Page 154 of Duty and Desire
Lottie pushed up.
She was down with it too.
Jet touched his forearm as she moved around him.
Mo went to the bed.
He helped Nancy out of it. Seemed she had something wrong with her arm, not a lot of mobility with that. Though the rest worked fine.
Probably a lasting result of the stroke Lottie mentioned.
“Thanks, Mo,” she murmured when she was steady on her feet.
He didn’t wait a long time to ascertain that before he slid in and took her place.
Lottie didn’t hesitate to put her head in his lap.
“Be back, baby girl,” Nancy said.
“Okay, Momma,” Lottie replied to his feet.
Mo gave Nancy a look, she gave him a small smile and moved out of the room.
Mo then gave it a beat, another, up to five.
Then he murmured, “Okay, now, how’s my girl really doing?”
“I just had a blip. I’ll be fine.”
He curled his hand around the side of her neck, ordering, “Stop it.”
She twisted that neck so his hand was light on her throat and she could look up at him.
“Really, Mo, I’ll be fine.”
“That for me, your mom, your sister, a combo, all of us, or are you just lying to yourself?”
She closed her eyes, rolled her body and shoved her face in his gut.
It was for all of them.
Including herself.
He slid his hand into her soft hair, cupped the back of her head and held her there.
It took some time before she said, muffled by his stomach, “I will, you know.”
“What?”
She turned her head slightly to look up at him. “Be fine.”
“It’s just now, you’re not.”
A hesitation before she nodded. “I’m a little freaked.”
“Natural,” he told her.
Her gaze went vague and she muttered, “Feels weak.”
