The Unexpected Bride-Book One in Taming of the Shrew

Chapter Eighty-Two

"Hi, Nick."

Her voice was breathy, and a smile was threatening to split her face in half. When she had not received his call at three, Sharlene wondered if he had forgotten about her. With that thought in mind, she had burst into tears. Unable to control the volume, she had gotten the attention of Rita, who was occupying AJ's room and making her trip to the bathroom for the sixth time.

Without knocking, she entered the room and came to her side.

Hugging her to her person, she had asked the reason for her tears, and Sharlene had willingly explained.

Being supportive as ever, she made her laugh and dissuaded her negative feelings. Blaming it on her pregnancy hormones, she was finally able to fall back asleep with Rita's kind coaxing.

"Hi, sweetheart. Sorry for calling later than usual. You must have thought I forgot about you."

As she heard his apology, teasing, and endearment, Sharlene blushed, for she had indeed.

"A little."

With a brief pause, as if he was thinking, he spoke with conviction.

"That would never happen."

Her heart melted from his reassuring words, and her blush intensified.

Walking to sit on the sofa, she placed a hand underneath her chin.

"Is that a promise?"

"Yes."

An abrupt reply from him set her heart ablaze, and the negative thinking evaporated. Nodding, she felt her entire day was promising with his words and call. However, she depicted that he was tired, for his voice sounded wary and groggy. It was a great contrast to his generally sexy and baritone tone of voice that always made her heart race and blush redder than a tomato.

The loud noise in his background, which she did not hear until now, made her frown.

"You sound tired. Is everything okay?"

She curiously asked.

"I am tired," he stressed. "I had to stay up all night yesterday because of a new idea for the restaurant. I only got two hours of sleep in the afternoon."

When she heard this, her frown broadened.

"What time is it for you?"

Her voice tinted with worry, she leaned forward in her seat. She did not appreciate that he had been losing sleep.

"It is half-past eleven in the night for me."

"Eleven?"

She gasped.

Knowledgeable of the time difference between Italy and Colorado, since he had explained in great detail for her, her eyebrows creased.

Suddenly, there was a feminine voice permitting through the speaker, but her words were inaudible.

"I am alright."

She heard him dismissively say to the woman, and her curiosity spiked as an unreadable emotion arose in her chest. Unconsciously her lips pursed as she patiently waited for the one-sided conversation to finish.

"Who was that?"

She asked, her words carrying a hint of annoyance, but she was oblivious of that fact.

"Just someone, asking a question."

Sharlene raised an eyebrow, for she found his statement not entirely true because she heard the feminine voice once again, but thankfully more distant.