Page 16 of Nothing to Beat

“What kind of things?”

“None of your business, Skippy.”Roxie fixed on her.“You want a test, Sequoia?”

“Yes,” Breck answered.

Tripp kissed her again and stood up.“Let’s give these two a minute.”

“We’ll wait in the living room,” Savvy said, using two hands on Darroch’s to tug him that way.“Should we send the doctor in?”

Normally, she wouldn’t stand for any man dictating the moment, but Breck was so clenched, some alone time would do him a favor.

Alice touched his arm and he raised it a little, that was as much acknowledgement as his mother got.

When the door closed, she arched a brow.“You see what you did.”

“What I did?Why haven’t you taken a test?”

“I already answered that.”

“You didn’t.”

Coming around the bed, he didn’t ask permission to grab her ankles and toss off her shoes.Throwing them aside, he wasn’t shy about driving his hands up her thighs to push her skirt as high as it would go.Before she could ask, he snatched her head in both hands and planted his mouth on hers.

Yeah, he was mad.Their kisses were a whole other language.The push of his tongue and the strength in his grip proved his fear too, his longing.A month apart, without any direct contact… how long had it been since they’d gone a month cold turkey?Had they ever?

SEVEN

SHE FOUGHT TO dip her head back enough to speak.“If we’re having sex, lock that door or text Tripp.Your mother walking in is one thing, but if Ben’s on his way—”

“We’re not having sex.”The tension ebbed just a little as he sat back, still holding her head.“You’re going to tell me why you haven’t taken a test.”

The hold became more of a caress until he was stroking her hair back from her cheeks over and over.

“Because if it’s negative, the hope goes away.”

“Did I tell you it was a one-shot deal?”he asked.“Hell, if I said that, would you believe me?”

No, probably not, the last few minutes were a good indicator of their typical restraint around each other, or more accurately, their lack thereof.

“Why do we have to know so urgently?”Somewhere in the course of the night’s dramatic events, they’d become “we” again.How did that happen?That mindset needed to be turned on its head, quick, for both of their sakes.“Why does it matter?”

“Because there are steps you should be taking if you’re pregnant.If we know, we can make adjustments to—”

“I take vitamins.I eat right.Exercise.You know these things about me.”

“And alcohol?”

“I stopped drinking at Thanksgiving.”

When her drive to procreate ramped up.Hoping the possibility was on the horizon, she’d taken steps to give them their best shot.

“Work?”he asked.“You’ve been in late every night for weeks.”

A busy mind meant less speculating.“There are things to do and I love my job.Gil’s leaving at the end of the month.”

“Yes.”

Since the opportunity presented itself… “And I don’t know that we need a new person, you should promote from within.”