AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"Good thinking, Mr. Bond," she replied with agiggle.
Chapter Thirteen
Matt
Ipulledup to the curb in front of Patrick's building, and glanced back at Lauren in the rearview mirror. "How are you doing, MissHoney?"
"Wonderful," she said, her attention on her phone. "I could get used tothis."
"I can't. I've reached for you five times in the past ten minutes. I'm experiencing wifewithdrawals."
"Andy says they'll be down in a second." She held up her phone as proof. "I know this isn't your favorite seating arrangement but Patrick bitches and moans if he has to sit in the back seat and I didn't want to play musical chairs when we gothere."
"I know. It's not a big deal. I'm just used to having you next to me." I shifted to face her. "I'm going to ask one lasttime."
"The answer is still no," she replied, layering her hands over her abdomen. She was wearing a loose dress that concealed the slight roundness in her belly. "Let my mother and everyone else dote on Shannon. I don't want to take anything away fromher."
"I'm certain Shannon won't feel neglected." Part of me wanted to make a big announcement. The other part liked keeping my wife content. "She might welcome the reprieve. When I talked to her last night, she seemed to suggest she needed a break fromeveryone."
"Maybe," she said, unconvinced. "But I want to cross that twelve-week thresholdfirst."
"Then that's what we'll do," I said. We were crossing that threshold in two days but I didn't get the impression Lauren was interested in hearing my logic on thematter.
She frowned, and touched her fingertips to her lips. "My mother's head will explode when we tell her about thebaby."
Lauren was right about that. I'd built ample guest quarters in the new house plans for a reason. "And your father will feed me to thesharks."
"He will not," she replied. "He'll glare at you for several minutes and then he'll be thrilled. No sharkbait."
"Can we tell them about the house?" I asked, hopeful. We had a verbal agreement with the seller, and I had a fuck-ton of work ahead of me. I was thinking about juggling my upcoming projects to add some breathing room to my schedule. Maybe poaching one of Patrick's assistants. The next few months were going to behectic.
"I'm not—" The doors opened and Patrick and Andy piled in, their arms loaded with gifts. "I'm not sure," Lauren said over theirgreetings.
"You look adorable," Andy said, running her fingertips down the sleeve of Lauren's cranberry red dress. "Is thisnew?"
"It is," Lauren said, catching my eye in the mirror. "I was doing some last minute shopping after school, and it called tome."
"Hmmm." Andy nodded as she gave the dress careful inspection. "It looks really comfortable," she said. "It's cute. This is a good style foryou."
"Thank you," Lauren said with a sunny smile. "Itiscomfortable."
"Where's it from?" Andyasked.
"It's, uh," she started, "I'm blanking on thename."
I glanced over my shoulder, locking eyes with Lauren. "Last chance," I mouthed to her, knowing the garment was a find from a trendy maternity shop. She shook herhead.
"A little place off Newbury," she replied. "I can't remember the name but I'll point it out the next time we're in thatneighborhood."
"You should've told me you were going out," Andy said. "You could've met up with me and Tiel. We had a very special visit to one your favorite boutiques. The dressing rooms aresensational."
"Andy," Patrickgrowled.
Choking down a laugh, I gestured to the foil-wrapped dish on Andy's lap. "What do you havethere?"
"Lasagna," she said. "Shannon texted me at four o'clock this morning because she was awake and wandering around the house. Apparently she wasveryhungry andwanted—"
"For fuck's sake, people. If we wanted to sit at the curb and converse for twenty minutes, we would've caught a ride with Sam," Patricksaid.
