Egotistically Yours by Hayley Faiman

Chapter Ten

BETHANIE

It’s wellafter midnight by the time I make it to bed. Laurent is already asleep beneath the sheets by the time Tucker is settled down in the bassinet and fast asleep. I slide in beside Laurent and roll to the side, trying to close my eyes.

My body is exhausted, but my eyes just won’t close. Reaching for my phone on the nightstand, I look for the reading app and touch it, hoping that a few moments of reading will relax me and make my eyes heavy.

As soon as I’m taken to the world of red aliens and gigantic… everything, I am anything but sleepy. I touch the screen to take me to the next page, which eventually takes me to the next chapter and then before I realize what’s happened, I’ve finished the book.

Blinking, I check the time and curse myself. I’m going to be exhausted tomorrow. It’s two in the morning and I know that Tucker will be up soon for his next feeding. Deciding to just read the next book in the series until Tucker wakes up, I click on it and get lost again.

When Tucker starts to cry, I set the phone down and feel Laurent roll over, wrapping his arm around me. He touches his lips to my shoulder.

“I’ll get him,” he murmurs.

“No, I’m awake,” I say.

He chuckles. “I know you are, baby. Those aliens get it on?” he asks as he rolls out of bed.

“How? I didn’t keep you up, did I?” I ask, horrified that I did something to keep him up when he has to work tomorrow… well, today.

“You didn’t keep me up, I woke up expecting Tucker to start to stir and I saw your phone screen on. It’s fine,” he says as he moves around and changes Tucker before gathering him and bringing him over to me.

“Please go back to sleep,” I beg. “You shouldn’t be up. I haven’t even slept and I’m just reading.”

“Bethie,” he warns, leaning over to touch his lips to my forehead. “It’s the least I can do. I don’t mind it, not in the slightest.”

I don’t know this man. I am falling in love with him, but I don’t know him. I hope that he stays. I already love Laurent the asshole, the player, and the socialite. But this man, the kind and caring man, the family man.

He is someone I never thought existed.

Laurent stays awake with me while I feed Tucker, leaning against the headboard he asks me about my childhood and about my life. It surprises me, but it also makes me even happier than I imagined, he wants to know me—all of me.

“Are your parents still married?”

“They are, happily. They live out of the city, but not too far. They do a big Christmas every year. I’m always stuck in the kitchen and bored to death,” I say with a small laugh. “Though I doubt I’ll ever be bored at Christmas again with this little man to take care of.”

Laurent chuckles. “Agreed. I don’t think any part of our lives will ever be boring,” he says, reaching over to touch the side of Tucker’s cheek. “I have a feeling he will keep us entertained and busy, always.”

“I think you could be right,” I say with a smile, shifting my gaze from Tucker’s cheek to connect with Laurent’s eyes.

He grins, his eyes searching mine. “Do you have any siblings?” he asks, continuing his million questions to get to know Bethanie Clark.

“I don’t, just me, myself, and I.”

Laurent nods as though he’s thinking about something and made an inner decision. “Five,” he announces.

“Five?”

“No, never mind. Six,” he says as though I know what he’s talking about.

“Six what, Laurent?”

His lips curl up into a mischievous grin and I know that grin, that is a look of Laurent Astor who is up to no good—none at all.

“Children, Bethie. That’s how many I think we should have.”

My eyes widen and I look down at Tucker, then back up to Laurent. “Are you joking? You’re joking, right? My whole body hurts just thinking about having one more, let alone five.” I lean forward, whispering my next words. “Have you lost your mind?” I hiss.

His shoulders shake as he laughs, trying hard not to be too loud so he doesn’t disturb Tucker who is almost finished eating.

“No. Tucker is gorgeous. I never thought I wanted children, but he’s perfect and I just don’t see how we can only create one perfect child.”

“So, we should have more and tempt fate?” I ask.

“Yeah, I think we should.”

“Five more times?” I grumble.

He leans forward, touching his lips to mine. My breath hitches when I feel his warm mouth against my own. “Five more times, baby.”

“God, you make me want to want that with you, Laurent.”

He hums, his lips brushing mine. “Good.”

LAURENT

The next morning,I leave Bethie and Tucker fast asleep in their beds. It doesn’t take me long to get out of the house. I make a quick stop at the gym to work out, then shower and change there before heading to the office. Zara is already sitting behind her desk when I arrive and I spend the morning working quietly before my next round of meetings.

“Mr. Astor,” Zara calls out what feels like only moments after I sit down behind my desk.

Lifting my head, I glance at the clock on my computer and blink. It’s almost lunch and I’m shocked at how much time has passed. Arching a brow, I wait for Zara to finish asking whatever it is she’s going to ask me.

