At the bottom of my notifications, I find my answer.
@MsShelbyMorgan tagged you in a post.
“Oh my God.” I tap the link to Shelby’s post. It’s a photo from last weekend. The selfie of Shelby and me, carefully cropped and filtered to obscure the clubhouse’s background.
@MsShelbyMorgan: Hanging with the makeup QUEEN @TranquilSparkle go check out her flocking fab tutorials!
“Holy shit!” I slap my hand over my mouth, conscious of my loud voice in the quiet apartment.
I quickly navigate to my YouTube channel, which has also received tons of new views, likes, and comments. “Oh my God,” I repeat over and over. This is huge.
“Why aren’t you in bed with me?” Gray rasps.
I tear my gaze away from my sky-rocketing numbers and almost drop my phone.
Gray fills up the bedroom doorway. Shirtless, with his arms raised and braced against the doorframe. Why did I get out of bed when this sexy beast of a man was waiting for me? He yawns and stretches, showing off toned muscles and inked skin.
“I’m having trouble remembering.”
The corner of his mouth slides up. “Like what you see, huh?”
“Very much.”
“All right. I’ll forgive you for letting me wake up alone.” He glances toward the kitchen, a playful smile flickering over his mouth. “And not starting the coffee.”
“Look.” I thrust my phone at him. “Shelby tagged me in a post and my socials are exploding.”
“I definitely need coffee to figure that one out.” He kisses the top of my head as he passes me. I scroll and scroll through new comments. Deleting mean ones and answering nice ones. “I better thank Shelby. She said she’d tag me, but I didn’t really expect her to.”
“You got her number?” Gray asks.
“Yup.” I tap out a quick text.
Me: Thank you so much for the mention!
Shelby: Anytime!
A second text comes through from her with a flamingo, crown, and sunflower emoji. Grinning, I send her back a heart.
“Okay, so tell me what put that glow on your face this morning?” Gray sets a mug on the coffee table in front of me and takes a seat.
“Tea?” I peer into my mug and give his a forlorn look. “I feel it’s unfair for you to drink coffee when I can’t.”
He pauses mid-sip. “I didn’t think you’d want to blow your one cup this early in the day.”
“I’m not going to bother with the one cup.” I pick up the tea and stir the spoon through it. “I don’t want to risk it. I’ll stick to tea.”
“I’ll knock back to one cup a day, then.”
“Now, that’s true love.” I lean in and kiss his cheek.
“When we’re together,” he adds.
Shaking with laughter, I set my mug down. “Fair enough.” I pick up my phone again. “This was so sweet of Shelby.”
“That she mentioned you?”
Gray doesn’t quite understand and I’m not sure how to explain without adding a bunch of details that won’t mean much to him. “She has a much bigger audience than I do. Theoretically, a large part of her audience should consist of teenage girls or young women, who may also be interested in makeup. So by tagging me like that, she just gave me exposure to a whole audience I might not be able to reach otherwise.”
“So, free advertising?”
“Exactly.”
“What does that mean for you?”
“The more I grow my audience, the more I’ll attract companies who will pay me to make videos about their products. More ad revenue from my channel. Stuff like that.”
“That’s great.” He scratches his hand over his beard. “So you actually make money with that?” He flicks his hand toward my phone.
I duck my head. It always feels so weird or silly to talk about this with people who don’t understand. “It started out as a hobby, but yes, I earn enough to pay some bills with it. Not enough to match my PT salary or anything.”
A pained expression creases his brow. Damn it. I wasn’t trying to make him feel bad about losing my job.
I glance at the clock. “Do you need to get to Strike Back?”
“Yeah, I’m supposed to open.”
“You’re sure you don’t mind me going to class with Emily?”
“Of course not.” He rests his hand on my leg. “I just want you to be careful.”
“Em knows I’m not ready to tell anyone I’m pregnant yet. She promised to be my partner and go easy on me.”
“I’ll remind Jake not to single you out for anything.”
“Wait, what reason are you going to give him?”
He stares at me for a few seconds. “That I don’t want another man’s hands on my woman.”
I snort-giggle into my tea. “That’s believable. Especially with that face you’re making.”
He pulls the cup from my hands and sets it on the table again. “It’s believable because it’s true.” He tugs me into his lap, cuddling me into his protective embrace. He lifts my shirt and rests his hand against my stomach. “Why aren’t you ready to tell anyone?” he asks quietly.