“But not in a relationship.” Why am I still arguing? “We um—I mean, we just?—”
“Boned.” Luke looks like he’s loving this. “Banged, screwed, built the beast with two backs.”
“Okay.” Masking a smirk, the ultrasound tech backs toward the door. “I’ll let you two figure it out. I’ll come back in a few minutes, okay?”
“Thank you.” My face is on fire as the door shuts behind her. Whipping my gaze back to Luke, I glare. “Could you please not watch?”
Luke turns his back, but not before rolling his eyes. “You’re aware that I’ve seen you naked before, right?”
“I’m aware.” I peel off my clothes, folding them neatly on the chair. As I’m pulling the gown on, one of the ties snags on my earring, sending it bouncing toward Luke.
“Got it.” He bends down and grabs it, spinning around to return it to me while I’m still tying the gown. “Shit, sorry.”
“It’s fine.” I don’t even bother covering my breasts. “You’re right. I’m about to lose every ounce of modesty I possess. Might as well get used to it, right?”
“Nah, Hazel—you’re allowed to hide or show your own body however you want.” Fixing his eyes respectfully on the wall to my right, he holds out the earring. Since he’s operating blind, he ends up dropping it again. “Whoops—hang on.”
“It’s fine.” I stand there bare-breasted, holding my palm flat while he picks up the earring. “You can look. I was just being difficult.”
“I want to respect your privacy…” He trails off, trying to put the earring in my hand but missing by several feet. “Just a sec.”
“Luke, goddammit—look at me!” I don’t mean to yell, but for crying out loud. “Otherwise we’ll be doing this all day.”
His gaze swings to mine as he places the earring in my hand. “Holy shit.” Molten blue eyes sweep my belly and breasts, returning reluctantly to my face. “Jesus Christ, you’re beautiful.”
“I—thank you.”
The tips of his ears turn red as he takes a step back. “I don’t know what I expected. You’ve always been stunning, and God knows you’re the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever seen naked, but Christ, Hazel—you’re going to be one of those insanely sexy pregnant women, aren’t you?”
A heated flush spreads from my face down my throat as I put in the earring again. My fingers feel trembly as I tie the gown at the front of my body. “Thanks,” I murmur, averting my gaze as I climb onto the table. “I needed that.”
Luke looks surprised. “You needed me to ogle you at your ultrasound when you explicitly told me not to look?”
“Maybe I did.” What a weird thing to say. “I just spent twenty minutes on the phone with my mother telling me I’m a wrinkly hag who hasn’t managed to land a husband, so being ogled feels like an upswing.”
He frowns. “Your mom thinks you should get married so you’re not a single mom?”
“No.” Crap. “I haven’t told my mother I’m pregnant. She lives in Croatia with her rich second husband, so I don’t see her that often. We’re not close.”
“That’s a bummer. If you want, I can put you in touch with my mother. She’ll mom the hell out of you. Smother you with big, gooey gobs of the world’s greatest motherly affection.”
“I’ll consider it, thank you.” I’ll do no such thing.
Before I can dwell on that, there’s a knock at the door. “Everyone ready?”
Glancing at Luke, I take a deep breath. The question feels heavy, like a crate of wet sand on my chest. I’m not sure I’m ready for any of this.
“Yes,” I say anyway, hoping it’s true.
“I’m telling you, that’s a middle finger.” Luke holds out his copy of the sonogram, pointing to the image as we walk through the parking lot. “Right there—she’s flipping us the bird.”
“She most certainly isn’t.” I tucked my own copy of the printout in my handbag, so I’m forced to lean close to point out the error of his ways. “That’s her arm, not her finger. Your perception of scale is all wrong.”
“Not that—that.” He points to the other twin’s foot. “You can’t tell me that isn’t a middle finger.”
“I can and I just did.” I pull out my key fob and unlock my car door, though we’re still at least two hundred feet from it. “That’s her sister’s foot.”
“Huh.” Luke studies the image some more, then shoves it back into its envelope. “Twin girls. Hard to believe, huh?”
