Blue Lines: The Assassins Series: A Loveswept Contemporary Romance

by Toni Aleo

  “Nah, just wanted to make you jump. Why are you standing out here alone?”

  Erik let out a breath. “Thinking.”

  “About?”

  “Piper,” Erik said honestly, with a sideways glance at Jakob.

  Jakob nodded as he looked down at the ground.

  “They talked yesterday. Harper said that you guys missed the appointment to find out what you’re having.”

  Erik nodded. “I forgot.”

  “Oh God. Are you stupid?”

  “Yeah, basically,” Erik answered with a shrug of his shoulders.

  “Harper didn’t tell me that. She just said that you guys are waiting until the baby is born.”

  Erik shook his head, looking over at his big brother. “Nah, man, I fucked up. I missed the appointment and now the office is booked until after the baby comes. I even tried to get us another appointment at another office but no luck.”

  “Wow.”

  “Yeah, I suck.”

  “Yeah, you do. Was she mad?”

  Erik laughed as he nodded. “She broke my TV and Xbox and now won’t talk to me.”

  Jakob shook his head. “I don’t blame her.”

  Erik dropped his head at the sound of disappointment in Jakob’s voice. It was bad enough that he felt like a jackass for what happened, but it didn’t help to hear Jakob’s disapproval as well.

  Clearing his throat, he asked, “How would you fix it?” Jakob grunted, causing Erik to look over at him. “What?”

  “Nothing. It’s just so weird to see you like this. I never thought I’d see the day when you’d care if a woman was mad at you or not. It’s weird.”

  Erik looked away.

  “I get that but are you going to help me?”

  “So this isn’t a sham then, is it? You really care for her. Because honestly, up until now I thought you were full of shit.”

  Erik looked straight into his brother’s eyes and for the first time since marrying Piper, he didn’t lie when he said, “I do.”

  “Okay,” Jakob said with a smirk. “I won’t say anything else about it then. I’m sorry I doubted you.”

  “It’s fine; now help me.”

  Jakob thought for a moment and then clapped his hands together, turning to Erik with a huge grin on his face.

  “When Harper was pregnant with Ally, we had gone to the regular ultrasound at the doctor’s office, but Harper wanted those cool 4D ones, so we called around and everything locally was booked, so we called places in Clarksville. I bet Piper would like to go there since it is close to her parents’ house; you could kill two birds with one stone as the saying goes. The place is literally across the highway from Blake and Rowan’s.”

  Erik nodded as he thought. That was the perfect solution. Why didn’t he think of that? Though he had no clue what 4D was, he was pretty sure it was like an ultrasound, and well he had to give himself points for even trying to reschedule that. With hope, he asked, “Do you have the number?”

  “I do!” Jakob exclaimed, pulling out his phone. Erik shook his head at his overly excited brother as Jakob read him the phone number. Erik called them right there and soon he was on the line with the receptionist. Luckily they had a cancellation the next day and were able to give them an appointment. Erik booked it, getting the biggest 4D package imaginable so that Piper would have all the tests they offered. Not only was he sure that it would make Piper happy; he was excited to know what they were having, too.

  “Booked,” he said with a grin.

  * * *

  Later that day, Erik found Piper standing out by the lakeshore. She had spent most of her time in her room, obviously not wanting to talk to him, or be near him for that matter. This was the perfect time to tell her about the 4D ultrasound. He hated when she was mad at him, and he knew he had to fix it. Not just for himself, but for them and for the baby.

  Shit, when did he start caring about more than just himself?

  Erik started down the hill to where she stood. She was wearing her bright blue bikini, the one he loved because it made not only her ass look great, but her tits, too. She was so beautiful, her hair blowing in the breeze, but when he got closer, he saw that she was still crying.

  Standing beside her he gathered his courage and said, “Can I ask you something?”

  She wouldn’t look at him. She only nodded, so he took in a deep breath and asked, “Are you still mad at me?”

