Bedmates Soulmates

She glanced at the computer screen.

A spreadsheet was open, filled with all kinds of colour-coded numbers, bar charts and line graphs,

Install-to-registration rate, ARPU, SQLS, average sales cycle lengths...

She got a headache just loolding at the numbers.

Math was nower her strong suit.

She marvelled at Austyn's ability to process such a vast amount of information.

She wondered how he pulled it off.

Was this what it took to be a self-made billionaire before the age of thirty?

Kira was a little envious.

If there was one thing she could change about herself, she would opt for 10 without a moment's hesitation

She didn't think of hergell as stupid, but she wished she could be quicker on the uptake.

Kira stared at her reflection in the desk's smooth varnish.

She hoped their child would get Austyn's brains and looks and height, and maybe her eyes

Austyn came back five minutes later with a glass of wann milk 'Here. Drink this,"

Kira took the glass with both hands.

Elsie had to be fast asleep by now,

Austyn must have warmed up the milk by himself

Kira felt a tiny stab of bitterness.

Was he being this nice to her only because of the baby?

"What are you thinking about? Austyn asked.

"Nothing

'Don't lie to me."

I'm not

'I can see the cogs turning in your head, a classic sign that you're up to no good.

Kira set down the glass and licked away the milk moustache on her lips.

Austyn watched her, his Adam's apple bobbing.

'Can I ask you something? Kira clasped her hands together.

""What is it?"

She stood up.

She wanted to look him in the eye as she posed the question, but she forgot about their height difference.

Her gaze landed somewhere on his chest..

She had to tilt her head up by almost sixty degrees.

Kira shuffled her feet and tried to find the best angle so she could see his face clearly.

Austyn was tickled by all her little adjustments.

Kira hid her slightly trembling hands behind her back and gulped.

She decided to pick up where they left off eleven days ago.

'Do you do you love me?'

She stared straight into his eyes,

Austyn blinked

He had not anticipated this question

Kira bit her lower lip and waited for a reply.

Neither spoke for a long while.

Austyn heard his heartbeat in the stillness of the night

He parted his lips, but no sound came out.

He had confessed his love to her before he left for Blumore.

But that was done at the spur of the moment

Now, watched by Kira's expectant gaze, he was unable to get a word out

What should he say?

A simple 'Yes, I do?

Would that sound too brusque?

Or was he supposed to draw her into his arms and whisper sweet nothings in her ear?

Things like 'I love you to the moon and back"

Would that come off as too corny?

Austyn was a firm believer in the proverb that actions speak louder than words,

He learned that from his father,

Not Henry's actions, though

Henry's words offered a perfect example of what NOT to do

The day after he celebrated his 12th wedding anniversary with Charlotte, he brought Liam and Olivia Cane to Austyn still remembered what Henry said to Charlotte less than twenty-four hours ago I adore everything about you That day, an 11-year-old Austyn learned two things.

to live with

with the family.

One, talk was cheap

Two, his father wasn't the stand-up guy he once thought.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Austyn never called Henry 'Dad' from that day onwards.

Kira's heart sank when she heard nothing from Austyn.

His eyes were downcast.

He looked serious and lost in thought.

Disappointment weighed heavy on her chest.

Kira smiled bitterly.

She had done something stupid again.

But was it really that difficult a question to answer?

A simple 'yes' or 'no' would have sufficed.

Anything was better than this suffocating silence. Wasn't b

supposed to be good with words?

Was he hoping she would take the hint and drop the subject?

But why should she always be the sensible one and do what he expected?

If they were going to stay married as a couple, they were going to do it as equal partners, not as boss and subordinate.

Defiant, Kira pushed Austyn down into the chair and, before he could react, climbed on top of him.