“Because you would try to talk me out of what I did,” she said calmly. “Being Miss Georgia and then Miss USA has been my dream, Wynn. It’s going to open every door I ever thought about. I already barely eat as it is. I’m always working out. I can’t afford to be an ounce over my competition weight, not with how tight my outfits are and what that swimsuit shows.” She looked at him evenly. “That meant no baby.”
“But . . . our child, Stephanie. It was ours. Together. We made a baby. I should’ve had some say in it.”
“I don’t want kids. Ever.”
Stunned, Wynn simply gaped at her. They’d never talked about having children. He’d just assumed she wanted them.
“I want a career. I want to be famous. I want to be on TV, reporting at the biggest sporting events on the planet. Not changing diapers or dragging myself to parent-teacher conferences. I’m going places, Wynn. You can, too. You’ve got so much talent. We make the ultimate power couple. We always have, here at Winters, and we can do it in the real world.”
“You can have all of that—and kids,” he protested.
Anger flashed in her eyes. “You heard me. I don’t want brats. Not any.”
Before, he’d had little doubts about marrying Stephanie. She was self-centered but could still be the sweetest soul on the planet. Hearing her now, though, changed everything. It was as if some space alien had invaded her body.
Wynn stood and the velvet box containing the ring fell from his pocket. Stephanie looked at it and then him.
“How’s the patient?” a voice said.
Wynn turned and saw Monty breeze through the door.
“Move over, Youngblood. I need to see how our girl’s doing.”
He stumbled back as Monty examined Stephanie, turning his head as Monty lifted her gown. “Looking okay, babe. A little red. That’s all. Your fever’s from infection.”
“Then do something about it, Monty. I feel like hell. Like my insides are dribbling outside. Did you botch this?”
“Nah. You’re gonna be fine, Steph.” Monty sat on the bed and said, “Whoa, what’s this?” and popped the box open. Looking over his shoulder, he said, “You’ve got to be kidding. You’d need a microscope to see that little diamond chip.” He turned back to Stephanie. “You don’t need this loser in your life, babe.”
Wynn stepped up and swiped the box from Carl’s hand. “Don’t worry. I didn’t ask her. She won’t be wearing it.” Disgust filled him. “Stephanie’s going places. Without me. You can have her.”
With that, Wynn strode from the bedroom, passed a shocked Becky, and out the door.
CHAPTER 1
Scarlett Corrigan swept her hair into a ponytail and grabbed her keys and coffee travel mug as she headed out the door. This was the first time in two weeks she’d had the energy to do something unrelated to work. A nasty case of food poisoning had knocked her flat on her back—when she wasn’t vomiting. Still, she’d worked on various case files from bed. Once she returned to her law firm, she came home exhausted each night, too tired to work out.
Today, though, the beach called her name. She and Keely were set to compete in a local volleyball tournament. Scarlett finally felt physically strong enough to enjoy teaming with her best friend and taking down some competitors. She looked forward to catching up and hearing how filming was going on Keely and Mac’s latest movie. They’d started shooting the Breck O’Dell screenplay over three weeks ago. She and Keely had constantly traded texts but this would be the first time they’d seen each other since the rom-com shoot began.
As she headed along the PCH, Scarlett thoughts turned to tonight’s dinner. It was time to end things with Chaz Weston. They’d met at a bar association meeting a couple of months ago. Chaz was confident, charming, and boyish, even at forty. With killer schedules, they’d only seen each other sporadically, which suited both of them.
Until now.
At thirty-four—soon to be thirty-five—Scarlett knew she’d arrived at a crossroad. For ten years, she’d been consumed by her legal career, dating casually because she had too much she wanted to do before settling down. Besides, LA was a town where most men sported a Peter Pan complex, never wanting to grow up and assume responsibilities. She’d been fine with that.
Until she wasn’t.
Kids hadn’t been on her radar. She was fine being Auntie Scarlett to her nieces and nephews and spoiling them crazy. Then, one by one over the last two years, her friends all married and started having kids. It really struck her when Keely and Mac wed six months ago. Keely was growing in demand as an actress and hadn’t been looking for love when, out of nowhere, Mac Randall appeared and they fell for one another. The looks those two gave each another gave Scarlett goosebumps. She wanted a man to look at her the way Mac did Keely. She wanted to feel loved and have someone to share her life with, all the ups and downs and in-betweens. Moreover, out of the blue—she wanted kids. Badly. Mac and Keely were trying and Scarlett knew, any day now, they would announce they were pregnant.
Maybe she could be a single parent. Every good man in Hollywood seemed to be taken and Scarlett knew most of them, thanks to being Rhett Corrigan’s little sister. He was Hollywood’s best-known and highest paid actor. His closest friends had married women Scarlett became friends with. Dash DeLauria, Knox Monroe, and Breck O’Dell were all like big brothers to her. They seemed to be the only decent men in the entertainment industry. Since she focused exclusively on entertainment law, she would know.
Turning on her blinker, Scarlett pulled off the highway and into Keely’s drive. She punched in a code and the gate opened. The beefed-up security had been Mac’s idea after their wedding. The paparazzi problem in California only seemed to
