Page 124 of Puck Prince

“… the other one could even be a nursery!”

My heart stops in my chest. The smug grin wilts from my face. The manager’s eyes dash down to my stomach before flitting back up to meet mine.

Can she tell? Does she already know?

“I… I mean, we…” I stutter, suddenly feeling off-kilter. I reach out, grabbing for the closest thing to brace myself against, which just so happens to be Owen’s thick bicep. He takes my arm to steady me.

“Callie…?” he rumbles.

“Miss, are you alright?” the manager asks.

“I’m fine, I’m just…”

“Give us a second,” Owen orders, pulling me closer to him. “We’ll look around on our own.”

“Oh. We don’t— Potential tenants can’t be in our units unattended.” the woman explains.

Owen pulls out his wallet and hands her a wad of bills. She silently looks at the offering before she slides it from his hand and walks to the door. “I, uh, forgot something in my car. I’ll be back in exactly fifteen minutes.”

After she’s gone, Owen grabs my shoulders and turns me to face him. “Hey, what’s up? Talk to me.”

I do feel better now that we’re alone, but the woman’s words still echo around the empty house.

This is the house where I’m going to raise a baby.

Potentially by myself.

I knew that, but being here, actually seeing the place—it all feels so overwhelming.

“It’s nothing. I just felt a little dizzy, is all.” It’s not a lie, though the omission is.

The way she looked at me, it was almost like she knew. I’m terrified Owen caught it. Even though, if I’m being honest, part of me would be relieved if the jig was up. Keeping this a secret is becoming nearly impossible.

He grips my chin. “You look like you’re in another world right now, Cal.”

I swallow and try to pull myself together. “I just have a lot on my mind. This is a lot to take in.”

“I could help with that, you know?” Owen pulls me against him with a smirk. “I could erase whatever is on your mind.”

“Oh, really? And how are you going to do that?”

He looks around before the smirk broadens to a grin. Then he grabs my hand and yanks me into the walk-in closet. “She said the closets are spacious. I think we need to check it out.”

Before I can protest, he wraps his arms around my thighs and hauls me into his arms. Then he lays me on the floor and crawls on top of me, kissing a trail of fire up my throat.

“Owen, we can’t.” But the words are muffled by his lips on mine. I groan into his mouth, already internally combusting.

“Why not?” He nibbles at my neck. “She said we have fifteen minutes.”

“That’s not enough time for sex!” I shove at him, but my hands still fist in his shirt. My brain and body are at war right now.

“Alright, fine. I’ll call an audible.” He kisses across my collarbone, along the space between my breasts, and down the flat-for-now expanse of my stomach. Then he tugs my dress up, kissing his way to my underwear line.

I know where this is going. Where that mouth of his is going. And what it’s capable of doing once it’s there.

I thread my fingers through his hair. “Owen, we can’t. We shouldn’t.”

“Do you want me to stop?” he asks, looking up at me. “Real question.”

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