Page 29 of My Secret Snowflake
“What do you mean? Do you have to be pregnant to participate in the scavenger hunt?”
“No. I checked the rules, and you don’t. But…this will just look better,” he says.
“You don’t mind that you’ll be walking around with a pregnant woman?” I ask.
“Why would I have a problem walking around with a pregnant woman?”
“Someone may think you’re the father.”
“I’d take that as a compliment,” he says. “But seriously, this will be perfect for the scavenger hunt.”
“What if we run into friends of yours?”
“If I see any of my male friends shopping in Baby Love, they’d be the ones running to hide, not me. They would have some serious explaining to do.”
Sebastian in casual weekend clothes is even more attractive than Sebastian in work clothes. He still looks so put-together. It makes me want to rumple him up.
Off-limits.
This is a work mission.
Definitely not a good choice.
I’m not ready for a new relationship.
Pregnant me will probably serve as quite a repellent. It’s good that I’m dressed this way. I take off my coat.
“Wow. You really do look pregnant,” Sebastian says.
“Yes, but I would have preferred the ‘swallowed the basketball’ pregnancy look. This looks more like I swallowed a beanbag,” I say.
“No, it’s a cute bump.”
Oh, no… Now he thinks I was fishing for compliments. About my fake pregnancy bump. Because that’s definitely what I want him to compliment.Way to go, Iris.
“Do you think you can move with that?” he asks. “We may need to hustle for the scavenger hunt.”
“It’s just a pillow. I can definitely keep up.”
“I brought a backpack so we can stow our coats in there.”
See? He’s taking this very seriously.
Today is all about the scavenger hunt. And I like that. I’m competitive too. Patrick was a bit of a slacker at times, and that drove me nuts.
I shake my head.
Focus on the mission.
Sebastian shrugs off his coat and his sweater, revealing a T-shirt that shows off his muscular physique underneath. I can’t believe he’s just wearing some worn T-shirt. I force myself to stop staring at the actual muscle definition in his biceps. We’re work colleagues. And friends. I sneak one last peek. Lily did mention that he was a champion squash player in college.
I take off my coat, and Sebastian stuffs it into his backpack with his sweater. It takes up so much room that he can’t fit his own coat in as well.
“I can wear my coat,” I say.
“No. Don’t worry. Mine’s pretty light.” He ties it around his waist. “Your stomach looks so real. Wow. What is it made out of?”
“It’s a really firm pillow. You can touch it. Crazy how real it looks, right?”
