Page 47 of Dissonance

“Well—” I gesture to myself with my good hand. “You’ve seen me.”

“Cooper’s flying out tonight.”

I turn to my laptop and open it, fingers pausing over the keyboard as his words land. That’s fine, of course it is, Cooper is always somewhere.

“Right,” I say, keeping my voice light. “Home to Ziggy.”

“No. New York first. The Late Night taping.”

“Oh.”

I’d forgotten. I’d actually forgotten. Under normal circumstances, that would be impossible. Cooper’s schedule doesn’t leave my head. Ever. Apparently, being told you’re pregnant wipes that out overnight.

“Then Taunton Falls.”

I nod, clicking something on the screen without registering what. “Everything all sorted? Security, travel—?”

“Aye.”

“Great.” I stand, heading toward a filing cabinet, back to him, hands curling around the top. “Well, safe flight.”

For a second, nothing happens. Then I hear him move, the sound of his boots on the floor, one slow step at a time.

“Thea.”

I close my eyes.

“I can stay.”

The offer lands somewhere in my chest. “Lockie—”

“If you need me to.”

I take a deep breath, turning to face him. “You’ve got a job to do. And I’ve got one too.” His eyes narrow, and I lift my chin, keeping his gaze. “I’m pregnant, Lockie. Not dying. I’ll be fine on my own.”

I brace for him to turn and walk out of my door. When he moves, my heart lurches, lips parting because I’m not ready for how much this hurts to watch him go. Except he’s not leaving, invading my space with quiet precision but giving me every chance to stop him.

I don’t, and the closer he gets, the easier it would be to give in. To let him pull me into his arms and pretend for five minutes that someone else can carry this weight for me. God knows, it would be nice not to be the one holding everything together for once.

He stops in front of me, close enough that I can smell his body wash, that clean, familiar scent deeply unhelpful right now. He leans down, lips pressing to the top of my head, my eyes fluttering shut at the sensation.

When he pulls back, his hand slides to my waist, then lower. My breath catches, and I don’t know if he notices. His warm palm settles against my stomach. I don’t look down. I watch his face instead, the steadiness of it, the way his jaw works once before he pulls back.

His gaze drops to where he touched me, then moves back to mine. I don’t say anything, not trusting my voice.

“I’ll call you,” he murmurs, and this time, he heads for the door. It clicks behind him and everything in me loosens all at once, like I’ve been wound too tight since yesterday, and someone finally cut the string. My shoulders drop, the effort of keeping everything together exhausting.

I look at the tests again, then reach for the closest one and flip it over. Two lines, bright and obnoxiously clear, entirely conclusive.

“Right,” I say to the empty room, leaning down to grab the trash can, and sweep the entire row inside with one clean pass. Kicking it back under the desk, I sit down and drag my laptop closer. “Okay, then. Back to work.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Lockie

The booth across from the door of The Lost Compass isn’t technically mine. Declan never put up a sign, or anything dumb like that, but the locals know. Whenever word gets around that Reign Cooper’s back home, it’s always empty when I arrive, and the regulars I recognize offer a nod or a small wave on their way to sit somewhere else.

Same booth, same seat, same view of the door.