“I’m going to take this,” he said, putting my laptop bag over his shoulder.
“Beckett, I’m not that sick. I can carry my own laptop.” Actually, I probably couldn’t, but still.
“But you don’t have to, since I’m here.”
“All right, then.” I grinned at him.
He kept an arm around my shoulders as he led me out of his office.
“You do know that you’ve practically told Sonia and Nina we’re together.”
“It was about time everyone knew anyway,” he replied matter-of-factly.
“Way to announce it,” I teased. Josh didn’t know yet, but I had to tackle that soon.
My nausea intensified, and I took deep, slow breaths, trying to calm myself down.
“I think I need a pharmacy. Maybe they can help me,” I said once we stepped onto Royal Street.
Beckett nodded. “The nearest one is Walgreens, at Decatur and Wilkinson.”
“That’s not too far.” We had to go down Saint Peter past Chartres Street, and the next one would be Decatur.
Beckett held my hand tightly as we walked through the Quarter. It was busy on this bright afternoon. Everyone seemed to want to spend some time in the Quarter whenever the weather was nice… including my boss. We ran into Josh as we were about to reach Walgreens.
“Hey, Piper, Beckett!” His smile fell when he saw our interlaced hands.
Crap! This wasn’t how I wanted him to find out.
“Josh, hello,” Beckett said. He didn’t let go of my hand; he simply shook Josh’s with the other one. “Piper here was just in my office.”
“I showed everyone the video draft,” I added.
“What did you think of it?” Josh frowned slightly, looking at our hands, but then focused on Beckett.
“It’s brilliant. Piper is a genius. She’s feeling a bit unwell now, so we were heading to Walgreens.”
“I did think you look a bit under the weather,” Josh said, taking me in.
Did I look like the dead or what? “We can talk about it more tomorrow, Piper, if you’re up to coming to the office.”
“I’ll be there,” I promised. I hadn’t taken a sick day since I came down with the flu a few years ago. I just walked everything off, so to speak.
We quickly said goodbye, and I went inside Walgreens and picked up a cold medicine from the rack, then put it back. I didn’t feel like I was getting a cold. Instead, I went to one of the pharmacists and asked for her advice. She guessed I might have eaten something bad and advised me to take nothing. Oh, this was a truly wasted trip.
After that, we headed straight to the penthouse. Agatha was feeding Charlotte when we arrived. I swear to God, just looking at the tiny little bundle of joy made me feel better.
“Hey, you two,” Agatha said.
“Sorry, we’re running a bit late,” Beckett replied.
“Don’t you worry. I don’t mind doing overtime with Charlotte.”
Once she put the empty bottle down, Agatha burped her. I would’ve gladly done it, but I didn’t want to risk Charlotte catching whatever I had.
God, she was so adorable. I wanted to cover her with kisses, although Beckett and I had discovered she didn’t really like being kissed. She liked cheek-on-cheek or nose-on-nose or nose-on-cheek, but kissing wasn’t her thing.
Beckett took her in his arms as I led Agatha to the door. When I returned, Charlotte let out a huge burp. I sighed, and Beckett looked at me with a strange expression.
