Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 86335 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 432(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 288(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86335 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 432(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 288(@300wpm)
I chuckle as I set her down in the shower and wash us both off. Once we’re clean, I dry her off, towel-dry her hair, and then help her get her pajamas on, all while Paige works to simply keep her eyes open. She might be horny, but she’s still pregnant, and she tires easily.
I lay her in bed, wrapping myself around her from behind, and she turns over so her head is nestled in the crook of my arm and her belly is pushing against my side.
“Thank you for taking such good care of me,” she murmurs once she’s situated. “I was so scared to let you in, but you always put me first.”
“And I always will,” I tell her, watching as her eyelashes flutter against the apples of her cheeks.
Her breathing evens out, and her body goes lax with sleep.
I lean down and kiss her forehead, inhaling her scent that I’ve grown addicted to. “I’ll always put you and our baby first. Always.”
chapter twenty-eight
PAIGE
Ana
Where are you?
Before I can respond, my phone rings with an incoming call from her.
“You didn’t even give me a chance to respond,” I say with a laugh.
“Sorry, you know I lack patience.”
“I do. What’s up?”
“We’re going to brunch.”
“And by we…”
“Me, you, and Kira.”
“And do I have a say in this?” I ask, giving her a hard time even though I’ll be going.
Nate and I were supposed to spend the day together, but at the last minute, he told me he had a bunch of work to get done, including some meetings, so he was going to be at the hotel. It’s the first time he’s chosen to work from the hotel instead of at my house in months—and on a Saturday, no less, when we usually don’t do any work on Saturdays. So, I was a bit taken aback, but since it’s his home away from home and I haven’t asked him to move in with me yet—and he was already set on leaving the moment he woke up—I didn’t argue.
“No,” Ana says through the line. “I’m on my way to you, and Kira is meeting us at the restaurant, so be ready in twenty minutes.”
“Jeez, a little warning would’ve been nice,” I mutter as I stand from my desk and head to my bedroom to get ready.
“See you soon,” Ana says before hanging up.
I send a text to Nate to let him know my plans, and he responds with:
Nate
Sounds good! I’m buried in work, so I probably won’t be able to come over until dinnertime anyway.
After throwing on a cute maternity shirt and jeans, paired with my ballet flats since I’m still on a no-heel kick, I take my prenatal vitamin and then head out to sit on my front porch while I wait for Ana to arrive. And while I wait, I scroll through the baby names app I downloaded. It’s been two months since we found out we’re having a boy, but we can’t decide on a name. Joanne said she and Cary didn’t name any of her kids until she saw them, and then the name came to her.
When Ana pulls up, I lock the front door and then hop into her SUV. Okay, maybe I don’t quite hop…more like I slide in slowly since I’m twenty-nine weeks pregnant, but tomayto, tomahto.
“Look at you,” Ana says, glancing at me. “You’re glowing.”
“I am not.” I roll my eyes. “I’m sweating because I’m nearly the size of a small house and hot from the walk down the sidewalk since we’re in the dead of summer in Texas, but we can pretend I’m glowing if you’d like.”
“You’re not the size of a small house.” She laughs. “You’re pregnant and glowing.”
“Well, thanks. And thanks for the brunch invite. I feel like I never see either of you anymore.”
Sure, I see Ana at work, and we’ve gotten together for the occasional barbecue and book club meeting, but it feels like we’re all busy doing our own thing.
“I agree,” Ana says. “We’re going to need to schedule a weekly or biweekly girls’ lunch, so we don’t go too long without seeing each other. It’s like time just gets away from us.”
“Doesn’t it sometimes feel surreal? Not that long ago, we were living in London, our only worries being how to deal with our grump of a boss…”
“And now, I’m a wife and a mother of two, and you’ve got a baby on the way,” she finishes. “Life doesn’t stop—that’s for sure.”
“No, it doesn’t,” I agree, getting a bit emotional at the thought of how much has changed and all that will be changing in the near future.
When we arrive at the restaurant, Kira is already seated at a table.
“Hey!” She gives Ana a hug and then attempts to give me one, but with both of us pregnant, it ends up being more like a side hug that makes us both laugh.