He looks at me and reaches out to link his fingers with mine.
“I’m the one who pursued Hallie,” he tells Sinclair. “Not the other way around. Neither of us expected this. But it’s happened. And I’m not about to apologize for it. I don’t regret it for a second.”
Sinclair studies him, her expression shifting from shock into something else.
“Do you love my father?” Her attention zones in on me, and she folds her arms. “Or is this just sex? Because he needs more than that. He deserves more than that. You can’t come here and then?—”
“Sinclair!” Sterling growls.
“No, Dad!” she counters. “You know I’m talking sense. I hired her to find you love. Not to play out some daddy fantasy she might have.”
“Enough!”
His voice cuts through the air, leaving a silence so thick I’m surprised any of us can breathe.
“Enough, Sinclair,” he says in a soft voice. “Hallie and I are both adults. We can do what we like.”
“But—”
“But nothing.” He gives her a look that makes her clamp her lips together. “Sweetheart, you wanted me to be happier. Well, I am. And regardless of what happens next, that happiness will always be because of what you did for me.”
“Because of Halliday,” she says, her eyes meeting mine.
“Yes. Your gift,” he rasps.
She watches me with pursed lips for a minute. “I can’t believe it took baby gear shopping for me to find this out. If those paparazzi hadn’t showed up, we wouldn’t be here, and then you two wouldn’t have just…” She waves a hand at me and Sterling.
“We’d have told you,” Sterling says in a deep voice. “I don’t want secrets in our family.”
Sinclair looks from him to Sullivan and her eyes take on glassy quality. “Agreed. Secrets in families suck,” she whispers.
I know she’s thinking about her mother’s affair.
I meet Sterling’s eyes, praying for someone to say something.
Anything.
Sinclair’s phone chimes, and she huffs as she looks at it. “Really? This is ridiculous! The press is already announcing I’m pregnant.”
Denver stiffens beside her but keeps his eyes ahead as she scrolls her phone with a scowl.
“We were shopping for Halliday’s friend, not me. Someone must have tipped them off. There’s no way they’d have gone wild like that unless they thought there was a story.” She snorts.
“I’m going to get you protection,” Sterling says.
“No! We’ve talked about this before. It’s bad enough that Denver has to pick me up when I go out at night. I don’t want a clone of him following me around during the day as well.”
She stares at the side of Denver’s face, but he keeps his gaze ahead.
“See? Monty has better social skills. Please, Dad. I promise I’ll get my head around…” She gestures to me and Sterling again. “… Just do not subject me to being babysat.Please.”
Sterling looks at Sullivan, who inclines his head with a small shrug.
He sighs, rubbing a hand around his brow. “Fine. But if I even think there’s a chance you need it?—”
“I won’t,” Sinclair replies.
The door opens, and the doctor enters.
