“What are you going to do for dinner? You need to eat, too.”
“I’ll figure something out. Go. Be with your team. Fill me in on everything when you get back?”
He wrapped his arms around her, pressing her against his body in a bear hug. “I feel like you need me more right now.”
“I just… I need you to figure out how the hell to get that bitch out of our lives. She got what she came for. She sold her little story. Now, I just need her gone.”
“Okay.” Stone pressed his lips to Mae’s temple.
“Don’t let Betty bite you,” she teased.
“Oh shit.” Stone went still. “I wasn’t even thinking about their dogs. Damn. Can I just come home with you? Please?”
She laughed, her whole face transforming in that instant. “I will absolutely never understand how my big, bad, former SEAL is afraid of an itty, bitty, old dog named Betty.”
“It’s not just Betty. Darius scares the shit out of me, too.”
Gage’s laugh filled the reception area as he walked out, his laptop bag slung over his shoulder. “Don’t worry. Sloane already stuck Darius in our bedroom. Embrie and Sage wouldn’t let her put Betty in there, though, so watch your ankles when we get up to the apartment.”
Mae laughed, patting Stone on the chest. “One day soon you’ll find a dog you will fallin love with.”
“It’ll have to be a golden retriever. That’s the only kind I’ve ever liked.” His fingers found Mae’s and he tugged her towards the elevator.
“Right,” she giggled. “We just have to decide… Matthew, Colleen, or Brian.”
Stone laughed. “Exactly.”
Eighteen
The bed dipped next to her.Stone was home.
Mae opened her eyes, hating how raw they felt. She’d promised him she would eat dinner, but the protein bar on her nightstand, still in its wrapper, exposed her lies. There was never going to be a way for her to eat after what Laurel had done.
Mae felt sick. Exposed in the most vulnerable way. To share something like that is one thing, but to share it so maliciously… And then for Mae to have to tell the truth. To hear Stone say the words out loud again.
She’d lost the baby.
And now, all the guys knew. The way her brother had looked at her, the questions and the emotions she saw in his eyes, the way she’d pushed him away with a single shake of her head.
She hoped, in a weird way, that Stone would finally have peace now that the guys knew. He’d have people to talk to. Someone other than her or Gunner, if he was talking to him about everything. Mae didn’t ask, because she just wanted to forget.
“How did it go?” she asked, her voice coming out as rough as she felt.
“Fine. Sebastian is leading the ‘stay quiet and move calmly’ charge.”
“Do you agree with that? It’s also your name that’s getting dragged.”
“I’m not worried about me. I just don’t want you to be in the line of fire.”
“Fire? I can handle Laurel. Honestly, I wish I’d been faster than Beau. He’s fast for someone with that much bulky muscle. He probably does yoga with Birdie… that’s why he’s so limber.”
Stone smiled, his hand coming up to play with a strand of her hair.
“Interesting tangent. I’ll have to remember to tell Beau you described him that way the next time I see him. Give him a little ego boost as a thanks for keeping you safe.”
“There was no ‘keeping me safe.’ All he did was protect Laurel.”
“Speaking of her, which I absolutely don’t want to except to remind you that you are so incredibly sexy when you are riled up like that… There are news reporters outside already. A big van is set up across the street. It’s only going to get worse before something else happens in the news cycle and it pulls attention away from us.”
