Page 53 of Wine, Whiskey, & Lipstick 2

His voice was gruff, “Hey.”

Her voice was still husky from sleep, “Hi.”

“Nice nap?”

A swirl of emotions played across Dillyn’s face before she masked it. “I don’t even remember falling asleep.”

“You haven’t been resting very much. I need you to start taking better care of yourself.”

Here we go.“Iknow.” Dillyn couldn’t keep the sound of irritation out of her voice. “The baby is depending on me.

“And me too.”

Dillyn felt like the biggest ass. After all, Ben had been through, she never wanted to cause him pain. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t take my frustrations out on you.”

Maybe now is the time to talk about the elephant in the room.Ben hoped Dillyn would trust him enough to share her feelings with him. “Want to talk about what had you crying?”

“Crying?” Dillyn glanced away.

“Yeah,” Ben said softly as he placed the tip of his thumb underneath her chin and gently turned her face toward his. “The tear marks kinda give it away.”

Dillyn released a loud sigh, “Not really.”

Ben couldn’t keep his frustrations at bay this time, “Ya gotta work with me, Dillyn. I’m trying my damnedest to be here for you. Why won’t you let me? Talk to me about what’s going on in your head?”

Because it’s so ugly and disgusting, you wouldn’t look at me the same. Dillyn wouldn’t utter those words. Instead, she deflected. Dillyn sat up. “Is this really about me or you?”

“What do you mean? Of course, I am worried aboutyou. You’ve got a lot on your mind. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out. And men who love their women care enough to want to fix whatever’s wrong if they can. It’s kinda what we do. We fix shit.”

“Ben, that’s not what I meant.”

“Then explain it to me because I’m not following.”

“You can’t fix me. Only I can do that.” Dillyn’s words trailed off. “And you can’t . . .”

“What?”

She whispered, “Nothing.”

“Trying to get you to talk to me is like pulling teeth! I guess I’ll have to go down the possibilities until you spill because you have a terrible poker face.” Ben would start off with simple questions because if he asked about the pregnancy and Dillyn told him she didn’t want their kid, it would gut him. “Were you crying because of something you found in that computer?”

“No. Yes! It’s everything.” Dillyn was about to combust. Her hormones were all over the damn place. She felt out of control and overwhelmed and blurted out her jumbled thoughts. “Palmer and I fought. One of the biggest we’ve ever had. Steven let me go through three rounds of IVF only to get a vasectomy after the first round, and someone has collected more information about me than I even know about myself. None of those things you can fix!” She decided to keep her uncertainty about the pregnancy to herself.

Calmly, Ben sat back against the headboard and rested on it.How the hell can I kill a dead manwere Ben’s initial thoughts. He sat quietly for a moment as he gathered his thoughts. “Why were you and Palmer fighting?”

There was zero chance of Dillyn telling him that. “We just didn’t see eye to eye on something.”

Cagey. Dillyn was being fuckin’ cagey, and he hated that shit. Ben decided to try to tackle her issues from the easiest to hardest. “Sisters fight. Before the night is over, you two will patch things up.”

Dillyn hadn’t wanted to unload on Ben. She was embarrassed for allowing her emotions to rule her. She responded sheepishly as she absentmindedly climbed into the crook of Ben’s arms, “I don’t know. Maybe.” She loved the way he held her. It was the safest place on earth.

“What else did you find in your computer?” He felt her body tense up at the question as he waited for an answer. After what felt like an eternity, Ben prodded her, “Dillyn, whatever is going on doesn’t just affect you. It affects all of us.”

“I know.” She didn’t want Ben to blame her for bringing this madness to his doorstep. The sad part was he wouldn’t be wrong. Dillyn had to tell him. There was no way to keep it a secret. “It might be easier to show you.” Dillyn hopped off the bed and unplugged her laptop before bringing it to him. She booted it up, and after a few minutes, it came to life. “These are some of the files I found.”

With each keyboard stroke, Ben’s body stiffened. “All of this was in there?”

Dillyn nodded.

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