by Teagan Amici
Gorgeous Green Eyes
First published 2019
Copyright © Teagan Amici 2019
No parts of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Under no circumstances may any part of this book be photocopied for resale.
This is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and situations within its pages and places or persons, living or dead, is unintentional and co-incidental.
Chapter 1
I couldn’t believe it. It was too good to be true. I know people said if things were too good to be true, then they probably weren’t, but this just had to be. I knew when I met Diane she was a friendly person, which was probably why I started telling her my personal story just after meeting her, but there had been something about her that had just made me want to confide in her. Now she had just presented me with the solution to my prayers.
I looked around the bathroom as I sat on the toilet. A little bit dated, but serviceable. I suppose that this house was old enough that it had probably once had an outside toilet, but this bathroom look like it had been modernised at some point, most likely in the 1980s judging by the colour and style of the bathroom fittings. I sat there, annoyed at how the pregnancy was messing with my body. Was I finished peeing, or would I want to go again as soon as I got up? That happened far too often for comfort, and I was so over it.
After making a decision, I stood in front of the mirror while I washed my hands. I could see myself living in this house. I had already walked through all the rooms, and although basic, I would have the place all to myself, at least until the baby was born. At the moment I was sleeping in one room at my father’s house, squashed in with my personal possessions, and all the baby things. It would be impossible to function in there once the baby was born, but my father and his second wife couldn’t spare any more room, and I hadn’t been able to find anything else. Now my new friend had offered me this house, at a discounted rent, and I could move in as soon as I wanted. I made my way back down the hallway to the kitchen, smiling to myself while thinking of Diane’s peculiar arrangement. I had only found out today that she had two partners, and that none of them knew which one had fathered the baby that Diane was carrying, and even more strangely, none of them cared. I shuddered at the thought of having had two boyfriends as bad as Darren. My mood soured as I thought of him, and I braced myself before entering the kitchen. Neither Cole nor Bram seemed anything like Darren, but I still could not imagine myself sleeping with two men at once. Although if either of them was as good looking as Diane’s partners, maybe I could be tempted. I smirked to myself before I entered the kitchen, thinking to myself that even if I did meet someone as yummy looking and as nice as either of the two men in there, they wouldn’t look twice at someone like me, heavily pregnant and slightly puffy because of it. Just in that split second before I walked through the door, I registered that there was an unfamiliar male voice speaking, so I was a little hesitant as I entered.
Whoever he was, he stopped talking as I entered, seeming to pause before he turned to look at me. His gaze was so intense that it halted me where I stood, and I stared back at him, taking a breath as I took him in. He was stunning. He looked very like Cole, but with shorter hair, and his intense green eyes held mine like they were magnetised.
I looked to Diane for an explanation, and she introduced him as Blair, Cole’s brother. She said something else, but I didn’t take it in, my brain was whirling as I took a seat, easing my frame in, suddenly feeling twice as big and four times as frumpy. I realised that Diane was speaking to me, and stared at her, trying to concentrate on what she was saying, so that everyone in the room didn’t realise that I was fixating on Blair. I registered that Diane was saying something about me moving in straight away, and I agreed hastily, trying to speak normally, and I think I must have succeeded as Diane continued making arrangements. When Diane asked what bedroom I wanted, I said I would take the biggest room, so that I would have space to have the baby with me of a night if I wanted to. I excused myself to call Dad, stepping back into the hallway for some privacy, and wanting to try to get my breathing under control, and was annoyed that Dad was so happy that I was planning to move out on an impulse. He could at least have pretended that he was concerned about me or his grandchild! I took a breath and plastered on a smile before turning back to the kitchen, realising from the compassionate look on Diane’s face that she must have overheard my part of the conversation. It had obviously been too brief and I hadn’t had to do any convincing, so my situation was obvious. But Diane, bless her, powered on as if nothing was out of the ordinary, and as the three men started down the hallway to reorganise furniture, I moved to help Diane pack the personal mementos from the crystal cabinet that she had wanted to keep. As we worked, we chatted a little about how Diane and Josie had got on so well, and how Josie had made her disapproval of her own grandson so plain by leaving the house to Diane, then after a while I tried to nonchalantly turn the conversation to Blair. I don’t think I fooled Diane, but she played along anyway.
