Page 55 of Knot Her Beta

Holden clears his throat, and she freezes, giving him a pout.

“Not very sneaky, princess,” Jared hisses, and the others chuckle.

She turns to Holden and widens her eyes at him. “But I need it before school.”

He arches an eyebrow. “No, you don’t.”

Her little face scrunches up with determination. “Then you don’t need coffee.”

“Point to Quinn.” Dominic lifts his own mug and takes a long sip. “Can’t get any work done without my morning cup.”

Quinn lifts her chin. “See?”

“Fine,” Holden relents, but before she gets too excited, he adds, “You can skip your bedtime cocoa, since you don’t need that to sleep.”

She whines and wiggles in her seat before the lure of immediate gratification wins, and she pulls the mug over, the whipped cream wobbling as it bumps between the wooden boards.

Blake, who sits at the far end of the table with a coffee mug cradled between his big hands, turns to us. “Sleep okay?”

Jared grunts as he reaches for the platter of bacon and sausage and loads my plate before adding a heaping pile to his own.

Chloe gives the meat a longing sigh, her pink hair pulled into a messy knot on top of her head. Her belly presses against the table, the fabric of her sweater stretched tight.

Jared extends the plate toward her. “Did you want some?”

She recoils with a small gagging sound. “I do, but baby doesn’t. My life is so sad right now.”

Nathaniel rubs her back. “Only a few more weeks, and then you can be back to eating all the smoked meats.”

She glares at him. “You did this to me.”

“Now, we don’t know that for sure.” He backs away from the danger. “There are three other people who you could blame.”

“Hey, don’t throw us all under the bus,” Blake protests.

“Take one for the team,” Dominic agrees.

“Have some more French toast, sugar.” Holden loads a slice onto his pregnant bondmate’s plate. “Would it make you happy if we all give up smoked meat until the baby comes?”

“Hey!” the others protest in unison.

“So…” Blake turns the conversation toward Jared and me. “Have you given our conversation any thought?”

The coffee mug stops halfway to my mouth.

Chloe drops her head into her hands and groans, the sound long and suffering. “Blake, seriously? You couldn’t even wait a full day?” She lifts her head, glare fixed on her bondmate. “We were supposed to do this together. Leif’s not even here yet, and Grady’s still out of town. This was supposed to be a conversation, not you bulldozing them into a decision.”

Blake shrugs, unrepentant. “They were right there. The opportunity arose.”

“The opportunity arose,” Chloe repeats flatly. “You’re about as subtle as a chainsaw, you know that?”

“I’m aware.”

Quinn’s head swivels between the adults, her toast forgotten in her hand. “What’s bulldozing?”

“Something your uncle does instead of practicing subtlety,” Chloe mutters.

Quinn purses her lips. “What’s subtlety?”