Page 64 of Solid Ground

“I’ll talk to Zoe. No. You don’t need to.” He sighs. “I know you care about how this affects her, but it’s my job to make sure she’s okay.”

My Spidey senses start tingling.

When he hangs up the call, he just sits there for a moment in silence, anger rolling off him in waves.

What the hell hashappened?

“The other day when we went grocery shopping. Someone took photos.”

My eyebrows creep up.

“I should have thought about it. I’ve been off the radar for so long that I never thought the media would be interested in pictures of me.”

I swallow hard.

“But apparently they’re really interested in pictures of me with you. It’s been a while since my last scandal …”

A clap of laughter escapes me. “Scandal? We’re two grown adults having a baby.”

He nods. “Yes, but there are assumptions about our relationship.”

I shrug. “Who cares?”

“I do. There are zoomed in photos of your baby bump which have gone viral. My much younger girlfriend having my baby is apparently news.”

I clamp my lips together. “Much younger?”

He smirks. “There’s already fifteen years between us, but you look younger than thirty, according to the stories. I’m a big, bad, cradle snatcher.”

“Do the stories say that, or is that your wording?” I cock my head.

His eyes sparkle with amusement and he reaches for my hand. “That was my wording. To be honest, I barely notice the age gap. And I don’t know how you do it, but you completely disarm me. I was so angry, but now …”

“Shit happens. Just how bad is it?”

He drops his gaze. “Lots of speculation. Not all good. ButNikki’s calling my publicist, and they’re going to conference call me so we can put out a statement.”

Before he can stop me, I stand and make my way to my desk, opening up my laptop.

“What are you doing?” he asks.

“Seeing how bad it is.”

It only takes a moment to find it posted by news agencies on Facebook, but scanning the comments makes me laugh.

“A lot of people seem to think I’m some kind of gold digger.”

He snorts. “That’s because they don’t know you. It’s funny considering I’m the one living in your apartment.”

“I think it’s the default thing people say about any woman.”

Declan swivels my chair so I’m facing him. “You’re amazing. Do you know that? A lot of other women would be angry about this.”

“Want to know the truth?”

His dark gaze drills through me, and he nods.

“Remember when I told you I was pregnant, and I said I didn’t want the media to be the ones to tell you? I’d anticipated this happening. It was just a matter of time—especially once you moved in with me.”

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