Page 41 of Pucking the Enemy

He wasn’t wrong, but the soda was a far more tempting option.

“Thank you.” I smiled at Phillip, touched that he cared.

I took my seat and grabbed the menu.

“I’ve already gone ahead and ordered some spinach and ricotta tortellini with our starters.” Roman slung an arm over the back of my chair, pulling me close to him.

He remembered what food you’re craving, a small voice in the back of my head trilled. I’d been under the assumption that, now I was no longer in heat, they wouldn’t be anywhere near as attentive as they had been then, but they were proving me wrong.

“Is that okay?” Roman asked, his face dropping when I didn’t reply.

I leaned forward and placed a quick kiss on his cheek. “That’s perfect. Thank you.”

Picking up the soda, I took a quick sip and hummed in happiness. Then, looking at Phillip, I picked up the water and took a considerable gulp. His face hardly moved, but his eyes crinkled as I drank the water.

That small part of me that wanted to please him did a little jig at that look.

“I ordered most of the appetizers,” Cormac admitted with a grin. “So there will be plenty to share.”

“Good, because I am starving,” I said. “For some reason, today, I’ve been hungry non-stop. I ate like three cereal bars before I came here, and I’m still hungry.”

“That’s good, surely?” Roman asked.

“It is!” I nodded. “It’s just unusual because I’ve barely had an appetite, and I’ve been struggling to keep things down for weeks now.”

“I know,” Phillip said. “You’re far too thin.”

“It’s not like I intended to do it! Blame the tiny human you guys made with me.”

Roman laughed. “Maybe the baby got our stubborn DNA.”

I bit my lip. While the guys did seem fairly obtuse and stubborn at times, I knew, deep down, that I would be the stubborn one of this rag-tag bunch.

“We are all stubborn. The baby is going to be a little drama queen, just watch.” Cormac laughed.

“She’s not going to be,” Roman insisted. “She’s going to be an angel, just like I was.”

“She?” I raised my eyebrows.

Roman turned to me, beaming. “Yes. A little girl that looks just like you. She’ll be so damn cute.”

“It could be a boy.” I hadn’t really thought about the gender of the baby. It was just a clump of cells at the moment, and I hadn’t let myself think that far ahead.

“Nope. It’s a girl,” Roman declared confidently.

“It could be, dude,” Cormac said.

“Well, I guess we’ll just have to try again. That could be good—we could have one of each, Duchess!”

I choked on the mouthful of soda I was in the middle of drinking. What the hell had Roman been smoking?

“I think this is a one-and-done situation.” I coughed as Cormac leaned over, gently rubbing my back.

Roman frowned. “I know you’re not on board yet, but you’re it for me, Duchess, I’ve told you this. But if you don’t want more than one kid, then I guess that’s up to you. I will just follow your lead when it comes to babies.”

I turned and gave a pleading look to Phillip. “What is he on?”

He rolled his eyes and groaned. “I ask myself that every day. Unfortunately, this just seems to be the way he is.”

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