Page 43 of Dallas
I swallow a bite of broccoli and look at Ryder. “I need to come up with some more uncomfortable methods of punishing Arianna. Her tolerance is too high.”
She gasps and drops her fork so it clangs against the plate. “Dallas…” she hisses.
I glance at her. Her cheeks are pink, and her eyes are wide. She’s nervous but not humiliated. “What? I’m just asking. Ryder and Claire have been together longer than you and I. I bet Ryder has come up with some pretty creative means of getting Claire to behave.”
This time, it’s Claire who admonishes me. “Dallas!”
Ryder laughs.
I roll my eyes dramatically. “Don’t act like you don’t enjoy getting your butt spanked. You do things in front of everyone every day to make sure Ryder swats your behind soundly.”
She glares at me, though she’s struggling not to smile. “But we don’t have to talk about it.”
I shrug. “Talking about it is even more fun.” I turn back to Ryder. “Did you buy a breast pump yet?”
“Yep.” He says the word casually as if I’ve asked if he got the mail today.
Claire gasps and jerks her gaze to him, wide-eyed. “You did?”
“Yep.”
“I’m like five minutes pregnant,” she informs him.
“And I’ll start preparing your breasts before the baby is born. I read about it. It’s safe in the last few weeks.” He lifts a brow.
Her jaw hangs open.
Ryder turns to me. “It’s not recommended to start pumping a pregnant woman too early. It could cause labor. But there’s no reason you couldn’t pump someone who isn’t pregnant.” He winks at Arianna, grinning.
Arianna shakes her head. “Hell, no. Forget it.”
I smile at her. “Are you saying I’ve finally found something you wouldn’t enjoy enough to cause you to behave?” I tease.
She crosses her arms over her breasts and holds them tightly. “You are not coming anywhere near my chest with a breast pump, Dallas.”
“Mmm. I think I’ll go ahead and buy one. It can sit in our room as a deterrent.”
She shakes her head. “If you have your way, I’m going to be pregnant the first time we have sex. Ryder just said it’s not safe.”
“It’s perfectly safe before we have sex, though,” I point out.
She narrows her gaze at me, but her legs are clamped together, and she’s wiggling in her seat. “Can we not talk about our sex life and breast pumping at the dinner table?”
I shrug. “Just testing the waters, baby.”
She groans and lowers her arms to grab her fork. “Well, pumping is a hard no. So, let’s move on.”
Is it, though? I can’t help but continue smirking. I wonder when she’ll agree to marry me.
Arianna sits up taller. “Subject change. Can we go to the public library tomorrow?”
I reach over and rub her neck. “I would ask if there’s something you need to get from your apartment, but you’re only worried about the books, aren’t you?”
“Yes. And stop making fun of me. Books are important to me,” she says with full defiance in her voice.
I lean over and kiss her neck. “They are, baby. We’ll check on things as soon as it’s safe. Several men are working on removing the saturated ceiling. Let’s give them another day.”
“When do you think I could reopen?” she asks anxiously.
