“You think so?”
“I know so, and I’ll be here to help you.”
Her mouth turned down into an adorable little frown.
“I’m supposed to do this myself.” The words left her on a soft whisper.
“But you don’t have to.” He reached for her hand, relieved when she allowed him to grasp it and pull it to his chest. A spark of awareness shot through him at the touch. He saw her pupils dilate, fingers tightening in his as if she felt this strange energy, too. Was it simply leftover sexual tension from their night together or something more? Whatever it was, he couldn’t deal with it at the moment. One crisis at a time.
“You’re my best friend, Pru. We’ve been through a lot together, and I will always be here for you, no matter what you need. Even if these babies weren’t mine, I’d still want to help in any way I could.”
A furrow appeared on her brow, but he kept going.
“I know you want to do this alone, and I’m not stopping you. This is your journey. Your dream. But my mom always said she never could have handled raising us kids if it wasn’t for all the support she got from her family and friends. I’m your friend, Pru.”
Hell, they were practically family, for as long as they’d known each other.
“I won’t take custody from you. I’d never do that. But those kids are a part of me, and I want to be in their life. I want to help as much as you’ll let me.”
He reached out with his free hand slowly, hovering over her abdomen. He watched her swallow, her eyes misting. He didn’t move closer, waiting for her to take the lead. Finally, she reached out and grasped his hand, pulling it toward her and settling it low on her stomach.
“I…I think I really need your support and maybe a little bit of help, too.”
He knew how hard it was for her to say those words.
“We’re a team, Pru. This is your show, but I’m your backup. Like always. I’m here. We’ve already proved sex can’t ruin friendship. Wanna prove two best friends can co-parent the crap outta kids?”
She laughed, a small tear sliding down her cheek. He released the hold he had on her hand and brushed it away with his thumb.
“You and me.”
“This idea is either crazy or brilliant.”
He grinned. “Let’s go with brilliant, since I thought of it.”
She rolled her eyes. “Crazy it is, then.”
He laughed, grateful when she joined in.
Their food arrived, and he happily watched as Pru dug in to her chili cheese fries with gusto.
“Oh my God, this is amazing!”
She moaned, the sound reminding him of the sexy noises she made the night they were together. The night that led them here. He had to shift in his seat to hide the erection tenting his jeans. He promised to help her, not jump her.
He might still be aching to go there, but he wasn’t going to put any pressure on Pru. She had enough to deal with right now. She didn’t need the knowledge that one night with her wasn’t enough to satisfy him.
Hell, he wasn’t sure a hundred nights would do.
And what in the holy hell was he supposed to do with that information? Especially now? Maybe it was just Pru’s pregnancy hormones rubbing off on him. That could happen, right? Sympathy pregnancy. He’d read about it in one of the books he’d gotten from the library, men taking on the physical symptoms of their partners.
Physical, jackass. Not emotional.
Okay, so he might, maybe, possibly, have a tiny thing for Pru.
Didn’t matter. What mattered was what she wanted, and right now she wanted to eat chili cheese fries. So that’s what Finn delivered. Beyond that, it was her call. Call him a chicken—and his jerk brothers often did—but he had never been one to rock the boat. His life was fine the way it was.
So what if he had secretly repressed feelings for his best friend who was carrying his twin babies but didn’t want a relationship with him? As long as she was happy, he was happy.
Right?
Chapter Twelve
“Twins?”
“Yes,” Pru sighed, answering Lilly for the third time that afternoon. After she’d eaten her weight in chili cheese fries, Finn had dropped her off at her place. There’d been a weird moment in the car where she would have sworn he was going to kiss her. Again. What made it even stranger was how much she wished he had.
It’s just the baby hormones.
“Twins?”
“She’s established it’s twins.” Mo laughed as she filled their office electric kettle with water. In deference to Pru’s condition, they’d all switched from afternoon coffee to tea. “I think you broke Lilly with your news, Pru.”
“I’m not broken.” The dark-haired woman glared from behind her glasses. “I’m simply surprised.”
“Not as surprised as me.” Pru swore her brain shut down for a solid ten minutes after the doctor told her the news.
“How’d Finn take it?”
“He recovered from the shock quicker than I did.”
Which freaked her out even more. She was supposed to be the one in control. The cool, calm, collected one. She’d planned for this. Not the whole getting knocked up with twins by her best friend thing, but the motherhood journey. To be honest, it kind of got under her skin that Finn seemed to be the one keeping his head while she constantly felt the rug being pulled out from under her. This wasn’t the way things were supposed to go.
“I can see that.” Mo grabbed the kettle when it clicked then poured the steaming hot water into three mugs. “He deals with high stress situations all the time. Finn’s pretty good at keeping his cool.”
Sure, but all the stress he dealt with mainly affected other people. He might be in the thick of it with a fire or emergency call, but then he got to go home to his life, where everything was the same.
She supposed this wasn’t all too different. They’d agreed that even if Finn had fathered the baby—babies—this was her show. She wanted to be a mom, and while she agreed to let him help a little, it wasn’t like they were moving in together or anything. So in a way, the whole twin thing wouldn’t affect his daily life the way it would hers.
