Page 38 of Size Doesn't Matter

A whole forty-five minutes to try and not think about Jack Martin’s strong hands. Or his big dick. Or all of the things he knew how to do with his strong hands and big dick—

“How are you feeling, poppet?”

Sophie startled at the sound of her grandfather’s voice, like a naughty child caught doing something they shouldn’t, then laughed as he gently bumped his shoulder into hers. “I’m okay. A bit tired, but I’ll live.”

“And how long have you been feeling a bit tired?”

She blew on her tea and shrugged. “A couple of weeks, I guess. Between selling my house in Brisbane, moving all of my stuff to Sydney, and starting my new contract with Martin Cosmetics, I feel like I never get enough sleep. And don’t even get me started on the real estate market down there. Shopping for an apartment has been a nightmare.”

Ulysses Bennett tilted his head and stared down at her in an unsettling way. “And the nausea? How long has that been going on?”

“What are you getting at, Grandad?” she asked, one brow cocked.

But the wily old man just shook his head and shrugged. “Nothing. I was just wondering if there was something you’d like me to pick up while I’m out.”

He stared at her expectantly until her hand wandered to her stomach and she realised what he meant.Oh. “Yes, please. Some antinausea medication would be awesome. Can’t be throwing up while the happy couple says their ‘I do’s.’ That would not make for a magical moment. For anyone involved.”

Uly’s lips quirked into a secretive little smile, and his old blue eyes practically twinkled with mischief. “That’s all? Nothing else?”

Sophie frowned. “Nothing comes to mind.” What was he up to?

Uly kissed her forehead, then chuckled as he walked away, and Sophie grabbed a vacant seat at the kitchen table. A few minutes later, her father and most of his brothers had divided up the mountain of pink flowers and were heading out to beg, borrow, steal, or swap them for white ones.

Before he left, her uncle Toby bent down to kiss Lucy slowly, passionately, and again she felt that pang of jealousy stab at her. In the past year, there had been a chain reaction of romances happening in their big family, and as much as she loved to see it happen, it also left her feeling even more alone.

First her aunt Abby—who was only two years older than Sophie—met her fiancé, Wolf. He’d caught her skinny-dipping in a creek, had decided to join her, and they’d been together ever since.

A few months later, her uncle Rafe had discovered Jane Melville, the undisputed love of his life, was pregnant with twins. After years of bad timing and worse decisions, they hadfinallytied the knot and were now sickeningly happy and eagerly awaiting the arrival of their babies.

Around the same time that was going on, Toby met and fell head over heels in love with Lucy. She’d interviewed for the position of office manager at his garden centre, and then he’d met her again a week later at a speed dating event. They’d gone home together, and the rest was history. He’d asked her to marry him on Christmas Day, the same day she’d told him she was pregnant.

And the most recent link in the love chain was Oliver and Mia, childhood best friends turned hot-and-heavy lovers. According to Abby, whom they were currently living with, the pair hadn’t been able to keep their hands off each other since they’d reunited.

Staring at her tea as she sat in thought, she rotated the warm mug in her hands. When Sophie met Jack on New Year’s Eve, when she’d felt that connection with him, felt so at ease with him, she’d thought maybe she’d be the next Bennett to fall in love. And judging by how frequently he invaded her thoughts, maybe she had been.

She’d hardly spoken to anyone in her family about what happened, but she knew they’d all seen the photographs that somehow kept appearing in the gossip rags. Someone was certainly going out of their way to make it look like she’d earned her job the old-fashioned way. She didn’t know who, and she didn’t really care. Their jealousy—or whatever it was that made them feel the need to tear Sophie down—was their issue to deal with, not hers.

The head of the advertising department, Maxine, had assured her at their first meeting that Jack had said and done absolutely nothing to win her the contract. That she’d always been their number one pick, and after talking to Sophie’s agent, she knew she’d made the right choice.

Sophie was the perfect ambassador for Martin Cosmetics.

“Are you going to be all right, Sophie?” Lucy asked from her seat at the end of the table. “We can do our own make-up if you’re not feeling up to it.”

“I’ll be fine,” she said, smiling through another wave of nausea. “Uly is getting me some medication while he’s out hunting for fairy lights.”

“Are you sure?” Lucy asked, rubbing her hand in circles over her belly. “Trust me, I feel your pain. I think I’ve thrown up more during the first two months of my pregnancy than I ever have in all my life. I am so tired. Last week, I vowed to cut Toby’s balls off if he even thought about knocking me up again, but everything seems to be settling down now. Hopefully for good,” she added, crossing her fingers. “I do not want to spend my honeymoon throwing up.”

Sophie sat there, listening to Lucy talk as she sipped her tea, but the more her future aunty-in-law explained about her pregnancy, the more unsettled she became. Tiredness and nausea. How long had she felt this way? How long had it been since her last period?

Ho. Ly. Shit.

Shock shot through her, straightening her back and stiffening her limbs. She swallowed hard and levered to her feet. “I need to call Uly,” she said, interrupting the conversation. “There’s something else I need him to buy.”

“What’s that?”

“A pregnancy test.”

14

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