“Yeah, he told me. Of course he told me, but you should’ve been the one to tell me.”
“I should’ve been the one to tell you that someone drilled into the gas tank?”
“Yeah.”
“Why? What would you have done about it? You couldn’t change what happened.”
“No,” he agreed. He moved from the arch of my foot to the ball of it. “First the window, then this. I don’t like this shit.”
If only he knew the rest of it.
“What do you suggest?” I asked, having an idea of what he was going to say before he said it.
“You could sell the building.”
“The building that’s been in my family for three generations? That building is all I have left of my father.”
“Is your inheritance worth more than your safety?”
“Jesus, Slash,” I growled, trying to tug my foot out of his hands.
“Jesus, Slash, what?” He yanked my ankle back toward his lap.
“I can’t fail,” I said quietly. “I can’t be the one who sells the building because I failed to make it work.”
“The bakery isn’t the problem,” he said. “You know it’s not.”
“I’m not selling the building.”
He tapped my foot. “Other one.”
I stretched out my other leg and placed my foot in his lap.
“Say something,” I said.
“What do you want me to say? You want to keep the building? It’s your building. I still want Duke there anytime you are.”
“Doesn’t he have better things to do than to be my shadow?”
“Better things than protect the woman carrying my baby? Look, we’re kind of at a standstill here.”
“More like a standoff,” I quipped. “Duke tagging along is not a long-term solution.”
“No, but sometimes all you need is a temporary solution.”
* * *
“They’re fuller,” Slash said as his hand cupped my breast.
“You can tell?” I murmured drowsily.
“I can tell,” he said gruffly.
His hand slid lower to settle on my stomach.
The foot rub had morphed into a naked massage, ending with Slash entering me from behind and wringing two orgasms from my body before collapsing on top of me.
Now we were spooning in the dark and I was drifting to sleep.