Page 19 of Crazy In Love
He shudders.
I mean, I don’t see it.
But he shudders. I’m sure of it.
“I miss that about New York,” he murmurs. “Where people leave me alone, and no one talks about anyone else.”
“It sure is nice,” she agrees. And because I can’t see her, and I don’t know her well enough to know where she intends to take this conversation, I stalk out of the bathroom and into the studio apartment that hasn’t been lived in since… the civil war, maybe. If Fox Tatum thinks she can manipulate an impressionable Franky into wanting to return to New York, then I consider it my right, my damn duty, to stand guard.
I have no desire to hide my presence, so I stomp across the apartment and close the door with a noisy slam—her one and only warning I’m on my way—then I jog down the interior staircase, the squeaky steps providing music for my approach. If Fox is my opponent, then the stairs are my fight song.
I move quickly, skipping off the final two steps, and come to a stop at the very opposite end of the bookstore where Franky and Fox wait.
One of them smiles when our eyes meet.
The other sets her hands on her hips and scowls.
“Why were you up there?” Agitated, Fox strides away from the front counter and stops an easy twenty feet from where I stand. Her brows pinchtight, and her eyes burn me in my skin. It’s almost like she thinks her bad mood and five feet, nine inches are scary. “I thought the shop was locked and empty.”
“It was.” But I dig a hand into my pocket and pull out my keys, showing her that CW charm Franky gifted me for my birthday. “Fortunately, I have access and permission to enter anytime I like.”And I’ve been fixing your living quarters, you ungrateful shit.Dismissing her, I tilt to the left and meet Franky’s glasses-covered eyes. “Your mom and Tommy resting at home?”
“No. But Whacky’s at home and being a total jerk. He chased me all the way to Aunt Fox’s car.”
“The rooster?”
“Do you know anyone else named Whacky?” He pushes his glasses up his nose and softens his expression. “And Mom and Tommy are at the hospital.”
Fear spears through my blood, like the sting of a thousand furious hornets. “Why are they at the hospital? Is Alana okay?”
“She’s fine.” Where I expect derision, Fox offers kindness. When I expect snark, she presents a friendly grin and a slow walk forward. “Alana’s having contractions, but they’re slow and mild.” She pauses in front of me, tilting her head back and meeting my eyes. “The baby will be here soon.”
“Like, in twenty minutes soon? Or three hours soon?”
“Three days soon?” She comes around and stops beside me, so we’re facing Franky’s curious observation and presenting a united front. “Could be today, could be tomorrow. But we’re calm and relaxed.” She digs her hands into the pockets of her daisy dukes and leans, ever so gently to the side, until her shoulder touches my arm. “There’s no emergency, and we’re not panicking like there is one. We’re just gonna get the shop ready for business and wait by the phone for Tommy’s progress texts.”
“I just…”Relaxed? Who the fuck is relaxed?“She’s in labor now?”
“She’s having contractions now. Which is not labor. It’spre-labor.”
“Contractions means baby! That’s labor.”
“Good lord. This is gonna be more difficult than I thought.” She gestures toward Franky. “Your mom is fine, right? She’s safe, and everything is okay.”
“Everything’s fine,” he answers in monotone. “Fun fact: there are three stages to having a baby. And my mom is only in the first stage. We have loads of time.”
I read the book.I read the book, dammit! “Stage one leads to stage two. Why is no one concerned about the impending arrival of stage two?”
“Because we’re calm.” Fox turns to me and presents her hands, a silent question flashing through her eyes. Then she places two fingers on my chest, right between my breastbones.
“What are you?—”
“I know Alana was your zen master all the way through childhood, and I know she has this special ability to simmer you the hell down. I won’t even pretend to be as cool as she is. But,” she glances up, grinning, “did you know you have a pressure point right here at your sternum? When you press on it and take a long, deep breath, your nervous system catches on that everything is okay, which then makes it possible to calm down.”
“I’m notnotcalm!”Stop touching me.I like it. “I’m asking questions about a time-sensitive matter. If Alana is in labor, then a baby is coming. If the baby is coming, then I think I’d like to be there for the actual, literal birth of my niece.”
She increases the compression of her fingers, massaging my breastbone and filling her lungs with a deep breath. And fuck, I don’t mean to do the same, but I inhale anyway, expanding my chest and stretching my lungs.Damn her and her witchcraft.
“The baby is coming… at some point this week,” she murmurs. “And you’ll be there for the big reveal, I promise. Though, no matter how fond Alana is of you, I know for a damn fact you’re not invited into the birthing suite. So why don’t you trust me to handle the logistics, deal with the timing, and eventually, get you and Franky where you need to be when you need to be there?”
