“I’ve got a question for the little guy,” a voice piped up from the rear of the crowd. “Hey, Noah, what’s it like having a new mommy?”
My stomach dropped. What an absolutely shitty question to ask a kid who had just buried his mom a few months back!
I jumped in front of the mic to take the bullet.
“We’re adjusting to the changes as a family unit,” I replied primly, hoping they’d take the hint that Noah was off limits.
He gripped my hand tighter.
“Hey, Noah,” another reporter called out. “What was your favorite part of the voyage?”
Okay, that was a softball. But I still didn’t love that they were putting him on the spot. Could he handle it? I looked at the boy, and his expression told me that he was overwhelmed.
I stepped closer to the mic again. “I think we have a family favorite. We discovered a little stowaway during the journey and added a new family member. Noah, care to tell everyone about Ariel?”
He gripped my hand tighter and blinked up at me silently.
Okay, SOS received. I turned to Logan. “Why don’t you take this one?” I suggested.
I stepped backward, gently pulling Noah along. Logan eased into position at the podium and resumed answering questions about the kitten who was now one hundred percent Ashford.
Hell, the cat was a more legitimate family member than I was!
As the press conference wore on, Noah looked more and more like he was desperate to hide. Why did we think this would be a good idea? He’d spent the past ten days in a heightened reality and had faced down a ton of major life changes. Noah had weathered nearly everything, but we all knew that there was only so much rapid change a grieving child could face.
I squatted beside him.
“Hey,” I whispered in his ear while the Q&A dragged on. “Once we’re done here, we’re going right to the pet store to get all sorts of cool stuff for Ariel. New bowls, a bunch of toys, a cozy bed. Won’t that be fun?”
His sweet, worried face didn’t quite manage a smile, but it did brighten. “Really?”
“Heck yeah,” I answered. “I think she got tired of playing with our shoelaces. It’s time for some proper toys!”
“Can I pick them out?”
“Of course,” I answered. “You know her better than anyone, so of course you should pick. Do we think she likes feather toys? And what about catnip?”
“What’s catnip?”
I giggled softly. “Oh, you’re going to have so much fun finding out! Just a little longer and we’ll be ready to go.”
The promise of the shopping trip for his new best friend was enough to shift his focus for the remainder of the press conference, which gave me a chance to consider what I was stepping into after we wrapped up.
A fucking whirlwind.
I’d been so concerned with keeping Noah stable that I hadn’t taken much time to consider just how weirdmylife was now going to be.
The smoking hot guy currently captivating the press corps? He wasn’t just my boss; he was myhusband. At least that’s what the world had to believe. I glanced down at the gold band on my finger. When I’d said yes to working with Noah, I’d never anticipated how things would spiral out of control.
I’d been zoning out when Logan turned back to me and held out his hand, beckoning me to join him at the podium. I plastered a smile on my face and gave Noah’s hand a little squeeze.
“Almost done,” I said quietly as we joined Logan.
Noah wiggled out of my grip so he could hide between the two of us while we addressed the press as a united front.
“Thank you for being here,” Logan was saying to the audience. “This was a special voyage, for a bunch of reasons.”
He turned to me and gave me a hopeful smile, and I realized we’d somehow developed a secret nonverbal language. I could tell that he was looking for some sort of physical affection, a photo op closing moment to the presser, but he was leaving it up to me.
