Page 11 of Three of a Kind

Or possibly hell.

“I’m just so tired,” I whisper as Noble studies my face.

“Yeah, I’ve been wondering how much longer you planned to keep the baby bump a secret.” He chuckles. “I’m a little impressed you managed to keep it on the down low for this long.”

“What?” I gasp.

“You smell sweeter than any omega I’ve ever scented. I’ve only experienced that level of indescribable sweetness once, and that was my sister while she was pregnant. Only, she smelled cloying to my senses, while you are delectable.”

“So, anyone who scents me would know?” I ask, my mind racing through the repercussions, if that’s true.

“Not necessarily,” he says earnestly. “It took me a while to figure out that’s what it was.”

“Are you in 301B? I’ve got your delivery,” a guy says, striding down the hallway.

Noble nods, moving to greet the guy.

“Let me grab some cash for the tip.” I spin around and head into my apartment.

Snatching the money off the counter, I make it back to the door at the same time Noble gently pushes it open.

“I covered it.” He bumps the door closed with his backside and aims for the counter.

“Here, take this then,” I say, holding out the cash.

“No.” He chuckles.

I drop the money on the counter and lean my forearms on top. My hips are killing me, and I need to call my sister.

My head tilts to look over my shoulder as Noble moves behind me and starts massaging my lower back.

Objectively speaking, I’ve always been able to tell he’s a handsome guy. He has wavy dark hair, that’s longer on top but shorter on the sides and dark eyes. He’s also got more than a foot in height on me, but that’s pretty standard for any alpha.

The short beard that frames his strong jaw flexes as he works some magic on my lumbar region and slides to the side, rubbing my throbbing hips.

Noble is the most affectionate alpha I’ve ever met. Even though he’s very touchy-feely, we’ve never been this close before. But I can’t seem to force myself to brush his hands away.

“You still want to play it off like that guy was just a family member popping in for a visit?” Noble asks.

“He was asking about Lennox. I didn’t even know the two of them had met, which is a bad sign. Anything to do with my ex and his family generally is.” I push up on my tiptoes when his huge fingers nudge against a tendon or knot that has been giving me a lot of trouble.

“And you’re keeping the new baby a secret from your ex for some reason?” Noble asks.

“I don’t think he’ll be pleased,” I say without considering my words. “It’s safer this way?—”

“Mommy, I waked up,” Libby says, making me jolt. “I want my orange.”

“Ohmigod.” I snort, pulling a hand up to run over my face. “She’s never going to let that piece of fruit go.”

Noble releases me and spins around. “Shortstack, you look like you really enjoyed that nap.”

Libby loves Noble, and she squeals.

“Noble!” It sounds a lot like bo-bull, but she’s actually advanced for being three years old. “I gots an orange!”

Okay, maybe she doesn’t have perfect grammar, but she’s my kid.

I’m biased.

---