  She didn’t answer him for what seemed like eternity, but then she looked over at him. Her blue eyes locked on his as a lone tear escaped and ran down her beautiful face. He reached over, slowly wiping the tear away with his thumb and was surprised when she didn’t flinch or try to move away.

  “I want to be, but I’m not. I’m more hurt than anything. You knew how much I wanted to know the baby’s gender.”

  “I know, Piper, and I’m so sorry. I couldn’t believe that I forgot about it, either.”

  She looked out at the lake again. He didn’t want to lose this moment. This was the first opportunity he had all day to tell her.

  He pulled up the package he had purchased for her on his phone. He handed it to her, praying to God she didn’t drop it in the lake, and watched as she read the receipt. When her eyes went wide, he smiled. She glanced up at him, her mouth parted as tears gathering in her eyes. But this time he was sure they were happy tears.

  “You made us an appointment for a 4D ultrasound?”

  “I did,” Erik said. “Jakob helped me out a little.”

  “Oh my God,” she said, glancing back down at the phone. “Why didn’t I think of doing this?”

  Erik suggested, “Because you were too busy chopping my TV to bits?”

  Her smile grew and then suddenly she threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly as her legs came up wrapping around his waist. Of course, he was hard within seconds as he held her wet body against his, but he controlled himself, hugging her back. When she pulled away, her face was happily looking down at him. If he tilted her just a bit, he could kiss her, and she would be able to feel his arousal. He could feel her heart hammering in her chest as her eyes deepened in color. His hands rested at the middle of her back, but when she ran her tongue along her lips, his hands tightened, squeezing her as he tried to not kiss her. Everything was already so confusing between them; adding sex in the mix wasn’t going to help anything.

  “Thank you,” she whispered. He wanted to smash his lips to hers, take over her body with his own, but before he could even move, talk, or breathe, she screamed, “Shit!”

  “What?” he asked as she wiggled out of his arms and moved behind him. He turned to find her bending down and fishing his phone out of the water.

  “I dropped your phone. I’m so sorry.” she told him, as she tried to shake it dry. He wanted to be mad, he wanted to shake her because she had ruined everything he owned—but when she looked up at him with worry, all he could do was smile.

  “Ah, it’s no big deal,” he said, taking his soaked phone from her. “I’ll just add it to the list of things you have destroyed over the course of our marriage.”

  And the list was as follows:

  TV.

  Xbox.

  iPhone 5.

  And, the walls around his heart.

  Yup, Erik Titov was in trouble.

  * * *

  Erik was sitting on the couch when Piper came out to sit by him, her Kindle in one hand and a blanket in the other. She was wearing those naughty little black shorts and his old high school hockey shirt. He loved the way the shirt fit her, stretching over her belly and her swollen breasts. His hands shook from the mere need to touch her. Slouched, and leaning back on the couch, he had been setting up the new iPhone and lost his grip on it as it hit him in the face.

  “Ah!” he yelped, picking up the phone, rubbing his nose.

  “What?”

  He looked over to see that she was now cuddled up with her Kindle on her blanketed knees.

  “I smacked myself with my phone.”
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  She giggled. “Way to go, genius.”

  “I’ve seen you do the same thing plenty of times,” he pointed out.

  She stuck her tongue out at him, a playful grin on her face. “Leave me alone. I’m trying to read.”

  Erik sat up and stretched his arms above his head. “I guess I gotta read, too, since someone destroyed my TV.”

  “She had a good reason, I’m sure you remember,” Piper said as he went down the hall.

  Falling back onto the couch with his book and reading glasses, he tucked his toes under her blanket. She drove him insane with the temperature in the house. Piper kept the house as cold as Siberia and then she would cover up with a blanket. How did that make sense?

  Putting his glasses on, he opened his book just as Piper said, “I didn’t know you wore glasses.”

  He looked up and shrugged his shoulders. “Only when I read.”

  “Probably because you’ve messed up your eyes playing Xbox.”

  He blinked a few times and then looked down at his book. “Whatever.”

