Page 26 of A Labor of Hate
“Heartburn!”
“Peeing all night!”
Colt cast a meaningful glance at me, a wicked gleam in his eyes.“Hemorrhoids!”
My jaw dropped open as sympathetic groans sounded around the room.Did he really just insinuateIhad those?All of the symptoms were—quite frankly—horrible, and I didn’t evenwantto know what lightning crotch was.And yet, of all the symptoms that had been called out, he picked the most embarrassing one for me.Of course.That was much more on-brand for him.
How did he even know to say hemorrhoids, anyway?Sure, I wasn’t really pregnant, but hedefinitelywasn’t.
I forced a tight smile, shooting daggers at him with my eyes.
He had the gall to chuckle—chuckle!—at my very real threat.
“Alright,” Miss Karma turned from where she’d frantically been scribbling the answers on the board up front, “let’s tackle these one at a time.Though, for the record, water will help with just about all of these.Now, first, back pain…”
I didn’t make the mistake of zoning out again throughout the rest of the class, though ideas for getting back at Colt and weaseling our way into Vivienne’s life played in the background of my thoughts.
As Miss Karma wrapped up the class, I saw my opportunity before Charles and Vivienne would exit and rejoin their goon squad in the lobby.
I speed walked toward Vivienne as they made their way to the door, stretching my arm out toward her as if that could slow their escape.“Oh, hey!”As she turned, I grinned at her.“Could you maybe send me the link to those shorts?”I looked forlornly down at my leggings.“I could really use something with pockets.Especially when I’m supposed to teach.”
Her head cocked in curiosity.Aha!Bingo.That got her attention.“You teach in biker shorts?”
I shrugged, my cheeks heating.Not because I was actually bashful about this, but I didn’t particularly love reminding Colt I had a legitimate background in dance.And I wasa bit nervous about the cover McBride had chosen for me.It might get me an in with Vivienne, but at what cost?I hadn’t danced in years, and I’dneverdanced while fake-pregnant.“And leggings.I’m a dance instructor.”
“No.Way.”Her eyes brightened with her smile.She didn’t even seem to notice the cautious glare Charles directed at me as he squeezed her hand.“I’m a fitness instructor!”
That explained the toned legs, at least.And her toned everything.“Seriously?”
“Oh, yeah!What dance do you teach?Ballet, Latin, contemporary?”
There weren’t many times that my dancing days came in handy since joining the FBI, but right now the years and years of lessons and competitions were finally paying off.I mean, sure, with the dance scholarship I’d gotten, dancing had helped me pay for college, but the relentless teasing I’d endured from other agents when they found out about it had sullied the victory.It didn’t matter that I’d also received academic scholarships—all they heard was that I danced my way through college.Literally.Which only made me want to prove them wrong even more.
“Oh, I do the basics for a lot of different disciplines, but my favorite is Zumba.”
That much was actually true, regardless of our cover.My favorite to dance was contemporary, but my favorite to teach by far was Zumba.No partner needed, and it had a way of bringing everyone together no matter how much prior dance experience they had.
“IloveZumba,” she gushed.“Where do you teach?”
“Viv,mon amour,” Charles’s lightly accented baritone rumbled quietly, “we really should be going.”
I pretended not to hear him in his attempt to divert his wife from the conversation.“We just moved to the area, so I’m still trying to get my bearings enough to be able to permanently teach a class at one of the rec centers.Right now, I’m just filling in for another teacher until the baby comes.”
“How fun!”Vivienne bounced on the balls of her feet, her ponytail swaying with the motion.“I’m so glad to meet another pregnant woman who hasn’t let the stereotypes of what we can and can’t do while pregnant hold her back.It’s crazy how much they try to sideline us to walks and light yoga, even when we’re not high-risk, isn’t it?”
I nodded vehemently, without the foggiest idea who “they” were.“It’s almost like they’re afraid we’ll break.”
Not sure if that was actually what it felt like, but I’d gotten an idea of what it would be like to be pregnant when Liam wouldn’t let me lift anything heavier than a Papillon.Don’t get me wrong, I’d really appreciated his help and the view he provided, but I would’ve preferred to be my own judge of what I could handle.
Apparently, Vivienne agreed.
“Or break the baby!”She laughed lightly, smoothing her hair.
Charles fidgeted beside her, eyes flitting between something behind me—Colt approaching, if I had to guess—and me.McBride hadn’t been kidding.This guy wasn’t about to take any chances.Unless his bodyguards counted, he must’ve had zero friends.How lonely.I could almost feel sorry for him.
Not.
“So where did you two move from?”Vivienne asked, nodding at the spot behind my shoulder where I could faintly feel Colt’s heat.
