Page 18 of Possessive Bodyguard Summer

“That smells amazing.” Not nearly as amazing as it felt coming home from work to a hot meal.

“Thanks. I hope you like it. It’s lemon zested chicken and veggies.” Monroe set the pan on top of a hot plate. “It needs to sit for a few minutes and then we can dig in. I can take care of everything else here if you want to go take a shower or change. Whatever it is you do when you get home from work. Don’t let me stop you. I’ll get Kaleigh cleaned up and we’ll set the table.”

“You don’t have to wait for me.”

Monroe shrugged. “Families eat dinner together.”

The minute the words slipped out, I watched Monroe freeze. She opened her mouth to say something else but Kaleigh cut her off by excitedly agreeing. “Yeah! Families eat dinner together, Daddy!”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean?—"

“Give me five minutes.” I said before hurrying upstairs.

Standing under the spray of the shower, Monroe’s words echoed in my mind.

“Familes eat dinner together.”

It was such a simple sentence, an even simpler word.

Family.

But it settled deep in my chest and some stupid part of me wished she’d meant it.

CHAPTER

EIGHT

MONROE

Three weeks later…

I jumped out of bed and made a beeline for the bathroom, thankful that no one else in the house was occupying it yet. I had barely kneeled on the cool tile floor before my stomach revolted.

"This is getting old," I muttered before rinsing my mouth in the sink.

I stared at my reflection, desperately looking forward to the day that the morning sickness went away.

Dark circles lingered beneath my eyes, and despite the nausea that greeted me every morning, there was the faintest curve beginning to appear beneath my oversized T-shirt. Not enough for anyone else to notice but enough that I did.

I rested my palm against my stomach. "Good morning to you too, little bean."

A soft knock sounded against the bathroom door. "Monwoah?"

I took a deep breath and let it out before opening the door just enough to peek out.

Her wild blonde curls looked like she'd lost a fight with her pillow, and she clutched Mr. Pickles—the stuffed octopus she'd insisted couldn't possibly sleep without her.

“Are you okay?”

I forced a smile. “I’m okay.”

“But you frewed up.Again.”

So much for thinking Kaleigh hadn’t noticed all the times I’d gotten sick over the last few weeks.

“I’m just not feeling so great this morning. I promise I’ll be okay.”

Clay stopped at the top of the steps, wearing gray athletic shorts and a fitted gray Sunbreak Security T-shirt, still damp around the edges from what I assumed had been an early morning workout.