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“We’ll see you guys at the inn tonight, right?” Sam asks as she moves back. Braeden slides an arm around his wife’s waist, and she rests her hand on her swollen tummy. “They mentioned they’re grilling out for the guests and their family and a few friends. John knew Braeden from when my husband was in college, and he said you would probably be there.”
Seth chuckles. “College. Those were our glory days.”
“Shoot, if those were my glory days, I’m screwed.” Laughter lines fan around Braeden’s hazel eyes.
“Honestly, I would be too,” Seth says with a laugh. “But to answer your question, yes. We’ll be there sometime after I get off work. Jen’s kids will be with us.”
“I look forward to meeting them,” Sam says, a soft smile on her lips. She has that pregnant mama glow, and it has me itching to dig out pictures, as few as they are, from my own pregnancies. “Now, I’ve gotta ask because if there’s one thing this baby loves more than her daddy massaging my stomach, it’s a good burger. Where’s the best one in town?”
“Farm to Table,” Seth and I say in unison.
We glance at each other. I laugh, but he keeps his amusement curbed because he only smiles. You know, because he’s on duty and certainly wouldn’t want to let an actual laugh bubble out. Except then he gives me that look from earlier. It gives me no choice but to break eye contact and look at the other couple, pretending I didn’t just feel a shiver race down my spine.
“I’m actually just going to head back—I work there—after we’re done here,” I say, all too aware of the hand Seth sets on my back.So much for being completely professional, huh?“If you want to walk, it’s only a few blocks and it’s beautiful outside today.”
“Sounds perfect,” Sam says. “I admit, I’ve struggled with my limited mobility while pregnant because I’m used to keeping a strict fitness regimen, so walks have become my best friend lately. Sort of hard to see my husband keep his tone body and work out right in front of me, though.”
Braeden grins as he ushers his wife out the door. “Hey, it’s not my fault I was blessed with killer absanda hot wife, pregnant or not.”
The comment makes Sam’s cheeks flush, and she slips her arm through her husband’s elbow. I can’t keep from smiling as I start to follow them, but Seth has other plans. He catches me by the hand and tugs me back to him. Because I have zero chance of playing the resistance game when he’s giving me that pretty little smile, I don’t even try to. Seth is the equivalent of a fluffy yellow throw pillow at Target, and we all know I CANNOT, under any circumstances, so no to a fluffy yellow throw pillow.
“See you later?” he asks, his hands resting on my waist. The heat from his skin bypasses the denim of my shorts and soft cotton of my T-shirt, burning right into my skin. “I can pick you and the kids up around six-thirty, as long as I get off when I’m supposed to.”
I nod as though I’m not currently breathless. “Mm-hmm.”
He drops a kiss on my lips, grabs the keysI forgot to grabfrom the table, and smirks as he passes them to me. “Good. And don’t forget to drive safe.”
I hear the flirtation in his tone. And what do I say to that? I say two can play that game.
I lift on my tiptoes, whispering in his ear. “Thanks for the note. Oh, and by the way, don’t wait too long before you take a little peek into your cruiser, Chief.”
With that, I return his smirk and saunter out the door without glancing over my shoulder.
Chapter Forty-Four
Seth
Following an afternoon I didn’t see coming and could care less about reliving, this is exactly what I need: a backyard barbeque with my favorite people. I’m hanging out with some of the guys while John grills, there are a few guests mingling with John’s dad and Jackie’s mother, and the women are with the children in the backyard.
“My wife tried to convince me it was going to be a boy because that’s what her techniques to find out withoutfindingout pointed to,” Chris, husband of the eldest Bryant sibling Sarah, says as he shifts his infant daughter to his other shoulder. “But when Lily was born, Sarah had to admit to being wrong. Which means Will and I are outnumbered for good.”
Marshall grins as he leans against the deck railing, one ankle crossed over the other. “You could get a dog. Do you want mine?”
“I heard that,” my sister says as she walks by on her way to the kitchen. She points at Marshall. “You’re not allowed to give Beau away without my permission, and my permission has been denied.”
“Never mind about that, apparently.” Marshall grins and winks at his wife.
Jess rolls her eyes, continuing into the house.
“How’s she been sleeping at night?” Braeden asks, and I’m guessing it’s more out of research than anything else, considering his wife is due around the same time as my sister.
Chris adjusts Lily’s tiny romper. “Pretty decently, actually. I don’t know if it’s because she realizes she’s the last one we’ll have and wants to be the golden child or what, but she’s been sleeping well. I think it helps that Sarah was able to have the birth she really wanted and was relaxed throughout it.”
“Hard to believe we’re going to have another new baby within this year,” John says with a shake of his head. He rests the tongs on the side of the grill as he closes the lid and glances at Marshall. “It seems like you were just a baby, and now you’re going to have one. Funny, I guess I thought your older brother would have children first.”
I notice how Wynn shifts slightly and pulls at the collar of his short sleeve gray button up. His father knows Noelle’s baby is due only a couple months after Jess and Marshall’s, but I think Wynn’s nervous to announce the pregnancy. I can’t imagine why; it’s not like his sisters and mother and grandmother will bombard him and Noelle with baby names, nursery designs, and what the best rocking chair brand is or anything.
I’m kidding.
