My gaze shifted toward Jax, who was looking at me with curiosity and intrigue.
I tensely chuckled into the mic. “Now that’s a loaded question if I ever heard one.”
Everyone laughed except for Jax.
With my eyes focused on the audience, I tried to ignore the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.
“I’m human, and I’ve made mistakes,” I said more for Jax, hoping deep down he knew how bad I felt for keeping Ben away from him.
Especially now with seeing how amazing he was with our son. Jax was a natural-born father, it came easy to him. Making our transition to living in his home was a lot easier than I could have imagined. He adored Ben, and the feeling was very much mutual. The bond they shared was instant, as if they had never been apart.
Jax had always been a selfish man, so to see him put Ben first was completely unexpected. It was hard being the reason they were apart, and I hated myself for it. I couldn’t change the past and what I’d done. The only thing I could do now was make sure he never missed another milestone again. Even if it meant I had to move closer to him after our divorce was finalized.
Shaking away the thought, I added to my reply, “I guess it would be to tell…”
I could see it in his eyes, the worry over what I was about to share with my reader base and reporters was written clear across his face.
I smiled at him, easing his concern. “All of you know who I am from the beginning of my career and not just two months ago.”
He breathed a visible sigh of relief, and it didn’t take long for a reader to ask if Jax could come up on the stage with me.
“I don’t think—”
“I’d love to,” he answered for me, making his way up the steps.
When the announcer requested for another chair, Jax waved her off. Instead, he grabbed my hand and pulled me up off my seat to sit down. Before I could ask for a chair, he gripped onto my waist and sat me down on his lap.
I’m going to kill him.
The audience went wild with a chorus of awes, only falling more in love with my husband.
Husband? Did I really just think that?
We spent the next hour answering questions.
Smiling.
Laughing.
Pretending.
Question after question was thrown at us. The more personal it was, the easier he answered. Talk about pressure to play the part of the supportive, loving wife. We portrayed the perfect couple, the ultimate family goals.
“Jax, how’s it feel to be married to a romance author?”
He reached for my hand, bringing it up to his mouth. He kissed it, smiling only at me. Fully aware I was dying inside, he did it to comfort me. It had the opposite effect and only made me feel worse that we were pretending to be something we weren’t.
“Sophie has always loved reading. I can’t tell you how many nights she spent talking to me about all the books she loved or what she was currently reading. The look in her eyes, the sound of her voice, the way she’d smile when she was passionately speaking about her latest book boyfriend. It’s normal to be jealous of a fictional hero, right?”
I chuckled with the crowd.
“It didn’t surprise me that she grew up to be a bestselling author, but to me, she’s always been the heroine of my life.”
His eyes still hadn’t wavered from mine, like they were suddenly fused together.
Was he saying this to me or them?
Nonetheless, we couldn’t tear our stares away from one another.