Faith Departed Sneak Peek, Part 1

Faith Departed releases March 4th! So to celebrate being close, here’s the first part of Chapter 1. I’ll post the rest over the next few days.

 

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Chapter One
“Stop stop stop stop.” June breathed the words as the digital readout on the bathroom scale flickered up. She cringed when the hateful thing finally followed her directions. One forty. One hundred and forty pounds. She stumbled backwards off the scale and dropped onto the cold edge of the bathtub. At five foot two, she was used to numbers much more in the range of one ten. But the last six months had added thirty pounds…that was five pounds a month. She buried her head in her hands. What was going on?

“Morning, baby.” Toby shuffled into the bathroom, rubbing his eyes. He stopped to give her an appreciative look and waggle his eyebrows. “Careful, you’re going to make me late for work.”

She chuckled in spite of herself. “You’re insane.” And blind. There was no point in drawing his attention to her ever expanding girth. She was on her way to being twice the woman he married four years ago. He hadn’t signed on for a two-in-one special.

He grabbed her arm and pulled her close, burying his nose in her neck. “I can’t help it if I have the world’s most enticing wife.”

He couldn’t possibly mean it. Her fat rolls squashed against his still-firm abs as he tightened his embrace. She fought the urge to push away and put on a robe. She forced her tone to be light. “Now, now. Didn’t you say you had a big meeting this morning?”

He pressed a kiss to her head and eased back, eyes still hinting at his interest. “I did…sadly, I did.”

She crossed her arms over her belly as he turned on the shower and tossed his towel over the door.

“Any news, June?”

She swallowed the lump in her throat and shook her head.

“We’ll just have to practice more.” He shot her a wicked grin and stepped into the steaming shower.

Nine weeks. She’d gone off her birth control pills nine weeks ago. Shouldn’t something have happened by now? June padded into the walk-in closet and began to dress. Toby wasn’t the only one with a big meeting today. She sucked in her stomach, hooked her favorite black dress pants, and slowly let out her breath. She was going to have to buy bigger clothes if she couldn’t get at least five of these pounds off. Watching herself in the floor-length mirror on the wall, she gingerly lowered into a squat then stood and twisted at the waist. It wasn’t comfortable, but no seams had popped and the fabric didn’t look like it was straining. Grateful that the Weskit was back in fashion, June tugged on a purple silk blouse and snagged the suit’s blazer from its hanger. She slipped her feet into a pair of killer purple leather peep-toe heels and smiled. The right outfit really did lift your spirits.

Toby let out a low whistle when she came back into the bathroom to do her hair. “Looking good, baby. You’re going to kick some butt and take some names.”

She laughed. “Or maybe convince the DARPA program manager that we’re totally capable of performing on this contract. That would be better than leaving heel prints on government behinds.”

“What time are you meeting?” He glanced at her in the mirror as he dragged a comb through his hair.

“Two-thirty.”

“I’ll be praying.”

“Thanks. Hey, you up for dinner with July and Gareth tomorrow night?” June set down her eyeliner and studied the light application of makeup. It was more than she usually wore, but when you were meeting with the person who was the deciding factor in awarding a contract—especially one your boss was adamant you win—you put your best foot forward.

“Sure. You know I love seeing Joo-lye and Gar.”

June swatted his arm. “You know she hates that.”

Toby grinned. “Not my fault your mother couldn’t spell it J-u-l-i-e like a normal person.”

She shook her head. June had definitely gotten the better deal when it came to names. Their mother must have still been under the influence of the epidural when she’d named them. Or something. Other than deciding to name her twins June and July, the woman was the most rational, unfanciful person she’d ever known. Then again, in her mother’s bizarre logic, since June had been born right before midnight on June 30th and July had been born just after midnight on July 1st, maybe that was the only rational choice. At least it hadn’t been August.

June stretched up and kissed her husband’s cheek. “Gotta run. Call and tell me how your meeting goes. I love you.”

“Love you, too.”