Once she decided she was as ready as she was ever going to be, she walked out to join Eric. He was waiting in the living room for her, staring out the window at the city views but he turned when he sensed her presence since the thick plush carpet made her approach soundless.
Natasha watched Eric’s eyes as they travelled the length of her body, from her hair right down to her black shoes. The blue seemed to intensify as he slowly took in every detail of her appearance like he was saving it to memory.
“You look beautiful baby.” His voice was husky. He walked towards her and when he was standing in front of her, he gently trailed a finger down her cheek before dropping a kiss on her slightly parted lips. “God I love you, I love you so much sweetheart.”
Natasha lips curved up at his words. “I love you too Eric, more than I think you even realise. How did I ever survive so long without you?”
Eric smiled, his smile portraying all his love for her. “You’re never going to have to live another day without me in your life baby. Like it or not, you’re stuck with me.”
Natasha couldn’t help grinning at him, probably looking like an idiot, but she didn’t care. “I think I can live with that.” Her voice was husky. She ran her eyes over Eric, taking in the way he was dressed. “You’re looking very sexy there Mr Rothman.” She gave him the slow, once over again. He was dressed in a dark grey suit, white shirt and striped tie in various shades of grey. “Are we ready to go?”
Together they travelled down the elevator and out to the waiting limo which drove them to the restaurant. As Eric had said, the views were amazing. The restaurant was modern with large floor to ceiling windows so diners had an uninterrupted view of the city of Sydney.
They were shown straight through to their table, right by the windows, which delighted Natasha and although she knew Sydney well, it never failed to leave her in awe over the sheer beauty of it. It was still daylight due to the time of the year, but Eric assured her they would stay long enough for them to see the city at night.
Natasha dragged her gaze away from the view long enough to look through the menu. There were plenty of mouth watering meals to choose from. “You’ve eaten here before obviously?” She asked.
“A few times baby. If you want, I can order for you. I think you’ll like the food, even though it’s not all seafood.” Eric said with a grin and Natasha nodded.
When the waiter approached them to take their orders, he ordered a scotch on the rocks for himself and Natasha chose orange juice for herself since she wouldn’t drink any alcohol while pregnant. Eric selected the Rock oysters for their entrée and the steamed pink snapper and slow cooked quail for their mains. “How about we share the main meals baby so you can sample both.” And she agreed. The food all sounded devine and her stomach gave a loud audible growl, which made Eric laugh.
While they waited for their entrees, Eric talked about work. Natasha always enjoyed hearing how things were going since she had been his PA after all, so the work interested her. When the waiter arrived with their drinks, Eric toasted them, to their marriage, to their babies and he took her hand, telling her again how much he loved her, how he couldn’t believe how lucky he was to have her.
He only released her hand when their entrees arrived and they didn’t talk while they ate, simply savouring their meal. The oysters were to die for and were served with chorizo, tomato and crispy potatoes.
When Natasha finally looked up, Eric was watching her, amusement in his eyes. “I love to watch you eat baby. You do it like the food is the best thing you’ve ever had. It’s like the food is bringing you to orgasm and it makes me hard every time watching you.”
Natasha couldn’t control the colour that flooded her cheeks. Eric saw the blush blooming on her face and laughed. “Don’t be embarrassed baby, it’s really hot to watch.”
When they finished eating, Eric took Natasha’s hand again, his grip warm and comforting to her. His thumb moved back and forth over the back of her hand as they talked about their wedding, reliving some of the special moments from it.
Eric’s gaze was filled with amusement when he recalled Natasha telling him she’d had to pee badly while she’d been driven around in the Rolls Royce and as he laughed, his eyes moved around the restaurant. Suddenly she noticed his body tense, a chill entering his eyes and his gaze was fixed on something beyond her shoulder.
“Fuck!” He said explosively. “Dammit I don’t need this shit now.”
“What’s wrong Eric?” Natasha started to turn her head to see what had him so agitated but he told her not to look.
“Hopefully she won’t see us.” He said, then groaned. “Fuck it, she’s seen us. I’m sorry baby.” Was all he had time to say before someone stopped at their table.
