Page 121 of Revenge Is a Dish Best Served… Wearing Heels?
What if I couldn't remember something absolutely crucial? What if because I was a complete idiot I unintentionally hurt this baby?
Tristan's eyes made a path around my face. "You're spiraling, aren't you?" Before I could respond, he answered for me. "Yes. Yes, you are. But let me just remind you that no matter what happens, we're a team here. And we'll get through everything together, with me right by your side."
Gulp. Did he really just say that?
"Okay?" he asked, his intense stare burning into me, searing me straight down to my soul. "Do you hear me? I'm not leaving you to deal with all of this alone."
Oh, God. I thought I might cry not just from the stress of it all, from this night, from mylife, but also from his words and the kind way he said them.
His phone made a noise in his pocket, but he ignored it only for the sound to become more and more insistent. Heaving a sigh, he reached for it, the corners of his mouth pulling down in a frown as he studied the number for a long moment.
"Who is it?" I asked, dread filling my stomach that it was some kind of bad news, judging by his reaction.
Finally, he seemed to come to a decision about answering it, shutting it off and shoving his phone back in his pocket.
"Who is it?" he repeated my question to me, the expression on his face inscrutable. "I don't know. Why don't you tell me?"
"What?" I shook my head in confusion. Why would I know who had called him? "What do you mean?"
There was a strange gleam in his eyes that I couldn't place. Was he mad? Amused? A mixture of both?
He leaned in closer, so close I could feel the faint scrape of his stubble against my cheek as his breath tickled my ear. And then he said in a low voice only for me, "You wouldn't happen to want to go on a cruise with me, an exclusive cruise only foradventurouscouples?"
"Adventurous couples?" I whispered, echoing back his words, even more confused now. "I have no clue what you're talking about, Tristan."
Pulling away from me, he arched a brow in my direction, looking damn sexy as he did so. "No clue, huh?"
"No clue. You... you seriously want to go on a cruise right now? With me pregnant? It, well, it kind of sounds like a bad idea."
He barked out a laugh. "No, babe, no cruise. And either you're a phenomenal actress or—"
Dawning washed over me. Oh, crap.
Biting my lip, I carefully studied his face, looking for any signs of anger, but thankfully, I didn't see any, only a single brow that rose even higher.
"Um, yeah, about that," I said sheepishly.
"Yes?" he drawled out. "Anything you might like to confess?"
"Uh, well, honestly, that was all Ethan's doing."
He grunted, a sound that conveyed a fair amount of skepticism. "Ethan, huh?"
"Yes,Ethan. He's the tech genius who put you on a bunch of robocall lists."
Clamping his lips together, he gave a nod, his eyes still shining with what I realized was pure amusement. "Under whose direction?"
Enduring his intense scrutiny, I worked to find my backbone and finally grabbed a hold of it. "Mine." And now my brow arched at him because two could play the brow game. "And I'm sure you can figure out why."
"Why, Miss Stratton, were you trying to get revenge on me for all my alleged misdeeds?"
"Yes. Abso-fucking-lutely I was."
A laugh came out of him, a genuine laugh that sent a thrill through me. "Well played. Well fucking played. So this whole time I was genuinely falling for this mysterious masked woman, you were just in it for revenge? To get back at me?"
"Yep."
I wasn't ashamed of it, although maybe I should have been. And maybe that said something about how comfortable I felt being around him. As a matter of fact, I was very comfortable around him all of a sudden. And tonight? He was definitely my anchor in this godforsaken sea of potentially horrid memories.
