“I’ve said it once and I’ll say it a-fucking-gain, Henry. I don’t care how much it costs. There’s no way a bitch like that doesn’t have something in her past that can be used against her. Go all the way back to her fucking birth if you have to.”

Henry Danforth, my private investigator in New York, sighed through the line. “I’m telling you, McMannus, there’s nothing to find. The only thing Connie King is better at than blackmailing people is covering up the fact that she’s blackmailed people. If you’d just talk to the daughter—”

“Not going to happen,” I told him for the hundredth time. “We aren’t pulling Daphne into this. That woman made her life a living hell growing up, and I’m not adding to any of that. Besides, I’m not even sure that she’s still Daphne anymore. I think what we thought was a baby is actually some sort of alien life form that’s using her as a host and slowly taking control of her body.”

Henry laughed heartily through the line. “Aw, yeah. I remember thinking something like that back when my Suzie was pregnant with our first. She was sweet as pie one minute, and the next she was waving a butter knife around in the air threatening to unman me for eating the last piece of banana bread. Good news is they snap out of it.”

I blew out a puff of air and rubbed at the back of my neck. “I sure fucking hope you’re right about that,” I said. “She went off on me for a good thirty minutes the other night because I bought dryer sheets instead of liquid fabric softener. No freaking joke, man, she didn’t take a single breath during that entire rant. Not one. Face turned all purple and everything. That can’t be good for the baby. Ten minutes later she was sobbing on the kitchen floor because there was no mustard to dip her pickles in. Then she locked herself in the bathroom when I told her that particular food combination sounded disgusting.”

There was more laughter. “Yeah, well you try growing another human being inside your belly, having it screw with every chemical makeup you got, and tell me you don’t get a little touchy every now and then.”

“There’s a reason women are the ones in charge of populating the earth. If we were responsible, our species would be obsolete.”

“Truer words have never been spoken, my friend. Anyway, I’ll let you know if I manage to find anything.”

I gave him my thanks and hung up, plopping down on one of the cement benches scattered around the garden. I gave my bow tie a tug, trying to loosen the stiff collar of my tux. Even with the cool temperatures outside my skin felt overheated.

I couldn’t get comfortable no matter how hard I tried. I was happy for Grayson and all, but I was ready to get this day over with so I could get home and out of this uncomfortable-as-shit suit.

“There you are.” I looked over my shoulder at the sound of Grayson’s voice. He rounded the bench and took a seat next to me.

“What are you doing out here?” I asked. “Shouldn’t you be inside stalking your bride-to-be to ensure she doesn’t make a run for it?”

“Real funny, dickhole,” he deadpanned, a dry look on his face. “Like she’d try to make a run for it.” His expression grew uncertain as he asked, “Do you really think she’d try to make a run for it?”

I laughed and smacked him on the back. “She’s not going to do a runner, brother,” I reassured him. “For reasons that will probably never be discovered, she seems to love your cranky, ugly ass.”

He looked at the darkening sky. “Fuck me, I don’t think I’ve ever been so nervous in my life.”

“Not even the first time you handled a multimillion-dollar buyout on your own?” I teased.

His voice was dead serious as he answered, “Not even then.”

My good humor faded as I studied my best friend closely. “You aren’t having second thoughts, are you? ’Cause you know you’ll never land another chick as hot as Lola, right?”

He smiled, chuckling softly. “Nope, no second thoughts. Never been so sure of anything in my life. I guess what I’m nervous about is not deserving her.” He moved his attention from the sky to me. “Does that even make any sense?”

“Yeah, I think I know where you’re coming from,” I answered after giving it some thought. I understood because I pretty much felt like that on a daily basis when it came to Daphne. I was so fucking scared of screwing up somehow that I’d spent the past month on eggshells, careful not to do or say anything that could start a fight. My fear was that she’d wake up one day and realize I wasn’t worth the hassle. Then she’d be gone.

I was so consumed with trying to be the perfect partner for her that I’d almost forgotten what it was like to just be myself. I got a piece of that back the other day when we went in for the ultrasound, but with her unexpected—and frighteningly violent—mood swings, the good feeling hadn’t lasted long.

“Jesus,” Grayson muttered, breaking through my miserable thoughts. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you think so damn hard.”

Ignoring the dig, I looked at my best friend, the man who seemed to have his shit completely together, and asked, “How did you know you loved Lola?”

Seeming momentarily perplexed by my question, he hesitated before giving me an answer. “I guess I knew when I tried to picture a life without her in it.”

“Were you able to?”

He watched me curiously. “What’s brought all this on, man? Is there something going on with you that you haven’t told me?”

Anxiety twisted my stomach into knots. “Just answer the question. Were you able to picture a life without her?”

