Page 88 of Be My Wife

“Nothing.” Clearing my throat, I peer at the stove. “What are you making?”

“Pancakes. Brogan’s favorite.” She winks. “But, of course, you knew that.”

“Right.”

She slides a pancake into a plate. “I bet you know my son very well.”

“Oh… yeah,” I say hesitantly.

Gwen lights up and I know it was a mistake to pretend Brogan and I are that close. “So you know about Steph.”

Steph.

Steph?

Going out on a limb, I say, “The little girl.”

“Right!” She laughs. “Yes. Brogan adores her. He adores children in general. I hope you want a big family.”

“Oh, I do.” My dream is to have a house filled with pattering feet and joyful, merry chaos. But finding a man who could be a good husband and a good father has been nearly impossible for me.

Gwen stirs something in the pan. “My son’s an extremely warm and caring person, so it didn’t matter to him that Steph is his niece through marriage. He just took her in and loved her like his own.”

“I heard she’s really sick,” I say, shamelessly fishing for more information.

“She was born with a heart defect. Poor thing. She’s been in and out of the hospital her entire life.”

“That must be so hard.”

“It is, but she’s a bold little thing. A bad heart can’t slow her down.” Gwen sighs happily. “I can’t wait to see her.” She stops stirring to look at me. “I just had the most fantastic idea.”

“You did?”

She flips a pancake. “Why don’t you and I visit Steph later?”

“Visit who?” A voice rumbles.

I look around and find Brogan entering the kitchen. His hair is mussed and his mouth is open in a big yawn. For some reason, my body flushes with excitement when his eyes slam into mine.

I answer lightly, “We’re going to visit Steph.”

Brogan goes completely still.

I give him a roll with it smile. “Your mother suggested it.”

“It’ll be so fun.” Gwen bounces on her toes. “Steph doesn’t know you got married yet, does she?”

“No,” Brogan growls, “and I have no intentions of her finding out.”

“Well, she will when we see her later,” Gwen says dismissively.

Furious blue eyes blast my way.

I hold his stare.

So… maybe prying into Brogan’s personal life was a bad idea, but I’m curious and his mom is a well of information. The longer she stays here, the more I’ll find out by default.

One way or the other, I’m going to uncover every little inch of him.

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