Page 72 of Consummation

I bite my lip, too afraid to give myself away by venturing a guess—but I’m pretty sure there’s only one person in the world who’d ever refer to a baby as a “little Cinnabon in the oven.”

“Henn,” Josh says, confirming what I’m thinking. “He called to congratulate me and ask why the hell I didn’t tell him myself.”

I make a face that says, “Oops.”

“When did you tell Hannah?” Josh asks, scowling at me.

I flash Josh my most charming smile. “Okay, now, see, telling Hannah wasn’t my fault. Hannah and I went to lunch today and shewas asking me about Golden Kat PR, hinting about how much she wants to be a part of it, and I didn’t want to string her along into thinking I was gonna be starting my company any time soon as originally planned. So I told her, ‘Hey, I can only handle birthing one baby at a time—and this year, my one-and-only baby’s gonna be the accidental Faraday that’s currently growing inside my uterus.’”

Josh shakes his head. I can’t read his expression well enough to gauge if he’s genuinely upset with me.

“Was Henny pissed he heard the news from Hannah and not you?” I ask.

“No, you know Henn. He’s always chill. I told him I didn’t tell him about the baby because you and I had solemnly agreed to keep it quiet until you’re showing.” He glares at me, but his eyes are sparkling. “Little did I know the ‘steel safe’ was out blabbing to everyone and their uncle about our little ‘Cinnabon in the oven.’”

“Oh, speaking of which, have you told your uncle?”

“Uh,no.Because we’d agreed to keep things quiet, you blabbermouth.”

I laugh. “So what did Henn say?”

“He said every time he sees our kid he’s gonna wonder if he personally witnessed it being conceived.”

I groan. “God, that was so embarrassing.”

Josh laughs. “He also said he predicts an entire minivan filled with screaming kids in my near future.”

My entire body jolts at the thought. “Slow down, High Speed,” I say, my heart in my throat.

“Oh, and he said I’m the luckiest bastard in the whole wide world.” He touches the cleft in my chin. “Which is the truth.”

I blush like a schoolgirl on a first date.

“And, hey, Miss Steel Safe, guess who called me right after Henn?” Josh asks, mock-glaring at me.

I hold my breath, trying to remember if there’s anyone else I’ve blabbed to besides Sarah, Dax, and Hannah. Nope. Not a soul. Only the girls at my yoga class, but they don’t really count. Oh, and the UPS guy—but only because I’d ordered a bunch of maternity leggings and he mentioned his wife is pregnant—so what was I supposed to do—nottell him? Oh, and the barista at my favorite Starbucks, of course—but that was only because I’m no longer drinking caffeine and my usual baristanoticed I’d ordered a decaf, so that one’s not my fault, either. Oh, and Sarah’s mom. But that was only because I went to see the new additions she’s making to Gloria’s House (thanks to the finder’s fee money she received after we took down The Club), and Gloria said I looked “awfully pretty”—so what was I supposed to do then—nottell her I’m pregnant? I scour my memory, trying to think if I’ve told anyone else—but, nope, I think that’s it.

Oh, Josh is staring at me, apparently expecting me to guess who called him after Henn.

I shrug. “I have no idea who called you,” I say. “I haven’t told anyone else.”

“Reed,” Josh says. “Because, apparently, Henn called Reed right after Hannah told him the news.”

“He did? Oh.”

“Yeah, he did. Which is so unlike Henn, I was shocked—if you wanna see what arealsteel safe looks like, look no further than Peter Hennessey—so I asked Reed what Henn had said to him,and do you know what Reed said?”

I shake my head.

“He told me that when you told Hannah our baby news, Hannah asked if you were keeping things on the down-low for a while—because she was fully prepared to keep our secret and respect our privacy—butyousaid, and I quote, ‘Not at all! I don’t care who knows about it! Blab away, Hannah Banana Montana Milliken! I’m bursting at the seams for the whole world to know!’”

I bite my lip. “I said that? I don’t think I saidthat.”

“Well, either you said it or Hannah’s lying. Which is it?”

“Hannah’s lying. Definitely. She’s a big, fat liar. Actually, there’s something you should know about Hannah: she’s a pathological liar. Poor thing truly can’t discern the difference between truth and fiction. It’s such a shame. She’s a really sweet girl otherwise.”

Josh is clearly suppressing a smile. “Huh. Pretty weird you set Henn up with a known pathological liar. That wasn’t very nice of you.”

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