Hollywood Enigma (Hollywood Name Game #5) - Alexa Aston Page 0,2
all the traveling they’ve had you do?”
She turned her head toward him. “I’ll be fine. Sorry I can’t make dinner tonight. I know you said it was somewhere special.”
He perched on the bed beside her. “We can do dinner anytime.” He placed the back of his hand against her forehead and found her burning up. “You’ve got a high fever. Let me take you to a doc in the box.”
“No,” she said emphatically, pushing his hand from her brow. “Monty’s coming by to check on me.”
Wynn’s stomach sank. Carl Montgomery was a friend from Stephanie’s prep school days in Atlanta. Pre-med and all-knowing, Monty was the ultimate snob and made Wynn feel lower than pond scum.
“You need a real doctor, Steph. Not some wannabe who can’t even call in a prescription for you.”
She jerked her hand from his. “I can’t go to a doctor,” she hissed.
“Why?”
Her nose wrinkled in disgust. She regarded him with a cool stare. “You can be such an idiot sometimes, Wynn.”
This was a side of Stephanie that popped out every now and then. When she was tired. Or sick. Or not getting her way—which was rare. Wynn had always overlooked it in the past.
Did he want this to be his future?
Of course, he did. He loved Stephanie. She was bright and funny and beautiful. They had a lot in common.
“Sorry I’m so dense. Tell me what’s wrong,” he urged, hoping to placate her.
She pushed up using her elbows until she was sitting against the headboard. “I can’t go to a doctor because it might get back to my sponsors.”
“So? You’ve only got three weeks to be in top shape. You need meds in you, maybe even IV fluids, in order to get well and compete. Surely, your sponsors would want that.”
Stephanie grimaced and pushed her arms against her stomach. Fever made you ache but this was beyond a fever. She really looked in pain.
“What aren’t you telling me?” he asked.
“I’m pregnant. Or I was. Monty aborted it.”
Shock rippled through Wynn as he tried to absorb her words. Then anger began to build. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he ground out.
“Because you would try to talk me out of what I did,” she said calmly. “Being Miss Georgia and then Miss USA has been my dream, Wynn. It’s going to open every door I ever thought about. I already barely eat as it is. I’m always working out. I can’t afford to be an ounce over my competition weight, not with how tight my outfits are and what that swimsuit shows.” She looked at him evenly. “That meant no baby.”
“But . . . our child, Stephanie. It was ours. Together. We made a baby. I should’ve had some say in it.”
“I don’t want kids. Ever.”
Stunned, Wynn simply gaped at her. They’d never talked about having children. He’d just assumed she wanted them.
“I want a career. I want to be famous. I want to be on TV, reporting at the biggest sporting events on the planet. Not changing diapers or dragging myself to parent-teacher conferences. I’m going places, Wynn. You can, too. You’ve got so much talent. We make the ultimate power couple. We always have, here at Winters, and we can do it in the real world.”
“You can have all of that—and kids,” he protested.
Anger flashed in her eyes. “You heard me. I don’t want brats. Not any.”
Before, he’d had little doubts about marrying Stephanie. She was self-centered but could still be the sweetest soul on the planet. Hearing her now, though, changed everything. It was as if some space alien had invaded her body.
Wynn stood and the velvet box containing the ring fell from his pocket. Stephanie looked at it and then him.
“How’s the patient?” a voice said.
Wynn turned and saw Monty breeze through the door.
“Move over, Youngblood. I need to see how our girl’s doing.”
He stumbled back as Monty examined Stephanie, turning his head as Monty lifted her gown. “Looking okay, babe. A little red. That’s all. Your fever’s from infection.”
“Then do something about it, Monty. I feel like hell. Like my insides are dribbling outside. Did you botch this?”
“Nah. You’re gonna be fine, Steph.” Monty sat on the bed and said, “Whoa, what’s this?” and popped the box open. Looking over his shoulder, he said, “You’ve got to be kidding. You’d need a microscope to see that little diamond chip.” He turned back to Stephanie. “You don’t need this loser in your life, babe.”
Wynn stepped up and swiped the box from Carl’s hand. “Don’t