“Weren’t we supposed to have dinner?” she giggled in a breathy voice.
“Best part about being a grown-up, baby.” I captured her mouth in a long, deep kiss before continuing. “We can have dessert first.”
9
Aurora
I leaned back in my chair, more than a little worried when my sisters marched into my office with determined expressions on their faces. Whenever two of us teamed up against the other, it usually meant nothing good for the odd woman out. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing much,” Ariel assured me as she dropped down onto one of the chairs in front of my desk.
“Why are you looking at us so suspiciously?” Belle asked, claiming the other seat and turning to look at Ariel with wide, innocent eyes. “I feel like she doesn’t trust us or something.”
“Yeah, and I can’t imagine why,” Ariel agreed with a nod and similar expression.
I opened my calendar on my computer and turned the screen toward them. Then I pointed at the current time for today before scrolling down to a spot later in the afternoon. “Probably because there’s no reason for you both to be here right now when we have our regular weekly roundup meeting scheduled for four o’clock.”
“It’s just that we’re curious about something a not-so-little birdie told us this morning and couldn’t wait any longer to talk to you about it,” Belle explained.
“More like an ostrich,” Ariel snorted.
Belle’s brows shot up. “An ostrich?”
“What?” Ariel shrugged. “It makes sense to me since ostriches are the biggest birds at like nine feet tall and three hundred plus pounds.”
Belle snorted. “I wouldn’t let him hear you call him that. It’s not exactly manly.”
If I didn’t put a stop to their verbal ping pong, they’d go back and forth like this for the next hour without ever getting to the point. “Is it safe to assume the ostrich in this scenario is Knox?” I sighed, my fingers tapping an impatient rhythm on the desktop.
Belle nodded, and Ariel said, “Of course it is. How many other big lugs do you know who’d be telling us stuff we’d want to talk to you about?”
“It could’ve been one of your husbands,” I gritted out.
“Hey!” Belle cried. “Griffith isn’t even that big,”
“And this wouldn’t have been half as interesting if it’d been Maddox who’d threatened Will with bodily harm since they already know each other,” Ariel added.
My hand ceased the tapping as I froze for a second. “Whoa! Wait! Back up.” I glared at my sisters until I had their full attention. “Are you trying to tell me that Knox threatened Will?”
Belle rolled her eyes and sighed, “Um, yeah.”
“When? Where? Is Will okay?” I picked up my cell phone to make sure I hadn’t missed any calls or texts from him and frowned when I didn’t find anything there.
“He’s fine,” Ariel reassured me. “Knox surprised him in his office like two days ago.”
“Two days ago?” I echoed softly, more than a little stunned that Will hadn’t mentioned his confrontation with my brother since we spent all our time together when we weren’t working.
“Yeah, but don’t worry. Will handled Knox like a pro,” Belle reassured me. “From what our big brother told me, it sounded like Will didn’t even blink when Knox threatened to tear him limb from limb.”
“Who knew that the eyeglass-wearing lawyer wouldn’t back down from the big lug?” Ariel mused with an impressed smile.
My cheeks warmed as I thought about Will’s take-charge attitude in bed. At first, it had surprised—and thrilled—me. Considering his alpha ways, I wasn’t too shocked that he held his own with my overbearing brother. “When it comes to Will, you definitely can’t judge the book by its cover.”
“It sounds like you mean more than just the tattoos,” Ariel replied slyly.
Belle clapped her hands together. “Yes, do tell! And don’t skimp on any of the dirty details.”
“Yeah…” I leaned forward and paused just long enough to let them think I was seriously considering telling them about my sex life. “Nope.”
“Awww, c’mon,” Ariel complained, crossing her arms over her chest and scowling belligerently. “You’re our big sister. Isn’t it your responsibility to talk to us about the birds and the bees?”
“Nice try,” I snorted. “Not only was I there when Mom gave you the sex talk, but I’m also one thousand percent sure that the last thing either of you need is a refresher talk. You have men of your own who’ve more than aptly demonstrated waaaay more about sex than I would’ve covered talking to you about it. Or at least it seems that way, judging by how they can’t keep their hands off you even when I’m around and making gagging noises about it.”
“She’s not wrong,” Belle agreed with a pointed look at Ariel’s belly. “Since you’re already knocked up and all.”
“Like you have room to talk,” Ariel huffed. “Griffith didn’t exactly wait to get you pregnant, either.”