“It’s not Velma.” Brek joined the fray, preparing a tray for Sadie and one for Marlee.
He stayed behind the table so his ripped jeans weren’t on display. Eli’s dad was right beside him, helping get the next dessert round to the waitstaff.
“You sure?” Dean asked, his eyebrows drawn together.
Brek gave a curt nod. “One hundred percent.”
“Then who the hellispregnant?” Jase asked, looking around as though the culprit would bounce by any second.
Eli didn’t have spider-like senses. He had caterer senses, and when it came to women, those were total shit. Still, the little hairs on his arms started to raise.
No one said anything, but three pairs of eyes settled on him.
Absolutely not. It couldn’t be Marlee.
“You don’t think…” Jase scanned the room for Marlee.
All four of them tracked her as she served dessert to the table next to her parents.
“Sonofabitch, it’s her.” Brek looked as shocked as Eli felt. “It’s gotta be Marlee.”
“Is it even possible?” Jase asked.
Sadie paused next to Marlee, said something in her ear. Marlee grinned.
Marlee’d been pale that day. Marlee’d had an upset stomach more than once recently.
Marlee was pregnant.
His wife was pregnant, and while they might’ve been smashed beyond all reason the night they got married, they’d used protection. Every time after was way too recent to count, and even those had been protected. They could practically pose for the yes-we-make-bad-decisions-but-we-always-have-safe-sex poster.
But Marlee had been engaged to someone else a month ago. Marlee had lived with that someone else. Eli hadn’t grilled her on their sex life—why would he? But she’d been engaged… Of course, it was possible.
The idea that she was pregnant with Scotty’s kid made Eli want to throw the pears across the room.
The woman of the moment breezed through at that precise moment. They all stared at her.
“What?” she asked, glancing down at her white shirt. “Did I get something on me?”
“Maybe you should get off your feet?” Jase asked. “I can take your tables.”
Marlee gave him a total what-are-you-talking-about look.
“Mar?” Eli used his calm voice even though his blood pressure was up to the ceiling. “Can we talk?”
Her expression was odd, which made sense given that they were in the middle of his big job and he wanted to pull her aside for a chat.
“What’s going…” Her expression changed. She glanced to Jase, Brek, and Dean. Then she got it. They hadn’t been together long, but he knew. And she knew. She swallowed. “You know about the baby.”
“Fuck.” That was Brek.
And that was precisely the word Eli wanted to use in that moment. The clattering of the plates, the voices from the dining room, all the noise zipped to the pinprick of a stop. There was no feeling anywhere in his body. The thing was a shell.
“You’re pregnant?” He heard himself ask. He must’ve asked, because it was his voice. His lips were moving. He just didn’t seem to be in control of them. Somewhere deep inside, he needed confirmation.
Marlee’s gaze darted between the boys again.
Sadie moved behind Marlee, ready to refill her own tray. “Eli, don’t do this here.”
