Page 48 of Silver Linings

“Mae.” Whoever this woman was, she was gorgeous. A little shorter than Lily, but her hair was pin straight, and it flowed over her shoulders like a river of melted chocolate. Her heels clicked across the tile floor as she walked behind what Lily assumed was the receptionist’s desk.

“Oh, that shithead brother of mine didn’t mention you’d be back today. I don’t have any of your clearance stuff ready, but if you give me a few minutes, I can get your ID card all situated.” Lily watched as the woman’s eyes finally drifted over to her. “Who’s your guest?”

“This is my wife, Lily, and our daughter, Sage.”

“Your wife, Reap? What the fuck?” A man who looked like he was straight out of the pages of a Navy SEAL recruitment flier walked towards them. Lily took a half step behind Gunner and placed her hands protectively around Sage.

She could quickly see that this was going to go exactly how meeting Gunner’s boss Sebastian had gone. The pain of knowing he’d kept her and Sage a secret from the people closest to him outside of his own family burned over her skin.

“Why did he call you Reap?” she asked.

“Team nickname,” he mumbled. “Is everyone here? I’d rather just share the news once and get on with things. Mae, Lily is going to need her own set of access cards.”

“Lily. It’s so nice to meet you. Your daughter is beautiful.” Mae’s smile filled her entire face, but Lily still couldn’t gather the courage to step from behind Gunner.

“Thank you,” she replied.

“Go get the guys, idiot,” Mae said to the man who still hadn’t introduced himself. Whoever they were to each other, it certainly felt contentious.

“I think that’s your job, Mae. Right?”

“Fine,” Mae turned to the reception’s desk and picked up the phone.

“Gunner’s here. Come out front,” was all she said before hanging up. “There, I’m sure they’ll all be on their way.”

Gunner’s hand moved from the small of her back to her waist, and she felt him pull her closer to his side.

“Hawk, are you going to just stand there staring at them, or are you going to introduce yourself to Gunner’s wife?”

“Oh, shit. I’m sorry. I was just so surprised by the announcement that I forgot my manners.”

“Not that you had any to begin with,” Mae grumbled under her breath.

“Hilarious, Sis. I’m Hawk Morgan, the most handsome and charming member of the team. Don’t listen to my sister,” he chucked his thumb in Mae’s direction. “She’s held a grudge against me ever since we were little and I cut all her doll’s hair off to look like G.I. Jane.”

Ah, they were brother and sister. A smile tickled at the corner of her mouth as she realized just how much Hawk and Mae reminded her of Gunner and his sister. It was actually really sweet. And, of course, Lily knew Hawk was the charmer of the group from Gunner’s stories. That he used his southern charm to make women swoon.

“It’s nice to meet you, Hawk.” Lily forced her voice to be steady.

Three other men walked from the hallway and all stopped as soon as they saw Lily and Sage.

“Gunner?” One man, with salt and pepper hair, questioned.

He looked at Lily and pointed slowly at each man. “Lil, this is Gage Walker, Stone Lawson, and Nash Caldwell. Guys, this is my wife, Lily, and our daughter, Sage.”

The only response from the men was silence.

“It’s so nice to put faces to the names I’m so familiar with. I always loved hearing about you all in Gunner’s letters home to his mom.” Still no response. God, could this go any worse?

Sage started fussing and Lily broke out in a sweat as every eye in the room remained trained on her. No, not here, baby. Not in front of Gunner’s friends. If she couldn’t calm Sage down, they would see what a terrible mom she was. They would see how she was already failing her baby girl. As if sensing her discomfort, Gunner scooped Sage out of her arms and began gently rocking her back and forth until she calmed again.

“You got married without us there?” Nash asked.

“You had a kid on the way and didn’t tell us?” That question came from Gage, and she could see the hurt in his eyes.

“Oh, it wasn’t for—” Lily quickly tried to explain so Gunner wouldn’t have to bear the hurt from his friends, or the shame of being truly attached to her. It was all fake, so why not explain it to them?

“Yes,” Gunner interrupted her. “We wanted to get married before my mom passed. We were at city hall getting our license in the morning and Gia married us in front of my mom that afternoon. She passed away the next day. After that, the days were just crazy, and Lil ended up having the baby the night after my mom’s celebration of life.”