Page 59 of The Baby-whisperer and the Brute
For a few seconds neither of us spoke. We just held sweltering eye contact through the mirror.
Finally, Angelina broke the silence. “What do you want to do?”
Kiss you,my mind screamed. Out loud I said, “Let’s go ahead and go in, since we’re already here. It wouldn’t hurt to have them check her out. I’m not sure I’ll be able to sleep otherwise.”
I dropped off Angelina and the girls at the entrance so they could check in while I parked the car.
It was only when we were in the waiting room, seated side by side watching the children play on the floor with the provided toys, that I started breathing easier again. Claire really was okay.
I’d been so frightened. And I’d been clueless while Angelina had been a total pro, instantly taking action to try to help my baby. I reached over and squeezed her fingers.
She returned the pressure, giving me a tight-lipped smile, then withdrew her hand to clasp it with her other one in her lap.
Before tonight, I wouldn’t have believed it was possible to admire her more, but I’d have been wrong. Shelovedmy daughters.
The events of the night had elevated her from mere rock-star status to Wonder Woman levels in my eyes—and that wasn’t even counting the incredible near-kiss moment we’d shared right before everything had gone haywire.
We needed to talk aboutthatby the way.
I needed to find out if Angelina really had been jealous of my date with Bree or if it had all been wishful thinking on my part.
Because I’d been doing alotof wishing lately where she was concerned. And I’d done alotof thinking tonight.
The whole time I’d been out with the actress, my attention had been fractured. I’d caught myself missing entire minutes of her steady chatter wondering where Angelina was at the time, whether she and the girls were having fun, whether she was missing me as much as I was missing her.
And then I’d had to discipline myself—again—and ask Bree to please repeat what she’d said.
All in all, I hadn’t had aterribletime with her. I just hadn’t had a good one. Not like the evenings I spent with Angelina.
Fuck, if I could have a great time with her sitting on the living room floor playing Chutes and Ladders, what would an actual evening out be like? I was starting to think it was high time to find out.
After seeing a doctor and being advised to give Claire clear liquids, use a humidifier, and make sure she got plenty of rest, my family—plus Angelina—left the hospital and went home. Both girls fell asleep in the car, and I carried them upstairs, one in each arm.
Once they were tucked into their beds, Angelina and I met at the top of the stairs.
“You tired?” I asked.
“No. I’m wired, actually. I don’t think I could go to sleep right now if I tried.”
Yes.Relief and pleasure washed through me. “Me, too. I could use a drink. But since I don’t drink when I’m in training, I could go for some almond milk.”
“Yeah, a cup of tea sounds good to me.”
We went downstairs together. The silence between us wasn’t awkward, but itwastelling. There was so much to say, I didn’t think either of us knew where to start. I decided to take the initiative once we both had our drinks and were seated back in the living room on the sectional.
“Weird day, huh?” I said.
Angelina flared her eyelids and gave a small laugh. “Definitely. Weirdweek. I can’t believe family fun day was only a week ago.”
“Um, about that… I want to apologize.”
“For what?”
“You know, for what I said about your clothes—and your hair. That wasn’t right,” I admitted. “And it’s not even true. You have to know I think you look great every day. I was just… my feelings were hurt because you didn’t like my gift, and I was acting like a baby. I hurtyourfeelings, and I feel terrible about it. It’s been bothering me ever since then.”
“Sully,” she said softly.
Pulling her legs up onto the couch, she wrapped her arms around herself, gazing at me with wide, dark eyes that seemed to almost shimmer in the dim lighting.
