I reach for him and attempt to get him to sit down. "Oh, stuff and things. It's not a big deal. It's under control. I've got it. Just have to have a baby. Then I'm good. You know? Easy."
"Cora, you're not making any sense." He smooths the hair out of my face. "Talk to me, tell me what's going on."
I struggle to keep my eyes open. "I did. I said it. I confessed. Wow. That feels great," I mumble with my face pressed into the bed. "I should have done that sooner." I breathe out exaggeratedly.
"What do you mean you have to have a baby?"
"You know. A baby. I don't know. It's not a big deal." I nearly drool on the bed but catch myself. "Don't worry about it."
"How can you expect me not to worry about it, Cora? After what I've already told you?"
"What?"
Alec tucks my hair behind my ear. "That I'm in love with you, Cora."
I open my eyes slightly and through the slits I make out his beautiful features. Even drunk he's sexy. "Can we have sex?"
"How about this?" Alec softens his resolve. "Ask me again when you're sober, and I'll consider it."
I grin and plop my face back down. "Deal."
"But you're going to have to tell me what's going on, too, when you're sober, okay?"
"Mmhm," I mumble, the weight of the situation easing at finally confessing to someone that I'm in trouble.
Maybe he can help me get out of this mess, or maybe I've doomed us both.
15
ALEC
Ibarely sleep a wink.
No. Instead, I watch Cora's chest rise and fall and wonder what secrets she keeps tucked inside.
I doze off here and there, but it's nothing to soothe the ache in my chest at the cryptic shit she was confessing before she passed out.
Part of me desperately wants to believe that she was mumbling nonsense in her drunken state, but a stronger part is convinced there is truth to what she said. I just don't know how any of it could be possible. How could she have gotten mixed up with Ricardo? She mentioned something about her dad...and a baby, but what did any of it mean? If she was in trouble, surely she would have gone to June for help, at the very least. Or there's me, or Miller. Clearly, he would help her. The dude spent a hundred million dollars to buy the company she sort of worked for because her boss was a dick, I can't imagine what he would do if he found out someone like Ricardo was making demands of her.
I slide out of bed and into my bathroom, brushing my teeth and splashing water on my face. Sighing, I take a look into the bedroom to make sure Cora hasn't disappeared. I don't want to leave her, but my duties are approaching and there's only so much time left before I have to head over to the mansion and drive Coen to a meeting.
He's not usually the type to have someone chauffeur him around but with the distance, he needs to use the drive time to catch up on work he can't do if he's behind the wheel. Understandable. And that's kind of the entire scope of my employment with them...to be their driver, no matter what the reason or location.
Quietly, I sneak into the kitchen and brew some coffee, my mind racing with endless possibilities of what Cora had said.
Not to mention the fact that I literally told her I loved her. I hope she forgets, not because I don't want her to know, but because I want to do it right and make it a memorable experience, not something I blurted out when she was drunk.
I froth some vanilla oat milk and pour it into both mugs and fill them to the brim with coffee. I return to the bedroom with a mug in each hand and pause as Cora stirs.
"Do I smell coffee?" She peers through one eye at me.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." I approach, hand her the cup, and settle along the edge of the bed. "How are you feeling?"
She draws in a breath and yawns. "Great, actually. Your bed is super comfortable." Cora presses down onto the mattress. "What is this, Temperpedic?"
"It is, actually." I take a sip of my coffee and contemplate my next words carefully.
"Damn." She smells the coffee and glances up at me. "Is this oat milk?"
