Page 48 of Reunion With Benefits

Footsteps echoed on the hardwood floor as Derrick walked back in. He held an envelope. He dropped it on the sideboard that ran half of the length of the impossibly long room. Never looked at it again.

“What was it?” Spence asked even though he didn’t sound that interested in the answer.

“Delivery of work documents.” Derrick’s gaze flicked to Ellie as he sat back down. “Don’t glare. I didn’t tell anyone to send stuff here.”

“Yet, someone did. Gee, I wonder why they thought it was an okay thing to do.” She did not sound pleased.

Derrick winked at her. “You forget how important I am.”

“That ego.” Carter shook his head. “Unbelievable.”

Jackson scooped up more potatoes. “Try working with him.”

Carter glanced at her. She could feel the heat of his stare as the conversation bounced around her. She tried to keep up but the idea of a baby was stuck in her head now. She wanted to kick it out but it had grabbed hold.

“Abby? Do you have an opinion on that?” Carter asked.

She couldn’t stop looking at Spence, imagining what their children might look like. If a kid would have his stubbornness.

When she realized the table had gone unusually quiet and everyone stared at her, she struggled to mentally rewind the conversation and come up with an answer. “Uh, no. I’m taking the Fifth.”

The talking picked back up again. About food. About work. About anything Carter could think of, or so it seemed.

Spence leaned in closer, brushing her hair back behind her ear. “You sure everything is okay?”

“Just thinking.” And panicking and generally kicking her own butt for being so careless. She’d never done that before. With her luck, it would only take one time.

He smiled at her. “You can concentrate on anything with all this noise?”

“It’s called conversation, Spence,” Jackson mumbled under his breath.

Ellie groaned. “Enough talking. Eat.”

“The pregnant woman has spoken.” Derrick picked up his glass in a toast.

“You know, for that power to keep working, you’re going to have to be pregnant all the time.” Jackson flinched, which must have meant Ellie kicked him. She was right there, after all. “Hey!”

“I’m up to the challenge,” Derrick said.

Some of the color drained from Ellie’s face. “Let’s start with one first.”

Abby looked down at her plate. She really hoped she wasn’t the one saying that a month from now.

* * *

It took another half hour to finish up and move the conversation into the living room. On Ellie’s orders, the men cleared the table and argued during every second of their work as if they’d been sent into the mines to dig for coal.

Spence didn’t mind helping out. He’d do dishes, but he refused to do them alone. In Derrick’s house, that usually wasn’t necessary because family dinners meant he hired people to handle most of the work. With Ellie being less mobile, Derrick was interviewing for a full-time cook, but he had to do it behind her back because she was not comfortable with the idea.

Spence glanced into the great room next to where they’d eaten dinner and saw them all gathered around, lounging on sofas. Arguing, like they always did. He was pretty sure that was part of the Jameson gene pool. Jackson probably picked up the habit by association.

The only person not having coffee and debating dessert options was Abby. She stood in the doorway between the dining room and the great room, watching. He’d picked up on her mood change earlier. His family could be overwhelming. He got that. But he sensed something else was bothering her.

They’d been growing closer, spending more time together. Talking about things other than work. He didn’t want her to shut down now.

“You sure you’re okay?” He slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her body back against his. “You got quiet.”

She sighed. “That was a lot of activity.”

---