His Forever (His #3) by Octavia Wildwood Page A

see.  It was a good thing…a joyous occasion.  It wasn’t like my pregnancy.  They’d both wanted it; it had been a happy surprise.  Now that Daniella was nearing her due date, everything was changing.  Hayden decided to spend the next few years as a stay-at-home dad so that Daniella could focus on her own career aspirations.  He said he’d achieved everything he wanted professionally and his focus going forward was simply to be a good father and husband while continuing his charity work.
    It was hard to fault him for that.  I told Daniella often how lucky she was, not that she needed reminding.  I was thrilled for her that she’d found such a great guy but sometimes it was hard not to feel a little envious.  When would it be my turn?  I wasn’t getting any younger…  I knew twenty-eight technically wasn’t old, but some days I felt like a dinosaur.
    Maybe a great romance just wasn’t in the cards for me.  I had my son and I tried to tell myself that was enough, but sometimes it was tough to shake the feeling of loneliness that came over me in the evenings after I’d put him to bed.  It would be nice to have someone, a partner, to share my life with.  Actually, it would be more than nice.
    I tried to look at the closure of Hayden Slate’s restaurant as a good thing.  I’d learned a long time ago that single moms don’t have the luxury of wallowing in self-pity…at least not for more than five minutes, which is about all the time alone a two year old will give you.  So I took my more-than-generous severance package, paid off my debts and made a bold move.
    Literally, it was a bold move. 
    I’d taken to watching a reality cooking show on TV on Friday nights because it helped pass the seemingly endless evenings.  When auditions for the next season came around, I put my name in.  And wouldn’t you know it:  I was chosen as a contestant.  It probably didn’t hurt that I’d name dropped on my application; saying you’ve worked for Hayden Slate was like an automatic in. 
    The show filmed in Los Angeles, but that was okay.  Actually, it was perfect.  I’d wanted to escape Burlington for quite some time.  The thought of being able to walk around a store or go to a park without having to look over my shoulder, without having to run into them , was like a dream come true.  And if I somehow managed to win the fifty thousand dollar prize, it would fast track my aspirations to open my own restaurant!
    So I moved the kiddo and myself to Los Angeles, hoping desperately it was the right thing to do. 
    And that’s how I found myself a contestant in a televised cooking competition. 
    It doesn’t matter who you are.  When you’re standing in a lineup amongst a bunch of other reality show hopefuls with an arrogant celebrity judge staring you down, it’s impossible not to feel intimidated.  But I’d never been one to show weakness.  Defiantly, I raised my chin and stared right back at him.
    Gavin Roth was a man whose reputation preceded him.  The gourmet cook to the stars was a household name thanks to his uncensored and somewhat scandalous television show.  He had a commanding physical presence given his tall stature, broad shoulders and signature smirk.  Lots of women thought he was hot and I supposed he was…but for me it was his demeanor that made me weak in the knees.  He had a cocky arrogance about him that simultaneously made me want to crumble at his feet and put him in his place.
    “What’s your name?” he demanded, his eyes locked on mine.  It figured that he hadn’t bothered to learn any of our names.  He was probably too preoccupied sitting in his trailer admiring his own reflection in the mirror, I thought to myself with disgust.
    The hot overhead lights were glaring down on me, making me sweat.  I wondered if the layers upon layers of stage makeup the stylist had caked onto my face were oozing down the side of it, making it look like I was melting.  That would really