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“Didn’t we just take a break?” Ed Hampton asked.
“Yes, but you’re not pregnant,” Frida said, lightly slapping her husband on the arm with their scorecard.
“So, we change tables again, huh?” Nate asked Lauren. They’d lost the last four games in a row.
“Yep. I think you’re bringing me bad luck here, Miller. Maybe I should ditch you for someone else.” She’d never called him by his last name before. It sounded like she was flirting with him.
He quickly went over the signs in his head. He’d gotten the signals correctly that night on the beach when he’d kissed her. But ever since then she’d insisted on this friends routine. Her actions, however, belied her words. He’d taken note of the way of her skin flushed and her eyes widened whenever he got too close. The lingering looks when she thought he wasn’t watching. And the sweet way she’d melted against him that night he had taken a chance and slipped his arm around her during the movie. He wanted her so badly it hurt. Physically, he could hold out. He didn’t have to have sex with her tonight. Or even next week or next month. But he had to know that eventually it was going to happen. Or he’d go crazy.
He went to get a bottled water from the kitchen when he noticed Kitty Pappas standing in the hallway. Her arm was braced against the wall and her face was pale.
“Are you all right?” Nate asked her.
“Oh!” Kitty immediately straightened up like she’d been caught doing something she shouldn’t. “It’s these Braxton-Hicks contractions! I probably just need to drink more water.”
“How long have you been having them?” he asked.
“Well, I always have them. At least lately,” she said. “And the backache and the swelling.” She laughed. “But I’m sure you know about that.”
Nate had done a general obstetrical rotation during his family practice residency, but he was no OB-GYN. Still, he knew enough to tell that she looked uncomfortable. “Why don’t you go lie down for a few minutes? I’m sure no one would mind if we took another break from playing.”
“Oh no, I’m fine,” Kitty said, “Besides, for the first time in ages, I’m actually winning. Nope, sorry, good try, doc, but you and Lauren are going to have to find another way to beat me.” She grabbed a water from the kitchen and winked at him on her way back to the table.
Play resumed and after a round of games, they took another break. This time, instead of hanging out with the men, Nate followed Lauren to the dessert table nestled in a corner of the formal dining room. She was about to put a chocolate covered strawberry into her mouth when she saw him. She glanced around, and when she was sure that no one was watching, she took the strawberry and instead, slowly placed it into his mouth. He gulped it d
own in one bite. Damn. He instantly hardened. Did she realize just how sexy that was?
“I think we need to talk,” he said.
“I’m listening.”
“Not here. Later. At your house. Or mine. It doesn’t matter where.” Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Kitty Pappas standing at the edge of a small group. Everyone was laughing, but her smile seemed forced. “I don’t think Kitty is feeling well,” he said to Lauren.
“Why? Did she say something to you?”
“She told me she was having Braxton-Hicks, and that’s probably all it is, but she seems uncomfortable.”
“Earth to Dr. Miller. All women are uncomfortable in their last trimester.”
“You included?” They’d never discussed her pregnancy before. She was so petite. It was hard to imagine her with her belly swelled in the last trimester. He tried to envision it.
“I felt like a beached whale. But I can’t complain. My labor was relatively fast. Or at least, that’s what the nurses told me.” She gazed through the crowd until she spotted Kitty. “Hmm… she does look a little tired. Maybe you’re right and she should go lie down.”
“Do you know who her doctor is?”
“I know she’s supposed to deliver at the hospital in Panama City. But her due date isn’t until the end of the month.”
The bell rang again and the group all found their next tables. Lauren went on a lucky streak and kept rolling Bunco’s, landing them at the head table on the next game, right across from Kitty and Steve.
“Our next victims!” Kitty proclaimed eagerly.
“My wife is having the night of her life,” Steve said.
“So what number are we rolling for now?” Nate asked.
“Ones,” Kitty said. The bell rang and she scooped up the dice and went through some sort of good luck ritual, shaking them from hand to hand before finally tossing them onto the table. “C’mon, ones! Baby needs new shoes!” The dice tumbled on the table and landed to reveal three ones.
“Bunco!” Kitty shouted. “This is so my night!” She stood and began doing the same victory dance she’d done earlier. Steve looked on and grinned. Then, she stopped suddenly. Her face went blank and she stared down at the ground between her feet.
