Page 42 of A Labor of Hate
Unable to hold eye contact with him for some stupid reason, I turned to Vivienne.“What would you recommend?”
“Oh, you can’t go wrong with any of the choices here.But my personal favorite is the Burlington hamburger with a side of power salad.”She patted her stomach.“Though I’m afraid I’ll have to take the salad to go.Little man is really starting to crowd my stomach, so I just don’t have the room I used to.”She winked at me.“Though I don’t have to explain that to you, right?”
I shook my head good naturedly.“Not at all.I understand exactly what you’re saying.”
And by that I meant I had no idea what she was talking about.
Though I supposed it made sense, considering growing a mini human probably squished the other organs just trying to mind their own business.Did this mean I couldn’t reasonably order a burger, fries,anda milkshake without rousing their suspicion?
This lunch date just got a bit less fun.
“I think I’ll try the Burlington burger, too,” I finally decided.
“And fries and a shake,” Vivienne added.“Don’t ignore your cravings just to eat like the rest of us.”
What.A.Saint.
I grinned, ecstatic my supposedly limited stomach space wasn’t enough of a hindrance to limit my options.“Exactly.And if I can’t finish it all, I’m sure Colt will help me.”
I shot him a smile, my eyes hopefully conveying the messagetouch my milkshake and you die.
His lips twitched, eyes twinkling with a little too much mischief for my taste.“As long as you don’t steal any of my fries, you’ve got a deal.”
Ha!I made no promises.
“You two are so cute together,” Vivienne cooed, inadvertently making my shoulders tense before I could stop myself.
Charles narrowed his gray eyes at me, seeming to zero in on my reaction.
Crap.Time to sell it like my life depended on it.Because it might.
I slipped an arm around Colt, a shiver rippling up my spine at the feel of lean muscle under his shirt.The memory of him mid-workout slammed into my brain like it seemed determined to do since that morning.Between that and the memory of his flirting demonstration, my mind was filled with way too many unwanted thoughts about Colt lately.Thoughts that I normally shut down the second they dared dip a toe into my stream of consciousness but would actually be helpful at the moment.
This time I didn’t fight the confusing memories.And I most definitely didnotnotice how Colt had worn a blue and peach striped button-up instead of his usual white, or how the colors made his freckled skin glow and his dark lashes pop.No, siree.I was all business as I leaned into him as much as the belly would allow.
For a split second when our eyes met, his mirrored the burning intensity he’d shown when he’d flirted with me.It stole my joking retort from my mouth and replaced it with a breathy, “Yeah, I’m a lucky woman.”
Colt tightened the embrace, pulling me closer and placing a kiss to the top of my head.
Okay,thatwas unexpected.And it sent a thrill through me that I tried to hate.Apparently, it had been so long since I’d had any romance in my life that I was desperate for whatever physical contact I could get.
“Yes, you are,” he teased.
I responded by cuffing him on the chest like the hopeless romantic I was.“This is where you respond by saying how lucky you are, too.”
In reality, I wasn’t sure I could’ve stomached him getting mushy-gushy.His reaction alleviated the tension settling in my gut with the feigned romance and pressure to succeed.Between that and how unbalanced I still felt since confiding in him, it was too much at one time.
“See?Adorable.”Vivienne looped her arm through Charles’s, looking up at him with all the love leading ladies in rom-coms hoped to have in their lives.“Don’t you agree?”
Charles smiled down at her, his wary expression softening into one of tender warmth.It was the weirdest thing to see, honestly.Though he was normally unassuming looking, if you didn’t know to watch for his wariness and constant vigilance, he still looked like a completely different person when he looked at his wife.The crow’s feet by his eyes became more pronounced, as if his eyes were smiling.The gray by his temples seemed to age in reverse.Without knowing about his drug manufacturing, I’d consider him attractive, if aloof.When he looked at Vivienne, though, I could actually see what she saw in the guy.
You know, if you didn’t know how many lives he’d ruined.
“Yes,mon amour.They’re very cute together.”He cupped her jaw with his free hand, planting a gentle kiss to her forehead.“Almostas cute as us.”
Dagnabbit, I couldn’t actually argue with that.Not with him being all doting-husband, lovey-dovey instead of the drug-tweaking terror he really was.I must’ve gone soft.
For the record, I blamed the fake-pregnancy hormones.
