Inner Core: (Stark, #2) (33 page)
And there is Iris holding Julie's hand, both with teary eyes. I shake my head. Next to them, Hayley’s dad looks somewhat sentimental for the first time ever.
When I’m around...
I truly thought he’d shoot me when he heard the news about Hales being knocked up and that we weren't close to being married. I clearly recall his face twisting in an almost comical way while glaring at me. I thought he was quickly composing a “50 Ways to Murder your Daughter’s fiancé and Get Away With It” manual.
A good potential for a bestseller… Hell, I’ll buy it when Emma reaches that age. Christ, she will someday reach that age… I need to check around for the nearest convent.
Thinking about it, I’m not so sure Hales’ dad really believed what we told him, that it was Hayley who needed time to actually go ahead with the wedding.
The next photo to display is of Natasha and Rafa.
Now, there's a hookup I thought would never last longer than the first month of sexual attraction detonation, but here they are. Go figure.
I study the left corner of the picture and there’s Steven, Hales’ brother, who from the moment we met, became one of my closest friends. I’m still trying to convince him it’s a better plan for his future to drop med school and work at a software company.
Wonder how many more points I’d earn if Dr. Grace heard about me trying to corrupt another of his precious descendants.
The next image to show on the screen is one of my favorites. Me with Emma in one arm and Hayley held tightly with my other hand as we walked toward the priest. I run my fingers over the cold glass of whiskey, my lips pull up.
I bring the auburn liquid to my mouth, amused at how whipped I am.
I snort at the next photo, a snapshot of when I handed Emma to Ian. “Start practicing man,” I said. I had to ask the priest for a time out when he declared “You may kiss the bride.”
“This will require my complete attention,” I said, winking at Hales. With Emma in “good hands” I returned to Hales, lifted her up in my arms so her mouth reached mine and kissed her, my wife, senseless. Oh, Dr. Grace’s face watching us was an image that should have been hung in the pantheon of the best moments ever.
“Thanks, Hales,” I whispered to her ear.
“What for?” she asked, blushing and elated, mirroring me.
“For being you,” I said with my forehead against hers, feeling grateful that
she is
mine
.
She almost choked me with her response: a death grip embrace and a mind-blowing, searing kiss.
You are one lucky bastard, Stark.
Everything about her is what I want, what I need. No one has ever reached so deep inside. No one understands me better. No one reads me and lets go when I need it like Hales. She is perfect, she is everything I didn’t even know I wanted, and so much more.
She is the coolest woman on the planet, not to mention sexy as fuck. She’s also the only woman that pisses the hell out of me and makes me want her at the same time.
I must have done something right in this lifetime to have met her, to have gotten them both: Hales and Em.
I drop back deeper into my chair, take another swig of the whiskey and suck an ice cube into my mouth. I bite the cube into pieces and glance at the taped-up
boxes lining the wall.
Its happening.
It was Hayley’s idea; we started toying with a few months after Emma was born. We only recently decided to go through with it. For the first time ever, it had taken me a long time to make a decision.
Hell, I’ve never given an idea that much space in my mind.
In less than a week we’ll leave our SF house for a full year in Baja. The grand plan is that I'll run the company by flying back and forth when needed and Hales will focus on her illustrations, something she has wanted to do for a while now. She’s good at it and I’ve been pushing her to take it to the next level.
Leaving the company in Chris’s hands is something I can almost live with.
Can try to live with
… So far he's proven trustworthy. He actually delivers. I think I could trust him as managing director.
With me in the background, that is.
My lips immediately twitch up as I think of Hales’ scorn and mild exasperation when she saw my schedule for the next few months. She’s so damn sexy worked up.
I toss back the last of the scotch that by now has lightened with the melted ice and head back to bed, passing first by Emma’s room. I stand above her cradle, watching her peaceful face under the dim light from the rabbit night light, which makes me inwardly snort. If someone had told me two years ago that I would have a fucking rabbit lamp in my house I would have thought them either highly intoxicated or severely deranged. I rest my hand gently on the blanket covering her chest and wait to feel the soft rise.
I bend to kiss Emma and leave her room, leaving the door half open. I take the next few steps with Hales in mind; slipping into our bed, I turn to wrap her in my arms. She leans into me. I kiss her divine-smelling hair and pull her closer, exactly where she belongs.
My Hayley.
The End.
About the Author
By teen age, Sigal already lived in three different continents where she was lucky enough to
experience and visit varied places, meet unique people, which only helped fuel her overly
developed imagination. Currently, Sigal calls Estonia home where she lives with her husband
and three kids.
Not exactly sure where they will end up next …
When she is not hiding in her office, writing, she enjoys music, reading and taking care of
her little clan.
With a great believe in “don’t wait for things to happen—make them happen,” she enjoys
anything exciting life has to offer.
Sigal would love to hear from you, please visit her on her website, Twitter, and Facebook.
http://www.sigalehrlich.com/
@Sigal_Ehrlich
https://www.facebook.com/sigalehrlich.author
http://www.pinterest.com/authorsehrlich/
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: One in Seven Billion
Chapter 2: Addressing the Mammoth
Chapter 3: Meet the Parents
Chapter 4: Is My Blessing Also My Enemy?
Chapter 5: Messages
Chapter 6: Pending Proposal
Chapter 7: Confessions of a Call Girl
Chapter 8: State of National Emergency
Chapter 9: Three Wishes
Chapter 10: Under the Weather
Chapter 11: Soup, Wine, Ginger, Truth or Dare and Plain Ol’ Comfort
Chapter 12: Illegal Rush
Chapter 13: Lost Nostradamus Prediction
Chapter 14: Rolling Snowball
Chapter 15: Mrs. Stark?
Chapter 16: Cryptic Messages
Chapter 17: In the Best of Hands
Chapter 18: Forgive and Forget?
Chapter 19: Cardiac Shake, Rattle, and Roll
Chapter 20: Behind Deep Scars
Chapter 21: Open Matter
Chapter 22: Going the Distance
Chapter 23: Gay Times by the Indian Ocean
Chapter 24: D for Disaster Waiting to Happen
Chapter 25: Birthday Festivities
Chapter 26: Every Saint Has a Past
Chapter 27: Just Another Day in Paradise
Chapter 28: It's Not about the Wrapping
Chapter 29: Matter of Urgency
Chapter 30: Ten and a Half Reasons
Chapter 31: Stark Admirer
Chapter 32: Slammed
Chapter 33: The Morning After
Chapter 34: Numb: adjective, 1. deprived of the power of sensation
Chapter 35: Breaking News
Epilogue
Daniel
About the Author
