Shocking Sapphires - Ann Omasta Page 0,13

at me for a long moment before saying quietly, “It is.”

10

Molly

Scout began stirring from his nap, so I walked over to pick him up. After a quick diaper change, I began warming a bottle for him.

After testing the milk’s temperature on the inside of my arm, I handed the baby to Grant. He didn’t fight me about taking him this time, but he was giving me a strange look.

“What?” I asked, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

“How do you know how to do all of that––like sprinkling the milk on your arm? Do you have a bunch of kids or something?”

I shook my head. “Nope. I’ve been Googling like crazy, but mostly it’s just instinct. I wouldn’t want to give him milk that’s too hot.”

When Grant continued staring at me, I added, “He can’t take care of himself, so we have to do everything for him.”

“Yeah, that makes sense.” Grant gave me the first half-smile I’d seen since meeting him in person, but it immediately fell into a frown when he added, “He’s just like me––helpless and needing someone to take care of him.”

“You’re hardly helpless,” I told him.

He turned back to stare out the window, so I prompted him. “Scout needs his bottle.”

For a moment, I thought Grant was going to ignore me, but he eventually tipped his head down and gently angled the bottle into the baby’s mouth.

We both remained silent for a long while as Scout’s mouth worked the bottle’s nipple. Eventually, I realized that we got sidetracked by talking about how the locals had protected his story, and I hadn’t found out who he wanted me to call for him.

“Do you want me to check your cell phone to see how many people are looking for you?” I offered, trying to sound helpful.

“No, I’ll check it later,” he answered.

“Well, you must have an agent or assistant, or someone I can call for you.” I didn’t bring up his parents because I knew they had been estranged for years.

I cleared my throat, feeling super-awkward, but something compelled me to bring her up, “I’m sure Eva is wondering where you are.”

He shook his head, but remained silent, which made me even more curious about his relationship with the stunning actress.

“We’re in a bit of a weird situation here, aren’t we?” My question had him raising his eyes to look at me for the first time in a long while. “Your fame means that I already know quite a lot about your personal life, but you don’t know much of anything about me.”

“That’s not unusual for me,” he answered. “Every single person I meet thinks they already know everything there is to know about me.”

“Well, that’s not fair,” I weighed in. Deciding this could be a fun game, I asked, “What would you like to know about me? You can ask me anything you want.” Waggling my brows at him, I added, “Within reason.”

He stared at me for a long time. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what sort of invasive, personal questions he was considering.

I tried not to show how hurt I was when he said, “There isn’t anything else I care to know about you.”

11

Grant

I knew I was being a total dick, but I couldn’t seem to control it. My charmed life had turned to shit, and I wanted everyone around to suffer with me. Since Molly, for some strange reason, opted to spend most of her time with me, she was the recipient of the brunt of it.

It was obvious that my barbs and insults were starting to get to her, but she kept on coming back to hang out in my gloomy, depressing hospital room. Even though I was aware that I should be grateful that she was taking such great care of my son and making sure that I got to see him regularly, I remained pissed that I wasn’t able to watch him myself or do any of the things I normally enjoyed.

“Why do you keep coming here all the time? Don’t you have a job?” I asked her as I gave her the glare I normally reserved for the villains of my movies.

“I’m here because I care about you and Scout,” she said as she stared down and picked at an invisible piece of lint from her skin-tight, sexy black leggings.

I could tell there was more to it than that, so I continued giving her a pointed stare. She evidently felt my unwavering gaze on her because she eventually looked up and admitted, “I feel