Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 86537 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 433(@200wpm)___ 346(@250wpm)___ 288(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86537 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 433(@200wpm)___ 346(@250wpm)___ 288(@300wpm)
“Hmm. Do you want…coffee or something?”
“Oh, no. That’s okay.” I waved and stepped aside. “I need to get to the store.”
“Okay. Thank you. Good-bye, Dexter.”
I pushed at the door before he could close it. “One question.”
Viggo shook his head in bemusement, turning to set the box on a console table in his foyer. “What is it?”
“I read that pregnant women have to be mindful of skin products, like retinol. Too much vitamin A can be harmful to a fetus’s development. Would you happen to know if Freya is using retinol?”
He lowered his chin and aimed a steady WTF look at me. “How the fuck would I know?”
“I thought maybe she’d mentioned her skin routine?” Okay, that was weird.
“To me? For fuck’s sake. I’ll text her.”
“No, don’t bug her now.” I put my hand on his arm, ignoring the tingly feeling at the base of my spine. Crap, I knew what that meant, but I refused to give in to attraction. Not with this guy. “It’s early. I’ll ask her later today.”
Viggo typed a message on his cell. “You don’t want to bug her, but you don’t mind bugging me. How do you spell rentinol?”
“It’s retinol.” I spelled it for him, leaning into his space to make sure he got it right. I was treated to a raised brow and a whiff of woodsy soap or cologne. It took everything I had not to sniff the air around him.
Buzz buzz
“She says she’s not using rentinol. Only natural products and not to worry,” he reported.
“It’s retinol,” I corrected. “And technically, it’s natural. It’s found in animals and humans, but most skin care retinol is synthetic. Unless you buy plant-based, in which case…great. Do you think she’s using plant-based retinol?”
“Are you okay?” Viggo countered.
I raked a hand through my hair and blew out a stream of air. “Yes, and also…no.”
“So I see. Well…this much worrying isn’t good for you. If it makes you feel better, I will tell you something about Freya you might not know.”
“Yes, please. Anything.” I clasped my hands, fingers steepled as if I were praying. Geez, I really had to get a grip. I was probably alarming the hell out of Viggo. I could just imagine the “Did you know the donut guy is bonkers?” conversation he’d have with his old friend, and I couldn’t blame him.
“Freya is part hippie artist, part sophisticated woman. Her family has a large garden in Sweden…vegetables of all kinds. Flowers, too. When you grow up with food in your backyard, you tend to be mindful of what you put in your mouth, ja? She’s been reading nutrition labels on food products since she was a kid. It’s a habit, I think. So…the child growing in her belly won’t be ingesting anything unhealthy. Even the tuna fish she had yesterday was light canned or something with a very low mercury hazard. I only know because she told me. And before you ask, she would not eat raw fish while pregnant.” Viggo held a palm open. “Does that help?”
I grinned. “You think I’m nuts, huh?”
“A little,” he teased, pinching his thumb and index finger together. “But…it means you care, and that’s a good thing.”
“Thanks.” Okay, my smile was so big, my cheeks ached. If I wasn’t careful, I’d do something rash and impulsive like hug him.
“You’re not going to hug me.”
“Geez, it’s like you’re reading my mind. C’mere. Bring it in and get it over with.”
Viggo rolled his eyes. “No. Go away, Dexter. Bother someone else.”
For reasons unknown, I took his lighthearted grumbling as a challenge. Under his gruff exterior, Viggo was a teddy bear who cared about his friend and by default, cared about my child. No one else knew, and damn it, I needed this to feel real and special and something worth celebrating.
So maybe that was why I launched forward and wrapped my arms around Viggo’s neck.
It was supposed to be a quick embrace. So fast he’d barely register contact. Except it didn’t work out that way. The moment our chests collided, that tingle from earlier zinged through my body. I didn’t know Viggo well, but on some core level, he felt familiar.
I snapped out of the haze, my lopsided grin hopefully masking any awkwardness. “See? That wasn’t so bad.”
He narrowed his eyes and somehow, I knew he felt it, too. That had to be it. That had to be why we were standing too close, leaning into each other. Was he going to kiss me? Fuck, I hoped so. But also…this was a bad idea.
A terrible idea.
A regret waiting to happen.
So, I made it worse and kissed his cheek just as he turned his head. And of course, I caught the corner of his mouth, too.
It was impulsive, innocent, and brief…no tongue, no roving hands or swaying hips. It was there and gone in an instant.