Page 33

ROSIE

The dress Pip picked out is tight and black, showing off my growing bump. Paired with knee high boots that I don’t think I’ll be able to wear for much longer and a jacket that fits like a glove, I almost convince myself that going out will be a good idea.

“Jesus Christ.” I spin away from the mirror towards the door Jackson’s leaning against.

I awkwardly fix the dress’s hem. “You don’t like it?”

I turn back to the mirror. Maybe it’s too much, too much boob, too much bump.

Jackson prowls towards me, appearing behind me in the mirror, recreating our position from mere hours ago…though this time we’re both fully dressed.

“Rosie,” he growls in my ear as he curls his arms around me, his hands exploring the dress under my jacket. “Let’s cancel dinner and skip straight to dessert.”

The laugh under my breath is swallowed by the look in his eyes as he catches mine in the mirror.

After he literally fucked my brains out, I had the easiest nap of my life, something that’s proven more difficult the further along in my pregnancy I get.

My thighs clench together as I remember the words he whispered in my ear.

I almost couldn’t believe he’d remembered meeting me at Cassie’s concert.

I remember him winking at me, remember him glancing at me, but I’d convinced myself that he was just being friendly.

His hands appear from underneath the jacket, traveling across my waist and gently tracing against my breasts.

I shiver as he gently brushes a sensitive nipple before his fingertips trace the collar of the dress.

My chest rises and falls as my head falls onto his chest, allowing his fingers to find the sensitive skin of my neck.

He clasps my jaw with his, bringing my face closer to his.

“You’re so beautiful, pretty girl,” he breathes against my lips, brushing a strand of hair away from my face.

The nickname started casually, a tease because I told him to stop, but the more he says it the more it becomes second nature to hear it.

Standing in front of my brand new mirror, cheeks still rosy from multiple orgasms and wearing a beautiful dress, I actually feel pretty.

I lean up, gently tilting my head until my mouth brushes his. “Let’s cancel.”

“Rosie, Jackson, the car’s here!” Anya calls from downstairs.

We freeze. “This is how it’s going to be isn’t it?” I say, wryly. “When we’re parents.”

Jackson clasps my neck, his nose exploring my face as if he’s inhaling my scent.

“I’ll always make sure there’s time to kiss you properly,” he says before catching my lips with his.

“Come on,” I say, pulling away and tugging at his hand. “Let’s get this over with.”

The car is a plush SUV, with tinted windows and enough space for all four of us to crowd in the back. Danny and Anya slide into the back seats, leaving the middle for me and Jackson.

Anya leans forward, wrapping her arms around me from behind. “You ready for this?”

I clasp her forearm and shoot her what I hope is a reassuring smile. “I guess so.”

“Freckles, please put your seat belt back on.”

The first time I attended an official outing with this group, I concentrated so hard on not tripping over my own feet that the thirty second walk from the car to the door felt like walking a tightrope.

Although, that time, the attention was all on the actual celebrities we were with, and no one cared about me.

Still, it was an adrenaline pumping nightmare that took a solid fifteen minutes to get my heart rate to calm down afterwards.

A hand appears on my thigh and I follow the strong forearm until I reach Jackson’s black shirt.

He’s rolled the sleeves up, leaving the collar unbuttoned and his hair loose around his shoulders.

I shift in my seat, my thighs clenching.

I will not get horny in an SUV with my friends before facing a crowd of paparazzi.

His hand curves around my bare thigh, his pinky finger rubbing small circles on my sensitive skin.

I clasp his hand in mine, stopping his movements. I take a steadying breath as he quietly chuckles beside me.

Dick.

“We’re here,” the security guard says from the front seat.

“You good, pretty girl?” Jackson asks quietly.

I nod my head.

Jackson waits until the car pulls to a halt before sliding the door open. He closes it behind him, muting the flashing lights and shouts from outside. The car is quiet for a few seconds before my door is pulled open and Jackson appears with a hand outstretched and a reassuring grin on his face.

I take a deep breath and step out of the car, careful to keep my legs crossed so I don’t accidentally flash any of the dozen cameras waiting outside.

