Page 97 of Sacrifice the Knight (Checkmate 6)

Meg snickers and releases my face. She moves back to the door, then slides down until her butt plops to the floor, so with a lifted brow, I follow suit and slide down beside her. “Are you okay?” I take her hand. “Everything okay at home?”

“Everything’s perfect.” A slow grin creeps across her face. “Marcus is perfect; Chance is perfect.”

“And work?”

“That’s perfect too. I’m working on Jess Lenaghan and Kane Bishop’s wedding. That chick swears she’s gonna be hitched before her crotch goblins arrive.”

I quietly snicker so my shoulders bounce against hers. “Are you supposed to call them that? Does Kane Bishop know you’re calling his kids names?”

“Kane Bishop doesn’t scare me.” Lie. Lie. Lie! Kane Bishop scares everybody. “But yes, I called them crotch goblins to his face no more than an hour ago.”

“An hour? You were with them today?”Don’t ask about Eric. Do. Not. Ask. About. Eric!

“Mmm.” She distractedly plays with my fingers. “She’s like six months pregnant with massive Bishop twins, but she still thinks she’s gonna get hitched before they arrive.”

“Is she?”

“Hell no. I’m coordinating this shindig for her, but there’s no way in hell she’s gonna get married before they’re here. She’s already walking like one of their heads popped out.”

I smile. “I remember that feeling. I swear, I worked three months straight with Mac’s head touching my thigh.”

“Damn boy babies,” she sighs. “They ruin us.”

And she wouldn’t change a thing. “You think Jess is having boys?”

She shrugs. “No clue. I can’t even be sure she’s having humans. If I had to put a bet on it, I’d say she’s having a donkey. Butapparently,” she makes air quotes with her fingers, “it’s rude to say that to a pending mom.”

“You didn’t?” I bump her shoulder and laugh. “You need to find your business voice, Megan, seriously. It’s like how we tell our kids to use their inside voice; well, you need to learn not to insult a heavily pregnant client who’s on an impossible mission.”

She shrugs. “They don’t pay me to pat asses. They pay me to get shit done, which is why she thinks she’s getting married in February, but she’s totally not.”

“No?”

She waves a hand. “Nah. No way will she pull it off. So I’m taking all of her plans down, but I’m looking at December and March. Two dates she can choose from, two opportunities, so she can do it before or after. But there’s no way in hell she’s getting hitched in February. Her cooch will hurt way too much.”

“So I guess they pay you the big bucks to think for them.”

She flashes a wide grin and taps her temple. “Precisely, Watson. Now tell me what’s up with you.”

I shrug. “Situation normal. I work; I sneak cheat meals and feed my growing ass; I follow my son around and shout ‘make good choices!’ like it’s a pearl of wisdom he’s never heard before. He’s got another fight coming up, so I try not to freak out about that. Ya know, regular life.”

She snorts. “Well, first, you should know I like your ass. It’s so pretty and round and fills your jeans out in a really cool way. My ass doesn’t do that. I’m more of a back and crack kinda gal, and I mean, Marcus likes it, so whatever. But if I had to choose, I’d probably ask them to inject a little of your ass into mine and plump me up. It’s the kind thing to do for this badonkadonk-challenged woman.”

“You’ve put a lot of thought into this?”

“Absolutely,” she laughs. “Secondly, how’s… ya know… your love life?”

“Not up for discussion?” My words are said lightly, but my heart races. “I’d rather not get into it. You’re always trying to set me up, but for right now, I think I need alone time.”

“I get it.” I expected her to fight me, or at least tease, but all she does is drop her eyes to the fraying on the knees of her jeans. “That shit is messed up, so I don’t blame you.”

“Wait… you heard about…” Frowning, I lean around to catch her eyes. “What’s messed up?”

“That thing with Eric.”

“You heard about us? Who the hell told you?”

“I mean, everyone in town knew you were not-so-secretly fucking him. You couldn’t stop eating him up with your eyes. And nobody in the history of the world has orderedthat manyburgersthat manydays in a row. He was totally diddling you, and then that poor idiot had to run extra far in the mornings to work off the calories. He ran by our place a bunch of times, and we’re not exactly close.”

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