“What do you want?”
“I have a request.”
“Okay. Shoot.” Hopefully it was a publicist-type request. That was all she was going to handle before heading out.
“You know how I’m keeping your little secret?” he asked. “I need a favor in return.” He slowed.
She didn’t like that. “What kind of favor?”
“I want to check your cervix.” He stopped because she stopped, because straight up? What. The. Fuck.
“Hear him out.” Irina hurried to their huddle. “He’s actually got a plan.”
Again with the what the—
“I don’t care what his plans are, as long as they don’t involve my cervix.” A sentence she never thought she’d need to utter. Ever. To anyone other than maybe her gynecologist. “No one is touching my anything.” Only a physician, and that was solely when necessary.
“Mach and Tanner, Knox and I, we stayed up late last night on the bus researching how to deliver a baby.” Irina slid her gaze around. “Just in case, you know?” Her gaze landed on Courtney’s stomach.
Uh-huh. She knew.
There was so much to digest here.
First…
“You told Mach and Tanner?” Courtney mouthed, “Everything?”
“Oh, no.” Irina shook her head. “I just did a training seminar. YouTube for the win. Totally standard procedure for a traveling birth guide. We prepare those around us for any birthing emergencies.” She pulled up the notes app on her phone. “Check it out. I made a list of everything we do. How sick is that?”
Courtney blinked. Blinked again. Again.
Maybe she should’ve just hired an actual professional.
Back to digesting this… The second point…
Tiny Badass kicked her in the ribs, and she couldn’t really remember the second point suddenly.
Third…
“You want to check my cervix?” Courtney asked, staring hard at Knox to get an idea of what the hell was wrong with him. “Why?”
Knox nodded, looking way too excited for his own good. “So I have a baseline.”
“Why would you need a baseline?” And why was she still asking these questions?
“So I’ll know when you dilate.” He looped his thumbs through the loops of his jeans.
Where the hell was Bax? And why was he right that she needed a professional on the tour? She hated he was right.
When Bax was right, it tasted metallic. Yuck.
“Please,” Knox added, like that would actually get him somewhere with his request.
“No.” Courtney strode away. Then turned back. “Ask Irina if you can check hers instead.”
“It’s not the same,” Knox called. But Courtney decided not to listen to him anymore.
About anything.
