Be My Hero (Forbidden Men 3)

Unless he told Mason.

Oh, shit. He could not tell Mason. Mason would tell Reese. And if Reese knew—

I had to convince him he'd assumed the wrong thing, that what he thought wasn't true at all. Yeah. Next time I saw him—and I would find a way to see him again—that's exactly what I'd do.

When the front door of the apartment opened, I jumped, surprised to realize how much time had passed. Reese and Mason blew into the living room, full of smiles and laughter.

I had quite the mountain of material, scissors, a needle and thread piled up around me on the couch. I was so engrossed in sewing an R—the last and final letter—into the side of the bag that I screamed and stabbed my finger when the door burst open.

"EVA! Ohmigod, ohmigod. Look! Look!" Reese hurled herself at me, hand spread and waving as the diamond glittered from her second finger. "Can you believe it? Can you just believe it? We're getting married!"

I made a spectacle of studying the ring we'd both already oohed and awed over months ago. Then I looked up and dryly reported, "I'm . . . shocked."

Reese yanked her hand free and frowned at me. "Oh. You're no fun. This is happy news. Amazing news."

Grinning, I rolled my eyes. "And I'm happy for you. Honestly. Congratulations."

As Mason shut the door to the apartment and leaned against it to watch us on the couch, I glanced up at him and arched an eyebrow. "Well done, Mr. Lowe."

"Mr. Lowe," Reese sighed the name as she slid her hand from mine and launched herself off the couch toward him. "And I'm going to be Mrs. Lowe. Mrs. Reese Lowe. Teresa Alison Lowe. Ohmigod, I love it!"

She hugged him and began to kiss him all over his face. He laughed and caught her head in his hands so he could hold her still long enough to press a soft, lingering kiss on her lips. "What? Did you actually doubt this was going to happen?"

"No." Sighing, she melted against him and rested her cheek on his shoulder. "Not really. But I still can't believe it's here. It's happening now, and it's finally real."

"Of course it's real. I love you, Reese." He closed his eyes and pressed his mouth to her temple. "I'd do anything to show you that."

A big wad of jealousy caught in my throat. The only way I was able to swallow it down was from thinking about how fulfilled I was after playing cupid for them. Doing good deeds really was an amazing sensation. And I was even more satisfied because it was Reese I'd helped make happy. But why couldn't I be happy like that, too?

Because I didn't deserve it, I reminded myself.

"Give me two minutes," Reese told Mason as she pulled away from him, the look in her eyes making it obvious what she had planned.

His gaze heated and he held her fingers for as long as he could before she stepped back out of his reach. "Yes, ma'am," he murmured before grinning like a guy about to get laid.

When Reese giggled, I snorted. I think they'd both forgotten I existed. As Reese turned away, bounding from the living room, Mason sighed in contentment and met my gaze. Seeing me tempered his mood instantly. He cleared his throat and tried to blink the desire from his expression, but didn't quite succeed.

"So," he said, nudging his toe at a scrap of fabric that had fallen to the floor. "Thanks."

Shrugging as if my intervention had been no big deal, I went back to sewing my R into place. "It's the least I could do."

"Yeah, but . . . you freaking saved us. Reese and I were drowning until—"

"Oh, don't be so dramatic." I couldn't let him get all mushy because then I'd get all emotional and have to blame a whole new batch of tears of my poor, innocent pregnancy hormones. "You guys love each other. Nothing was going to change that. I just knocked a little clarity into your head."

"Well, it's the knock I needed, and I'll be forever grateful." He stepped closer and tipped his head to the side to see what I was sewing. "Is that the baby's name?"

I gasped and covered the word with my hand, even though he'd already read it . . . and knew. "Don't you dare tell anyone," I warned him. "Especially Reese. She's been having fun trying to guess."

His gray eyes glittered silver as he grinned at me. "My lips are sealed. But only because I owe you one." Then he glanced toward the doorway leading into the hall, which led to his and Reese's bedroom. "You think it's been two minutes yet?"

"I think it's only been thirty seconds, you big horn ball."

Scowling, he shoved his hands into his pockets and grumbled around a moment before muttering, "Well, I can't wait anymore." Then he was off, hurrying down the hall in pursuit of his fiancée.

I smiled and shook my head. I liked their kind of love. I enjoyed watching them make it past this obstacle, and I liked knowing they were going to live happily ever after. But it also depressed me.

I knew I had my baby girl. Once she was born, I'd probably be too busy raising her to want what Reese had with Mason, but a part of me still ached, a part of me wanted to be loved like that, too.