I bite my lip as I stare up at him. His eyes are full of warmth and doubts creep in as to why I’ve been pushing him away. Am I stupid? This gorgeous man is gazing at me as if he cares for me. Not like he’s been carousing around with who knows what type of hussies back in Chicago.
“Guys. You can get all lovey-dovey later. For now, we need to get you two out of here,” Lyric announces as he marches toward us. “I’ll escort Cole back to the inn. You join the party with your sisters.”
Aspen shackles my wrist. “Thanks, babe.”
Lyric kisses her forehead before leaving with Cole.
“Back to the party,” I say and yank on my wrist.
Aspen snorts. “You’re daft if you think we’re returning to the party when we just found out you’re pregnant.”
“And by a hot guy!” Juniper fans her face. “Where have you been hiding him?”
Lilac raises her hand. “I know who he is.”
And I need to get the hell out of here before she spills all my secrets. I yank harder on the wrist Aspen has shackled but she tightens her hold.
“Well,” Aspen presses, “who he is?”
“He’s an architect. His firm bid on the community center project,” I explain.
“What’s the deal?” Juniper asks. “Have you been having an affair with him for months?” Her nose scrunches. “No. You can’t have been. He’d know you were pregnant. Unless it’s a long-distance relationship.”
Aspen snorts. “A long-distance relationship? Ellery? No way.”
“Careful,” I hiss at her. She promised to keep the reason for my aversion to long-distance relationships secret.
She frowns. “You shouldn’t keep secrets from your sisters.”
I spit daggers out of my eyes at her. She’s one to talk. She kept the reason she wouldn’t forgive Lyric a secret for a decade. “Pot meet kettle.”
“It’s not the same thing,” she huffs.
Juniper forces her way in between us. “Can you speak slowly for the rest of the class, please?”
“I must say even I’m lost,” Lilac says.
My phone rings. Praise the heavens!
“Go ahead.” Aspen releases my wrist. “Run away. But this conversation is not over.” She stomps off.
“Not over,” Juniper repeats as she follows Aspen.
“We’ll discuss this later,” Lilac says, because she wouldn’t know how to make a threat even if it is to her sibling.
As I watch them stalk away, I start planning how I can avoid them for the next eighteen to twenty-two weeks. No, not weeks. Make that years. Maybe I can find an exchange program for innkeepers.