“I don't feel great,” I replied, glancing down at myself one last time. I wore a black, high-waisted pencil skirt and a flowing, light blue chiffon blouse. I looked professional, even if I felt like I was going to be sick. I wasn't entirely sure it was all just nerves. Being pregnant didn't exactly sit well with my stomach.
“Fake it then,” James advised me. He did a once over my body, his eyes dilating slightly and he licked his lips. “Because you look sexy as hell.”
“Maybe you just like that I'm carrying your baby,” I teased. I definitely liked when he looked at me like that. Hungry. Powerful. Possessive.
He moved over to me, looming over me and looking down at me like he might gobble me up in one bite. “Fuck yes, I do.” I shivered and he grinned before stepping back.
“Hold on. Your tie is crooked.” I reached up and straightened it. The motion felt familiar and right. Like this was how we were supposed to be.
I smoothed the silk tie down his chest, making sure it hung straight. He put his hands over mine and brought them to his lips.
“This is going to be fine,” he promised. “I'll take care of you.”
I looked up into his green eyes and knew he meant it. He would never let me down. He would never let our baby down. I nodded, feeling a little more confident. He took my hand in his and we walked out of the hotel room and downstairs to where the reporters were waiting.
***
I'd never seen so many people in my life wanting to get a picture of me. As soon as James and I stepped into the conference room, flashbulbs went off in a strobe like pattern. The world moved in bits and pieces, jumping from one flash of light to the next. James walked through it like it was nothing.
I followed, holding onto his hand like a life line to the podium. As we approached, he gave me one last squeeze before stepping up to the microphone. I stood behind him, folding my hands together in front of me and doing my best to smile and not look like I was about to puke.
“Thank you all for coming,” James started. “I'm sure you all have some questions, which I will answer after my statement.”
More flashes went off and every reporter in the room held up their recording device. James smiled as if this were nothing more than a room full of friends. I envied his easy confidence as he grinned at the cameras pointed right at him and charmed who ever was on the other side.
“I'm sure you've all seen the news today, or you wouldn't be here. I'm dating my stepsister.” James paused, waiting for the room to start breathing again. “Now, I'm sure to some of you, that statement is a bit crazy, but I'd like to take this chance to explain.”
Every reporter held their recorders up a little higher.
“Allie and I didn't grow up together. We don't have the same parents. The only thing that links us is that my mother and her father fell in love while we were in high school.” He smiled around the room. I didn't know how he did it. I was shaking in my shoes. “Now, I'm sure you can imagine how two hormonal, non-related teenagers felt about being under the same roof and being asked not to act on those hormones.”
A chuckle of laughter went through the room.
“We did our best to stay apart. We tried for four years to tell ourselves that these feelings were just hormones. That we weren't feeling something real.” He looked around the room, making eye contact with each and every reporter. “Now, after four years, we've realized that that isn't going to work. We're not teenagers anymore. We're adults. And those feelings only got stronger.”
He turned and held out his hand for me. I took it without hesitation. His green eyes pulled me into him, stronger than any magnet.
“There are those who might say this is wrong,” he said, turning back to the podium. “What's wrong about it? We're in love. We plan on getting married. How are we any different than any other couple our age?”
My heart stalled and warmth spread out behind my breast bone. We plan on getting married. In my heart, I wanted that, but I had never had the guts to even think it. It was always something too far away and impossible to even dream of. My imaginary futures with James had never gotten that far. But now that I heard him say it, I wanted it. I wanted it more than anything.
“As adults, our parents no longer define us. I run a billion-dollar corporation. My mother has no say in it. Allie is earning her degree, yet her father isn't the one dictating her cla
sses. So, I ask you, why should their marriage define us? Their marriage is for them, not for us. I can honestly say that if we had been given the choice five years ago on who they should marry, we both would have chosen someone different.”
I smiled. I liked Nancy, but there was no way I would have ever set her up on a date with my dad. There was no way I would have chosen to make James my stepbrother.
“But we didn't get that choice. We respected it, because we love our parents and want them to be happy, but it was not our choice. We don't get to chose who we love. We just love them.” James turned and looked at me, his eyes sincere and bright. “And I love Allie.”
I beamed at him. More flashes went off as we gazed lovingly into one another's eyes. They were eating the presentation of reluctant lovers up with a spoon. This was going as planned. All that was left now was the question and answer part, which unfortunately the part that made me nervous.
James turned back to the crowd, my hand tightly wrapped up in his. “Now, I'll be happy to answer a couple of questions.”
Every reporter in the room's hand shot up.
Audrey stepped out from the side of the room. I hadn't even noticed her there, but she was dressed professionally. She pointed to a man in a dark suit.
“Do you have any idea who leaked the photos and why they would do such a thing?”