Page 20
Story: Body Heat
“Since when do spouses sit in on team meetings?” Whit asked, his brow wrinkled in confusion.
“How quickly things have changed now that you and Brecken are married,” Devon muttered with a frown. A growl rumbled up Rowan’s chest, and my coworker held his hands up in a gesture of surrender. “To other people! Not each other, obviously.”
“One day, you’re going to fall hard for some woman,” I warned Devon with a grin, rubbing my hands together in anticipation. “And I’m going to make sure I’m around to give you hell while you go down fighting it all the way.”
“Of course, you’ll be around. Where else would you be?” Whit asked.
Devon shook his head and said, “No way is that happening anytime soon.”
“Get your asses in here,” Brecken called out from his office.
I didn’t let go of Rowan’s hand as I made my way into my boss’s domain and sat down on the small couch against the wall nearest the door. Whit and Devon followed us inside and took the chairs in front of Brecken’s desk when he pointed toward them.
As soon as we were all seated, my boss turned his attention to me. “You got something to share with the team?”
“Yup.” Rowan threaded his fingers through mine, and I took comfort in his touch as I battled down the nerves. The freaking pregnancy hormones had me almost ready to cry, and I hadn’t even gotten the words out yet. After taking a deep breath, I blurted, “I’m pregnant.”
“And it’s twins,” Rowan added with a smug grin.
The three men who were as close to me as brothers all seemed frozen in shock for a long moment before they jumped out of their chairs to give me hugs.
“Damn, I can’t believe you’re going to be a mom with two little babies soon,” Whit murmured, his gaze on my lightly rounded belly.
“We work in close quarters with you for hours on end every day.” Devon shook his head. “I can’t believe we didn’t notice it before now.”
“If they already know it’s twins, then they must’ve done an ultrasound, right?” Brecken asked.
I wasn’t surprised that he was well aware of how pregnancies went since he hovered over Hadley each time she was carrying one of his babies. “Yeah, today.”
Brecken’s gaze remained locked with mine. “There’s more you wanted to tell us, right?”
“Being pregnant with my job was already going to be tricky enough, but now that we know I’m carrying twins”—I sighed, struggling with how to get the words out when I felt like I was abandoning my team—“I want to move into a consultant role on a limited basis.”
Rowan had pushed me to reconsider my initial decision to quit altogether. He’d even gone as far as teasing me that one of us should have a job now that he’d officially retired from football. He knew how important my team and career were to me.
“There will always be a place for you here,” Brecken reassured me. “One hour or forty. We’ll take what you can give us.”
“Damn straight,” Whit agreed as Devon nodded.
I felt as though a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders as I hugged each of the guys before we left. As we headed home, I beamed a smile at Rowan. “I can’t wait to give your mom the good news.”
He grinned back at me. “She’s going to flip.”
She did…and she was no less excited when we followed our twin sons up with a baby girl two years later.
“How quickly things have changed now that you and Brecken are married,” Devon muttered with a frown. A growl rumbled up Rowan’s chest, and my coworker held his hands up in a gesture of surrender. “To other people! Not each other, obviously.”
“One day, you’re going to fall hard for some woman,” I warned Devon with a grin, rubbing my hands together in anticipation. “And I’m going to make sure I’m around to give you hell while you go down fighting it all the way.”
“Of course, you’ll be around. Where else would you be?” Whit asked.
Devon shook his head and said, “No way is that happening anytime soon.”
“Get your asses in here,” Brecken called out from his office.
I didn’t let go of Rowan’s hand as I made my way into my boss’s domain and sat down on the small couch against the wall nearest the door. Whit and Devon followed us inside and took the chairs in front of Brecken’s desk when he pointed toward them.
As soon as we were all seated, my boss turned his attention to me. “You got something to share with the team?”
“Yup.” Rowan threaded his fingers through mine, and I took comfort in his touch as I battled down the nerves. The freaking pregnancy hormones had me almost ready to cry, and I hadn’t even gotten the words out yet. After taking a deep breath, I blurted, “I’m pregnant.”
“And it’s twins,” Rowan added with a smug grin.
The three men who were as close to me as brothers all seemed frozen in shock for a long moment before they jumped out of their chairs to give me hugs.
“Damn, I can’t believe you’re going to be a mom with two little babies soon,” Whit murmured, his gaze on my lightly rounded belly.
“We work in close quarters with you for hours on end every day.” Devon shook his head. “I can’t believe we didn’t notice it before now.”
“If they already know it’s twins, then they must’ve done an ultrasound, right?” Brecken asked.
I wasn’t surprised that he was well aware of how pregnancies went since he hovered over Hadley each time she was carrying one of his babies. “Yeah, today.”
Brecken’s gaze remained locked with mine. “There’s more you wanted to tell us, right?”
“Being pregnant with my job was already going to be tricky enough, but now that we know I’m carrying twins”—I sighed, struggling with how to get the words out when I felt like I was abandoning my team—“I want to move into a consultant role on a limited basis.”
Rowan had pushed me to reconsider my initial decision to quit altogether. He’d even gone as far as teasing me that one of us should have a job now that he’d officially retired from football. He knew how important my team and career were to me.
“There will always be a place for you here,” Brecken reassured me. “One hour or forty. We’ll take what you can give us.”
“Damn straight,” Whit agreed as Devon nodded.
I felt as though a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders as I hugged each of the guys before we left. As we headed home, I beamed a smile at Rowan. “I can’t wait to give your mom the good news.”
He grinned back at me. “She’s going to flip.”
She did…and she was no less excited when we followed our twin sons up with a baby girl two years later.