Well Suited (Red Lipstick Coalition #4)(66)

Tell him I said hi before you ruin his life.

Deal. See you in a bit.

You sure will. Never had a doubt in you, Kate.

My chest was hot and tingly and full of joy. Thank you. You’re my favorite, you know that?

Ditto. Kissing you in two hours.

Hurry up.

I slipped my phone back into my bag, rounding the corner into the circulation room. I’d miss it in here, the solitude, the order of it all. But it was an advancement, one that would be good for my career and one that would get me far away from Eagan.

I found him scowling at a cart, loading it with more force than was necessary. The books hit the metal with a thump and a clang.

“What’s the matter?” I asked innocently. “Arms sore from all that wallowing?”

He shot me a glare. “I can’t believe you got the job.”

“I don’t know why you’re surprised. I mean, aside from that I made it through your harassment.”

Eagan huffed, grabbing another stack off the shelf. “Now you’re going to be gone. You’ll be in the research department every day.”

I made a face. “You did all this so I’d stay in circulation?”

When he turned to me, it was with an exasperated expression on his face. “Honestly, Katherine, are you such a robot that you can’t see that I like you? I’ve asked you out. Multiple times.”

I frowned. “You’re a creepy perv. I didn’t think you actually meant it beyond trying to sleep with me. Even though I’m pregnant. Hence the creepy pervness.”

“Of course I want to sleep with you. You’re hot, even pregnant.”

“Thanks,” I said flatly.

“Whatever,” he scoffed, plunking another stack on his cart. “I thought we’d be a good match.”

“I live with my boyfriend.”

“I know.”

“Who impregnated me.”

“I know!”

I paused, watching him rage-load the cart. “You are an odd little man.”

“I’ve had a thing for you for years, Katherine. You’re just too weird to even see it. So have fun with Francine in research. And good luck with your boyfriend.”

“He said to tell you hi, by the way.”

Eagan groaned.

“You should have just asked me out. You know, before this.” I gestured to my stomach.

He slowed, glancing at me hopefully. “Would you have said yes?”

“No, but at least then it wouldn’t have turned you into a megalomaniac.”

Another groan. “Bye, Katherine,” he said, pushing his cart away in a rush.

“You didn’t load the bottom shelf,” I called after him.

He flipped me off over his shoulder.

I sighed, though I found myself smiling. Things were working out, looking up, coming up roses. My life seemed to be aligning in the most wonderful and hopeful of ways.

And there was nothing that could get me down.





23





The Same Page





Theo 26 weeks, 6 days

Everything about the night was perfect.

Tommy and Amelia’s wedding—their real wedding—was short and sweet and beautiful. I stood at my brother’s side for the second time as he promised her forever, this time fully intending to do it. Truth be told, I thought he’d meant it the first time without realizing, that night a marker, a beginning none of us had fully comprehended. But we’d felt it then.

This time was even better. This time, we all knew the truth.

Their love was beyond us all.

My throat closed up when Tommy’s voice broke during his vows, as he spoke of all the ways she saved him, all the ways he loved her. And my eyes found Katherine’s where she stood behind Amelia, clutching a bouquet over the swell of her stomach. Her eyes shone. She shone, lit from the inside, her skin luminous, pale against her dark hair but for the flush of her cheeks and the red of her lips.

God, how I loved her. Tonight I would tell her.

And I’d make her mine, permanently and legally.

The ring box in my pocket whispered to me like it had been for the weeks I’d been carrying it around, waiting for the right time, the right moment. I’d told no one, the secret mine, guarded with the tenacity of the Queen’s guard over the crown jewels. No one would know until she knew.

And tonight was the night.

The hyperawareness of her aversion to surprises had been niggling at me since I walked into the jeweler. But she’d wished aloud for us to be like this forever, and I’d promised her it would.

The ring in my pocket would just make it official.

I wanted to share my future with her. I wanted to give her my name. I wanted to say I do, and I wanted to hear the words from her lips. I wanted her to know I’d never love anyone else.

And I hoped beyond hope that she felt the same.

Dinner had just finished, the plates cleared and the music started. The first dances came and went, and we watched as Tommy spun Amelia all over the dance floor like a pro, the light on their faces contagious, shining on everyone in the room and filling them up with light, too. And then the dance floor opened up, calling us all to join them.

So we did.

Katherine’s hair was up, twisted and curled and pinned elegantly to reveal her long neck. The bridesmaid dresses were muted neutrals, dove grays and soft shades of champagne in varying styles, all of them Grecian. And Katherine looked like a goddess. Layers of chiffon draped artfully over her shoulders, hung over her stomach, sweeping the parquet with levity that made her look as if she were hovering a few inches over the ground.