Page 87 of The Omega's Surprise Baby
Sam gave me an amicable smile that didn't reach his eyes. “I'm afraid I have to disagree with you there. You've taken quite the leap from sleeping with your producer to having a child with an unknown alpha from Maine.”
He made it sound like being from Maine was a bad thing. A few months ago I might have agreed with him. Now I didn't. Maine was a beautiful place. I couldn't wait to go back there once this show was over. Especially now that we'd reached the point where the conversation was turning critical. I could tell the truth, or I could clam up again.
But Shane had come to the studio with me, and I didn't want to let him down. I didn't want to let myself down either.
“I never wanted to sleep with my producer,” I said.
Sam's eyebrows rose slightly. He'd not been informed that I was going to use this show to accuse my producer of sexual harassment. I hadn't informed Michelle either. She was probably flipping a table somewhere right about now.
“But you did sleep with your producer,” Sam said. “You must know we have video evidence of that.” He laughed, as if he'd said something funny. Like trained monkeys, the studio audience laughed along with him. I wasn't laughing, and I knew I had at least one person in the audience on my side. That had to be enough.
My hands were sweaty and my heart beat harder than it did before a show, but I didn't let that stop me from saying what needed to be said.
“He essentially blackmailed me into sleeping with him. I'm sure I'm not the only omega in this business that's happened to either.” And that was why I needed to speak up. There were other omegas out there like me who would fall easy prey to people like my former producer. They needed to know they had other options. That someone was willing to listen and speak up.
Sam actually looked surprised now. That didn't happen often. “You're claiming that your producer forced you?”
“I know it must sound like a tall tale,” I admitted with a shrug. “But it's what happened.”
“That's certainly an interesting twist to the story.” He arched an eyebrow. “You realize a claim like that could substantially damage your career?”
“Of course, which is why I wouldn't say anything like this if it wasn't true. It's taken me a long time to recover from that scandal. I finally have a new album coming out in April. I'm sure my agent is losing her shit right now. But not everythingisabout my career to me, even if a lot of people believe so.”
“If that's the case, why didn't you say anything earlier?”
I took a deep breath. “Because I was young and naive, and quite honestly, I was freaking terrified. This industry can be scary for anyone to navigate, but doubly so for omegas. You have to understand, I was raised in a small town. I didn't know how to handle the media at all. I didn't know how to handle the producer either.”
Sam nodded. “So you're claiming to be the victim in all this.”
I licked my lips, because that wasn't exactly how I wanted to put it. “I'm saying I made some poor choices, and that I did not make all of them willingly. I hope people can forgive me for that, because I love sharing my music with the world.”
“And we love listening to it, don't we folks?” He turned to the audience, who clapped.
I exhaled. “Thank you.”
“You've mentioned that you have a new album coming out,” Sam continued, focusing his attention back on me. An image of the album cover art showing a quiet harbor appeared on a screen above him. This part of the show was planned. “Would you like to tell us something about that?”
“Yes.” I straightened. Talking about my music was much less panic-inducing. “The new album is calledMaking Waves.” A smile curled my lips. “I thought it was appropriate since I drew most of my inspiration for the songs from a town by the ocean.”
Sam shot me a knowing look. “Your new boyfriend's hometown?”
“Yes. It's a beautiful place.”
“But you weren't inspired by just the locale, where you?”
“No.” I grinned sheepishly, knowing this would go over well with the viewers. “Love is a great source of inspiration.”
“So your new relationship is definitely not a PR stunt? You've only recently finalized your divorce.”
“Definitely not a PR stunt. We kind of... fell for each other without planning to.” And that was all I was going to say on the subject of my relationship. I still wanted to keep Shane and the kids out of the spotlight as much as possible.
“And now you're having a baby.”
“Due in June,” I lied, to throw the paparazzi off the scent. I didnotwant a bunch of people with cameras at the hospital on my big day.
“Wasthatplanned?” Sam asked with a little laugh.
“Oh, not at all, but we're very much looking forward to the birth.” This time, I didn't have to lie. Throughout the interview, I could feel the baby kick, as if she couldn't wait to get out either. Already I could tell she was going to demand a lot of attention from the day she was born. But I didn't mind, because I knew I wasn't going to be raising her on my own. No, I was going to have all the love, help and support I needed.
