Page 37 of Silver Fox's Christmas Scandal

She looked up at me, searching my face. For a moment I thought she might argue, but then she lifted her wrist toward me and smiled.

I fastened the bracelet around her wrist, my fingers lingering on her pulse point. I had to resist the urge to bring her hand to my lips and kiss it.

"Thank you," she whispered. I saw the tears in her eyes, making me wonder what that was about, but I didn’t press. I simply nodded and continued my dinner. But I stewed in my head.

Viktoria had been very insistent that my children would suffer over this. Tessa and I had a moment a few weeks ago, too, where I broke down and opened up about that situation to her.

She said we could be friends, but I knew in my heart I was already falling hard, and I shouldn’t be.

That first kiss, the way we danced around our attraction to each other, it was a temptation and I failed the test.

Now I was sliding down the slippery slope to hell—or that's how my ex-wife would see it. I couldn’t stop it, though, and I didn't want to.

After finishing dessert, I paid for dinner and escorted Tessa back to the hotel while keeping the conversation strictly on what we'd accomplish when we returned to the home office.

But in my hotel room, where she'd been sharing my bed for two nights now, I pulled her against myself, safe from the prying eyes of the outside world, and kissed her roughly.

She yielded to me, hands splaying on my chest, but pulled away at a natural pause.

There was a flash of hesitancy on her face so I didn’t lean back in, but I took her hand and kissed the inside of her wrist where the bracelet rested.

"Not in the mood tonight?" I asked her, and she shrugged one shoulder.

"My period started." She sighed. "I feel sort of crampy."

While disappointment was my first reaction, it was immediately overshadowed by a desire to comfort her.

I clasped both hands around her face and kissed her forehead. "Do you need anything? I can get you some pain meds or see if they have some heating pads or something."

I had no clue what to do, only that this was the sort of thing I'd never even thought of when I was married to Viktoria.

And Elena was so private, I never knew she started her period until I heard she was being treated for bad cramps at one point. Guilt riddled me, and I felt even more strongly that I should be there for Tessa.

"No, that's so sweet." She pulled away and pressed a soft kiss to my cheek. "Our plane leaves soon, though, so we should pack up."

It physically pained me to let her walk away, but she was right. We zipped around our hotel room, shoving our things in our suitcases, and I carried hers for her when we walked to the checkout desk.

We made it across town in good time and shared a drink in the lounge at the airport before we boarded.

The flight was quiet, filled with business travelers. Tessa had her laptop open, working on follow-up materials.

I was reviewing emails when movement from her screen caught my peripheral vision.

She'd opened a new browser tab, and the header made my blood freeze.Chicago Fertility Clinic - IVF Services and Consultation.

She was scrolling through treatment options, success rates, and financial information. The clinical language couldn't hide what she was researching—having a baby on her own.

Rage flooded through me, though I was aware how irrational my immediate reaction was.

She was planning a life without me.

Without any man.

But I didn't understand why.

If she wanted to have a baby, why hadn’t she mentioned that to me?

It must've been why she was so adamant that I use protection every time we had sex, but it didn't make sense. What made sense and what would have been logical was her telling me what she wanted and letting me provide that for her.