“Eric, darling.” Natasha heard the voice and she stiffened. She knew that voice well. She’d heard it around the office many times and with a feeling of dread, she raised her head to look into the ice blue eyes of Eric’s ex girlfriend, Vivian. She wasn’t looking at Natasha though, her gaze was fixed purely on Eric, a predatory gleam in her eyes and it was obvious that she was still very interested in him.
Natasha studied her for a moment, taking in her perfectly styled shoulder length blonde hair, her high cheek bones, full lips, breasts which pushed up giving her a killer cleavage over the low cut neckline of her dress, quite clearly fake, but still enough to draw the eye of any man, a waist small enough for a man to span with his hands and long legs that went on forever.
Much as Natasha hated to admit it, Vivian was stunning, in a cold, ice queen kind of way, but suddenly she felt completely inadequate next to the tall willowy woman. Vivian was the kind of woman Eric had always been attracted to and she couldn’t help but wonder why he had chosen someone like herself. Someone who was so entirely different and with none of the classic beauty Vivian possessed.
Vivian bent down to drop a kiss on Eric’s lips, but he turned his head so she got his cheek instead. A cloud of her heavy perfume drifting over to Natasha making her want to gag. “Darling, fancy meeting you here.” She purred. “I’ve missed you Eric. You should have given me a call. We could have hooked up.” Her impossibly long painted fingernails grazed through his hair.
Eric pulled away, impatience on his face. “I didn’t call you Vivian because we don’t see each other anymore. I ended our relationship, remember?”
“Oh darling, I thought you were just going through a phase. I know that my career kept me busy so I didn’t have as much time for you, but I have plenty of time now.”
“I wasn’t going through a phase and I have no desire to spend any time with you at all Vivian, now if you could excuse us please. Natasha and I would like to enjoy the rest of our meal.” Eric’s voice was dismissive but Vivian merely laughed.
Her ice blue eyes turned to Natasha briefly before clearly dismissing her as any form of competition. “How nice of you Eric. You always were a good employer taking your little assistant out for a meal like this.”
“Natasha isn’t my PA anymore Vivian, she’s my wife.” Eric said in a voice that was filled with his quiet rage. “We married yesterday, obviously you hadn’t heard although it was mentioned in the papers that we were engaged and due to be married.”
“I’ve been out of the country the last couple of months Eric and I heard something about you getting married but the papers are known to exaggerate at times. I thought it might have been a publicity stunt or something,” Vivian’s eyes turned to Natasha and she could see the cold fury in her gaze. “Well, well, well, so your little assistant who was always making moon eyes at you finally managed to tie down the great Eric Rothman. How ever did you manage that?”
Natasha felt hot colour flood her cheeks. She hated Vivian. The woman had the ability to make her feel small and inadequate with just one look from those icy, contemptuous eyes of hers.
Vivian’s eyes fell on Natasha’s very pregnant stomach and a tiny smile tilted one side of her perfectly painted lips. “You have got to
be kidding me. You used the oldest trick in the book to snare him? Who could have guessed it. Ms Quiet and Unassuming Barrington landed the millionaire by shotgun wedding.” Her laughter rang out and Natasha felt the colour drain from her face. “Why didn’t I think of trying that one myself?” Vivian sneered.
Eric’s face darkened until Natasha thought he was going to do Vivian some sort of harm. He stood up, his hands going to the other woman’s shoulders and he pushed her back before grabbing her arm and hauling her towards the entrance to the restaurant.
“Get the fuck out of here you heartless, soulless bitch.” He snapped. “I don’t want you anywhere near Natasha or myself again. You are nothing but ice inside, you have no idea what Natasha is like. You are nothing compared to her. She has a heart, she loves me as I love her and she’s beautiful and intelligent where as you are nothing more than a product of you cosmetic surgeon with nothing but a cold, dark sorry excuse for a heart beating in your chest, so piss off!”