“I got you,” Jackson whispers in my ear as his arm comes around me.

“Jackson, when is she due?”

“Rosie, look this way.”

“Rosie, any comment on the video?”

I narrow my vision, concentrating on keeping my shoulders back and my eyes on Jackson’s hand in mine, caressing me and guiding me through the pushing crowd.

“Give us some space guys,” Jackson booms, cutting a path.

The crowd swarms away from us. Anya and Danny must be following. Eventually, the door to the restaurant opens with a smiling host, and we’re ushered into the foyer of the restaurant.

“I hate that every time.” Anya grimaces as she hands her coat over to the host. “Thank you so much. Sorry about this.”

“It’s no problem,” the host exclaims. “Your friends are waiting inside.”

The ceilings are high and golden, with immaculately pressed white cloths covering small tables and the occupants watching like hawks as we follow the hostess through the restaurant. I keep my shoulders back as I finally spot Pip and Cassie in a corner, whispering together.

“Ah, you made it,” Pip exclaims, jumping to her feet and nearly knocking the bottle off the table, which Cassie quickly catches.

She rounds the table and I expect her to go straight to her brother but she comes to me first. “Look at you. You’re glowing, darling.” She curves her arm around me and places a delicate kiss on each cheek.

Pip is so dainty that I sometimes feel like a giant standing next to her.

Even though we’re roughly the same height, I feel my shoulders curving in on myself, trying to be smaller, trying to hold my arms in a way that won’t show off the bingo wings that my mother points out every time I wear short sleeves.

Pip beams at me, her easy friendship somehow always managing to put me at ease.

“The dress! I’m obsessed. I knew it would look gorgeous on you.

Come sit, sit.” She pulls out a chair for me but I’m intercepted by Cassie.

She envelops me in a warm hug of her own, her rose scented shampoo invading my senses.

“Congratulations, honey,” Cassie says quietly.

“Thank you,” I whisper into her ear before she releases me with a squeeze to turn to the others.

I never thought in a million years that when I finagled Anya to take a job in Paris, that I’d now be hiding from paparazzi, having dinner with supermodels and pop stars and expecting a movie star’s baby. But here I am.

I catch Anya’s eye as she takes a seat opposite me and we share a small secret laugh. Sometimes it’s like she can pluck my thoughts straight out of my mind.

“We’ve already ordered a couple of bottles, but we didn’t know what you’d like to drink, Rosie?” Cassie asks, tracing her glass on the white table cloth.

“We should cancel the wine. It’s rude to drink when you can’t,” Pip insists. “Excuse me?” She tries to get the waiter’s attention.

I laugh. “Don’t be silly. I’m good with water. ”

Danny fills my water glass before I’ve even finished speaking, and I shoot him a grateful smile.

“I’m not drinking anymore, actually,” Pip announces. “After the wedding I can’t stand the sight of white wine without getting flashbacks to attempting the worm at the reception.”

We all laugh as the conversation descends into reminiscing about the wedding.

“Your Aunt was a machine on the dance floor, Annie,” Cassie says with a laugh.

She groans into her palms as Danny laughs, placing his arm along her chair. “Claudette really was the life of the party.”

“I think she started talking to a studio head about a film idea she had at one point.”

Anya groans more, sinking into her seat. “ Why is she like this?”

“That wasn’t the only interesting thing that happened at the wedding,” Cassie says, folding her hands underneath her chin and grinning impishly.

I glance at Anya with wide eyes. “I didn’t say anything!” she insists.

Cassie cackles, her gold bracelets clanging as she taps her hands on the table. “I knew it!”

“Knew what?” I laugh nervously as my cheeks heat. I glance at Jackson for help, but he just shoots me a wink.

“I saw you two run off halfway through the party. You,” she points me, “disappeared and you,” she points at Jackson, “came back looking very…disheveled.”

I gasp incredulously as Jackson leans his head back with a laugh.

“Wait,” Pip interrupts leaning closer to the table. “This all happened at the wedding ? ”

I rest my head in my hands as Anya responds with, “You have to hear this story. You’ll never believe it.”

I let Anya fill the girls in as I desperately try to sink into the table.

