“Hi, everyone,” I say, wave, and then eye their cars. “They’re all full.”
“Yep,” Jules agrees. “We could have brought more, but we Tetrised this as much as we could.”
“See?” I turn to Ben. “Tetris.”
“Why don’t you ladies go in and decide where you want this stuff,” Nate suggests. “We’ll bring everything inside.”
“Sounds good to me,” Brynna says. “Lead the way, Rina.”
I’m dumbfounded, and I’m pretty much never speechless. I’ve never known people to just jump in and help a stranger like this.
“Where should we put the stuff?” Jules asks, looking around.
“Are you okay, Rina?” Natalie asks.
“You did not have to do this.” I shake my head, completely overwhelmed. “I didn’t expect you to spend your money and buy a bunch of stuff for charity.”
“Women, babies and kids,” Jules says. “That’s all you had to say. Plus, it’s a tax write-off. Now, where would you like it all?”
I blow out a breath and look around, formulating a plan in my head. “Okay, let’s do baby stuff in the dining room. Feminine hygiene in the upstairs guest room. Snacks and other miscellaneous things in the living room.”
“Got it,” Luke says as he walks through carrying four boxes of diapers. He stacks them neatly in the dining room and then walks back outside for another load. Occasionally one of the guys passes something off to us to take and organize.
Within thirty minutes, all five SUVs are unloaded, and all of the items are in the house.
I watch as Nate carries a baby bassinet into the dining room, and I lean over to Nic. “Is it just me, or is that dude incredibly sexy carrying that?”
“Nate’s incredibly hot doing anything.” She smirks.
The man in question must have heard us because he glances our way and offers us a wink.
Well, okay, then.
“You all went above and beyond,” I say as we finish up. “I mean, you even bought furniture. Bassinets, bouncy seat thingies, four brand new breast pumps.”
I shake my head in wonder.
“We can do more.” Natalie pulls me in for a hug. “I think it’s awesome that you get to do this every day. We’ll get some of the girls together and come over soon to organize and get it ready to deliver. And we can help with that, too.”
“Don’t make me cry,” I plead as I pull back and glance around at the nine people standing with me. “Your family is wonderful.”
“It’s just what the Montgomerys do,” Luke says. “They help, and they will suck you in as one of their own. You’ve been warned.”
I laugh. “I would offer you all something to eat, or a drink, but I don’t have anything here to give you.”
“We have to go.” Jules waves me off. “We all have kids at home who have probably burned our houses down by now. Have a good night. We’ll see you soon.”
“Thank you.” I follow as they make their way toward the door. “Sincerely, thank you.”
Caleb, the one who’s been the quietest since they all arrived, turns back to me. “Thank you. I have daughters. It makes me happy to know women like you are looking out for them.”
He nods and follows the others, and I have to close the door before I dissolve into a puddle of tears.
Ben’s hands are on my shoulders, so I turn and wrap my arms around his waist, needing a hug.
“Well, that completely overwhelmed me,” I say with a sniffle.
“Yeah. They do that.”Chapter Six~Rina~He looks tired.
It’s been two days since the Montgomerys delivered all of the goodies to my place and the emergency at the gym that called Ben away. It seems a trainer walked out, quitting on the spot. Because Ben’s been working exclusively with me, there wasn’t any wiggle room in any of his other trainers’ schedules to absorb the workload.
Because of that, he’s been juggling me and the extra clients while simultaneously searching for a new trainer. He’s been working long days, and I only see him for our sessions.
There have been no more hot kisses.
Well, there was one hot kiss yesterday after our bike ride. But aside from that, he’s been too busy to lock lips.
Or do anything else.
Now that our afternoon session has been wrapped up, and I see him working with a guy at the bench press, I can’t help but feel bad for him. His eyes look strained—the long hours are clearly catching up with him.
I walk over to the front desk where his administrative assistant sits and smile at her.
“Hey, Lisa.”
“Hi, Rina. What can I do for you?”
“How late is Ben scheduled to be here today?”
She clicks her mouse a few times, looking at the computer screen. “Looks like his last client is at eight.”
“He started with me at six this morning.”
Lisa nods and cringes. “Yeah, the poor guy’s been working nonstop. But he interviewed a guy this morning who looks promising.”