“Blair and Cole look very alike, don’t they?”
“Yes, they do, the family resemblance is quite strong there”.
“So who is older, they look the same age, but they aren’t twins are they?”
Diane laughed as she answered.
“No, Cole is a little older, but you wouldn’t know it would you?”
“Are you sure it’s ok for me to move in tonight? You must be getting tired, and it’s a long way home for you, isn’t it? What about Blair, does he live far from you? I’d hate to think I was inconveniencing anyone, especially if he has to get up early tomorrow to go to work, or take his children to school or something”.
Diane didn’t answer me for a while, so I glanced up at her to find that she had paused, hands full of bubblewrap and a crystal figurine, and was looking at me with a secret little smile on her face.
“Well, Lesley, you can sleep easy tonight. Blair is helping us on our project house at the moment, so it’s not like he will get in trouble with the boss for showing up late or anything like that”. Diane paused for a while, and I realised she was deliberately drawing out her answer, and I inwardly cursed her, at the same time realising that I must have been way too obvious with my questions. She finished wrapping the figurine and put it down before looking at me as she kept speaking. “And no, he doesn’t have to take kids to school. He’s not married or in a relationship, and unless he is very good at hiding things, doesn’t have any children, so rest easy on that score”.
We kept working, and chatted idly, but I didn’t ask any more questions about Blair, although I did find myself listening for his voice among the male voices I could hear discussing what piece of furniture would go where.
When we were done, Diane got up easily as she wasn’t even showing yet, but I struggled, reaching up to accept the hand that Diane offered. Diane pulled a little hard, and I stumbled a little as I got to my feet, and we fell against each other laughing at how our tummies could get in the way of the most simple tasks, and were still standing there, giggling and wiping the tears from our eyes when Cole and Bram came back into the room to pick up the crystal cabinet before moving it out to their truck.
Chapter 2
I had to force myself
to breathe evenly as I drove to Dad’s house, looking in the rear vision mirror at the headlights just behind my car. Diane had gone home with Bram in their truck, leaving Blair and Cole to follow me to my house to collect my things. I was steeling myself for when we arrived at the house, feeling embarrassed for them to see the space I was living in. Well, I wasn’t particularly embarrassed by what Cole thought, but I was proud enough to not want Blair to see how reliant I was on the help of family that didn’t really want me.
I pulled up at the front of the house, and waddled up the front path as fast as I could, hoping to lead them straight past everyone in the house to my room. I laughed mirthlessly as I thought of the idea of sneaking Blair into my room. Maybe as a teenager that would have been a dream I could have indulged myself in, but now? I opened the door, and turned to find that both men were just behind me, causing me to jump a little.
“How did you both do that? I didn’t even hear the car doors close, I had no idea you were both there!”
Blair’s mouth opened, he was obviously going to answer, but Dad must have heard me, it’s not as if I had been speaking quietly.
“Lesley? Are you here already? Who are these two?”
“Dad, this is Cole, he’s Diane’s partner, remember me telling you about my friend who is letting me rent her house? This is Blair, he’s Cole’s brother, they’re going to move my stuff to the house so I can be out of your hair tonight”.
“There’s no rush, Lesley, you don’t have to go tonight you know. You could think about this you know”, Dad said, staring at Blair. I turned to see Blair watching Dad, his eyes narrowed slightly. I turned back to Dad.
“Dad, I’ve got to work tomorrow. I want to get my stuff moved over now, so that I can take my time sorting things out”.
“Didn’t your boss set you up to work from home most days? What’s the rush?”
“I can work from home Dad, but I could get a lot more work done if I’m in my own place. I know you’ve helped me out a lot, but I also know I’m in your way, and it’s hard for me to concentrate with other people in the house. I don’t want my privileges withdrawn, not with the baby due so soon. I’m moving in tonight, you seemed alright with it when I called you earlier, so why have you changed your mind?”
“Just a minute”, Dad said to Blair and Cole before none too gently grabbing my arm and pulling me into the lounge room, which was just off the hallway, and where my stepmother sat, obviously listening to what had been going on. Dad turned to me and hissed in a low tone. “Have you got a new boyfriend? Is that how you can afford a place of your own all of a sudden?”
I shrugged my arm free, and turned to Dad, putting my hands on my hips and whispering as loudly as I dared.
