Page 51 of A Risk Worth Taking

“I do,” he agrees. “And I booked it for both you and your sister so you can have a girl’s day, considering it’s been a while since the two of you have had one. Sienna already knows and is excited. My mom’s taking care of Brooklyn and London today since they’re out of school for the summer.”

“Thank you!” I get up and kiss his cheek, then sit back down so I can continue to eat because I’m starved. Maybe this whole friendship thing isn’t so bad after all.

“I can’t rememberthe last time I spent so many hours being pampered,” Sienna says as we float out of the spa several hours later, both of us on cloud nine from the treatment we were given. Not only did we get manis, pedis, facials, and pregnancy massages, but we also received fresh haircuts and color. I feel like a new woman.

“Same. I didn’t realize how badly I needed that. Although, is it weird that despite feeling calm, I could totally do with a nap?”

Sienna laughs. “It’s the baby. They suck everything out of you: beauty, energy, sex drive. I could go to sleep and wake up when the baby comes.”

I nod in agreement, not bothering to tell her that beauty and energy I feel on a deep level, but the sex drive...Well, that’s a whole other story. Maybe it’s because I’ve only just recently become sexually active, but I crave it all the damn time. Since I’m almost five months pregnant, and Lincoln isn’t an option, I’m having to resort to the battery-operated toy I recently purchased.

When we get up to our floor, Sienna gives me a hug, telling me that she had a wonderful day, and then we part ways. I might not be too keen on being back in Tesoro, but I’m loving being close with my sister again, and it feels damn good for everything to be out in the open.

The second I walk through the door, I smell the Mexican food, and my stomach grumbles in anticipation.

“Perfect timing,” Lincoln says, handing me a plate filled with all my favorites. “Figured you’d be hungry.”

“You figured right.” I have a seat on the barstool and start chowing down. “My God, this is so good. Thank you, thank you.”

“Good enough to thank me twice?” he says with a laugh as he sits down next to me.

“I’m thanking you for me and the baby. Trust me, he’s just as happy as I am.”

Lincoln chuckles and reaches over, his hand rubbing my bump. “Is that true, little guy? Do you love Mexican as much as your mama does?”

Him talking to the baby, calling me mama, and touching my belly shouldn’t affect me the way it does, but I can’t help the way my heart pounds against my rib cage, how my tummy tightens, and the area between my legs throb. I’m blaming it on the pregnancy hormones because there’s no way it’s normal to get choked up with emotion and turned on at the same time.

Yep, I need to move out stat, because I can’t see how I’m going to survive living with Lincoln much longer.

“Stainless steel appliances, marble floors...”When Franco, the realtor who has been showing me places all afternoon, notices I’m no longer paying attention—instead, focused on the view of downtown Tesoro—he stops rambling and steps next to me. “Not what you’re looking for either?”

I shake my head and wrap my arms around my belly protectively. Franco has shown me several beautiful, expensive, luxurious places, but none of them feel like home. Then again, I’m not sure what home is supposed to feel like. I’ve only had onetruehome my entire life, and it was when I lived with Sienna and Micah. I felt safe and comfortable there. I knew that no matter what went wrong in the outside world, once I was under their roof, between their four walls, I would be okay. And that’s how I want my baby to feel. But none of the homes I’ve seen today give me that same feeling. And if I don’t feel it, how will my baby?

“It’s not you,” I begin, and Franco barks out a laugh.

“Sorry,” he says. “You sound like my ex-girlfriend when she was preparing to dump me.”

I think about what I said, and once it clicks, I laugh as well. “That’s not what I meant. I just have a certaintypeof placein mind...No, it’s more like I’m seeking a certainfeeling, and none of these houses have felt like my home yet.”

Franco glances at me and smiles softly. “We can find that place. If it’s available in Tesoro, we can find it. Why don’t we head back to my office and regroup? We can go over what you liked and didn’t like in the places we saw and go from there?”

“Or,” I say, when my belly grumbles in protest, “we can do it over dinner because I’m freaking starved. And my baby agrees.”

Franco chuckles. “We can do that.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

LINCOLN

“Hey,Rita. I’m meeting with Brody Fields to discuss the hotel and casino investment proposal, and I left—” My words come to a halt as my eyes land on Ellie sitting in a booth closest to the entrance of Catch 52, one of the many restaurants that Alexander Enterprises owns. Her head is thrown back in laughter, and her hand is covering her belly—something she does often without realizing it, like she’s worried something will happen to him and she instinctually needs to protect him. She looks breathtaking, and it kills me to know that I can’t have her. That I have to look at her every goddamned day but can’t touch.

I step toward her table, figuring I’ll say hello before my meeting—that’s the friendly thing to do, right?—when I take notice of someone sitting across from her. The person who’s making her laugh. A man.

“Mr. Alexander,” Rita says, confused as to why I stopped speaking mid-sentence.

“I’ll call you back.” I click end on the call and then watch as Ellie and this guy talk and laugh, oblivious to everyone around them, seemingly lost in their own little world. I can’t see theguy’s face because his back is to me, but Ellie’s eyes are shining bright with happiness, something I rarely see on her, and it makes me want to punch something—preferably him. Because he shouldn’t be the one making her happy. That should be me. Only, it can’t, since Ellie remains off-limits.Fuck, I’m so goddamn sick of those words.

And then it hits me: she’s on a date.

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