Grabbing her own phone, she found a text from Wendy. “Make sure you take that test we discussed first thing in the morning.”

It took Gwen a moment to understand what her sister was saying. Then it hit her—another pregnancy test, just to be certain. Geez, why had she even mentioned that to Wendy? She would have her taking a damn test every day for the next month, even though she’d already taken at least twenty of them just days ago. “Well, good morning to you too,” she typed out sarcastically.

“Good morning, Gwen. How are you today, my dear sister? Now take the darn test already!”

Gwen laughed despite herself. Wendy could do sarcasm just as well as she could. Glancing at the clock, she knew she didn’t have time for a debate so she quickly typed back, “I’m going to do it now—just for you!”

“Let me know! Love you!”

Gwen sent her a quick reply and then retraced her steps to the bathroom. She rolled her eyes, but still pulled out one of the remaining pregnancy tests that she’d stashed in her cabinet. She grumbled as she made short work of peeing on the stick, before setting it on the bathroom counter and getting in the shower. As much as she loved her cell phone, Gwen could only think that life would surely be better if they didn’t exist. There would have been no text from Kandi for her to find and no nagging from Wendy. She could have started her day relaxed and happy instead of suspicious and grumpy.

Technology, ugh, sometimes she hated it.

Chapter Fifteen

“Hey, where’s the coffee?” Gage asked as Dominic walked through the office door.

“Do I look like your maid?” Dominic quipped as he dropped into a chair in front of the security feeds.

“But I texted you to bring some coffee,” Gage huffed as he punched some buttons on his keyboard. “If you’d let me know you weren’t stopping, I’d have done it myself.”

Dominic brought up the feeds for the next customer’s property before saying, “I left my phone at Gwen’s so I didn’t get your message.” Dominic heard the familiar squeak of Gage’s chair as he leaned back in it.

“You totally went right after her last night, didn’t you? How long did you make it before you ran to her apartment? Ten minutes?”

“Oh, shut it,” Dominic grinned. “I knew from Shannon that she was supposed to be home Sunday evening, so I just—kept an eye out for her.”

Gage surprised him by sitting up straight and asking, “Shannon? As in your neighbor, right?”

Shaking his head at Gage’s abrupt question, Dominic said, “Yeah. That’s what I said. You know the one with the crazy kids that I’ve mentioned.”

“Damn, Dom, give them a break. I’m sure they’re not that bad. Kids will be kids and all that stuff. I bet Shannon has really done a good job with them, all on her own. You gotta give single moms some serious respect; you know what I’m saying?”

Dominic turned from the monitor he had been watching to stare at his friend. “Man, what’s wrong with you today? You’re like an emotional wreck or something.” Instead of laughing at his insult, Gage did something even more out of character and actually blushed. He was still trying to figure it out when Mac walked in carrying coffee and a bag.

“Morning. Ava guilted me into stopping to pick this shit up for you two,” Mac grumbled as he plopped the bag and cup carrier down on the desk.

Recovering from his earlier snit, Gage chuckled, saying, “Bro, you are so whipped. I wonder what else I can have her suggest for you to do.”

“She didn’t say I couldn’t stir yours with my finger,” Mac threatened as he held Gage’s cup suspended.

“I will so go tell her,” Gage whined until Mac reluctantly handed him the cup he’d been holding hostage.

Mac took a chair next to Dominic and pulled a doughnut from the bag. “We need to eat fast because Seth Jackson called me while I was on the way to the office. A couple of his brothers are going to be in town today from Florida and he wanted to know if we could squeeze in a last-minute meeting this morning at the Oceanix Resort.”

Looking at his watch, Dominic asked, “How last-minute are we talking?”

Mac popped the last of the doughnut in his mouth. “We need to be there at nine.”

“But that’s only thirty minutes from now,” Gage scowled as he snagged a doughnut.

Dusting the crumbs from his shirt, Mac said, “Yeah, Seth said he’d understand if we couldn’t make it. Apparently, there was some mechanical issue with their company plane, and the brothers ended up landing here instead of Charleston. Since we’ve been trying to get a meeting with them, Seth thought it might be a good opportunity.”

“We can make it.” Dominic nodded as he got to his feet. “I’m going to run a cup of coffee up to Gwen and see if she’s here yet with my phone. How about picking me up out front in fifteen?” Dominic heard Gage making the sounds of a whip cracking as he walked toward the door. Just as he was opening it, he heard him shout; then a loud thud sounded. Fucking Gage. When would he learn to keep his chair firmly on the floor? No doubt, Mac had flipped him backward.

Dominic was still grinning when he walked out of the cafeteria and almost plowed into Gwen as she was walking through the lobby with Crystal. “Whoa . . . morning, babe. Sorry. You were almost wearing your coffee.”

When he leaned down to give her a kiss, she phone-blocked him. Or rather, she somehow stuck his cell phone in his face, before his lips could connect with hers. “Good morning,” she replied in a voice that sounded unusually shrill. “Here’s your phone,” she added unnecessarily since he already had it in his pocket. She was nervously chewing on her bottom lip, glancing between him and a curious Crystal. “Um—I . . . Do you have a minute?” she finally asked.