Lucky Baby (Crescent Cove 11)

“No, sorry, thanks. I’m dieting.” It was a miracle I didn’t pinch my nose. I could still smell it even if I turned my head.

What was in that thing? Had Tabitha flavored it with preggo lady repellant or what?

“You, dieting? Why? You are perfect just as you are. Especially in these dresses today. Lucky must be having a hard time keeping his hands off you.”

“Again with that stuff? You didn’t even see the kiss.”

“No, but I saw him holding you and rubbing your—” She stopped, her eyes widening.

“Rubbing my what? Because I definitely don’t remember anything like that. Hey,” I said when she set aside her cupcake on the tray it came from and cupped my belly as if it was a crystal ball she could peer into and see her fortune.

And peer she did, staring right at the approximate place where my bellybutton was on the other side of the silky ivory fabric. Figured that the bride wasn’t wearing white but I was, though I was no more virginal than Luna.

“Oh, pardon me.” Luna closed her eyes in apology. “I didn’t ask to touch, but I was drawn. Please forgive me.”

“To my belly?” My spine went to liquid to match my suddenly shaky knees. “Was it growling that loud? Sorry. Lucky foisted some finger foods on me, but apparently, they weren’t enough.”

She lifted her face to mine, her cheeks shining. “You know, don’t you?”

I tried to swallow the sudden grittiness in my throat. “Know that I’m starving? Sure.”

“Tish, you know. But if you had any doubt, your aura is very clear. Usually, you’re more of a pulsing red. Today you’re more like a tea rose. You’re sick with it, aren’t you?” The sympathy in Lu’s tone and in her expression made me feel as if I wanted to weep.

I so badly needed someone to stroke my hair while I cried. I wasn’t usually that woman. Sometimes tears escaped at appropriate times, like after Jimmy’s memorial. But at a wedding reception? That didn’t make sense.

Except of course it did, because my hormones were going haywire, and I didn’t have any clue what I was doing. And I was already so afraid I was going to break this kid I didn’t even have the balls to find out if I was carrying.

“The other aura is blue,” she said when I didn’t speak. “That doesn’t necessarily mean a boy but…”

I swallowed. “It could.”

“Yes, it could. You’re not arguing with me?”

“I don’t have enough energy to argue with a gnat right now.”

“But what a conversation it would be, huh?” Her sweet laughter made me smile instead of snarl.

This whole potential pregnancy thing was building a kinder, gentler Tish. Or a more exhausted one, which basically translated into the same thing.

Discreetly, I drew her hands away from my stomach. Despite Lucky telling people right and left—God only knows how many he’d informed since I’d gone off in search of a sweet snack I couldn’t even eat—I wasn’t ready for everyone to know.

Heck, I didn’t even know for sure, no matter what Luna and my twitchy belly believed. This train was going far too fast, and I wanted to get off.

“Sorry. That was a definite boundary crossing. I feel terrible. Especially since I know how violating it can feel when someone you barely know is feeling you up.” Lu shuddered.

“We still talking about bellies here?”

Her laughter made me smile again. “Yes. I don’t mind when my husband feels me up, and he’d bite anyone else who tried.” She grabbed her abandoned cupcake and licked off a dab of frosting. “Probably literally. Oh my goddess, this is delicious. Sure you don’t want a bite?” She corrected herself before I could. “No, I see you’re off. That’s fine. Why don’t we order you some tea?”

“Yeah, because no one will notice I’m sipping some Earl Grey while everyone else is getting loaded in this joint. Blizzard outside, so not like there is anywhere else to go.” I pursed my lips and made myself focus on her instead of myself for a change. “This weather T-boned your honeymoon. I’m sorry.”

“Nah, we aren’t going to Florida until after the first of the year. Gotta do the first blended family Christmas thing. My mother is practically spinning her top that I married a Catholic school teacher. She keeps hoping I’ll renounce my heathen ways.”

I snorted. “You, a heathen? You have the most loving energy of anyone I’ve ever met.”

Immediately, she stopped nibbling on her cupcake. Had I insulted her somehow? “Thank you. That’s so sweet coming from you.”

“From me?”