Page 64 of There Are No Words

“Oh, no!” Quinn exclaimed.

Jack shook his head, coming up behind his wife. “We had no idea.”

“I should have thought to ask,” Quinn said.

I removed my hand from my mouth, which had honestly been covering my nose, too, by the end, and tried to shoo her worry away. “It’s fine.” I barely got that last word out, though. I gagged and this time knew that I was going to be sick.

I couldn’t even excuse myself. There was no time. I simply ran down the narrow hallway, hoping I’d make it to the bathroom.

* * *

Once the chicken was put in a container in the fridge, the rest of the evening was nice. I enjoyed getting to know Jack and Quinn a bit better. After all, they were going to be family. I mean, not mine. Not exactly, anyway. But they’d be Baby’s family and that was what mattered.

I picked up another spoonful of the lentil soup Quinn heated for us and blew on it to make sure I didn’t burn my mouth. “Thank you for this, Quinn. I didn’t mean to put you out.”

She took a spoonful of hers and waved a hand in the air. “Please, don’t apologize. It was no problem, really. Jack and I will have chicken fajitas tomorrow night.”

I was glad she was being so understanding about it, but I still felt bad. If it wasn’t for my disdain for the smell of chicken these days, they could have at least enjoyed it. “I really appreciate it,” I told her, eyeing Jack, too, who was stirring the lentil soup in his bowl.

I looked over at Brady, and he winked at me, as though to say it was okay and no one was mad at me. It was nice, actually. He gave me things I didn’t even know I needed, like reassurance.

He placed his hand on my thigh under the table, and I immediately tipped my spoon, the soup falling back into my bowl.

“So, Allie, you work at your family’s fashion magazine. What’s that like?”

I shrugged, going back to eating and making conversation. Most importantly, I was trying my damnedest to ignore the fact that Brady’s hand was inching higher up my thigh, his fingers trailing inward. It was like he couldn’t help himself. Even though he wouldn’t just let himself screw me and be done with it.

Or maybe he was trying to drive me wild.

In case you missed it, it was working.

Finally answering Quinn, I said, “It’s fun. I get to work beside my sisters, so that’s nice. Plus, I love social media. I’m actually planning our anniversary party right now.”

She nodded. “That’s cool. Did you always know you wanted to work there?”

I swayed my head back and forth and bit down on my bottom lip. “Truthfully, yes. I couldn’t imagine working anywhere else.” Then I chuckled. “Actually, I’ve recently considered being a mediator, but that’s a story for another time,” I joked, remembering back to when my problem-solving skills kicked ass with Wilhelmina.

Brady arched a brow, turning to me. “Really?”

I turned to look at him square in the eye. “No, I was joking. But I’m not half-bad at dealing with problems. Coming up with solutions, you know.”

Jack laughed. “That’s good because with a kid, you’ll definitely have to mediate problems.”

Brady snickered. “Don’t listen to him. He’s an idiot.”

“So you’ve said.” I laughed. “I actually like Jack’s sense of humor.”

Jack pointed at me, eyeing Brady. “See. Maybe it’s because you’re so old that you can’t appreciate it.”

Brady cocked a brow. “I’m not old, jackass.”

Quinn rolled her eyes. “These two can go at it all night.”

I giggled. “My sisters and I are the same way. Well, we don’t call each other names, but we do joke around a lot. Makes me feel at home.”

Brady squeezed my inner thigh. “You always have a home with me.”

I blinked to make sure tears didn’t blur my vision because I knew I was already holding them back. “Enough about me, though. Quinn, do you have any siblings?”

---