Page 41 of Not Ready

I sit up and help her do the same. One hand lands on her back and the other on her stomach. The wild movement under my hand shocks the shit out of me.

“Holy fuck,” I whisper, caressing her stomach. “Is that the baby?”

“Yep,” she agrees, handing the bottle back.

I help her lie back down, drop the bottle, and stretch out next to her again. Her sweet strawberries and cream scent is heavy in the air.

I find myself leaning closer.

My damn hand seems to have a magnet attached, drawing it to her belly. The baby is still wiggling, and I fight the urge to follow the movements.

Vale blinks up at me with wide blue eyes. I almost think she’s going to kiss me, but she rolls until she’s fully facing me and plants her face on my pec again. My head rests on one palm. Now that she moved, I have nothing to do with the other. Her dress falls mid-way down her thighs. I saw her when she left with Mercy earlier, but she must have ditched the leggings once they got back.

“Did you really agree to the crazy plan Bishop and Mercer came up with?” she asks.

“Yeah.”

“You don’t seem to like me very much. I’m not sure if that’s just me being me. I don’t think I’m saying this right. Omegas pick up on the feelings of others, and I can’t tell if you’re uncomfortable with me because I’m pregnant or you just want nothing to do with being fake married. The first day I got here, you were kind, and I appreciate you taking me to the doctor?—”

“Yeah, you’re making me feel even more like an asshole than I already do. Before you came here, all I knew was what you did for a living and the little Bishop said about you. I made assumptions.”

“Like I was using Bishop for his money.”

“Correct,” I agree, grimacing.

“Yeah, I get that.” She sighs. “All my friends back home used to warn me not to read too much into our relationship, but he grew on me. You know? It’s hard to explain, but I would’ve looked forward to talking to him, even without the website.”

The shitty thing is that I believe her, and it makes me feel even more rotten.

“God, I can’t explain how guilty I felt having to tell him about Aurora. It’s very much on par with my luck that I go on one date in two years and end up being ghosted while taking on a lifelong commitment.” She snorts. “Sorry, I’m apparently feeling very woe is me at the moment.”

“Nah, you’ve got to get it off your chest sometime.”

“I guess.”

“So, you don’t have any idea how to find the guy?”

“Mercer said he could ask the tech specialist looking into Andrew to check for any surveillance footage of him, but I haven’t had the chance to think that through.”

“Absolutely not,” Bishop growls, startling the ever-loving fuck out of me as he yanks the curtain open.

“Jesus Christ.” I jolt, wrapping myself around Vale’s front.

“There’s no need to track him down. He left.” Bishop sits on the edge of the bench seat. “Are you okay? Mercy told me there was a suspicious vehicle today when you were in town.”

My head tilts. She failed to mention that, which could be because I just admitted that I didn’t think very much of her.

“Did you know my prescription cost three thousand dollars?” she asks with wide eyes.

“Nice try at deflection,” Bishop counters. “Did you for sure see him?”

Her head shakes against my skin. “No, but the eyes weirded me out. It was the only thing I could see clearly with the reflection of the windshield.”

I tilt my head. That sounds suspicious as fuck. “All right, sweetheart. It seems your alpha is here to take over, and I could use a shower. My armpits are putrid.”

“Oh, I think you smell nice,” Vale says, patting my chest. “But thank you. Sorry about that.”

“No problem.” I wait for her to roll over enough that I can escape and climb around Bishop.

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