Page 88 of My Fiancé's Brother 2

She smiled. “Just wait until you are 38 weeks.”

We sat down.

“Where are your kids?” I asked, trying to be conversational.

“My mother-in-law is visiting. What happened to your arm?”

“I was in New York, and I tripped backward over a stool. I have a hairline fracture in my wrist.”

We fell into an uneasy silence.

“Lauren, I don’t mean to be rude, but you didn’t seem that enamored with me at your BBQ.”

“Harper is my best friend.”

Ah. That made a lot more sense. But that still didn’t explain why she was here.

She started, “Your husband is an exceptional soldier.”

“So I’ve been told.”

She looked down at her coffee. “My husband was on night patrol. And he got jumped by some insurgents. He said he was about ten seconds away from being killed and Jackson saved his life.”

My eyebrows went up. Trying not to imagine that scene. Night time. Men with guns. What Jackson would have had to do to save her husband’s life. “My husband asked you to be my friend.”

“I'd do anything for Jackson.”

My face grew hot. “Well, that’s embarrassing.”

“He reminded me that you hadn’t been given a fair chance.”

“People love Harper.”

She took a sip of her coffee. “Jackson never wanted to settle down. I’ve seen dozens of women fling themselves at him, but no one could hold his interest.”

“Until Harper.”

“Everyone thought that she was going to be the one. They were together a long time.”

“Then he came back from New York with me in tow.”

“No one seems to remember that Jackson has the right to marry whomever he wants. Everyone just looked at that situation and felt bad for Harper.”

“He got me pregnant.”

“Well, if it makes you feel better, he never looked at her like he looks at you.”

Apparently, she had missed the fiasco at her BBQ. “I never meant to hurt anyone. I didn’t even know about her until I got here.”

She gave a short laugh. “No. But you get the blame.”

I looked down at my hands. I didn’t know if I should be thrilled tobe talking to someone other than Chloe or devastated that my husband had to call in a favor to get someone to come over and talk to me.

“What is this?” she leaned forward and was looking at some of the sketches I had done for Alien’s mural.

“Just some preliminary drawings for a mural I’m doing.”

Her head shot up. “You paint?”

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