CLAIRE: And a bride who might just like it
BEA: I cannot believe I’m letting you two speak at the wedding
Bea had chosen the font, the acrylic, and the pale blue edge. That didn’t stop her breath from catching when Jaxon pulled it out of the envelope.
The private decision was now public.
This was happening.
“It’s translucent,” Lillian said admiringly, turning it in the light.
Adam tilted his. “It’s practically a mirror. I can see my own reflection wondering what kind of money this man makes.”
Bea sipped lime spritzer. “I’m still pretending Adriana’s catering quotes were satire.”
Jaxon scanned the card with his usual calm. “He talked you into marrying himnext month?”
Bea thought back to the morning after he proposed. The negotiation itself had lasted three minutes, maybe less. The rest of the time had been spent with Rafael proving that timelines were flexible when leverage was applied in erogenous places. Heat rolled through her. Five more weeks felt impossible.
Adam leaned back, arms crossed. “You two are either crazy in love or just crazy.”
“Or,” Jaxon said, gaze dropping down to her stomach just long enough to make her scowl.
“Don’t you dare say it,” Bea warned.
“I wasn’t going to.” Bite. Chew. Smirk. Silence.
“You were thinking it,” Bea accused, jabbing her straw toward him like a sword.
Adam coughed. “To be fair, he’s not the only one.”
“You might want to reconsider making that press statement,” Jaxon suggested. “Immaculate conception won’t fly where Griffin’s concerned.”
“I am not pregnant,” Bea gritted out, eyes like slits. “Do you honestly think the only way Rafael could get me to marry him is by knocking me up?”
“It’s only the timeline,” Lillian offered diplomatically.
“And the man’s made no secret he wants a legion,” Adam added.
“To other people?” Bea asked, flustered.
“How many bedrooms are in the house he built you?” Lillian asked.
Bea counted in her head. “Six,” she said slowly. “Eight, if you include the pool house. Twelve, if you count the staff wing.”
The collective brow-lift was so synchronized it could have been rehearsed.
“Did you think he planned to fill them with puppies?” Adam asked wryly.
“We haven’t talked much about kids yet,” she said. Well, there was that time during the proposal he joked about having at least five.
“See, couples usually have that conversation month four,” Jaxon said, deadpan.
Bea lobbed a fry at his face.
“He’s already halfway to naming them all, the way he is with you,” Lillian said, not even suppressing her grin. “With their genetics they'll be so tall you'll need a step-stool to hug them goodnight...but the bright side is they'll snag scholarships so that's tuition covered.”
A beat of silence. Then the two men cracked—low chuckles that made her bristle.
