Page 89 of Unfinished
“It wasn’t supposed to happen.” I give his chest a little poke. “But you had to go and make it impossible not to.” I scoff when I start thinking about it. “I mean, you gave me a puppy the first time I saw you.”
How could I have ever thought I’d be able to keep my feelings in check when faced with a puppy gifter? Anyone would have struggled to maintain lines of separation under those circumstances.
Tobias’s laughter gets louder. “That part wasn’t planned.” He pulls me closer, smile so wide it’s practically blinding. “I’mgoing to have to thank Titus for being a reasonable parent and only taking Betty.” His head tips to where Bruno and Copper sit on the other side of the glass doors leading inside. “And Bruno might need a few new toys for his part in the success ofOperation Get Brooke to Love Me.”
I snort. “You gave it a name?”
He grabs me around the waist, hauling me up to sit on the elevated edge of the hot tub. “The name is a recent development.” He leans in, lips claiming mine. “Even more recent than your reluctant admission to loving me.”
“It wasn’t reluctant.” I try not to smile, and fail. “It was…begrudging.”
Tobias’s head tips back on a laugh. “Begrudging?” He grabs my feet, spinning me toward the hot tub. “Get naked, and we’ll see how begrudging you are.”
“You poor thing.” Maren drops her container of dessert bars onto the counter and heads straight for where Mariah is sitting in the great room of the house she shares with Titus. “You look miserable.”
I didn’t want to point that out, but she kinda does. Mariah is always radiant and happy and filled with positivity. Tonight she looks really, really uncomfortable. Probably because she has two humans inside her who are getting bigger and bigger every day.
“Thanks so much.” Her tone is sarcastic, but she’s still smiling. “I’m just over it, I think.” She shifts around, wincing at the movement. “I think all the women who claim to love being pregnant are full of shit.”
Maren wrinkles her nose as she takes in Mariah’s swollenankles and gigantic belly. “Yeah, you definitely aren’t making it look like fun.”
“I’m sure it will be worth it.” Mariah hugs her stomach, the smile on her face turning wistful. “Hopefully once they come out I’ll forget all about this.”
“Don’t say that.” Maren looks horrified. “We all know your husband is going to try to talk you into having more. If you forget how terrible it is, you’re totally going to fall for it.”
“Probably.” Mariah seems to tear up a little, but her smile doesn’t fade. “Because he’s going to be such a good dad.”
“I was thinking mostly because he’s really hot, but sure. Good dad.” Maren plops down onto the couch next to Mariah, watching as her belly starts to move in spots, shifting around like the blobs of wax in a lava lamp. “It’s so freaky.”
Mariah’s face pinches as she presses against a spot on her side, managing to smooth out one of the weird lumps she’s explained is usually a butt or foot. “Is this your way of telling me our kids are never going to play together?”
“I don’t even want to think about having kids.” Maren sinks deeper into the sofa, yawning. “Dealing with my sister is more than enough to keep me occupied.”
“I don’t know how your mom handled having kids so far apart.” Mariah shakes her head. “I can’t imagine doing this again in twenty years.”
“I definitely wouldn’t recommend it.” Maren turns to me, shifting the conversation the way she usually does when her mother or sister come up. “What about you,Brooklyn Marie?” She smirks. “You gonna let Tobias put a baby in you?”
“Eww. Why did you have to say it like that?” Like Maren, I haven’t really thought about having kids. There’s been too much going on. But if I had, hearing her call it ‘having a baby put in me’, would have jerked those thoughts to a quick stop.
“Just answer the question.” Maren stretches out her legs, propping both socked feet up on the coffee table. “Babies, or no babies?”
I purse my lips, pondering. “I don’t know.” I’ve only just started wrapping my head around loving Tobias. Considering procreation isn’t something my brain is capable of tackling just yet.
“Okay.” Maren wiggles her brows at me. “You gonna marry him?”
I drop into one of the comfy chairs where I spend every girls’ night. “Why? You looking for another opportunity to smash cake in Trevor’s face?”
“That would actually be great, because I feel like it’s been too long since I’ve been able to show him exactly how I feel.” Maren smiles. “Though I do take great pleasure in waving at him every time I walk past his office.”
Maren is taking full advantage of the safety being my assistant offers her. There’s no way Trevor will ever come after me the way he would have gone after his brothers if it had been one of them who hired her. Thanks to his help navigating the lawsuit, he knows more of what I’ve been through than anyone besides Tobias, and is a little protective of me because of it. So, for the most part, his attitude toward Maren has become mostly neutral.
And that seems to annoy her.
I laugh, shaking my head. “You’re a menace.”
“I’m a menace he can’t fire.” She points at me. “And you’re avoiding the question.”
“How come you’re the one always asking questions and never answering them?” Even though I work with Maren every day, and have a girls’ night with her and Mariah every otherSaturday, I still know very little of her life outside of work. “It doesn’t really seem fair.”
