Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 94313 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 472(@200wpm)___ 377(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94313 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 472(@200wpm)___ 377(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
“I’m having a baby,” I breathed incredulously.
“You absolutely are,” she replied, nodding.
“And I’m getting married.”
“That looked like that was the plan when I walked in,” she confirmed dryly.
“I don’t think—” Before the words were out of my mouth, reality snapped things back into focus.
I didn’t have any other choice. My cabin was all but lost to me and it hadn’t been a long-term plan, anyway. At some point I was going to have to enter the world again somehow. I could do it with Otto, or I could do it alone.
I knew what the better option was.
“Sorry,” I mumbled shakily. “Of course I’m getting married.”
“No of course about it,” Heather replied seriously. “You don’t want to marry Otto, you don’t have to. You know that, right?”
“Yeah.” I nodded. “Yeah, I know. I think my hormones are just going crazy.”
“Well, that’s pretty normal.” She squeezed my shoulders and frowned. “Sweetheart, you must be sweating like a pig in that jacket.”
“I am,” I confessed with a little laugh. “But—” I unzipped it, showing the large stain down the front of my dress.
“Ah,” she mused knowingly. “Well, did you bring anything that you could change into?”
“My suitcase is in Otto’s truck.”
“Otto’s?” Heather asked in confusion. “Oh, it’s probably Rumi’s.”
I felt embarrassment heat my cheeks. “Right,” I said like I’d known all along that it wasn’t Otto’s truck we’d used.
Heather poked her head out of the bedroom door and yelled at someone down the hallway, and just a few minutes later my suitcase magically appeared in the doorway.
“I’ll let you get ready,” Heather said kindly, setting my suitcase on the bed. “And I’ll go see what the hold up is. I think they’ll probably send a guard with us into town, but it’s no big deal. You won’t even notice them. Use whatever you need in the bathroom—” She pointed to the closed door across the room. “Except the toothbrushes, because that’s nasty.”
She was gone, the door shut behind her, before I could reply.
Opening the suitcase quickly, I took inventory. I didn’t have much. Even the dresses that fit loose were getting snug. Pulling out a gray sweater dress that I’d barely worn at the cabin, I looked it over. No stains or pulls. I grabbed a pair of underwear and set it on the dress. None of my bras fit well anymore, so the sports bra I was wearing would have to do.
Not sure how much time I had, I moved quickly, pulling off my dress and rolling it into a ball. The underwear was next, but that took a little more time. I kicked them off and hastily pulled on the new pair. I’d just situated them over my butt when the door opened up behind me. I yelped in surprise and whipped my head around.
“Damn,” Otto said appreciatively.
“I’m getting dressed,” I hissed, my hands frantically trying to cover everything at once.
“I can see that,” he mused, sliding into the room and closing the door behind him.
“What are you doing?” He didn’t seem to notice my glare.
“Were you this ripped before?” he asked, moving toward me. His hand reached out and traced a line over my shoulders. “You’ve got more definition than Rumi.”
“It’s from chopping wood,” I mumbled, snatching my dress off the bed to hold against my front.
“Look at those guns,” Otto said with a grin, squeezing my bicep.
“Yes, I’m very muscular,” I gritted sarcastically through my teeth. “Stop poking me.”
His eyes met mine in surprise. “Listen to you,” he said softly to himself. “The sweet church girl’s got teeth.”
“Did you need something?” I asked desperately. Embarrassment at being caught half-dressed was quickly morphing into a familiar burn that was reflected in Otto’s eyes.
“You’re too thin, though,” he said quietly, ignoring my question as he brushed my hair over my shoulder. “We’ll fix that.”
I scoffed, trying valiantly not to lean toward him. What was it about this man that made all other thoughts disappear? I’d already thrown caution to the wind once with him, I wasn’t about to do it again. We weren’t married yet.
“All of my dresses are too snug, actually,” I replied, swallowing hard as I shuffled backward.
“Why you hidin’?” he asked, tilting his head in question as he reached for the dress still clutched to my chest.
“Because we’re not married yet,” I blurted, taking another step backward.
His lips pulled inward like he was trying not to laugh.
“It’s not funny,” I snapped.
“Baby, I’ve already seen everythin’ there is to see.”
“And look where that got us,” I shot back.
He jerked his head back in surprise. “Point taken,” he breathed.
“I’m sorry—” Oh, god. What was I thinking? I started to lower the dress.
“No,” he said, reaching out to stop me. “You wanna wait, we’ll wait.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Stop apologizin’,” he ordered, reaching up to run his finger along my jawline. “You got an escort and things are all set when you’re ready to go shoppin’.”