As Eric released her, contempt clearly visible on his face, he threw another tirade of fury at her. “No wonder I dumped you. There’s no way in hell I’d ever want a woman like you Vivian.”
Despite Eric’s fury being directed at her Vivian still looked remarkably cool. “Well, you protest a lot darling, but you seemed to be enjoying yourself immensely whenever we made love.” She drawled.
Eric’s laugh was harsh. “Do you want to know what I did when we had sex Vivian, because no way in hell was that making love, do you want to know how I got through it, what I had to do to even come with you?” Eric paused, waiting for Vivian’s response, but she merely stood there looking at him, her lip curled at him. “I pretended it was Natasha. I had to pretend I was making love to Natasha to get through fucking you.”
Vivian’s expression came over filled with rage, dark colour heating her cheeks. Eric gave her one final dismissive look and turned to walk back to their table where Natasha sat shivering with nerves. A part of her was horrified at the confrontation between Eric and the other woman in such a public place, but a small part of her secretly rejoiced at his words about fantasizing that he was making love to her to get through sex with Vivian although she still didn’t want to think too much about him being intimate with that vile, evil woman.
“Don’t bother us again.” Eric’s voice would have made a lesser person back down, but Vivian still stood her ground.
“I’m here with my lover anyway. I only came to say hello when I saw you here. It was good to see you Eric and congratulations on your marriage to….” Vivian’s eyes shot pure hatred at Natasha. “To the little woman.” And with that, she turned and walked towards the other end of the restaurant.
Eric walked back to sit down at their table. He was clearly consumed with rage and his eyes flashed a deep stormy blue. When his gaze turned to Natasha, the fury disappeared and he reached out to take her hand. “I’m sorry baby. Don’t let that bitch get to you. She sure as hell isn’t worth it.”
“Do you think I tricked you into marriage?” Natasha couldn’t help but ask, a quiver in her voice.
Eric cursed. “For fuck sakes baby, no. I know you didn’t trick me into marriage. Damn that bitch for what she’s done to you. Baby, you know I’m the one who proposed marriage. Not once have you ever so much as hinted that we should marry, even when you knew you were pregnant. It’s my fault you got pregnant because I forgot the condom. Don’t let Vivian’s venom get to you. That’s what she wants baby. Don’t give her the satisfaction, please.” Eric’s face was pleading.
“Yes Eric, but if I hadn’t have fallen pregnant, would you still have wanted to marry me?” Natasha’s eyes searched his face for a hint that marriage hadn’t really been what he wanted.
He sighed. “Of course I would have wanted to marry you pregnant or not Natasha. I wanted to marry you because I love you and because I wanted to make you mine. I wasn’t going to risk another man taking you away from me. Don’t do this sweetheart, don’t let that woman’s venom poison your mind.”
Just then the waiter turned up with their meals and Eric fell silent until their plates were before them and the waiter had gone.
“Do you still want to share our meals baby?” Eric asked and Natasha nodded although she wasn’t really feeling like food at all anymore. She watched as he put half his meal on her plate and took half of her meal for himself.
To be fair, the food looked amazing. The pink snapper was served with beetroot puree, perfect looking little baby potatoes and kohlrabi. The quail had crushed minted peas, ricotta filled zucchini flowers and almond dressing.
Natasha made an effort to eat and the food was good, but her appetite was gone. Eric watched her, a frown on his face at the way she mostly just pushed the meal around on the plate, but didn’t actually eat that much of it.
Once they’d finished, Eric asked if Natasha wanted dessert but she told him she just wanted to go back to the hotel. His expression wasn’t happy. It was obvious from his face that he wanted to say more to her, but he kept silent. Chances were he was going to want to talk to her once they were back in their suite.
“I just need to go to the bathroom before we leave.” Natasha said, attempting to give Eric a normal smile, like everything was ok, but it felt more like a grimace than a smile.
“Ok baby, I’ll give Henry a call to bring the limo to come and get us.” As he watched her rise from her chair, he was already pulling his mobile phone out of his pocket.
