Page 123 of Three to Fall

My cheeks heated as they tossed scraps of barely-there lace at me, and I just tried to keep up, sorting through each one, giving big fat nos to all of them.

Rebel shoved her hands on her hips, her heavily pregnant belly jutting out in between. “Kara, this baby is going to be graduating college before you choose something. It’s just underwear. You’ll be smoking hot in any of it.”

I rubbed my hand over my own belly, though I didn’t have the obvious pregnancy bump my sister did. Yet. “I just want to look a certain way. Not…”

“Like Hawk’s Little Mouse?”

I shrugged. “I like when he calls me that now. It’s sweet.”

“It’s degrading, and Hawk is a pig. Mostly.”

I shot Rebel a look. “Says the woman whose man still calls her Roach.”

Rebel got a dreamy expression on her face. “But it’s so hot on Vaughn’s lips.”

Bliss screwed her face up. “Okay, enough, you two. It’s not degrading if you like it. And you clearly both do. You weirdos.”

Rebel raised an eyebrow at her. “Should we start on the whole ‘baby girl’ thing? I don’t think War even remembers your legal name.”

Bliss smiled at just the mention of her man but then clapped her hands. “Let’s focus on the task at hand, shall we? Sexy underwear for Kara’s photoshoot.”

I bit my lip. “This might have been my worst idea yet. And I’m not sure taking some sexy selfies really counts as a photo shoot.”

Bliss shook her head, holding up some sort of outfit that pretty much only consisted of straps and buckles. “No, I totally get it. You’re going to be as heavily pregnant as your sister before too long, and then you’re going to have a newborn. Get all the hot sex now while you’re in that second trimester horny stage. Enjoy it. Let us live vicariously through you by giving us all the details afterward. I’m pretty sure Ridge is never going to learn how to sleep through the night, and we’re all too tired to even think about getting some naked fun time in.”

My eyes bulged as she shook the strappy garment in my direction. I pushed her hand away. “Definitely not that one.”

Bliss shrugged and then threw it toward the cashier, giving us a wink. “He’s gotta learn to sleep through the night eventually, right?”

Rebel sniggered at her bestie but then paused, her fingers on a baby-blue teddy. Lace flowers covered the underwire cups of the plus-size garment, but the rest of it was see-through, with only the odd bit of embroidery as decoration. Laces wound their way up both sides, decorative more than functional, but sexy, nonetheless. She held it out to me. “Kara…”

I touched it gently, loving the soft silky texture of the material.

A tiny voice in the back of my head reminded me it would show off all the areas of my body I was conscious of. There would be no hiding my belly rolls or the cellulite on my thighs and ass.

But a little smile tugged at the corners of my mouth just thinking about slipping into it and the expression on Grayson’s face when he opened his phone at the hospital and found a photo of me in nothing but lace. Hayden would get his while he was at a family function with Liam. And Hawk was studying for his GED at the clubhouse. The thought of him staring at my photo while surrounded by all his brothers had heat racing down my spine.

I took the outfit to the register and paid for it proudly, not hiding it away like some shameful secret. I used money I’d earned from my job at the hospital, the thrill of having my own money and standing on my own two feet never getting old.

When Rebel dropped me off at Sinners an hour later, I sucked in a deep breath, letting myself in via the security door in the back that led straight into the maze. I’d phoned ahead and whispered down the line to Chloe, Hayden’s maître d’ of the night, what I was planning, and she’d verbally high-fived me and said she’d keep the staff out of there. I’d have the place to myself until later, when it would open to the public.

I hadn’t decided whether I’d be staying for that or not yet.

It was early for a Saturday night, the maze empty but already set up for later, when couples finished their meals and went searching for a little dessert. Sultry music played over speakers. The lights were dim and cast a reddish-pink glow that bounced off the black walls, beds, chairs, and sex toys.

I snuck into the changing rooms and, taking a deep breath, reminding myself I wanted this, I stripped my clothes. I showered, dried my hair, put on some simple makeup from the kit in my bag. I wasn’t very good with it, but I liked the waythe mascara made the color of my eyes pop and the glossy red lipstick drew attention to my mouth.

My fingers trembled when I put on the teddy, but when I looked in the mirror, I was pleasantly surprised by the reflection that stared back at me.

I was no skinnier than I’d been when I’d first arrived in Saint View. In fact, I think I’d probably put on a few pounds, courtesy of Hayden’s cooking. Or it might have been the pregnancy. But I tried to see myself through the lenses of men who’d spent months building me up, not just with words, but with actions. I couldn’t go anywhere without one of them touching me, taking me into their arms and whispering in my ear how beautiful I was.

Amber had actually asked me once if I got sick of it, but I’d quickly assured her that after a lifetime of being starved of affection, I wanted their touches as much as possible. That each of them made me feel like a queen in a different way, and somehow, between the three of them, they fulfilled every part of me that had ever gone begging, starving, or neglected.

In their arms, I felt whole again. At peace.

And even a little bit sexy.

Grayson’s shift would be finishing soon, and Hayden’s family commitment was supposed to have just ended. Hawk was always ready for a study break.

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