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Jensen walked over to me, looking at the planner over my shoulder as he lightly rubbed my lower back, his salty scent and his hands turning my body into goo.

Fuck. That man had magic hands. All thought left me momentarily as he started massaging my sore lower spine.

“That does look awfully packed,” he mused.

“It won’t be soon. I’m probably going to have to give up ice skating until after I give birth. I can still help Joey learn from off the ice, but I don’t think I’ll be able to keep up my regular lessons.”

“Yeah, that would pose a risk to the baby, but I know you love teaching.”

“I can always go back after I give birth, I suppose. I just feel silly because I quit my job at the café, and now I’m losing the teaching job.”

“We can increase your pay for watching Joey.”

I turned to him with a glower. “You really think you can keep paying me while I’m pregnant?” I ran a hand through my hair. “Doesn’t that feel a little sketchy to you?”

Confusion flitted across his face before he took on a more determined look.

That probably wasn’t a good thing for me. His hands came to rest on either side of the counter, trapping me there.

“Okay, we obviously need to have a conversation about this. As far as we are concerned, we want to help and provide for you. I would happily hand you as much cash as you want so you don’t have to work. Hell, we could hire someone else to look after Joey, though I think she may riot.”

“No one else is looking after that little girl but me,” I grumbled. “But I can’t let you pay me anymore. It doesn’t feel right.”

Up close, his scent was so strong, I wanted nothing more than to lean forward and rub my cheek against his, scenting him.

Maybe it was the hormones, but I didn’t stop myself, rubbing myself gently against him while he spoke.

“Bethany.” Jensen raised an eyebrow. “We’re alphas. You are pregnant. I’m pretty sure that if we aren’t providing and supporting you and our baby, we are going to lose our fucking minds. You know what? Why don’t you tell Gideon that you don’t want to accept money from us? I’m sure his grumpiness will be heard throughout the entire state.”

“I’m stubborn, not an idiot. I won’t go toe-to-toe with Gideon. I’ll be more subtle with him.”

Jensen laughed loudly, throwing his head back. “Oh, I would love to see that.”

I glowered playfully at him. “Hush.”

Once he regained control of himself, Jensen straightened. “Come with me,” he said, grabbing my hand and pulling me out of the kitchen. As we walked toward the stairs, he shouted in the general direction of Gideon’s office, “I’m showing Bethany our little project!”

Little project? What on earth had these men been up to?

Gideon joined us as we made our way up the stairs, a grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Cullen is going to be pissed you didn’t wait for him.”

Jensen shrugged as we reached the landing. “This one is stressing about money, so it felt like the right moment.”

“Right moment for what?” I asked, exasperated. It was like they were silently communicating, and it was driving me insane.

“Come here,” Gideon commanded softly, pulling me toward him so I was lost in a cloud of fruity parchment scent. “We wanted you to know you have a place here…so we’ve been getting the nest room set up.”

I cocked my head at him. “A nest room?” I asked lamely. Many larger houses came with nests for an omega, but I had no idea this house even had one.

“We’ve been using the room mainly for storage, so we’ve been slowly emptying and getting it ready for you,” Jensen explained.

“But I’m fine in the guest room,” I insisted. The room was beautiful, and I was actually getting quite comfortable there.

“You arenota guest. You are a member of our family, and we want you to stay here, especially once the baby is here. Let us show you,” he said, gesturing to one of the doors.

Following him through, I took in the large space with awe.

It was beautiful, if a bit plain. A gigantic circular bed stood on the far wall, easily big enough to hold six or seven people.There was plenty of floor space, a walk-in closet, and large bay windows that let in a lot of natural daylight.