Page 25 of Scarred Sunrise

Chapter 11

It wasdifficult not to let her heart race away from her with childish excitement and foolish hope, but she tried to maintain some sort of hold on the smile threatening to burst free. Brunch had been a mix of a walk down memory lane and a brief catch up on the superficial points of their lives.

They’d left all heavy stuff where it belonged, in a closed emotional vault. Neither one of them wanting to spoil the perfection of their first date in over a decade. When they’d arrived at Fortis, she’d been surprised and delighted to find Meg and Lucy there with the kids.

Smithy had held her hand as they walked into the building, her heart fluttering with wild energy from just that simple touch. He had said a quick greeting to Meg and Lucy and then kissed her head tenderly before leaving her to go into the conference room.

Her sister’s eyebrows had shot to their hairlines before wide grins had spread across their faces. Lizzie felt herself blush, the strange mix of deep happiness warring with the knowledge that everyone knew how she felt about him and how it had been one-sided.

Lucy sidled up to her, even heavily pregnant her sister didn’t waddle; she had the grace and beauty of a swan. “I think you need to give us a little update!”

Lizzie looked at the door to the closed conference room. “Shouldn’t we be in there helping out with a plan?”

Lucy snaked her arm through hers and guided her towards the pool and gym complex set up at the back. The team often used it on weekends for the kids, and she’d used it many times with Mateo.

“Being in amongst all that testosterone isn’t good for anyone. And any case, we can make plans of our own. We don’t need the men to approve them.”

Lizzie cast an uneasy glance at her beautiful sister. Lucy was everything she wasn’t—graceful, fierce, and lethal. While she knew she’d inherited some of their mother’s stubbornness and her father’s independence, she envied Lucy her ability to be able to know what her husband was thinking. She wondered what it would be like to be in Ty’s head but then dismissed it. She didn’t want anything he wouldn’t give her freely, and that included his thoughts and secrets and especially his love.

“Fine. How about we go take a swim with the kids, and you catch us up on what’s been happening with you and Smithy and your late night visitor?”

Lizzie caught the lethal look of anger on Lucy’s face but also on Meg’s too. Her sisters loved her and would do anything for her, and she felt the same way. Dane had always been, and to some extent would always be, their protector. She knew it was hard for him to relinquish that sometimes, but marrying Lauren had been the making of him and he was slowly learning that his sisters weren’t helpless.

Moving to the locker, she took the costume she kept there from the bag and limped to the changing room. Her pelvis ached today, the sleep she’d managed to catch in Ty’s arms had been blissful and deep but sleeping on her side without the pillow for supporting her upper leg was a mistake she was now paying for.

A laugh bubbled up as she imagined asking Ty if he’d just mind lying on his back so she could throw her leg over him. They’d only had the one tumultuous kiss here yesterday, and since then she’d felt him holding back as if he thought that was what she needed, and to some extent it was. Yet, another part of her wanted him to ravage her as a desirable woman, not a broken doll.

Sliding into the pool, she gasped slightly at the cooler water on her hot skin before she did a few tentative strokes and got used to the temperature. Meg looked like a model in her red bikini that was modest by most standards but on her body looked like sex on a stick.

“How do you look like a goddess after pregnancy and I have stretch marks on my hips?”

Meg blinked and shrugged. “I’d say good genes, but as we share those, I guess I got lucky.” Meg looked at her and tilted her head. “Plus, you got the boobs, so don’t be greedy.”

Liz laughed. “I guess I did.”

“I’d be happy to see my feet without a mirror so quit whining you two.”

Liz splashed Lucy. “But you’re having a beautiful baby girl.”

Lizzie had been delighted to find out the doctor had got Lucy’s dates wrong. After her near miss the previous month, Lauren had made them get a scan, and they’d realised that Lucy hadn’t been four months as they thought but seven months pregnant. The stress of their fertility issues had caused her a delay in symptoms, and a little spotting had been assumed to be her period.

A dreamy look filled with love came over Lucy’s face. “I know. I can’t wait to meet her.”

“Me either. Can you believe you’re due on Halloween?”

Lucy laughed. “I know.”

Lizzie sighed. “I’d kill for another baby, but I don’t think it’s on the cards for me any more.”

Lizzie had always wanted more children, loving her siblings and not being able to imagine a life without them in it, even when they drove her crazy.

“Why not?” Lucy cocked her head as Paige spun her sister in her water ring, gleeful screams filling the air and making them all smile.

“Well, one I’m too old. Two, they don’t know if I could carry to term after all the damage to my pelvis and three, even though we shared a kiss, I’m pretty sure Ty and I aren’t there yet.” She ticked off the things on her fingers, laughing at the last but still, a pang of longing for something that may never be nestled in her heart.

“I call bullshit.”

“Lucy!” Meg called pointing to Paige who was watching them.