Page 85 of There Are No Words

She turned her head quickly and peered over her shoulder, her eyebrow raised. “Because I have magical abilities?”

“Because you have a special way with people. Dogs should be no different. It’s how I’m so sure you’re going to be a great mother.” Now maybe she’d understand where I was coming from. Frankly, I felt like I wasn’t being given enough credit for my stroke of genius.

“And Tipsy is going to show me that? But what about after? Won’t it be a lot to have a dog and a baby?” she asked again.

This time I tried to make her see reason. “Nope. I’m right here. It’ll be fine.”

“Fine,” Allegra repeated as she reached down to pick up Tipsy, bringing her to her lap. “You are a cute little thing. Your ears are so big.” Allegra brushed a hand over Tipsy’s ears andsmiled. “You know, I think you might be off your rocker, Brady Moore, but this is the sweetest—if not weirdest—thing anyone’s ever done for me.”

“So you like her?”

“How could I not?” she asked as Tipsy finally climbed up to lick Allegra’s face.

Oh, yeah, I’d done good.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Allegra

I paused fromwalking and took a deep breath in and out through my nose. My back was killing me. That was right, my own back was going to be the death of me. I was going to die from lower back pain.

I didn’t know how women did this.

I wanted this baby out. O-u-t.

I was sick of the aches and pains that came with being pregnant. I had pain in my neck, back, legs, feet, and, not to be overly dramatic, but every other part of my body I hadn’t listed.

Brady stood beside me, waiting for me to move again.

Well, sorry to disappoint you, Baby Daddy, but I don’t think we’re going to start walking again anytime soon.And if he did, then he was doing it without me.

“I need to sit.” My hand was still resting on my back as it had been since we’d gotten out of the car, and Brady had convinced me that coming to the movies was a bright idea.

I still didn’t see how but fine. I supposed this was like his other good idea to get a dog. A dog that I, thankfully, was able to convince Maria would be fun to keep for the weekend—you know, for Isabella. Yeah, a dog. . . yet another thing for me to take care of. As though being a first-time mom wouldn’t be enough. It would, by the way. Just in case anyone wasn’t sure, it would be enough forme.

And it wasn’t that I didn’t love the gesture. It was sweet, and Tipsy really was adorable. A great addition to our family. I was just being crabby, so excuse me.

Brady looked pained. I didn’t know why exactly. Hello, I was the one who could hardly stand up straight. I literally had to hold myself upright.

“I hate seeing you like this. Listen, once we get inside, we can sit.”

I turned and gave him a combination bite-me-hard-on-the-ass look and death stare. “I could’ve been sitting if we had stayed home. What is so wrong with watching a movie from the comfort of my couch?”

He shook his head.Oh, I’d love to hear this one.“You once said that when the baby came it would be all about her and you would become less and less important. And I’m not saying that’s going to happen, but when she comes, it might not be as easy to do things like this.”

Part of me wanted to gush because he thought of everything, but the other part of me wanted to scream out in pain. Instead, I groaned. “Brady, hear me carefully on this one, okay? If I could, I would stick my hand up my vagina right now and pull this baby out. As far as I’m concerned, nine months isfartoo long.”

“I happen to agree, and I’m not going to pretend I know what you’re going through, but you’re almost there. We can watch the movie, you can sit down, and”—he nudged his elbow where the popcorn was wedged—“we can enjoy this popcorn.”

“It’s unsalted,” I deadpanned.

He chuckled. “Yes, but that’s because salt can cause your feet to swell, and you’re already having pain, so why add to it?”

I wanted to grab him by the collar of his shirt and choke him. That was right. I wanted to choke Brady, the man who drove me needy with desire every single day. But, at this moment, he was just driving me up a wall. “Okay.” I finally gave in and started walking again. “But I’m only getting on board with this because the movie seats are a lot closer than the car, and standing is doing me no good.”

“Whatever the reason,” he said, wrapping his arm around my shoulder, “I’m just glad we’re doing this.” He bent down and whispered in my ear, “You know, technically, we could consider this our first official date.”

I eyed his hand that was hanging dangerously close to my breast. Recalling our banter from the elevator atBellissima, I teased, “Are you going to cop a feel?”

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