Page 39 of Save Me
Who could that be? It’s not Abbi, I know that much.
“Oh, hey, here you go.” Jeremy swoops in then with a tall, stemmed glass filled with ice and strawberry slices floating in a pink-tinged concoction. A pale pink rose floats on top.
“What is this?” I ask warily.
“Just something I whipped up that I thought you’d like.” He leans in to whisper, “No booze, I promise. I’ll keep ’em coming all night.” With a wink, he peels away and continues on with his tray of drinks.
My stomach drops as his meaning sinks in. Shit. Jeremy figured out that I’m pregnant. How the hell did he put two and two together so quickly? I knew he was smart, but he’s a guy.
“That looks good,” Ronan says.
I hum through a sip, stealing a glance to see him watching my mouth with interest. Nothing about his demeanor says he has any clue what’s really going on here. Thank God. I’m not ready to ruin this thing between us yet. “Is it just me, or is that blond woman at my two o’clock trying to murder me with her eyes?”
With a casual sip of his drink, Ronan follows my direction. The quiet “fuck” that slips from his lips is delayed, but it’s clear. “It’s not you she has it out for. Not yet, anyway.”
Connor swings back around then, carrying a crostini in his hand. “Here, try this, Cap,” he says through a mouthful.
“I’m not really hung—” My words are cut off as he thrusts the appetizer into my mouth.
“What the fuck?” Ronan scowls at him as I struggle to chew, my taste buds identifying the potent flavors. Peach, ricotta cheese, lemon, and … balsamic vinegar?
“But it’s delicious!” Connor argues.
“I don’t care. Don’t shove shit into her face!” Ronan adjusts his stance as he squares off against his best friend.
“Relax, man.” Connor wears awhat the fuck is wrong with you?expression.
Preston tsks as the tension mounts. “Huh. Well, isn’t this cute? Someone finally doesn’t want to share?—”
“Shut the fuck up,” Ronan warns without peeling his eyes from his best friend. “I think Belinda’s looking for you.”
Connor gives his friend another long, hard look before nodding. “Yeah, boss. On it.” And he’s gone again.
Ronan watches me wash down the appetizer with a gulp of my drink. “Sorry, he shouldn’t have done that.”
“It’s fine.” It didn’t upset me as much as it obviously did Ronan. “And he wasn’t wrong. It was delicious,” I admit.
“Yeah?” He reaches up to slide the soft pad of his thumb over the corner of my bottom lip. When he pulls away, I see the smear of white cheese I missed. “You want more?”
“No.” If not for the anticipation of meeting Henry Wolf and the intimidating woman sizing me up, I’d hunt down the platter myself.
Ronan does another skim around the patio beforedowning his champagne in one gulp. “Let’s get out of here.”
“But we just got here.”
“We’ll be back in time for dinner. Come on.” He slips his hand through mine and nods toward the beach.
I hold up the glass in my other hand. “What about?—”
“Bring it.” He leads me away, Preston and Merrick chuckling.
9.Ronan
Ididn’t realize how much tension I’ve been carrying around until now, but the farther we get from the hotel and all those people, the better I feel.
Fuck, why did I blow up on Connor like that? He was just being himself.
Sloane walks quietly beside me, picking out the strawberry slices from the fancy water Jeremy made her and slipping them into her mouth. He couldn’t just fill a glass with ice. He had to make it a fucking art piece. Clearly, he’s in love with her. I’ll bet all her staff is. Probably Frank too.