The thought made her feel slightly better. Finn wasn’t freaking out because this was still her show, her plan. He wasn’t trying to insert himself and take over. He wanted to help her, but he wasn’t pushing her out of the way and assuming charge. It wouldn’t change his life, so he had no reason to panic like she did.
The office phone rang, and Lilly answered.
“Mile High Happiness, this is Lilly speaking. How can we make your dreams come true?”
Dreams come true. Her dreams were coming true. Maybe not in the way she planned and maybe with an extra bonus dream, but they were happening. Funny how most people’s dreams revolved around giving and accepting love, whether from a spouse, a child, a pet, or even just good friends. Pru might not believe in the happily-ever-afters they sold with their business—at least, not for her—but she did believe everyone deserved love in some form, however they wanted to accept it. And she wanted it from two soft, snuggly, sweet babies.
Her hand moved to her stomach, rubbing in circles. She couldn’t believe there were two precious miracles in there.
“Peppermint tea,” Mo whispered as she slid a mug of steaming, pungent liquid in front of Pru.
“Thanks.”
They sipped their tea quietly, listening to Lilly talking with what sounded like a new client on the phone.
“Oh yes, the Rockies have spectacular views in August. Perfect time of year for an outdoor wedding.”
“If you want to sweat your makeup off.”
Mo chuckled at Pru’s muttered statement. Lilly, however, did not find it as amusing.
“I would suggest a venue up in the mountains, as it would provide picturesque views, amazing photo opportunities, ample accommodations for out-of-town guests, and the weather will be slightly cooler at higher elevations.”
This was why Lilly handled the cli
ents and Pru handled the money. She was too logical to spin things. If a bride came up to her and said she wanted an outdoor wedding in Colorado during August—one of the hottest months of the year—she would tell the woman straight up how dumb an idea that was. Lilly had this magic touch. She could point out a problem without making it seem insurmountable.
Maybe Pru could learn a thing or two from her roommate. Perhaps Lilly could teach her how to remain cool in a crisis and not freak out every time her plan went awry. Because lately, that’s all it seemed to be doing.
…
Two weeks after their appointment, Finn found himself pulling up in front of Pru’s apartment building. They both had the day off and had decided to go to a few baby stores to start checking things out.
She might not want any help, but he’d be damned if he washed his hands of the whole matter and left her all on her own. He wasn’t trying to horn in on her motherhood. He just wanted to help his friend. He’d be doing this even if those weren’t his kids growing in her belly.
My kids.
It still freaked him out that he was going to be a father. He’d never imagined himself as a dad. Would they call him Dad? He had no idea. He didn’t want to take anything away from Pru, but he did want…something. What, he wasn’t exactly sure yet.
But something.
He couldn’t deny the small ache in his chest whenever he thought about those two little babies. Would they have his eyes? His crooked smile? Would they come out as bald as the baby pictures he’d seen of Pru or with a solid head of blond fuzz like he’d had?
And would they love him?
Growing up, his dad had been his biggest hero. Still was. But his parents were in a loving, committed relationship and had been for decades. He loved Pru the way you do with good friends, but they weren’t in love. They weren’t going to be a happy family all living together having Sunday barbeques and Wednesday game nights. They also weren’t going to be sharing custody, at odds and using the kids as leverage the way some broken relationships did.
Because they weren’t a broken relationship. Or a happy marriage. They were something different, something better—best friends. They could handle this, and that’s why he wanted to be a part of everything. He just had to remember that whenever those odd pangs rose in his chest.
Pulling his cell from his pocket, he shot Pru a text.
F: Downstairs. Want me to come up?
P: No, I’ll be right down.
True to her text, Pru came walking out the front door of the complex less than a minute later. She had on her college sweatshirt over a pair of black leggings and brown ankle boots, the pair his mother had given her for her birthday last year.
“Isn’t it a little warm for a sweatshirt?” he asked as she hopped into the car.
Fall had arrived with the changing of months, but November still held temperatures in the high fifties to low sixties most days in Colorado. Not sweater weather by any means. Hell, he was still wandering around in shorts and T-shirt most days. He’d worn jeans today because he’d once again forgotten to do laundry and he was down to his last few clean items of clothing.
“The building is freezing,” she complained, pulling the sweatshirt over and off her head. “The AC is cranked full blast because maintenance is doing a blow-out thing with the vents or something. I don’t know. All I know is it’s an iceberg in there.”
He tried to respond, but his throat suddenly swelled to the point of closure. The moment Pru took her sweatshirt off, his eyes were drawn to her chest like a moth to a flame. Hard not to stare considering his best friend was spilling out of her low-cut V-neck T-shirt. The polite thing to do would be to look away, but he couldn’t.
He remembered those breasts. He’d held them, tasted them, reveled in their absolute magnificence. And there they were again, tempting him, causing a scorching fire low in his belly, making him burn and ache for just one more touch, one more taste.
“Finn, hello. Earth to Finn. Please pay attention to the woman attached to the boobs.”
Heat rose on his face all the way to the tips of his ears. He shook his head, clearing his throat and somehow dragging his gaze from her chest to her face. Thankfully, Pru looked amused rather than pissed.