“Yeah, I was,” he replied like a punch to the throat. “But it wasn’t an image I liked at all. In fact, I pretty much hated it. Then I tried to picture my life with another woman, marrying her, having kids with her. That was even worse. But it was when I pictured Lola having that with another man that I lost it. I knew that, even if I didn’t deserve her, no man on this planet would try harder than me to come close enough. I knew I loved her when life with her was a hell of a lot brighter than one without her. Even when she pisses me off and drives me crazy—and she does that a lot—she lights everything up for me.”

Christ. Jesus Christ! Fuck me, it was like he was speaking out loud every goddamn thing I’d been thinking for the past month. It felt like I’d been punched in the stomach. I struggled to breathe, to think.

I loved her. I fucking loved Daphne. In the back of my mind, I’d suspected that was what I was feeling, but I didn’t trust that it was real until the guy I respected in every single way confirmed it.

I loved her. But what was more, she loved me too. She was the first woman to ever say that without using it as a way to manipulate me. My own freaking mother didn’t tell me she loved me without attaching strings to it.

Daphne said it and didn’t expect anything in return, and I’d been too busy turning myself inside out, worrying about a future I had absolutely no control over to really let it sink in.

I was a jackass.

“I love Daphne,” I admitted out loud for the first time. “Pretty sure I have for a while, but I was too slow on the uptake to see it.”

“Wait. What?”

No time like the present to tell the truth. “We’ve been seeing each other for a while. Longer than you and Lola, actually. But I was an asshole at first, so it took a while to get us to a good place. But now I love her.”

“You….” He shook his head like he was trying to rattle something loose. “I’m sorry. You and Daphne have been together all this time? Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

“It’s a long, convoluted story, and we have to get you down the aisle pretty soon so we don’t have time to dive into all that right now. But the short and sweet of it is that it started as a fling and we kept it a secret because our friends are all nosey bastards.”

We stood from the bench and started for the door that led into the over-the-top venue Lola and Gray had chosen for their wedding.

He snorted loudly. “Can’t even be mad at you for that one because it’s the truth.”

The frazzled wedding planner who’d been in charge of the big day spotted us the minute we stepped inside and came running over. “Oh, and one more thing.”

Gray looked at me over his shoulder as the hyperactive wedding planner started dragging him away. “Yeah? What’s that?”

“I’ve moved into her house. My apartment’s up for sale. And she’s pregnant. We’re having a little girl.”

“What?”

Maybe it was wrong to drop that bomb on him when he couldn’t pry for more information. But wrong or not, I sure as hell got a laugh out of it.

* * *

Daphne

My little bean and I were going to have a serious talk soon. She was wreaking some serious havoc on my emotional well-being. First I was sobbing like a baby over cheesy Hallmark movies. Then I morphed into a raving banshee bitch from hell, snapping at Caleb over things I normally wouldn’t give a shit about.

I mean, dryer sheets? Who the hell cared about dryer sheets? Psycho Pregnant Daphne, that’s who.

Now it was taking everything in me not to throw myself at Lola and bawl my happiness for her out all over her immaculate dress. I barely made it through the ceremony without ruining the amazing job the makeup artist had done on my face.

Pregnancy was for the birds.

And I really wanted a glass of champagne… or a mojito. Ooh, yeah. A mojito sounds good.

Son of a bitch.

“May I have this dance?” My heart stuttered at the sound of Caleb’s voice. Wedding party duties had been so consuming that other than spotting him during pictures—and maybe staring at him with a little too much longing during the vows—I’d barely said more than two words to him.

Without giving me a chance to answer, he took me by the hand and started pulling me toward the dance floor as the beginning threads of a slow ballad began to play. He stopped us at the center of the floor and spun me with surprising flourish before pulling me into his body. One arm wrapped around my waist while he kept my other hand firmly in his, and he started swaying us to the music.

“I haven’t had a chance to tell you yet, but you look absolutely gorgeous tonight.”

Goose bumps broke out along my arms at the same time my cheeks heated. “Thank you.”

“How are you feeling? I know it’s been a long day and you didn’t have a chance to take one of your three daily naps.”

He laughed when I smacked him in the arm. “Jerk,” I mumbled without any ire. “To be honest I really just want to get home and get out of this dress. It’s too tight around my boobs and my belly. I feel like if I bend over the wrong way I’m going to bust a seam. And these stupid shoes are pinching my toes.”

His eyes traveled down my neck to the swell of my cleavage, and he let out an appreciative hum that had me biting down on my bottom lip. I hadn’t seen that look directed at me in far too long.

We danced silently for a while, and I was a little amazed at how well he moved to the soft, melodic beat. “You’re a pretty good dancer.”

“I’m full of surprises,” he said with a suspicious smirk.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yep. For instance, I’m about to say something that’s really going to knock your socks off.”

I giggled, sifting my fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck. “Knock my socks off, huh? Okay, well hit me with it.”

“Okay. Here it goes.” He paused for dramatic affect. “I think you and I should get married.”

My jaw hit the floor. Then I screeched, “Have you lost your mind?”