“Sam, are you there?”
“Yes. Sorry. I’m just surprised. Um. Laurel, are you pregnant?”
“No. I’m not. But I’m inclined to consider it.” It was a lame attempt at a joke that Sam didn’t get at all.
“You are?!” he squeaked.
“No. No. Hunter warned me this could happen. I’m taking contraceptives, and the guys won’t let me forget. I’m not getting knocked up. Not yet, anyway.”
Sam’s loud exhale crackled in the phone. “How do you feel?”
“I know this is crazy, and it’s going to be such a mess when it leaks. But I’m happy. For the first time in ages, I feel genuinely happy. I started playing again last night. It might not become anything, but it was so much fun to hold the guitar again, you know?”
“That’s fantastic, Laurel.”
“But it’s going to be insane, right? Not just the press. I think I’ll want to spend much more time in Beauville than anywhere else. And I don’t know if that’s possible.”
When Sam spoke again, his tone was all business. “You know what, how about you forget about everything until the end of recovery? I know what to do.”
“You do?”
“Yes. Step one, I’m sending security. They will stay at the finished guest cottage and make sure nobody trespasses while you’re spending time with your alphas.”
I was about to argue, but Sam was right. That would be helpful. “Okay.”
“Step two, I’m going to find the best PR crisis agency in the city for this sort of thing and prepare a strategy for when and how you’re going to disclose your relationship status. We’re going to put your guys through media training as soon as possible, so you’d better prepare them for that.”
I wasn’t paying Sam nearly enough. He was a miracle. That brain of his should have been studied because I’d never met anyone so focused and efficient when everyone else was losing their shit. Before I could pronounce my undying devotion to Sam, he plowed on.
“Then I’m going to look into your engagements and plans we have for the upcoming two years and see how much can be done remotely and what requires your presence. You’ll need a small recording studio at the chalet, basic equipment at the very least, but we’ll deal with that later.”
My head was spinning. “Oh fuck, Sam. I don’t know where to start.”
“Nowhere. You’re doing nothing, understand? The only thing you have to do is block Ulrich’s number until the end of recovery. That’s your only task, and I’ll follow up on that in a couple of hours. I’ll be fielding Ulrich’s calls, and I’ll tell him you’re unavailable. He must go through me. Every day, I’m going to send you a message with a basic update to let you know that everything in the outside world is fine, so you don’t have toworry, okay? I’m not going to disturb you in any other way. When you’ve recovered, you call me, and we take it from there.”
“Sam, I love you.”
He chuckled. “I know.”
“Do you, though?”
“It’s fine, Laurel. Go be with your men.”
He didn’t understand. “Sam, listen, I just really need you to know that I…appreciate you. I can be such a brat and a total asshole, but I really fucking appreciate the hell out of you. So if I ever made you feel like I didn’t give a shit about you… I haven’t asked you how you’re doing! I’m sorry. I…”
“Laurel. You’re in heat. And you just found out you’re going to spend the rest of your life with two bears from Nowhereville. It’s okay to focus on yourself, don’t you think? I got you covered.”
The rest of my life. Fuck.
I spluttered out a laugh. “Nowhereville? Really?”
I’d fallen in love with my little Nowhereville. It was the best place on earth.
“I’m amazed that your location still hasn’t leaked. Beauville is the definition of nowhere.” He had a point.
“Thank you, Sam. Really.”
“I like you, you know,” Sam said. “I’m happy for you.”
