Undeniably charming Brian Peña fell hard for cunning Lauren Garrett his senior year of college, but Lauren harbors a huge secret that could destroy everything they've built.
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Never has a woman brought Brian Peña to his knees like Lauren Garret...
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"Okay, my friend." I clap my hands once, then point at Frankie on my living room floor. "What should we do?"
When I plop down on the carpet, he crawls over to join me, gripping my arm to pull himself up.
I point one finger into the air. "We had dinner." I hold up another finger. "Bath time is done." As I tickle Frankie's belly, he giggles and sways. "Do you like books? Should we play with toys?"
He sinks to his knees, dragging his hands down my arm, then turns away. "Hey, get back here!" I say, crawling after him.
Frankie giggles, increasing his speed, his little knees and wrists pounding on the floor as he beelines for the toys I set up earlier.
He throws himself into playing with some toys, so I prop my back against the couch and play a game on my phone. After a few minutes, I turn on some soft music, and he turns to look at me, rubbing his eyes.
"Oh, are you tired?"
I tuck my phone into my pocket and get to my feet, walking over. My heart twinges as he holds out his stubby arms to me.
"Come on, little man. We can rock until you're sleepy."
Nostalgia tugs at my chest, and I force memories back into their jar and close the lid tightly. Not tonight.
Thinking of Anastasia stings a little less these days, but it still hurts. SiSi has been feeding me covert updates through Lauren's mom, and Ana sounds like she's adjusting okay.
"Smile for Mama," I tell Frankie, holding the phone out for us to take a photo. He doesn't, laying his head on my chest. I flip the camera to video and press record. "Hi there, Abigail. We're having a great time, but we're getting so, so sleepy over here. I'm going to lay Fransisco down in the crib."
I turn the phone to show her the setup before back to us. "Stay out as late as you'd like, alright? I hope you're having tons of fun. Tell Francie I said happy birthday."
When I place him on his back, Frankie rubs his eyes and curls up on the soft mattress in the crib. The mobile lights up as I switch it on, and his eyes immediately droop under the hypnotizing, whooshing white noise.
I snap one more picture for Abby, and she immediately responds with three heart-eyed emojis, then promises to text me soon with an update.
Baby monitor in hand, I collapse onto the couch and grab my phone.
📱 BRIAN What has two thumbs and is still a virgin despite his best efforts?
Zane immediately responds to my group text with him and my brothers, sending a photo of the twins with a red circle around Josh's face.
