Page 88 of Nothing to Beat

“Excuse Rox,” Tripp said, slouching and hooking his hands over the back of the couch.“The drama gets her off.”

Then she was with the right man, and surrounded by the right circle of friends.

“We don’t want to hurt him, not now.”

“At the present time, his interests serve our cause,” Breck said, resting a hand on her lower back.“If that should change…”

“We can mobilize in a snap.”

“What about Ackley?”

“Oh, him I’d ruin in a heartbeat.”Roxie didn’t blink.“I may not even wait to be told.”

“It’s probably not in your interest to let Whey know you’re close with Roxie,” Tripp said.“Not while he’s playing nice.”

Close with Roxie?Was she?Shit, they’d known each other a matter of days and had already shared a pregnancy scare and the incrimination of a felon.Duration sort of didn’t count in this scenario.

She nodded.“Okay.”

“We’re going out to eat,” Breck said.“Would you like to join us?”

Exhaling, Tripp boosted himself up off the couch, swinging his arms at his sides.“Guess that’s your way of asking me to foot the bill.”He strolled over to pat his brother’s shoulder.“Never thought I’d see the day, man.”

“This isn’t the day,” she said, glancing at Tripp before becoming intent on Breck.“Because he’s going back to Breckenridge.”

“That was a short stint.”

“Coy—”

“I mean it, Stat.This is important to me.”

And his point was taken.He’d give up anything for her, she got it, but this was a step too far.He wanted to be there for her?Well, this was her way of being there for him.They were a family and needed to stick together.

THIRTY

THE NEXT DAY, Roxie made a call to the fertility clinic, and they got out of the suite without encountering the mothers, who were on their way for lunch.She and Breck wouldn’t be missing much, wedding talk was the topic du jour.God, marriage, she couldn’t even think about that.

The fertility clinic maybe wouldn’t be the best of fun.Any experience that included a pelvic couldn’t really be put under that banner.Luckily, paperwork and samples were all that had been demanded of them so far.Yeah, it was delaying the inevitable, but she wasn’t sorry Breck’s contribution could be done before the doc was ready for her.Sure worked out for Breck; the doc’s delay gave them an opportunity to get cozy for a good cause.Opportunity or excuse?

Semantics.

“I really shouldn’t…” the nurse by the admin desk said under her breath, gaze slinking left and right.“We have strict rules.”

That they’d turned a blind eye too, at least once.Though that previous time, Zairn Lomond was the one doing the charming.Which he kind of did professionally.His charisma was world-renowned.God love her wonderful Breck for all his virtues, but, unfortunately, he couldn’t claim to have the same skill.

“No one has to know you made an exception.”

Except Roxie, because she’d ask.

The phone on the desk rang, interrupting their negotiation.Given their lofty roles at Breckenridge, it would be mighty embarrassing if they failed to succeed on this one.

“I have to get that.”The employee turned on her heels.“Give me a second.”

Was that their cue to sneak on past?Maybe, if the woman had directed them to the location of an appropriate room.This was not a place someone wanted to start opening doors to check what was on the other side.Rather who was on the other side and what they might be doing.

Yep.That.

Shudder.