  Suddenly he looked up when she reached over, lifting his book to see what he was reading.

  “Nuh-uh!”

  Figuring she was balking at his reading Harry Potter, he said, “Don’t hate.”

  Erik had been reading the Harry Potter series for the past year. Ever since he went over to hang out with Lucas and found himself fighting hippogriffs with Lucas’s son, Aiden, he had been hooked on the series.

  “No! I said that because I’m reading the same book!” she said, holding up her Kindle to reveal Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. “I love this book. It’s my favorite. I’ve read it like a hundred times!”

  “Yeah, it’s pretty awesome. This is my first time.”

  She smiled, moving closer to him and looking down at his book before doing something to her Kindle. She looked back up at him and grinned before looking back down at her Kindle. She was leaning against his leg, her knees pulled up to hold her Kindle, and then her sweet mouth began reading the book out loud. She was reading to him. Erik looked down as warmth filled him. He followed along, until the chapter was over and she glanced up at him. “Your turn.”

  He smiled. “I used to do this with Cooper.”

  “I did it with my dad, too.”

  He saw her whole heart in her eyes as that beautiful kiss-me smile came across her lips.

  “Hopefully, you’ll do it with the baby, too. It will be like a tradition.”

  Erik couldn’t look away if he tried; his heart was in his throat as he held her gaze. He swallowed loudly and with a slow nod he said, “I’d love to do that.”

  “Good,” she said, flashing him a bright smile. “Now your turn.”

  Erik couldn’t take his eyes off her. She glanced up at him expectantly, and he started to read the next chapter. They spent the whole night reading to each other, and Erik knew then there was no other place he’d rather be.

  Chapter 14

  “Ready?”

  Piper nodded quickly. “So excited.”

  She could not believe Erik did this for her.

  “Me, too,” Erik said as a cute blonde came toward them with a bright happy smile on her face.

  “Welcome! Do y’all have an appointment?”

  Erik nodded. “Yes, for Piper Titov.”

  Man, Piper loved that name.

  “Yes, I have you down for twelve. Y’all are a tad bit early, so take a look around while we get everything ready.”

  “Thank you,” he said and then he turned to look at Piper. “Let’s sit down?”

  “Sure.” She sat down, crossed her legs, and relaxed, taking out her phone to check on her Facebook and other social media as they waited. Erik was doing the same, but he looked calm, cool, and collected while she felt crazed. What if they did the ultrasound and the baby grew eight legs like Mrs. Octopus? What if it wasn’t breathing, or had another baby coming out of its belly? What if her wish to have a dog was true and the baby had a tail? Okay, it was all really silly, but she was beginning to worry. What if the baby was not normal?

  She didn’t realize she was bouncing her knee until Erik’s hand rested on it.

  “Your leg is doing crazy things.”

  A smile pulled at her lips as she said, “What if there is something wrong?”

  “That won’t happen.”

  “We don’t know that!” she squealed, then quickly covered her mouth.

  “For the love of God, Piper, you are making me nervous,” Erik said, shaking his head and picking up a parenting magazine. “Everything will be fine.”

  Piper nodded slowly. He was right—she was freaking out for no damn reason. The doctor already said the baby was healthy; the only reason they were there was to find out if the baby was a boy or girl, and to see its little baby face. Everything was going to be okay.

  Piper looked over and saw a flyer for Lamaze classes. Picking it up, she said, “Oh, I gotta sign up for this; remind me to do that before we leave.”

  Erik looked over and calmly took the flyer from her.

  “Lamaze? What is that?”

  “Breathing classes, so that you don’t have a heart attack during the birth.”

  Erik nodded. “Okay, cool.”

  She wanted to ask if he would go with her but she was afraid that would scare him or he would say no, so she tucked the flyer in her purse. She would ask Reese to go. Looking down at her phone, she let out a long breath as she decided if she wanted to text Reese or not. Maybe she should try to get Erik to go with her.

