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I was expecting Jake to balk, but he just smiled back at me and reached for my hand. “Whatever you want, beautiful.”
The compliment made me shiver, because I knew what it really meant. There were so many times that Jake called me beautiful, but it was rarely about my physical appearance. In those moments after we made love and he was staring down at me and trying to catch his breath, he’d just hold my gaze and say something about what a beautiful, amazing person I was. There was nothing about my flawless skin or perfect lips or unique eyes–no, it was always about how kind I was, what a good heart I had, how I radiated goodness. His words always made something deep inside of me come to life, and for the first time in the eight years since I’d started modeling, I actually felt beautiful.
We decided to go home to shower, change, and feed Boo before our big night out, so I quickly kissed Jake and made my way to the Jeep to follow his truck up the mountain. I mentally rifled through my wardrobe to figure out what I wanted to wear dancing in the city and was caught up in my thoughts when I parked the Jeep in front of the cabin. It wasn’t until I was getting out of the vehicle that I saw a person huddled on my front porch.
Jake must have seen them too because he quickly jogged over to me and grabbed my elbow, pulling me behind him so he could approach the person wrapped in too many layers to recognize. Hat, scarf, and earmuffs all conspired to keep us in suspense until I realized I knew someone with those earmuffs.
“Zoey?” I cried, racing ahead of Jake to confirm it was my best friend on the doorstep.
Her head came up, eyes wide and nose pink from the cold. As soon as she saw me, she burst into tears.
As soon as I reached her, I grabbed her up in my arms and pulled her in close.
“What the hell happened, Zo-Zo? What’s wrong?”
I felt Jake come behind me and grab my keys out of my coat pocket to open the cabin. As he passed me, he squeezed my shoulder in support, and I realized how grateful I was to have him there. If something was wrong with my best friend, Jake was the best guy to have around. He was smart and levelheaded and always good in a crisis.
Once he opened the cabin door, he turned on the lights and let Boo out for a potty break while I brought Zoey and her overstuffed duffel bag into the warmth of the main room and helped her out of her warm gear.
“Why didn’t you call me? We almost left for Denver. You would have been here all night,” I said. I was babbling, I knew, but the thought that we’d almost gone out of town for the evening made me realize how close I’d come to missing her arrival. And if she was upset…
Wait.
I did a double take as she removed her coat. Jake met my eyes from where he stood by the door. We both turned back to stare at my gorgeous best friend.
My gorgeous, very pregnant, best friend.
Chapter 20
Jake
It looked like Oz’s eyes were going to pop right out of his head. I moved closer to him and slid my arm around his waist in hopes my touch might help soothe him.
“What the fuck?” he croaked.
With tears still streaming down her gorgeous face, Zoey plucked off her hat, letting loose a halo of dark, corkscrew curls all over her head. She had dark skin and mesmerizing green eyes, set off even more by the shine and redness from her tears.
“Why don’t you have a seat, Zoey?” I offered, reaching out to guide her over to the sofa.
Oz seemed to be in shock and had grabbed onto my hand with a death grip. After settling Zoey in a comfortable spot, I nudged Oz down beside her and leaned in to brush a kiss across his cheek.
“She needs a hug, sweetheart. The words can wait,” I murmured into his ear before lighting the fire and disappearing into the kitchen.
I busied myself making hot chocolate, since I wasn’t sure if she’d be drinking coffee or not. After finding a tray to carry everything on, I made my way back into the main room and set it down on the coffee table.
Both of them were snuggled together on the sofa and teary-eyed, but I could sense a shift in the mood. Boo had claimed a spot on Zoey’s lap.
“You’ll stay here, with me,” Oz said with burgeoning excitement. “We’ll take you to see Doc Sharma and find out everything we need to know about baby shit. My new friend, Frieda, has just been through all of this, and I’m sure she can help us.”