Natasha walked through the restaurant to the ladies room, her eyes scanning the room for signs of Vivian but fortunately she didn’t see her anywhere so hopefully that meant she’d already left.
She was the only one in the restroom when she got there and she took care of business, hearing the ladies room door open as she was in her cubicle. When she walked out to wash her hands and freshen up a bit, her heart ran cold when she saw Vivian at the mirror applying more lipstick.
Natasha washed her hands trying to avoid the other woman’s eyes that watched her through the mirror, with an expression like she was looking at something she found distasteful.
“You know you won’t be able to keep him don’t you?” Vivian finally said. “Eric’s never been any good at commitment and let’s face it, you’re not exactly his type. You won’t be able to please him in the bedroom and eventually he’s going to want to come back to me. He used to tell me he loved me and he did appreciate what I could do for him in bed.” Her eyes moved down the length of Natasha and her smile was filled with scorn. “I bet you were a virgin weren’t you?” Her smile becoming smug when she saw Natasha blush. “Do you honestly think he’s going to be happy for very long with a woman of little experience? He’ll get bored, like he always does and then you’re out on your ear. He won’t give a stuff about you or your baby.” Natasha didn’t bother pointing out that she was carrying twins. “Although, I have to give you some credit for getting yourself knocked up and landing him that way.” Vivian gave a harsh sounding laugh. “Eric’s a very sexual man and being stuck with a wife who can’t meet his needs once you have your baby and who looks a wreck from no sleep caring for a newborn, is going to have him running straight back into my arms where he can have a real woman.” She smiled, but the smile didn’t reach the ice cold blue of her eyes. “It’s quite sad really for a man like Eric to be burdened with someone like you. You know I knew though. All that mooning after him, making big puppy dog eyes at your boss. Poor Eric probably felt sorry for you and then I suppose he figured he might as well take what was being so blatantly offered. You would have been a novelty for him, but you’ll never be able to keep him.”
Natasha listened to Vivian, trying not to let the pain of the other woman’s words to show on her face. Could what she was saying be true? She’d often wondered why Eric chose her when she was nothing like the women he was normally attracted to.
She cleared her throat and yet she couldn’t control the shakiness in her tone when she tried to tell Vivian that she was wrong. “Eric loves me.
He wanted to marry me and it had nothing to do with me being pregnant. If he loved you, why did he dump you and get involved with me?”
Vivian simply laughed again. “Eric didn’t dump me, I dumped him. He was getting too possessive. My job has me travelling quite a lot and he got tired of me having to go away a lot. I told you, Eric likes sex and lots of it and if you can’t accommodate his needs, he’ll move on to someone else who can.” She finished applying her lipstick before saying. “I almost feel sorry for you because he’s not going to want you at all soon. I bet he’s already regretting that he married you, but that’s Eric trying to do the right thing. Still, he’s going get more and more restless for more than you can offer him soon and I’ll be waiting. Sex between Eric and I was always very intense, so exciting.” Vivian tipped her head to one side, a small smile on her lips. Natasha could see she was clearly remembering their times together in bed. Her shrewd eyes watched the colour drain from Natasha’s face.
“Eric told you he would imagine he was having sex with me to get through it with you.” Natasha pointed out, but Vivian merely laughed.
“And you believed him? Seriously, what would you expect the man to say? He couldn’t tell you what the sex between us was really like in front of his very pregnant wife now, could he? Like I said, you’re a bit of a novelty for him right now, but I know Eric and I know the kind of woman that turns him on and it’s not you. I have no doubt that he’ll come running back to my bed as soon as realises he’s bored with you.” Her lips curled up in a smile that clearly showed that she knew she was getting to Natasha. “I need to get back to my lover. He’s probably getting impatient. The man is so insatiable.” She said, rolling her eyes like she was sharing a secret with a girlfriend and not being the woman who was tearing Natasha apart emotionally. “Good luck with Eric. You’re going to need it.” And with that, she walked out of the restroom, leaving Natasha close to tears.
On shaky legs she returned to their table and she could see the concern on Eric’s face. “Are you ok baby? You were gone so long. Are you sick?”
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