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Orion had money in droves and had sexual manipulation of my body down to a science. I wasn’tthatcomfortable quite yet that I was laying out any emotional needs for this man.
And yet… he’d managed to find an itch to scratch.
The idea that he believed in my ability to successfully expand the store, and willingness to put resources behind it, was really doing something for me; exactlywhat,I couldn’t pinpoint. It was little to do with the money, though it mattered to actually getting it done. I didn’t want to feel indebted to him, but I wasn’t afraid enough of failing to turn it down.
It was the other part, the part that didn’t have anything to do with money, not really…thatwas scary.
If I was already losing my battle of keeping a wall up between us…
What kind of blow would him making an unspoken dream of mine come true deal?
TWENTY-ONE
NALANI
“Tell me something,Nala. You not running yourself raggedy trying to get skinny are you?”
It was a good thing I had a towel over my face, otherwise I would’ve given Calli a “girl what the fuck are you talking about” look that could’ve been interpreted as disrespectful.
And it would’ve been.
But I wasn’t trying to give that energy to her.
So I took a moment to dry the sweat from my face before I turned to face her. I’d been passing by the entrance to the sun room on the way back to my own after a quick session on the stationary bike in the gym. She was sitting there alone, watching the wildlife in the trees now that the weather was getting a little warmer.
“Not even a little,” I told her. “Just staying limber since your grandson has me out here in the suburbs instead of my place in the city.”
“Good,” she insisted. “Keep some meat on you. You’re gonna need it when you start making babies, hear?”
My eyes went wide, and I forced a smile as I nodded. “Yes ma’am,” I told her. “Nothing to worry about, okay?”
“You ain’t gotta ‘yes ma’am’me, baby.” She cackled. “I’m just an old lady outside her business. I’ve gathered up enough years to do that, right?”
When I thought about it from that perspective, my smile shifted to a genuine one and I nodded again. “I think you’re on to something,” I agreed. “But… yeah. Like I said, just keeping the joints lubricated and the heart healthy, that’s all.”
“All I needed to hear.”
It was all I planned to say. Though,thatwas a musing that would remain internal. I wasn’t particularly interested in discussing the affairs of my uterus,especiallynot if it would be getting put to use soon.
Not that there was any discussion necessary, really.
Orion had been doing his damnedest to fill it and I was contractually obligated to let him.
That situation was going to be whatever it was going to be, without any outside input.
And yet, even with that thought in mind… I was surprised to find the telltale pink streaks of an impending period in my underwear when I stripped down to take my shower.
I wasn’tsadabout it necessarily. Pregnancy was a game of chance and Orion and I had only been having sex for a few weeks since the wedding. Those pink streaks were duelastweek, but with everything going on, there hadn’t been room for me to panic.
Actually… I wasgladto see them.
There was a little too much going on for a pregnancy right now.
Since that lunch meeting with Stanford Reese about expanding theNectarterritory, my days had been exponentially busier and there were no signs of things slowing down.
In fact, thinking about it from that angle, I hoped it would work in my favor that our attempts at producing Orion’s contractually obligated heir would take a little while.
We needed better timing.