“Um, sorry.” He shrugged, then decided he’d already been caught so he might as well ask. “Damn, Pru. Have they always been that big?”
She glanced down at her chest with a frown. “No. It’s like they have a mind of their own. I’m growing out of all my bras, and these damn things keep popping out of my shirts like a wildly inappropriate game of peek-a-boob.”
He couldn’t stop a laugh from escaping his lips.
“It’s not funny, Finn. Do you know how expensive bras are?”
No, they’d never been on his shopping list. He’d never even bought lingerie for a woman before, which had always seemed like a dick move to him. Here, have some super uncomfortable underwear that I’m going to stare at for five seconds before I strip it off your body. Why not just get naked? Naked was good.
And thinking of naked, underwear, and breasts while sitting a foot away from Pru, who was currently pregnant with his twins after they’d had a night of the most amazing sex he could remember in a damn long time, proved to be a very bad idea if the hardening of a certain part of his anatomy was anything to go by. He adjusted his position in the driver’s seat, tamping down his inappropriate thoughts.
“So, where to?” he asked.
“Let’s go to Colorado Mills. A new baby store just opened in the mall, and they’re having a sale.”
Sounded good to him.
They headed out of the city to the nearby suburb where the giant mall was located. Finn parked the car and followed Pru’s lead as she navigated the massive building, heading with a focused purpose toward their destination.
“Hello, welcome to Then Comes Baby.” A middle-aged woman with a pleasant smile and box braids pulled up into a high bun on the top of her head greeted them. “Can I help you find anything?”
“I saw online you were having a BOGO sale on baby clothes?”
The woman’s smile grew as she glanced down to Pru’s stomach. “Yes, dear. And all the sale items come with a thirty-day return policy with gift receipt. Shopping for someone else or yourself?”
“Me.”
“Congratulations.”
“It’s twins.” He had no idea why he blurted that out. Pru and the saleswoman had been handling the conversation fine, ignoring him completely. Maybe he just wanted to feel like a part of it all.
“Well, then.” The woman’s dark brows went up. “Mommy and Daddy certainly came to the right store. You’re going to need two of everything.”
Mommy and Daddy. That sounded… He wasn’t quite sure. Not wrong, per se, but odd.
“Yup, two of everything.”
He glanced over to Pru as those soft words left her with none of the usual bravado she normally spoke with. Her skin had paled. He didn’t know if it was due to the Mommy and Daddy comment or the double baby reminder. He reached out, grasping her hand and bringing it to his lips. Her gaze shot to him in a question.
“Come on, Mommy. Let’s go check out what we need for our little Thing One and Thing Two.”
“Right this way,” the helpful woman motioned for them to follow her to the back of the shop.
Finn started moving, tugging Pru along, since he still had her hand firmly clasped in his. She narrowed her gaze, mouthing something suspiciously close to you’re a dick before coming along. Once the saleswoman had them settled in the clothing section, questions answered, she excused herself to help another customer who’d just come in. The second she left, a sharp sting hit his shoulder.
“Hey!” He glared at Pru, who yanked her hand from his. “Did you just smack me?”
“You deserve it, you ass.”
“What did I do?”
“You made that sweet woman think we were some happy married couple with twins on the way.”
Her color wa
s back now, paleness replaced by the pink flush of frustration. A Finn specialty.
“I never said we were married, and we are having twins.”
“No, I’m having twins. Even if we were a couple, I’m the one pushing these babies out of my vagina. Why does every man on earth insist on saying we in regard to pregnancy and having babies? I know there’s an ‘us’ in uterus, but guys are there for the first five seconds of conception. I’m the one who’s going to have to put ice packs on my crotch for a week after the birth.”
He placed his hands on her hips, pulling her into him until her chest brushed against his. He willed his erection to settle down as the soft swell of her breast grazed him. Now was not the time.
“Five seconds, huh? To my recollection it lasted a lot longer than five seconds, and you sure seemed to enjoy the work I put into it.”
“Finn? What are you doing?” The shaky question left her lips. Lips he was dying to taste again. Her pupils dilated as her gaze focused on his mouth, eyes heating with need. He felt the sharp points of her nipples as they hardened against him.
Shit.
This had started as a diversion tactic. A way to pull Pru back from the brink of the panic he’d seen in her eyes. He just wanted to help. Now he was horny as hell and propositioning his best friend in the middle of a baby store. Maybe he was the one who needed help.
Laughing softly, he took a small step back. “Just messing with you. Trying to lighten the mood so you don’t go into panic mode.”
The lust faded, replaced with irritation. “I wasn’t going into panic mode.”
He simply raised a brow.
“Okay, fine. I might have been panicking. A little. Slightly.” She let out a deep sigh. “I really need to sit down and rework my plan now that it involves two babies. I might…” She bit her lip. “I may even need to move. With twice the stuff, I’ll need much more room.”
“Hey.” He grabbed her hand again, this time tugging her in for a friendly hug. “You’ll figure it out. You planned for this, remember? Nothing’s changed too much, you just have to expand your original plan.”
He felt the warm caress of her breath on his chest through his shirt as she sighed softly.
The Best Friend Problem Page 12
