“Nah, he’s just a curious little guy.”
Her hands drop to her sides and her pert nose wrinkles. “He’s a dirty little guy.”
I chuckle and move the transducer to get a good look at his heart. A steady rhythmic beat comes over the speaker at the same time it appears on the screen.
“His heartbeat is good.” I check over a few more things. “Everything seems to be fine. His measurements are spot on for thirty-four weeks. Would you like some pictures?”
“Yes, please.” Her smile is back in place, and damned if it doesn’t make her look prettier. My dick deflated after my initial reaction of seeing her again, but the stupid thing is on its way back to full-mast, with no damn way to adjust myself.
I slide the wand over her stomach, getting images at various angles. Just for shits and giggles, I make sure to get one of the little guy still dangling his diddle. I also manage to get a good one of his face.
While the machine prints off the pictures, I grab a tissue and wipe away the gel from her stomach. Unnecessarily, because she can do it herself, but I find I like to torture myself by touching her, I slip my fingertips beneath the waistband of her leggings and gently lift it over her stomach. When I lift my eyes to her, it’s to see her startling blue ones on me. Her chest isn’t moving, so I know she’s holding her breath. Just because I’m a bastard and don’t know when to stop, I hold her eyes as I grab her shirt that’s still tucked beneath her breasts and pull it down. My knuckles graze the soft material of her bra, and I’m not sure if it was intentional or an accident. Either way, her breath hitches, which sends more blood rushing to my cock.
Silently cursing my stupidity, because how in the fuck am I going to hide a boner from her, I turn away and start cleaning the transducer with a disinfectant wipe.
I clear my throat. “You’re all cleared and free to continue your trip to Colorado. Although, I would suggest taking it easy and making sure you’re well prepared. There’s long stretches of Texas where there aren’t many places to stop.”
When she stays quiet, I look over my shoulder at her. She has her thumb at her mouth, biting her nail. When she spots me looking at her, she drops her hand.
“Uh, about that. It looks like I’ll be staying a while.”
“Why?” The question comes out a bit harsher than intended, but I do nothing to set her at ease when I see her jolt.
She’s sitting up on the bed now with her hands planted on the top of her rounded stomach. I feel like an ass when she speaks next, because there’s no mistaking the hesitancy in her voice.
“The mechanic said it would take a while to get the parts for my car. Apparently, there was more wrong with it than just my AC.”
“Shit.” The muttered curse slips out before I realize, and her eyebrows jump up. I roughly rake a hand through my hair. “I’ll talk to Mick and see if there’s anything he can do to get it fixed sooner.”
The woman needs to leave Malus, and she needs to do it yesterday. She’s been here long enough already. With The Finishing tomorrow, she definitely doesn’t need to be anywhere near here. Citizens aren’t allowed near The Finishing, but it makes me really fucking uneasy knowing an outsider is in town. If she were to get wind of it, shit would hit the fan, because there’s no way we could let her leave here to alert the authorities.
Protecting the town and its inhabitants is our top priority, no matter the cost. The pretty pregnant woman would have to be dealt with. The premise behind Malus is to ensure the innocent stay innocent and safe, by any means necessary.
“Can you really do that? I mean, will he listen to you?”
The question is almost laughable.
She obviously has no clue how this town is run. This is my brothers and my town. The townsfolk don’t necessarily fear us, but they do listen, because it’s us who provides the protection they crave.
“He’ll listen.”
By the tone of my voice and the hard look on my face, Remi has no choice but to believe me.
“Okay. Thank you. As nice as it’s been here, I’d really rather get on my way to my brother’s.”
“Expect a phone call from Mick this evening.”
She nods and makes a move to climb from the bed. Seeing her struggling, I walk over and grab her elbow to help her down. Once she’s on her feet, a lock of hair falls in her face. I lift my hand to push it away, but before I get a chance, she blows it away herself. My hand falls limply by my side.
I take a step back from her, because I’m way too fucking close and her scent is driving me mad. Remembering the sonogram pictures, I reach over and grab them from the machine and hold them out to her.
“Thanks.”
Her face lights up beautifully as she looks down at the images. She flips from one to the other, until she comes across the one of the baby’s face. Something dark momentarily wipes away the contented look. I want to ask her what’s going on in her head, but it’s not my business.
When she gets to the picture of the baby playing with himself, a laugh escapes her lips. She holds the picture closer to her face before looking at me. Mirth twinkles in her eyes.
“I already can’t wait to show this to his future wife,” she says with a giggle.