“Why are you drinking water and not whiskey?” Valentina asks, her eyes narrowed.
“Why do you think?” Ariel replies with a hint of attitude.
“Oh my God! Really? You’re—”
“Knocked up and can’t stop crying when I’m happy or feeling like I’m going to puke pretty much all the time.”
“Holy shit!” A woman with deep auburn hair walks in the door, and she gives a little shimmy. “The girl genius is knocked up! I didn’t expect to hearthattonight!”
“Elle! You came.” Vanessa squeals and hugs the woman.
As everyone catches up with the new arrival, my mind is stuck on what Ariel said. Crying all the time and constantly feeling like you want to puke ...
No. Way.
Seriously. There’s no way I’m ... I do the math in my head.
Not possible. Is it?
Maybe.
There’s a definite maybe.
I should be freaking the fuck out about the possibility of being pregnant, especially right now, but instead, a tiny kernel of hope blooms inside me.
The timing wouldn’t be great, and I’m not going to jump to conclusions, but ...wow.
I bite down on my lip as my mouth curves into a smile. How crazy would that be? One thing is for sure, though.
I’m not saying anything until I know one way or the other.
39
Kane
When Temperance walks out of the lingerie store, I’m glad to see she has a bag in her hand and a smile on her face. She needed tonight. Something good and normal.
Through the brightly lit windows, I watch her give good-bye hugs to her newfound friends, so glad she has that. I want her to have that. I want her to have everything.
I get out of the car and open the door for her. “My lady,” I say, gesturing for her to enter.
“Gallant. You’re totally hoping I bought something scandalous, and now you want to see it on, don’t you?” she asks as she slides into the seat.
“That’s not why I’m opening your door for you, but I wouldn’t say no regardless.”
“Good,” she says with a smile. “Because it’sdefinitelyscandalous.”
I close her door and round the hood to get in the driver’s side. “Where to tonight?”
We’ve been splitting our time between Temperance’s apartment and the warehouse, depending on what hours she’s working, but we’ve spent the majority of nights at her place. Thankfully, Harriet has been out of town quite a bit, otherwise I’d be worried the noises we make upstairs would give the old woman a heart attack.
Then again, it’s Harriet ...
I’m not complaining, though. I don’t care where we are as long as I fall asleep beside her.
“Let’s go to the warehouse ...”
When Temperance trails off, I immediately wonder what she has planned.