Total pages in book: 190
Estimated words: 181992 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 910(@200wpm)___ 728(@250wpm)___ 607(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 181992 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 910(@200wpm)___ 728(@250wpm)___ 607(@300wpm)
“Just so you know,” began Alicia, flicking through the rack of sleepsuits, making the air ring with the scrape of metal on metal, “Ollie was a big baby.”
Marleigh tensed. “What?”
Nodding, I adjusted the position of the shopping bags handing from my arm. “Ten pounds eight ounces.”
Marleigh did a slow blink, her hand flexing on the handle of her wheeled basket. “You’re lying.”
Stifling a smile, I shook my head. “Nope.”
“It’s true,” Harri confirmed. “Mom complains about it now and then.”
Her shoulders dropping, Marleigh let out a little whine. “Hopefully the baby takes after me.”
Sabrina snickered. “You weighed almost nine pounds, so …”
Marleigh groaned. “I don’t want to get split in half.”
“You won’t.” Sabrina tossed an arm over her sister’s shoulders. “Now, tell me what in the store you’d like so I can mentally note down a possible lists of gifts for your baby shower.”
Marleigh looked at her askance. “It won’t matter how nice you are, I’m not going to let you name my child.”
Sabrina frowned. “Oh, come on.”
“No. And I mean, no. Now, onto better things …” Marleigh scooped the merchandise from her basket and quickly flicked through them. “I’m definitely getting these, they’re too cute to put back.”
“I’ll stick with these booties,” said Alicia, holding them up. She glanced in the direction of the checkout counter. “The line is a little shorter now than when we first walked in, thankfully. Not by much, though.”
Looking at Marleigh, I gestured at her basket. “Give me that, I’ll put it back for you.”
With a grateful smile, she passed it over. “We hopefully won’t be long.”
“I’ll go pee while you two pay,” Harri declared.
The three women then swanned off.
Letting out a soft sigh, Sabrina flared out the skirt of a little flowery dress. “I swear, my ovaries melt whenever I look at baby clothes. My biological clock starts ticking even louder. Do you still want seven kids?”
Recalling my childhood plan, I chuckled as I began wheeling the empty basket along the faux wooden floor. “I haven’t wanted that many since I was at least eleven.” I stacked the basket on top of the pile near the propped-open door and then returned to my friend’s side. “I think three is a nice number, but I wouldn’t be opposed to having more.”
“Tamara wants two,” said Sabrina. “I don’t really care how many we have or—dear Lord.” She grimaced at her reflection in a wall-mounted mirror. “Could no one have told me that my bangs are all frizzy?” she demanded.
“It seemed more fun to let you find out the hard way.”
“You suck.”
Chuckling again, I fingered the soft cotton sleeve of a white tee that was positively adorable. I’d hopefully be returning to the boutique at some point in the not-so-distant future to shop for my own baby. The thought warmed my chest and made my lips curve.
I glanced to my left as movement caught my eye … and I happened to clash gazes with Felicity through the store window, who stumbled to a halt on the sidewalk, her lips firming.
My smile faded. Ugh. I really wasn’t in the mood to deal with her crap.
I mentally urged her to keep walking, but there was no such luck. She strode inside, her shoulders stiff, her chin up.
“Wonderful,” Sabrina uttered.
Wasn’t it just.
Felicity stopped directly in front of me, and her gaze dropped to the tiny t-shirts I was looking at. Her eyes met mine again, hard and scornful. “That explains why my cousin married you—and with such speed. You’re pregnant.” She sniffed. “I should have guessed.”
I thought about correcting her assumption, but I owed her no explanations. So, instead, I gave her a soft, mocking smile. “Now let’s be civil, Felicity. We’re practically family.”
The corners of her eyes tightened. “I’ll bet you got pregnant on purpose to trap him.”
“Not all women have to manipulate men into committing to them.”
An amused snort popped out of Sabrina.
Felicity looked me up and down, her top lip curling slightly. “You would have had no other way of making him tie his life to yours. Dax is so far out of your league he’s a mere dot on your horizon.”
“As you can surely tell, I’m terribly hurt you have such a low opinion of me,” I said, my voice bone dry. “It’s gonna keep me up at night for certain.”
Sabrina gave my shoulder a pat. “At least you have Dax to fuck you back to sleep.”
“There is that,” I said.
Sabrina tilted her head at Felicity. “I would have thought you’d be relieved that Addie’s quite clearly moved on from Grayden. Oh no, wait … the idea that she’s not pining after your man is something you actually detest, isn’t it? There’s no joy in ‘winning’ when you’re the only one taking part in the competition.”
Felicity gave her an oh, please look. “It’s obvious she only ensnared Dax to get Grayden’s attention.” Her gaze cut back to me. “You thought he’d leave me, rush to your side, and offer you everything if only you’d walk away from Dax. I’ll bet you got quite a shock when he didn’t try to stop the wedding from going ahead.”