She, the Kingdom (She #1)(56)

“Max…” I said again.

“Morgan, please. Don’t make any rash decisions. We can talk about how you’re feeling about it all later. I have an early meeting that I can’t be late for, but I do want to talk.”

“I’m not upset,” I blurted out before he could interrupt me again. Just as he began to respond, my phone buzzed, and we froze. I leaned over to check the display, and quickly put it back down.

“The kids?” he asked.

I took in a breath, trying to buy time. I didn’t want Max to leave angry.

“Morgan,” he prompted. “Everything okay?” When I didn’t answer, recognition lit his face. “It’s Colton.”

I nodded.

“Should I worry?”

“No,” I said.

He paused, his T-shirt on inside out and his sneakers in hand. One corner of his mouth turned up. “I’ll be back later.” He walked over to me, leaned in, and pecked my lips. “See you soon.”

He left looking like his old self, the bags under and redness in his eyes gone. He rushed out to his car and backed out quickly, racing home to dress for work. I wondered what was waiting for him there. For the first time, he didn’t seem to care. I was his focus. He worried about me and my feelings the way he used to worry about Sophie’s.

I stood up and stretched, smiling when each muscle complained. A thin layer of our combined cum slicked my thighs, making them glide easily as I walked to the bathroom. A strange sadness came over me as I washed Max away in the shower, and I wondered if the end of the day would bring more threats from Sophie, or…

I thought about the wire and pieces of black plastic on the table. What Sophie had done was illegal. She had not only filmed me inside my home without my consent, but had to have broken in to place the camera. It was likely her overgrown boy toy who’d done her dirty work, but as I stepped out of the shower freshly scrubbed, I wondered how to report it to the authorities without my whole world crashing down around me. It wouldn’t be so bad if it were just me, but I didn’t want to shame my parents or my children. Sophie knew what position I would be in all along. It was maddening being one step behind her.

Just as I finished dressing for the day, someone knocked on the door. I padded down the hall and across the living room. Colton had his hand balled into a fist, mid-pound when I opened the door.

“Colton,” I said, blinking.

He immediately frowned, shoving his hands in his jeans pockets, looking more boyish than he had since we’d met. He was wearing his red work shirt, already sweating.

I glanced at my watch. It was just after nine, and already the heat was infiltrating my air-conditioned home. “Do you want to come in?”

He shook his head, looking at the cement beneath his feet. “I heard the Kingstons split up. I wanted to make sure you were all right.”

“I’m fine.”

“If they’re not together anymore, does that mean you’re released from your contract?”

“I… I don’t know. I should probably discuss it with Max. Come inside.”

Colton shifted, itching his nose with his finger before resting his hands on his hips. “People say they were fighting over you.”

“Me? Who?”

“The Kingstons. Do you know anything about that?” I shook my head, and Colton fidgeted, lifted his ball cap, and then pulled it down low over his eyes. “Screw it.” He met my gaze. “Are you in love with him? With Max?”

“Please come in, the AC is on.”

He slipped past me, standing in the center of my living room. I closed the door, leaning back against it; my hand was behind me, still on the knob. I wasn’t sure what I was hanging onto.

Colton narrowed his eyes, noticing my reluctance to let go of the door. “What’s going on with you two? People are saying it sounds like more than just the surrogacy agreement.”

“Who are these people?” I asked.

His cheeks flushed red, and he began to pace. “My boss. My boss’s wife. My uncle. All my friends.”

“Since when do harvesters engage in small town gossip?”

Colton couldn’t seem to stand still. “I told them there was no way you’d get involved in anything so disgusting.”

Disgusting.

He continued while I felt more and more sick to my stomach, “I told them you weren’t like that. That you were too good to be the other woman. You’re too good for that, Morgan. If anyone even tried to reduce you to that I’d… my mom talked about you so much. How kind you were. How good you were. She’d hoped I’d end up with someone just like you.” He stood still, glaring at me. “What they’re saying about you isn’t true. It can’t be.”

“Maybe it is.”

He paused, and then sputtered. “No,” he said, pointing at the floor. “Don’t you dare say that about yourself. You’re not. I know better.”

“Do you?”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“I mean,” I began, swallowing the truth. He begged with his eyes for me to say what he wanted to hear. “I’m not the person you think I am. I try to do the right thing, but you have me on this pedestal that I could never live up to. Especially not now…”

He winced. “Don’t say that. You’re a big piece of the last good memory I have of my mom. We held onto that for so long. She used you as an example over and over to remind me there was still good people in the world. She wanted me to fall for you, and here we are.”