Page 57 of When You Blush

He shakes his head. “They’re not wrong.”

My eyebrows climb into my hairline. “Are you telling me that you read smut between oil changes?”

“Don’t be a dick,” he says with a huff. “Jul—I’ve read them.Before.They’re good for a relationship.”

That’s right. Juliet’s a reader and got Billie started reading them when Billie was a teenager.

Before everything blew apart.

“Have you been to the new place?” I ask in a low voice, but everyone’s listening in.

“No.”

“Brooks.”

“Give me the baby,” he says, abruptly standing and crossing to Holden, who gently passes the sleeping baby over.

Brooks rocks side to side and kisses Bryce’s little head.

“It’s still fresh for him,” Millie murmurs. “After all this time.”

I nod. “Yeah. Something like that doesn’t go away.”

“We’re having beers at the Wolf Den,” Beckett informs me. “While the girls do book club.”

“I happen to have that night off, so I’ll join you.”

“I’ll be at home with my babies,” Bridger says and kisses Birdie on the head.

“I’ll watch them,” Mom offers with a smile. “And you go out.”

“Are you sure?” Dani asks her. “They’re a handful.”

“I had five children, darling girl,” Mom reminds her. “Birdie and I will keep Bryce in line.”

Chapter Fourteen

HARPER

“Baby Alice needs to be fed,” my coworker tells me before she goes off shift. “She’s the only one I didn’t get to in time. She’s only about ten minutes behind, and her mom called and said they wouldn’t be able to make it to this feeding.”

“Got it.” I nod and start to walk toward the tiny preemie. She was born at just three pounds, and now she needs time to grow. “Have a good night.”

It’s my last evening on shift, and then I get a couple of days off, which I’m ready for. I love my job, but nights are particularly brutal for me.

I’m a day dweller.

But we all take turns to make it fair because babies aren’t only sick during banking hours. Eventually, if I’m able to work my way up to the director of the department, I could move to day shifts all of the time, but that would mean less patient care. It’s a catch-22. I loveworking with the little ones, so moving out of this role doesn’t excite me.

Alice is eating comfortably in my arms as I rock us back and forth in the chair when my phone buzzes with a text.

The grin on my face is massive when I see it’s Blake.

I miss him.I haven’t seen him since that morning almost a week ago when Greg gave us all a scare. Between our jobs and families, we haven’t had time to see each other, but we’ve sent a lot of messages back and forth, and he’s called me every chance he gets.

I have no doubt in my mind that Dr. Blackwell is interested in me, and it’s not all sexual. He checks in and asks how I am, if I need anything, and what he can do for me.

He’s so freaking swoony.