Jackson and Danny have a quiet discussion about rugby that I try to listen in to (and contribute nothing to because I know nothing about rugby apart from how much I like Jackson’s shorts), but I constantly get pulled back in by Pip as they cackle at my misfortune.

Eventually, I stumble into a confession about the months following the wedding until the first course is cleared away.

“I can’t believe this,” Pip finally exclaims, sitting back in her seat. “I’ve been dying for the details ever since I found out.”

Anya giggles. “Found out what?”

Pip waves her hand between Jackson and I. “This. I’ve known since like October, was it?” She looks to me as if I have any idea what she’s talking about. I glance up at Jackson but he’s just as confused as I am. “Uh?—”

“You sent me that live photo and it was obviously Jackson’s voice in the background.”

“Wait, what photo?”

“It records audio?”

“So Pip’s known for nearly two months and I only found out two weeks ago?”

“Here look.” Pip rustles in her bag and flashes me the photo I sent her in front of her ad.

“ Don’t get my bump in it. Looks good, pretty girl ,” our voices echo through the phone.

I gasp and Jackson soothes a hand over his beard. “I can’t believe it.”

“How have you kept that so quiet?”

“I figured you’d tell us when you were ready.”

Danny’s head is thrown back as he laughs. “How did you miss that?” He looks between Jackson and I. “Why didn’t I get a picture?”

“You’re not on a taxi selling perfume.”

“Who did yours?” Danny asks his sister. “I want one now.”

“You want to be plastered across a London cab, so my best friend can accidentally out her secret relationship through a live picture she didn’t mean to send?” Anya asks wryly.

Danny waves his hand dismissively. “Semantics.”

“I did a cologne ad once as a teenager before I went over to LA,” Jackson admits as he takes a sip of his wine.

“You did?” I ask with a laugh. “When? And more importantly, is it on the internet?”

Anya’s fingers fly on the phone before she giggles. “Jackson, you didn’t.”

I gasp and scoot closer to my best friend. “Let me see!”

We all huddle around the table as we watch a younger, baby-faced Jackson as he runs through city streets with a gaggle of girls chasing him down, all thanks to the delicious scent of Pacific Spring.

He leans back in the booth, his arm slinging across the back. “And I’ve still got it.”

By the time the waiter brings the check at the end of the night, my cheeks hurt from laughing and I almost forget that we have to reverse the circus we had on the way in here.

“Car’s out front,” Danny says, reading his phone.

We all rise, crowding around the table, and I let Jackson help me into my coat. Pip grabs my arm as we head to the door, “When is the baby shower?”

“Uh, I haven’t thought about it.”

“Is your family doing it? ”

I give her what I hope is an encouraging smile. “My mum might, maybe.”

Pip’s eyes brighten, “Well make sure I’m on the guest list. I’m going to spoil you and this baby rotten. And if she needs any help with the planning, just say the word.”

“I don’t think I can survive another Pip Covington party,” I grin. When Anya put us both in her bridal party, I knew her vaguely from parties and gatherings, but planning Anya’s hen do was an experience that bonded us together like soldiers.

Cassie steps closer as she tugs on her coat. “What are you doing on the first weekend of December?”

I consult my mental calendar, I’ll be nearing my third trimester by then. “Nothing?”

“Perfect,” Cassie says, clapping her hands. “I’ve booked us girls a spa day.”

My jaw drops slightly, “Oh, you didn’t have to do that,” I insist, though a foot massage sounds divine .

“Too late.” Cassie waves her hand. “I’ve already arranged it all. We’ll get our nails done, a facial, it will be great! We’ll pick you up Saturday morning.”

Pip shakes my arm with a grin as we walk towards the door. “Pre-baby shower.”

I laugh at her enthusiasm. “Okay fine, but no presents.”

“Try and stop me.”

We near the door and I can already see the shadows of paparazzi through the glass. “It’ll be over quick,” Cassie says, pressing a kiss to my cheek.

“Thank you,” I tell her earnestly.

“Of course, honey.”

Jackson’s hand finds mine and I take a deep breath as he escorts me out the door and into the camera flashes.