Easy meals in thirty minutes? Rachael Ray didn’t have anything on Harper. She actually knew how to deal with rockstars and their crazy eating habits. A very cool idea she was doing with Tristan—my future…
What?
Baby daddy brother-in-law?
I didn’t even know how the weird and twisted family tree worked in this group. Yet here I was, having a baby before we’d even really thought about all the ramifications.
Smart. That was us.
More like Ian and his crazy, sexy green eyes with the big old hearts in the middle telling me he wanted to plant a baby in my belly had undone me in a million ways. And man, we’d barely even gotten to practice. Practically on the first try after I took out my IUD, hello, baby.
Baby.
Sweet hell.
Margo picked up the platter of nachos. “These look great, guys. Thanks for unpacking the food.”
I waved her off. “It was nothing. I can’t believe you guys have a chef on the island.”
Margo snagged a loaded chip and popped it in her mouth. When she was done chewing, she made a little humming sound. “My parents originally owned the house and I grew up with the housekeeper. She retired, but her niece, Amara, took over. I swear, she must have all the same recipes in her head.”
“Makes you want to learn to cook and hand it down too, right?”
The question was out of my mouth before I thought about it.
Margo sat back with a giggle. “God, no. I can’t cook.”
“Harper keeps trying to teach us.” Carefully, Lila wrapped a soft taco, closing it at the bottom. “My mom gave up a long time ago.”
“Aunt Laverne managed to teach me how to bake a pie. Everything else kind of went over my head.”
“Well, with the spreads she puts out, it’s a little overwhelming.” Li neatly tucked into her taco. Her plate was tidy, with a manageable amount of food on it for herself, not in shambles like mine.
I looked down at my mess and it complemented my loving idiot’s plate. His was full to the edges with nachos, taquitos, tacos, and anything else he managed to pile onto it.
My man
could eat. Besides, I preferred his current bulky state. When I’d first met Ian, he was practically starving himself. Now he was all muscle and filled-in shoulders.
His back muscles were a thing of beauty. I might have made him rechop the tomatoes just to watch them move under his tank top.
Maybe.
Okay, so I wasn’t proud of it, but we were still in the honeymoon phase. If the honeymoon part meant having a baby while not married, but pledging our eternal love to one another.
Whatever.
It worked for us.
For now.
Nick stood up and nipped a chip off of Lila’s plate as he went back into the kitchen for more drinks. It was kind of nice that they weren’t big drinkers in this crew.
I didn’t have to hide that I was strictly sticking to water. Mostly because nothing else stayed down. Food—no problem. My beloved sweet tea? Running for the toilet.
Probably because Ian despised my tea so much. His child probably felt the same. He’d come out wanting a spot of Earl Grey with no cream. Ugh. So gross.
Everyone was chatting at the table, a collective groan turning into a laugh when Nick turned up an obnoxious Christmas carol on the super high end stereo.