Page 59 of A Labor of Hate
I’m not proud.
Colt took the assignment seriously.That was all.He tookeverythingseriously.Any husband who was supposedly in love with his wife wouldn’t stand for other men ogling her.
“Uh, well…” I grasped desperately at whatever crumbs of coherent thought I still possessed.“Colt can be a bit…protective.He has nothing to worry about, though.”
“Not with the way you look at him, he doesn’t,” she teased.“Charles can be a bit overprotective, too, so I get it.And I won’t deny that it’s a huge turn-on.”
My cheeks flamed.Images of Colt kissing my head and holding my hand and pulling me close flashed unbidden behind my eyes.They mixed with images of him mid-work-out, suited up for a raid, and unholstering his firearm.My ear tingled as if reliving his flirting demonstration.As if the memory of his lips whispering against my skin had been engraved into my muscle memory.
The cocktail of thoughts and sensations was intoxicating.I didn’tneedprotecting.I could take care of myself.Savemyself.But there was a comfort in knowing I didn’t have to.In believing someone wanted to do that for me because I was precious to them, and you took care of precious things.
Uncomfortable with the heat flooding through me, I shoved my desires aside.I was here for a reason.And, despite Hattie’s magical touch, it wasn’t to get a massage.
“Charles, overprotective?”I teased, beginning the laborious process of flipping to my other side.I wasn’t proud of how much flopping and heavy breathing it took, but I made it.“Doesn’teveryonego places with a handful of bodyguards?”
She laughed, somehow transitioning much more gracefully despite being the only one actuallypregnant.“In his defense, the restaurant business is more cutthroat than you’d expect.”
Huh.Cutthroat.What a fitting term.
“Really?”
“Oh yeah.Someone even tried to kidnap him once just to get his recipes.”
Was that true, or had that been the lie he’d told her to keep her in the dark about the bodyguards?Or wasshethe one lying right now?“For real?”
“I know, right?It’s insane.He doesn’t write his recipes down, so it was the only way they’d be able to get them.Even his chefs have to sign nondisclosure agreements when they’re hired.”With the masseuse’s help, Vivienne sat up and climbed off the table, our massage apparently done.“Anyway, he doesn’t want anyone leveraging me or our baby against him.That’s why he’s so cautious.”
I hid my discomfort by easing up and off the table, too.Wasn’t that similar to what I was doing—leveraging Vivienne to get close to Charles?
She met my eyes, her expression earnest.Like me believing her next words was imperative to her happiness.“Once he finally opens up, he’s really charming and sweet.I promise.”
The lives his drugs had claimed proved otherwise, so all I could manage was a forced smile and nod.
Vivienne pulled her robe back on, cinching it over her bump.“He’s…hesitant…whenever I try to make new friends.But I’ve got a good feeling about you, Lex.I think you’re just the friend I need.”
CHAPTERNINETEEN
“IT’S NOT…TERRIBLE,”Vivienne offered, hiding her smile behind one hand.
“Yes it is.”I stared down at myself in my atrocious bathing suit.“I look like a bowling ball that’s melting in all the wrong places.”
“But you’re afloralbowling ball.”
I raised an eyebrow.“I’m not sure how that makes it any better.”
Vivienne, with her cute cherry red, high waisted bikini, looked adorable.Her blonde locks were pulled into a bun on the top of her head, and the facial had turned her face a becoming pink color.
I, on the other hand, looked like a fashion designer’s nightmare.Probably a little kid’s nightmare, too.The hideous floral print on my bathing suit straight out ofGeriatrics Weeklydid nothing for my skin, which had turned an alarming shade of fire engine red after Hattie’s enthusiastic scrubbing.It sagged in the butt and chest, pulled tight across my tummy, and left literallyeverythingto the imagination.If Vivienne was the poster woman for a glowing, chic pregnancy, then I was Tweedledum and Tweedledee’s retro cousin they were too ashamed to talk about.
“The good news is, this half of the pool is all ours.”
“Because looking at me makes people go blind,” I muttered.
She laughed, covering the sound with an unconvincing cough.“Well, whatever the reason, don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.”
“I don’t really carewhereI look as long as it isn’t at my reflection.”
I followed her into the pool, praying the Velcro would hold on my belly.Hattie had reassured me that the silicone belly would be fine, though the Velcro might weaken or unclasp when exposed to water.So far, so good.It wasn’t like we’d be swimming laps, anyway.
