“Enjoy your meal,” I say teasingly, like he’s just another customer.
“Oh, I will.” His deep voice sends a shiver through me as he reaches for my hand and pulls me close, muttering, “Just wait ‘til I get you home, sugar. Then you’ll see me really enjoy my meal.”
“You’re being inappropriate. I might have to call the manager.”
Brewer growls deep in his throat. “Keep running that smart mouth and I’ll carry you out of here right now.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, sir.”
But I can’t keep a straight face. I grin at him, dropping the act and leaning in to kiss him on the mouth. It’s meant to be a quick peck, but his hand snakes up my back, tangling through my hair and pulling me closer. For a moment, I lose myself in him. The taste of his musk mixed with coffee, the firmness of his lips. But I force myself to pull back, drawing a frustrated grunt from Brewer.
“I have to get back to work.”
“Alright, sugar,” he says reluctantly, bringing my hand to his mouth and kissing it. His gaze drifts down my body with afamiliar hunger as I step back from him. “Fuck. Have I told you how pretty you look today?”
“Several times.” I grin at him, pressing a quick kiss on his cheek. “Thank you.”
Brewer is constantly telling me how beautiful I am, and it makes me feel warm every time. I struggled to believe him at first. Heck, I still struggle sometimes, but he never stops saying it, growling compliments in that gruff, matter-of-fact voice. I’m still a big girl. Big thighs, big belly, big everything. But with Brewer’s help, my self-confidence is getting bigger too.
With one last kiss, I leave the booth behind. When I glance over my shoulder at Brewer, he’s staring at my ass, and I giggle to myself, my skin hot all over as I get back to work.
Brewer leavesafter the breakfast rush, which quickly gives way to the lunch rush. The diner empties fast after that. Reggie lets us go an hour early, and I text Brewer, who replies immediately to say that he’s on his way. I wait for him outside the diner, sitting on a bench by the creek. The sky is blue and cloudless over Cherry Hollow, the promise of spring in the air. Flowers bloom in window boxes, daffodils swaying in the breeze along the creek bank. It’s the kind of afternoon that makes you feel like everything is exactly as it should be.
Then my stomach turns.
It comes out of nowhere, a slow roll of nausea rising from my gut. The smell of the creek—that familiar green-water scent I usually love—suddenly makes me want to throw up, and I grip the edge of the bench, breathing through my mouth and closing my eyes until the feeling subsides a little. Then I unscrew my water bottle and gulp down several mouthfuls.
I’m probably just dehydrated.
Or maybe there was something wrong with the grilled cheese I had for lunch?
But as I lean back against the bench, another possibility hits me like a freight train. I sit up, ramrod straight, scrambling to open the calendar app on my phone.
Six weeks since my last period?
No, that can’t be right.
I try to do the math in my head, counting the days. Realization slowly dawns on me. My period was due two weeks ago. It never came.
Oh God.
My chest lurches. Brewer will be here any second, and I jump up from the bench, fighting back another wave of queasiness. The drugstore is just down the street, and I hurry inside, grabbing two different pregnancy tests off the shelf. Then I pause and grab a third, just in case. I pay, then bury them in my bag, rushing back outside and reaching the diner just as Brewer’s truck crosses the bridge over Sugar Creek.
I try to arrange my expression into something neutral as he jumps down from the driver’s seat, heading for me. He’s disheveled from a day of work in the woods, his jeans muddy, a stray leaf clinging to his hair.
“Hey, beautiful,” he says, drawing me into his arms. “Hope you weren’t waiting too long.”
I melt against him, my heart beating like a caged bird, wings thudding against my rib cage.
“Nope, I wasn’t waiting long at all.”
I sound much calmer than I feel as Brewer’s fingers link through mine, pulling me to his truck. He scoops me up and sets me on the passenger seat, eyes twinkling at me.
“I missed you today, sugar.”
I manage a weak smile. “I missed you too.”
He captures my lips in a soft kiss, brushing his fingers through my hair.
