know before it’s public knowledge, I just left parts of the story out.”

“Very tricky.Am I going to have to be careful when I need to know things from you?”He wasn’t worried about it.

“No, Kevin.You’re not like Mama.I know I can tell you I’m not ready to share something or that it’s a secret for now and you won’t push and harass me until I tell you.”

“True,” he hugged her against him once more, “and sometimes there will be things I need you to trust me about.I’ll do my best not to hide things from you, but sometimes there are things you’ll be better off not knowing.We can handle those a couple of ways, but we’ll look at that later.Right now, is there anything you need or that I can help you with?”

“I could use something to drink, I made some tea if you want some, then I need to make another call.It’s the one I needed to make in the first place, but when I turned on the phone, there were so many messages I got distracted replying to them, then I had to call Mama.”

“I get it, sugar.Any other messages to reply to?”

“Just Michael’s and I’m not ready to even read through them.”

“Ignore those for a bit.Do you want me here with you for the call or would you rather space?I can go fix you a glass of tea.”

“Tea please if you don’t mind.This call won’t be so hard, I’m just scheduling an appointment.”

“Okay, sugar.”He kissed the top of her head again, but paused before releasing her or getting up.“You know you can ask me for anything, right?You know I’d do anything to make sure you’re safe and happy, right?”

“I do.And thank you.”She tilted her head back and kissed his cheek.

Hex wanted more but knew this wasn’t the time.She had things she needed to do, plus, the prospects could be back any time.Packing her place up should take them a couple of hours but with four of them, it might not take as long as he thought, and he didn’t want to embarrass her by being in the middle of anything when they arrived.