Her stomach fluttered, and she rested her hand over it. Butterflies. She hadn’t had butterflies in a long time. A smile stretched her lips as Creed disappeared around the corner of the trailer. She let the curtain fall back over the window. He wanted her up on the landing with him today. And he’d snuggled behind her for the past couple of hours, his hand on her stomach. Even if she hadn’t invited him to touch her so intimately, it pulled at her heartstrings that he’d taken it upon himself to bond with their baby while she was sleeping.
She brushed her teeth and readied for the day in a rush. Her long hair had dried wavy overnight, so she put it up in a high ponytail and took a curling iron to it. Then she slathered on more make-up than she’d felt confident enough to wear in a while and grabbed her heavy jacket in case it was colder up in the mountains than it was here in the valley. She checked herself in the mirror, turning to the side. Usually, she hid her pregnancy, but what was the point of that here? Everyone was going to find out anyway, and besides, she was proud of the little bump she was growing. On second thought, she peeled off her baggy sweater, dug around in her suitcase, and instead opted for a navy, skintight thermal sweater with little white flowers on it.
Feeling prettier than she had in months, she jogged out of the room just as Willa and Matt waved from the kitchen. Willa had an apple hanging out of her mouth, and Matt was cooking something delicious-smelling over the stove.
Gia skidded to a halt when she saw Matt’s bare back. It was crisscrossed with hundreds of deep scars that ranged from pink to silver. She hadn’t seen them before when they’d all gone swimming at Bear Trap Falls, but perhaps that was because her eyes had been glued to Creed who’d been sitting on the bank, refusing to swim with the rest of them.
“What happened to you?” she asked before she could stop herself.
Matt slid her a glance over his shoulder and turned back to the stove. “I made you breakfast to go. I heard Creed ask you to come to the landing, but it’ll be a while before lunch. Willa read on the Internet that pregnant women barf if they don’t eat enough.”
Gia dragged her gaze away from Matt’s scars to Willa, who was crunching away on a bite of her apple.
“Matt cut himself shaving,” Willa said through a grin.
Gia snorted, then slapped her hands over her mouth. “Oh, God, I’m sorry. It’s not funny at all.”
Matt lifted his hand and high-fived Willa. “Good one, Nerd.”
Gia pursed her lips to stop the laughter that bubbled up her throat. This was Willa’s fault for always being so damned inappropriate in serious moments.
“All right, breakfast is on. Fill up your tortilla and take it to go, or Creed will shit a brick. We’re behind on timber numbers.”
“Right. Because you’re lumberjacks.” Gia made a couple of breakfast burritos and wrapped them in the foil Willa had helpfully ripped off the roll for her.
“I’m off to play with my worms,” Willa said cheerfully. “Come on Peanut Butter. Have fun at the landing today. Don’t get squished under a lumber avalanche.”
“Worms?” Gia asked.
“My mate has the biggest worm farm in this part of the country,” Matt said. It was really strange hearing a big old scarred-up grizzly shifter infuse such pride into that odd combination of words.
Willa had a giant worm farm. Why was Gia not surprised? “Let me guess. You’ve named it Willa’s Worms?”
Willa tapped her nose and pointed at Gia with a wink as she walked out the front door, Peanut Butter following behind and looking like a legless, hairy mop.
“Wait, were you serious about me getting squished?” Gia called.
Willa poked her head back in through the door. “Do me a favor?”
“Sure,” Gia said, still concerned about the whole lumber avalanche remark.
“Give Easton a wide berth.”
“Easton, the one who dragged his trailer off in the woods with his bare hands?”
Matt grabbed his heavy, mud-splattered tan jacket off a coat rack, breakfast burritos in his other hand. “Don’t worry. Creed will probably keep you safe.”
Probably keep her safe? She swallowed down a wave of nausea and followed Matt out the door.
What the hell had she gotten herself into?
Chapter Five
By the time Gia made her way to the front of the trailer park, Creed was lifting a large red cooler into the back of his pickup. The truck shone a dark silver in the early morning light and matched the charcoal-colored thermal sweater Creed was wearing over his holey work jeans. The shirt had gone threadbare in places and clung to his brawny physique. The sloping curves of his muscles made her wish she’d been more sober the night they’d been together so she could remember what his body felt like under her hands.