Delivering His Gifts (Mountain Men of Liberty #10)- K.C. Crowne Page 0,53
was certain. My belly was growing fast, and it was hard to hide the roundness these days. I couldn’t recall getting this big with Skyler. I actually hadn’t put on much weight at all with her. Since I was already a curvy woman anyway, I didn’t start really showing until the second trimester. By my doctor’s estimation, I was almost three months pregnant. My first trimester, and I was already ballooning.
I muttered a simple, “Thank you,” to Calvin and focused on my work with Oscar instead. I’d been working with him for twenty minutes or so, when there was a knock on the front door. My heart skipped a beat.
“It’s me,” Mason called from the other side.
“Come in,” I said, not wanting to get up off the floor. “It’s unlocked.”
When Mason stepped into the house, I couldn’t help but check him out. He stared back at me, but he was clearly not amused.
“So I found the problem, and you were right,” he said, looking at me in a way that said he was speaking in coded language. He paused to let that sink in. “There is an electrical issue. I need to take a look around the inside of the house, to find a source for the problem.”
“Go right ahead,” I said, understanding his meaning. “If you need me to help you, just let me know.”
Mason nodded and began walking around the living room. I had already looked around the house myself, but he was lifting vents and searching behind the photos on the wall, even checking out the nails holding the photos.
I watched him, lost in thought and forgetting about the reason for him and Calvin being here in the first place.
“Is everything okay?” Calvin asked, his brow furrowed.
I wasn’t sure what to say; I needed an explanation that made sense. Mason had it covered for me, however.
“Nothing serious,” he said, moving around the room without looking at us. “Just a possible short in the electrical wires within the walls. It’s causing some of the lights and the smoke detector to short out.” While speaking, Mason reached for the smoke detector and pulled it apart in his hands.
“Sounds serious to me,” Calvin said.
“No, it’s no big deal,” I said, waving it off. “I’m probably imagining things anyway.”
“Do you ever hear anything?” Mason asked me.
“Hear anything?”
“Yeah, like buzzing. It could be from electrical interference.”
“Uhh, well, this place is almost always noisy, so it’s hard to say.”
Mason nodded and continued the sweep of the room. I tried to focus on Oscar and Calvin, but my attention was diverted to Mason. Not only because I was interested in what he was doing, but it was hard not to look at him.
The pregnancy hormones made me horny as hell, and I had to cross my legs just to quell the ache in my groin.
Mason eventually left the room, and it became easier to focus. But it didn’t feel like he was gone very long. He didn’t say anything, and had I not been staring at him when he came into the room, I wouldn’t have noticed his hand motion.
Follow me, he mouthed as he walked to the door.
“I’ll be right back,” I said to Calvin, using the chair nearby to push me up to my feet. The old man offered me a hand, but I refused. He was weaker than me; I’d likely have just pulled him down onto the floor with me. Mason crossed the room and took my arm instead, helping me get steady on my feet.
Three months. Only three months. I felt like I was carrying a litter, not just one baby.
Mason and I walked outside, and he took me around past the backyard.
“There’s no cameras here, as far as I can tell,” he said, speaking low. “But yeah, your entire house is bugged.”
The hair on my arms stood on end and ice water ran through my veins. “You’re sure?” I choked out.
“Yeah, unfortunately so.”
“So he knows everything,” I muttered. He had to already know about Mason and me hooking up, the baby, everything. That’s why he was growing angrier with me by the day. Because he knew.
“I would assume so, yes.” Mason ran a hand through his hair and stared at me with his dark eyes.
“I can’t stay here. I need to do something,” I said.
“I agree. We need to get you out of here. Where’s Skyler?”
“She’s on a playdate with a friend,” I said. “She gets back in an hour.”