  “Make sure to do the Wednesday class. I don’t have training camp on Wednesdays, so I can go.”

  Piper looked up quickly to find him looking through a magazine as if he hadn’t just made her the happiest pregnant girl in the world. Tears sprang to her eyes as she watched his beautiful profile. She wanted to kiss him and tell him she was going to love him forever, but instead she said, “Really?”

  “Yeah, I want to be there. I might need to know that stuff,” he said, glancing over at her. When he locked eyes with hers, he said, “What? Did you think I would miss it?”

  “I didn’t think you’d want to go.”

  “Oh, well, I’m going. That’s intense stuff. I don’t want you to die. Listen, Piper, I know you won’t believe me but I had every intention to be at the first ultrasound appointment. I just totally forgot until me and Phillip got talking—seriously, you’ve got to know I wanted to be part of this since then.”

  She was going to devour him in the middle of the clinic. He gave her a weird look and was about to say something but she interrupted him by leaning toward him, placing her lips to the side of his mouth. He took in a sharp breath as she closed her eyes tight, her lips lingering against his hot lips. Piper opened her eyes slowly when she felt his hand on her cheek. She pulled away to see that his face was full of confusion and tenderness as his eyes searched hers.

  Moving his thumb along her cheek, he caught some of her tears as he asked, “Why are you crying?”

  “Because you are making me very happy right now,” she said without thinking.

  “Piper,” he said slowly, but she shook her head.

  “No, you are, thank you. I wouldn’t want anyone there but you.”

  “It’s just a Lamaze class.”

  She shook her head. “It’s really more than that.”

  They shared another long, heated look until Erik looked away, taking in a deep breath. She felt like he was about to say something but before he could they were being called in for the test. Erik dropped his hand from her face before standing up. Piper did the same and they followed the nurse into the imaging room.

  “Go ahead and lie down; get comfy. Rachel, your tech, will be in soon.”

  “Thank you,” Piper said, climbing up on the table.

  Erik sat in the chair beside her and crossed his leg over his knee. Piper leaned back and took in a deep breath as she tapped her fingers against her belly.

  “Calm down,” Erik said.
“You are making me nervous.”

  Piper glanced over at him and smiled. “I’m so ready for this; thank you again for thinking of this—I didn’t even think of it. Well, even if I did I probably wouldn’t have considered it because of the expense.”

  “You’re welcome but I wanted this, too,” he said with a nod as he looked down at where her hands rested on her belly, fiddling with her wedding band. “You move your ring around a lot. I see you doing it when you draw.”

  Piper nodded. “Yeah, it’s become a habit.”

  “Do you like that ring?”

  Piper held her hand up, looking at the little diamond-encrusted wedding ring as she nodded. “It’s beautiful.”

  “It’s simple.”

  She nodded. “I love that it is simple. I don’t need flashy things.”

  “Maybe you could give it to the baby when it grows up. That would be nice, don’t you think?” he asked, causing the grin that sat on Piper’s face to falter.

  “What?”

  “So they have something from our marriage. I think they would like that. It’s been a good marriage. We’ll leave on good terms.”

  Fucking asshole!

  Piper sat up on her elbows, giving him a dirty look. “Why are you doing that?”

  “Doing what?”

  “Putting up fucking walls. I say you make me happy and all of sudden you need to remind me of your leaving? Do you think I don’t know that and think of it every day? Just stop; it’s annoying.”

  Erik glared as he leaned against his knees. “You think you got me figured out, don’t you?”

  “I do and I don’t like that part of you! There is good in you, so stop trying to hide it.”

  “You don’t know what you are talking about,” he muttered as he sat back, crossing his arms.

  “I don’t?”

  “Hush, the tech will be here soon and I don’t want her to see us arguing.”

  “ ’Cause you know I’m right; you know that you are a good person and your biggest fear is that no one will love you back.”

  Erik shot up out of the chair, his hands out in front of him as he pinned her with a look. “Where the hell did you get that from? Because it is ridiculous; you’re ridiculous.”