“There’s a woman outside, with a baby …”

Jumping to my feet, I rush past her and hear her intake of breath, then I stop short and stare at said woman with the baby in front of me. It’s clearly Bethie, but I stare at her in complete shock.

She’s cut her hair.

Her blonde hair now sits just at her shoulders, brushing them instead of halfway down her back.

“You hate it,” she almost whimpers.

I don’t speak right away, shaking my head slowly as I continue to stare at her. “I don’t,” I finally say. “You look so different,” I say. “But it’s not a bad different.”

My feet become unstuck from the floor and I make my way toward her. Lifting my hand, I slide my fingertips down the side of her hair, feeling how soft it is to the touch, my eyes following the motion before I shift my gaze over to connect with hers.

“It looks good, baby,” I rasp. “I really like it.”

Her eyes are watery as she looks at me, not saying a word at first, then she lets out a long breath as if she was holding it before she speaks. “I just. Tucker kept pulling it, then this morning one of my hairs was wrapped around his finger and it scared me.”

My lips turn up into a small smile. “Looks good, baby. I like it.”

“I couldn’t wait to show you,” she says with a laugh.

“How’d you get here?” I ask, my lips turning down in a frown.

She shrugs a shoulder, then she presses her lips together and rolls them a few times. “I got an Uber.”

My eyes widened, flicking my gaze down to Tucker, then back to her, unbelieving that she not only hired an Uber but also got into one with our son and didn’t think to call me or let me know. Anger fills me instantly. I see only red as I look at her and I let my hand fall from her face, taking a step backward. I try not to overreact or react in instant anger the way that I feel inside.

“Laurent?” she asks.

I hold up my hand and shake my head, willing myself to calm down. Clearing my throat, I run my hand over my face and inhale a deep breath, then let it out slowly.

“No more Ubers,” I murmur. “None.”

“I can’t drive yet, Laurent. I have an appointment in a few weeks, but I can’t drive. Tucker had a doctor’s appointment.”

“Wait,” I bark.

Bethie jumps and out of the corner of my eye, I see Zara jump behind her desk. She’s watching all of this and I have no idea what she’s thinking, but I have a feeling I’ve scared her even more than she already was of me.

“In my office,” I grind out.

Turning around, I walk into my office, standing by the door and wait for Bethie to make her way inside. She pushes the small stroller past me and I slam the door after she and Tucker are inside.

Bethie turns to me, her eyes narrowing on me, her new haircut making it really fucking hard to be pissed off at her because it looks so goddamn good. I’ve never been one to like shorter hair on women, but this works on Bethie, it really fucking works.

“You’re pissed off,” she whispers. “You can’t expect for me to call you about every little thing. You have to work and I have to do things too. I can’t sit in the penthouse all day long and cry.”

“Cry?” I ask, my heart squeezing at the thought of her sitting around crying all day long.

She shakes her head. “Well, you know yesterday was kind of bad, I wanted today to be better and it was …”

“Until I got pissed?” I ask.

She shrugs a shoulder. I take a moment to inhale another long breath in an attempt to calm down a bit. Then I lift my eyes to look at her, to really take her in. New. This is new for both of us and I shouldn’t be so quick to anger but fuck me.

“I would like to go to Tucker’s doctor’s appointments, in the future, or at least know about them,” I begin.

“I-I didn’t realize,” Bethie mutters.

I hum. “Also, if there’s a problem and you need a ride somewhere, call me. I have to at least know where my child is, where you are. If something happened, I wouldn’t have known a fucking thing.”

Her eyes widen and she gulps. “I didn’t think.”

I want to be a smart-ass, but I bite my tongue and don’t respond to her words. Instead, I nod my head once. “For the future,” I say. “Do me that courtesy?”

“Okay, Laurent.”

“Now, do you want lunch?” I ask with a smile, trying to lighten the mood even though I feel anything but light and happy right now. I’m still reeling and pissed off, but I can’t take it out on her, it was a mistake, one that I hope never happens again.

“Sure,” she agrees with a nod.

Together, we walk out of the office, my hand pressed against the small of her back and Bethie pushing my son. I tell Zara goodbye but realize halfway down the elevator that I never introduced Zara to my family.

Family.

Looking between Bethie and Tucker in his stroller, I realize that it’s true. I really do have a family now, a real one. The panic that instantly filled me when she said that she took an Uber, that she went to his doctor’s appointment, it slowly starts to fade.

I just can’t believe that she did these things and I was just sitting behind my desk working with no idea that my woman and baby were out and about was too much.

Bethie and Tucker are precious to me. The thought of something happening to them is terrifying.