Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 111986 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 560(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 373(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111986 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 560(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 373(@300wpm)
Head tilted, Lou looked at her curiously. “Are you… are you trying to appeal to my conscience?” He snorted. “That inner voice gave up on me a long time ago. Honestly, trying to make me feel bad is more pointless than the ‘ay’ in ‘okay’. If self-centeredness could bounce, I’d be in orbit. And wouldn’t that be fun?”
Harper sighed. “At least you’re honest about it.”
“My shrink says I shouldn’t hold things in or pretend to be what I’m not. He says I should just be myself.”
“Yeah, that was bad advice.”
“And yet, I have a fan club,” Lou said smugly. “Several.”
“You mean you have Satanic cults that worship you.”
“Yeah,” he muttered, seemingly unimpressed by them. “Most of the weirdos are like diapers – self-absorbed, full of shit, and need to be disposed of. But I do appreciate that they use symmetrical symbols. Not crazy about their obsession with six-six-six, though. The number six is founded on odd numbers. My favorite number is eight – perfectly symmetrical. They should try eight-eight-eight.”
The guy truly was out of his mind. Harper simply said, “Well, if I meet any Satanic people, I’ll let them know.”
“That’s sweet of you.” His head tilted and his gaze turned inward. “Hmm. I’m needed elsewhere. Must go. Harper, you take care of our little munchkin. Knox, no, before you ask again, I’m not meeting with Jonas. Even if I tried to help, I’d somehow make it all worse. Tell me I’m wrong.”
The thing was… Knox couldn’t.
“Besides, you don’t need my help. You have this. You can manage just fine.” He saluted Knox. “Carpe diem!” And then, in a blink, he was gone.
Harper exhaled heavily. “Was it just me or was he stoned?”
“He was stoned.” Knox frowned at the candy wrappers and empty chip packets on the table. “I think he had a case of the munchies.” Knox crossed to her and softly stroked her stomach. “I was looking for you when I heard him down here.”
“I was looking for you, too. I want your advice on something.” She led him up the stairs and into the bedroom next to theirs, which she’d decided would be the nursery. She gestured to the wall, where she’d brushed three different stripes of paint along the white wall. “Which shade do you prefer?” She’d ordered three samples online and had been delighted to get back from the island and find them waiting.
Knox looked around the spacious room. “You cleared this room out all by yourself?”
“Hell, no. I roped Tanner and Levi into helping me.”
“I’m assuming you’re going to elect them to paint the walls, too.”
“They agreed to help me with the painting.”
The word “help” had him frowning. “I’m not sure if I like the idea of you —”
“I’ll be painting walls, not knocking them down,” she said as patiently as possible, reminding herself just how hard it was for him while his protective instincts were riding him hard. “I promise you that if at any point I need to rest, I will stop – for the baby’s sake, if nothing else. Trust me.”
“I do trust you,” he stated firmly, needing her to know that it was true. “You’re the only person that I trust.” His demon also trusted her, and that was a major thing.
She smiled. “Good. Now which color do you prefer?”
He pointed to the soft yellow strip of paint. “That one.”
She smiled. “Me, too. Great minds think alike. Hey, Rodgers should be here in half an hour.”
“I know. Why do you look so nervous? I thought you’d be excited to have another scan.”
“I am. I’m just worried he’ll tell me that the baby’s still smaller than it should be.”
He stroked her upper arms. “I’m sure everything will be fine.”
“I hope you’re right.”
A short while later, the doctor was setting up his portable ultrasound machine in their living room again. “Nice tan. I heard you went on vacation. Lucky you. Tell me, Harper, how have you been?”
Sitting on the sofa, she replied, “Fine. I don’t feel drained anymore. I’m eating fine. Having a couple of cravings, but nothing weird.”
“Any back pain yet?” he asked.
She jiggled her head. “A little. It’s not so bad.”
“Sadly, it will get worse. What about the baby?”
“It’s hyper. Never seems to sleep. We feel its mind sometimes.”
His brows lifted. “Really?” he asked, seeming impressed.
“It reaches out by itself,” said Knox. “It first happened three weeks ago.”
“Interesting,” Rodgers drawled. “Lie back. Let’s take a look at the baby.”
Like last time, Harper lay back as he moved a handheld probe around her gel-covered, lower abdomen. The baby didn’t seem to like it any more than she did, because it kept kicking at the probe.
Rodgers chuckled. “It doesn’t like me poking and prodding, does it?”
Knox watched the screen, fascinated as the baby wriggled around. It was bigger, and its features were more distinct. It now looked like an actual baby as opposed to a peanut with a head. “Well?” Knox asked the doctor. “Is everything okay?”