Page 21 of Heartless
“That’s how it should be,” I said with a light squeeze of her hands. “I’m glad you’re happy, honey.”
“Well shit, I’m glad you are too. You’re absolutely glowing!” She leaned over and poked me in the belly. “Got anyone cookin’ in there yet?”
"Nah." I slid a hand over where she poked me, just under my navel. "Not for a little while longer."
"Your men must be on their best behavior then, for you to look so blissed out. That, or you got laid just before coming here. In which case, Ihighlyresent you knocking when you did."
"Sorry about my awful timing, but it’s not that either," I laughed. "I've been seeing someone new."
"Another one? Jesus, woman. There are whores getting less dick than you!"
"We haven't slept together yet," I clarified. "But it feels like that high school kind of relationship, you know? Lots of kissing and hand-holding. Innocent and sweet. It's actually really nice."
Tessa looked confused. "Okay, is Reaper letting you date a barely-legal Four Corners native? Because that sounds like absolutely no one in the SDMC."
I grinned coyly at her. "It's Shadow."
Her mouth fell open, eyelashes fluttering rapidly."Shadow?"
"Mm-hm."
"The big scarred, scary guy who always looks pissed off and doesn't talk to anyone?"
"He's never been scary to me," I said, feeling a little defensive with her assessment. "And he does talk when he feels comfortable enough to do so."
"Wow, guess I've been out of the loop." She climbed out of bed to tend to Vivi who had started to fuss in her bassinet. "How long's this been going on? I thought he hated women."
"Well, we first kissed last night after the governor's party. But before that we'd been slowly getting used to being in each other's company. For months, really."
Tessa settled back into bed to nurse the baby. "Well, he's got to be something special to make you look so doped up with happiness."
"He is." My dreamy smile returned. "He's so sweet in ways I never expected. And to see him come out of his shell, expressing himself and socializing with ease—it's amazing."
"If he'sthatperfect, then his dick is small," Tessa joked. "Or something else is wrong with him. With men, there's always something."
He definitely isn't small. I could recall our first time together with far less guilt now. As for what was 'wrong' with him, it didn't feel right to discuss any of his trauma or his coping mechanisms with her. Especially not as his medic, nor while he was actively trying to better himself every day.
"How are things going with Big G?" I asked. "Is he staying civil?"
"Yeah, now that he knows he's on thin ice with Reaper," Tessa scoffed. "He's damn near father of the year now. Picks up the boys right on time and drops them right off."
"Hopefully he keeps that up, and not just because he has to."
"Yeah." She shifted her grip on the hungry baby. "He still doesn't know anything about Andrea and me, so I'm worried about all his cooperation going out the window if he finds out."
"I understand that, but if you keep seeing each other, it'll have to come out eventually."
"I know that. Believe me, I do." Vivi unlatched and Tess brought her up to her shoulder, patting her back. "One thing at a time though. I'd like to just enjoy being happy for once."
"I don't blame you." I smiled at the sight of her with her daughter, a small twinge of envy running through me.One day. Not yet."Once you've found what makes you happy, you have to hold on to it with everything you've got."
Seven
MARIPOSA
"What do these do?" I picked up one of the metallic contraptions on the table and turned it over in my hand.
"That's a fuel injector," Jandro told me with a smirk. "It injects fuel."
