Zip, Zero, Zilch

Peck comes out of her room and she’s carrying her purse. She’s dressed in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, and she has makeup on. She’s so pretty. “Did Pete leave?” she asks.

“He had to go hold Reagan’s hair back while she pukes.”

“Eww.” She wrinkles her nose.

“I’m pretty sure she’s pregnant.”

Her face softens. “Oh,” she breathes out in a happy sigh.

“Pete doesn’t know it yet.” I laugh. I like knowing something he doesn’t know.

“Are you sure?”

I shake my head. “No. But they stopped using condoms when they got married, so one plus one must equal two. Or three, as the case may be.”

“So, you guys t-talk about that stuff?” she asks. Her voice goes quiet, and she suddenly looks nervous.

I shrug. “Some of it.”

“Did you talk about m-me?” She’s almost whispering.

I walk close enough that my chest brushes hers. I push her hair back behind her ear. “We talked about you.”

Her eyes jerk up to meet mine. “You told him about this morning?”

She is flustered all of a sudden, so I feel the intense need to comfort her. “Nothing happened this morning.” Nothing that didn’t rock my world. “I wouldn’t talk with him about that.”

“But you talk about everything.” Her hand lands on my chest, like she needs to steady herself.

“I want to hold that close to my heart. Well, that thing we didn’t do, I want to keep it to myself.”

“You really didn’t tell him?” She looks hopeful.

I shake my head. “I told him how much I like you.”

She smiles.

“Do you like me back?”

She nods. “I do,” she whispers. “Lots.”

“I remember when my brothers found the women they were supposed to be with. The moment they met them, they treasured them, their relationship, and the bond between them above all else. We talk, but we don’t cross any lines. I value you. I want you to know how much. I didn’t talk about anything we did together. Nothing.” I lift the edge of her shirt so I can settle my hands on her naked waist, but she pushes my hands away. “What’s wrong?”

“I can’t get used to all the touching you do. It’s strange. And makes me feel vulnerable, because my body is far from perfect.”

It took a lot for her to say that, I can tell. She’s worried about me touching a pudgy spot? Seriously? I live for pudge. Bring it on. “You want me to keep my hands to myself?”

She shakes her head. “No.”

I kiss the tip of her nose. She scrunches up her face, and then brackets my face with her hands, looks into my eyes, and kisses me. Damn, she really kisses me. Her tongue touches mine and I’m almost lost, but then she pulls back and looks at her watch. “I have to go to the studio to meet the Zeroes.”

“Are you coming back tonight?” I try not to sound too hopeful, but damn it, I am.

She’s startled. “You don’t want me to?”

“I want you here every fucking day, cupcake. All the time.”

She smiles. “Okay,” she whispers. “I have a car waiting outside with a driver. I had better go.”

I take a key from my junk drawer and press it into her hand. “In case I’m not back yet.”

“I hope everything goes okay with the team,” she says. Then she slips out the door.

And that’s when I realize that ever since she came out of the bathroom, she didn’t tap one single time, not even her toes, and she didn’t stutter even the first time. That makes me feel all gooey inside. Gooey and melty and needy.

God, she’s going to make me need her, and then she’s going to walk away. I can tell.

***

When I get to the Skyscrapers’ office, Sky is waiting out front for me. She has on a business suit, and her hair is in a knot on top of her head. She’s leaning on her hip against a streetlight, the soft swell of her belly evident. “You’re looking a little pregnant, there,” I tell her.

She smoothes her hand down her stomach. “I know, right? I don’t remember being this big the last time I was five months pregnant, and I had two of them in there.”

We thought Matt would never be able to have kids, not after the chemo, but now he has five and one on the way. He’s going for a softball team.

I kiss her on the forehead. “How are you feeling?”

“Oh, this is the easy part.” She smiles up at me. “How are you?”

Well, I had Peck in my bed when I woke up, and then she came on my face, and then we had pancakes together. “Great.”

“And Peck?” She narrows her eyes at me.

“What about her?”

She opens the door so I can hobble my way through it. “How is she?”

I shrug. “Fine, I guess.”

She shoves my shoulder and almost knocks me off my crutches. “Don’t be evasive with me. We all know she spent the night with you last night.”

I raise my brows at her. “You want me to give you all the details?”

Her cheeks get rosy. “I’ll leave that to your brothers.” She glares at me. “She’s okay, though, right?”

“She’s fine.” I reach out to scrub her hair but she ducks and avoids me. Sky is getting way too good at this being-a-Reed thing.

“And you? Are you all right?”