Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 94513 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94513 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
“She asked,” Than replied, then turned back to me. “Looks like Wilma made sandwiches for lunch and homemade chips because she loves me. Do you want turkey, ham, or roast beef?”
I walked over to the counter to look at the selections. Forge picked up the first two options and then scooped chips onto his plate. I didn’t want to eat the chips. They had been fried in oil, and that wasn’t healthy for the baby. I couldn’t eat the cold cuts either. I’d read that there was a risk of listeria infection.
“Halo has a meal in the fridge. Wilma put her name on it,” Bane said, walking into the room.
“She can’t eat this?” Than asked.
I glanced from Bane to Than. “Sandwich meats carry a risk of listeria infection. It’s not safe to eat when pregnant.”
Than raised his eyebrows. “Didn’t know that.”
“You knew that?” Bane asked me pointedly.
His surprised look made me prickly.
“Yes, I did. I have a book my doctor gave me.”
The approval in his expression had me jerking my eyes off the man and walking to the fridge. I didn’t need his approval, thank you very much. While he thought I should sit around in this house, being nothing but an incubator for his nephew, I was more than that. I was his mother, and I would do everything I could to make sure he was healthy.
Opening the impressive appliance, I was once again overwhelmed by all the stuff in it. There was even more than there had been this morning. I scanned the shelves, trying to find what it was that I was supposed to eat.
I stiffened as a warm body came up close enough behind me that chill bumps broke out on my arms. I held my breath as a thick, corded arm with colorful art tattooed on it reached over me and took a container out. When I finally inhaled the scent that I identified as Bane’s, it made me want to suck in more air.
“This is yours.” His voice held a brooding lilt to it.
“Th-thanks,” I stammered as he moved back, and I turned to take my lunch from him.
He didn’t respond. Instead, he left me standing there with the fridge open, staring at his retreating form as he took long, purposeful strides out of the kitchen.
Reaching for the door, I closed it before going back to the bar. Than was watching me with a quizzical expression. I forced a tight smile and dropped my eyes to the container Bane had given me.
“Okay, what the fuck was that?” Forge asked, swinging his focus from the door back to me.
Than cleared his throat. “I don’t know.”
Neither did I, but my heart was racing wildly in my chest. I sat down and took the top from the plate. A large yellow squash had been cut into two pieces, then stuffed with black beans, a ground meat of some kind, chopped colorful veggies, with mozzarella cheese melted on the top. Beside it were sliced strawberries, drizzled with some white cream. It looked delicious and smelled wonderful.
“Damn, why can’t I get that for lunch?” Forge asked, peering over at my plate. “Fuck this sandwich shit.”
Than leaned closer to see what I had been given. “Okay, yeah, I’m jealous,” he agreed.
I gave them both a smug smile before picking up my fork to take a bite.
The swimsuits that Grissele had bought for me felt as if they needed more fabric until I walked down to see the other females out at the pool.
The floor-to-ceiling windows in the great room were gone. They had been rolled up like a garage door. I hadn’t realized they did that. The entire wall where the windows had been was now one big, open area. The great room connected seamlessly onto the patio. Although it wasn’t truly dark yet, there were open flames from torches surrounding the area outside.
Music from outside floated in through speakers, but not too loudly. The large screen in the great room had a pregame show on ESPN that a few guys were watching. Ransom was sitting on the U-shaped sofa with a beer in his hand, and on the other side was Forge, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, listening to whatever they were saying on the screen.
The two other men I didn’t recognize. One glanced up at me and nodded before looking back at the screen.
“Than is outside. He was waiting on you, but he needed a smoke,” Forge said, barely looking from the screen to me.
I hadn’t known Than smoked. I’d never seen him smoke.
“Okay,” I replied and walked slowly out of the great room and onto the patio.
The barely there bikini tops I’d seen from inside were only on a few females. The others, I realized, were topless. I’d worn a sundress over mine, for fear it was too revealing. Laughter came from the pool, and I scanned the crowd, thinking I might just need to go back upstairs.