Page 106 of Nothing to Tell

“Us?”Pinup asked, raising a brow.

“Yes, Knox,” Roxie said, stroking Jane’s hair again.“Us.You haven’t been waiting years and years and years for this day.Jane and I have been waiting years and years and years.”Roxie cupped the new beauty’s face.“Oh, honey, you should’ve called me.We would’ve been there with you.”

“We did just fine without an audience,” Pinup said.

Uh, Knox, right, not Pinup.

Jane whispered, “We’re not telling people.”

“I love that it happened on the island,” Roxie squeed.“It happened on the island, right?”

Jane nodded.“We thought about staying until… we got past the twelve weeks, you know, but…”

“Collier children get the best from conception to the grave.”

“So Knox wanted you to see a doctor.Okay, maybe he gets points for that.”

Knox.Wait… Knox Collier?Holy hell!

“You went on vacation with pregnancy tests?”Harper asked.

Roxie tipped back.“Jane barely goes from one room to the other without pregnancy tests.We’ve been waiting a long time for this!”Another squeal and Roxie sat by Jane to hug her again.“We need soft seats for baby names.And we need a birthing plan.”Roxie pulled Jane onto her feet.“Harper, come around here…” The brunette blew a kiss to her husband.“We need virgin cocktails for the new momma, Casanova.Oh, this is so exciting!”

As the others filtered out, she stood with Bastian.“Should we go?”

“Do you want to go?”

“They’re your friends.I wouldn’t want to…”

“Sweet, when Roxie Kyst wants rid of you, you know.”He linked their fingers.“And they’re your friends too.”

New friends on a new adventure.This was her most interesting birthday weekend yet.

THIRTY-SIX

Bastian

BASTIAN TOSSED HIS pager to his desk and took his phone from the top drawer.At the end of the week, he was more than ready to submerge himself in Sweet Harper again.

She’d forced them out of their suite Tuesday morning.Much against his will.Those four nights with her meant more to him than any of his own birthdays.Given his own way, they’d still be there.Maybe he’d sneak her back tonight and see how long she’d let him keep her this time.

That day, he’d tried to get her on the phone but she’d been unavailable.Unavailable?No one was unavailable for him.Except Harper.Typical that the person he wanted to speak to most didn’t reciprocate his need.Business was important, but not more important than her.Though he had a squad of people to take care of his, Harper was on her own.In that way, her responsibility was greater than his.

Friday night meant they’d made it through another week.As soon as he finished up, he’d go to her place.All week she’d resisted getting together.He was no stranger to a hectic schedule, sustaining that took a lot of effort and dedication.Good thing he was the right guy to ease her burden.

“You have a visitor,” Tina’s voice came through the intercom.

“I’m on my way out.You should get going too.”

His office door opened and his mother came in.No saying no to Carolyn Hunt.

“What happened?”Carolyn demanded.

That didn’t narrow the field of possibilities.“Give me a clue, Mom.”

“I thought you were going to marry that girl.”

“That girl?”he asked, retrieving his wallet from the drawer to slide it into his pocket.