Page 21 of My Fiancé's Brother 2

“Oh that is unfortunate,” Irene said.

Matt changed the subject. “Hey, Emily, do you remember Donny? He's one of the senior partners at my firm.”

I nodded.

“He just bought a house in the Hamptons. You should see this place. It has the most stunning view of the water. His kids are learning to surf, and now he’s even talking about getting a boat. He invited me down for a weekend this summer.”

Irene’s eyes shone. “Oh, I love the Hamptons.”

This conversation was wrong on so many levels. I had no idea how the four of us could chat about homes in the Hamptons when there was a huge elephant in the room. It was bizarre on so many levels, but pretending was what Matt and Irene were best at. No one wanted to acknowledge that I was pregnant with Jackson’s baby or the fact that only a few days ago I had left Matt at the altar.

“What kind of housing do they provide on the base?” I turned and looked up at Jackson.

Green eyes held my gaze. “For the unmarried, there are apartments. Some are shared, and some are single occupancy.”

“What about people who have families?”

“Married servicemen or women can rent houses.”

“With backyards?”

His smile was faint. “They all have backyards.”

“I had a backyard when I was a kid.”

Irene interjected. “So, I hear that the military base is like its own tiny little town.”

“It’s self-contained. There’s a larger civilian city outside of the base, but most of the staff live on the base itself.”

“Well, that would be quite a shift from New York. It must be very quaint,” Irene added, making it sound like a dirty word.

Matt frowned. “Can you buy your house on the base?”

“All housing is owned by the military. We just rent.”

“Wow, those military wives deserve a medal.”

“Behind every strong soldier, there is an even stronger woman,” Jackson said with quiet resolution.

Matt smirked in amusement. “Is that some kind of slogan?”

Jackson didn’t smile. “Nope. Just a well-known fact among us.”

My heart beat so hard I was scared everyone could hear it. I felt panicky. I hadn’t even thought about what married life to Jackson would be like. Irene had efficiently painted the picture of him being gone for months, working some insanely dangerous job while I would be stuck in some tiny military town in a rental house. Add in a new baby, dozens of women that probably wanted to have sex with him and a husband that didn’t want to be tied down and I was officially over my head.

Irene watched my face. She knew. She knew what I was thinking.

She stood up. “Well, I need to get back to my hotel. Jackson, would you be a doll and drive me?”

My lips parted.

Matt interrupted my train of thought. “Emily, would you mind if I stayed back and talked to you for a bit?”

Now it was my turn to avoid Jackson’s gaze.

“No, of course not.”

Irene kissed both of my cheeks. She was chatting a mile a minute to Jackson as they walked out.

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