Page 65 of Act Like You Don't Care
"Our airport?" he squawked. In the background, I heard baby noises and something in my belly jerked in recognition.
"Yeah, yours. Look, I was going to rent a car, but I want to keep this on the down-low," I told him. "Could you? Please?"
"Well," he said slowly. "You did take the bullet for Shane and Kade during the wedding. I suppose I can do that for you."
I gritted my teeth. "That'd be great!" I said, pretending to be happy and carefree. "How long will it be?"
"I have to get the baby dressed and into the car. Maybe an hour?"
An hour. I glanced wildly around the airport, then ducked my head to keep anyone from seeing my face. "Yeah. Okay. Anyplace decent I can wait? Preferably someplace I'm not going to get the wedding treatment?"
"Is something wrong?" Now he sounded concerned.
"Yes. No. Maybe? Look, I don't want to talk about it here, okay? Just come get me?"
There was a pause, then Nick said, "I'll get Zander to look after the baby. You hold on." Then he hung up before I could get him to tell me where I could hide.
Typical Nick.
I made a face and started to put the phone away, then realized it was as good a disguise as any and left it up against my ear. The baggage carousel started to move. I decided to stay over here and wait until it had cleared out before I headed someplace where people were less distracted. The fewer people with time to recognize me, the better.
The wait for Nick to arrive was agonizing. Once the baggage carousel was cleared, I went looking for a spot outside as far away from the doors as I could manage. What kind of car was Nick driving now? I couldn't remember. Dark blue, I thought, but I'd stayed at a hotel for the wedding. And I hadn't been paying a lot of attention to how people had gotten there.
It only took him twenty minutes to get to a place at least half an hour's drive away from his apartment. "You're going to get a ticket," I told him. I tossed my bag in the back seat and fell into the front one before he even had a chance to get out of the car. Or say hi.
"Well, gee, Nick, thanks for dropping everything and coming to pick me up at the airport," Nick commented as he spun through the parking lot and out onto the road.
"Thank you, Nick," I said guiltily. I had sort of dropped myself on him.
"What's up?" he asked. "You in trouble? I saw the stories on the entertainment blogs." He made a particularly difficult turn into traffic. I nearly peed myself as we rocketed out in front of a huge truck, but Nick never slowed down.
Then he really scared the shit out of me. "You're pregnant." Just like that. Not a question, a statement.
"Where'd you get that idea?" I stuttered. My stomach churned and I felt sick.
"It makes sense." He reached across and patted my knee. "Don't worry. We're family. We've got your back." He put his hand back on the steering wheel, which oddly only made me a little bit less nervous. "I'm going to take you to Shane's."
"I can't stay at your place?" Shane was the responsible one. I didn’t want to be lectured, I wanted someone to help me sort out the mess that was the inside of my head right now and someone who knew how to navigate Hollywood. So, Nick and Kade. "I don't want everyone knowing."
He glanced down at my belly. "Yeah, well, you've got about four months before that's not gonna be an option anymore."
"Shit."
"There'll be a lot of that too, I'm warning you. As one cousin to another, you want to be prepared for that. Who's the dad? That alpha you were boning a couple of months ago?"
"Does it matter?"
Nick shrugged and I grabbed for the door handle as the car veered toward the yellow line and a huge truck coming our way. "I just thought you seemed happier with him than with any of the others. You looked good together. He didn't seem to give you the kind of alpha nonsense that the others did. Or maybe you were just hiding your expression better?" He turned his head to stare at me and I began to wonder if this was planned, if he was actually using terror as an interrogation technique.
"Nick, please watch the road," I begged.
"It's Maine. And Oceanport. Relax." But he did turn his attention back to the road and I was able to let out the breath I'd been holding.
The familiar outskirts of the town came into view, a scattering of houses, then whole neighborhoods mixed in with a few stores. Quiet, rural living. I glanced over at Nick. "You seem happy. Married life suits you."
"It has its moments but for the most part, I wouldn't trade it for anything," he agreed. "So about this alpha?"
"That was an arrangement the studio made," I said shortly. "He was part of my security team, deep undercover."