“Oh, come on, is that what this sudden concern is about? If you had listened to anything I’ve been saying, I can afford to rent a place on my own, I earn a good salary, but whenever anyone does a credit check on me it comes back unsatisfactory because of Darren. Diane is my friend and doesn’t care about my credit rating, she’s giving me an opportunity that I’m not likely to get from anyone else in the near future. Not that it’s any of your business whether I have a new boyfriend or not, but seriously?” I queried while pointing at my rounded belly before stalking out in a huff, indicating to Blair and Cole, who were standing around looking quite uncomfortable, which way it was to my room.
Shortly afterward, we had everything I needed either loaded into the rear of the ute, or packed into my car. All I had taken from the house I had shared with Darren was my clothes. He had refused to let me take anything else, claiming that as I had cheated on him, I didn’t deserve anything from our relationship. I had been too shocked to argue, and had left, leaving behind all our furniture, kitchenwares and linens. I had regretted it later, but hadn’t wanted to go back, not wanting to have to deal with him. I rubbed my belly as I thought of my daughter, the one that Darren had insisted wasn’t his, and had wanted me to abort. He had been so wrong, both by calling me a cheat, and by thinking that I would choose him over my baby. I had long since ceased to think of it as “our” baby as Darren had wanted nothing to do with it or me. It was mine. She was mine. Needing to be careful with my money, I had found out the gender of the baby during a scan, so that I could buy what I needed without wondering if it would be suitable. Since moving to Dad’s, I had bought some basic baby things, but hadn’t taken any of the ready to assemble furniture out of the boxes, not having any space. At least that made it easier to move.
When we arrived back at my new house, I found myself being very gently shepherded into the kitchen and instructed to take a seat while all the unloading was done. At my protests, I was told to make hot drinks, there should still be milk in the fridge that had been left there earlier that day, and that I was not allowed to lift anything. I bustled about the kitchen, both annoyed and amused that I was being bossed around in my own house, but appreciating that it was done out of concern for my wellbeing, and went in search of the men when the drinks were ready. To my surprise, they were locking up the cars.
“Are you done already? Have I been in a time warp or something? How can you have carried that stuff in so quickly?”
Blair smiled at me while flexing his arm, squeezing his bicep with the other hand.
“We could have been finished more quickly, but Cole just couldn’t keep up”.
Cole lightly slapped the back of Blair’s head as he stepped up to me, dropping the keys to my car into my hand.
“Don’t pay attention to this clown. Is the tea ready? Lovely.” Cole made sure I was sitting before sitting down and taking a big sip. He looked at me over the rim. “Don’t even think about putting anything together or unpacking anything, or Diane will have my balls. If you’re happy to take your clothes out of the cases in your room, I’ll shift them to the spare room for storage. Blair said he’ll come over tomorrow with a friend to move some furniture around, and to assemble all the nursery furniture, so don’t try to lift anything. If you want to assemble it yourself, I understand that, but at least wait for Blair to open the boxes and take the pieces out, ok?”
I glanced at Blair, shocked to find him looking at me. I nodded my agreement at Cole, and shortly afterwards they left, after moving my suitcases as they had promised. When they had left I had been sorting out baby clothes, exclaiming at how lucky I was, and how it was now going to be fun preparing for the baby without worrying about anything now. After locking the door behind them, I felt suddenly tired and walked to my room, groaning at the sight of the clothes on the bed. I had just roughly grabbed everything out of the cases to empty them before they were moved, and would now have to sort them out before I could go to sleep. I was going to use Josie’s bed and chest of drawers for now, and would look at getting some furniture of my own when the time was right. I smiled as I ran a hand over the pillows on the bed, recognising that the bed had been freshly made, and wondered who I had to thank for that. It must have been one of the men, as Diane was with me when we were here before. My hand stilled as I wondered if it had been Blair. The thought that Blair might have been touching the sheets and pillows that I would soon be sleeping on had me lifting a pillow to my face and smelling it, wondering if I could smell him. I realised what I was doing and dropped the pillow, shaking my head at the thought that I must be suffering from advanced baby brain. How could I even think of a man that way when I couldn’t even see my feet anymore?
Chapter 3
“Who’s that?” I grumbled as I woke up to the sound of loud knocking. It took me a moment to remember where I was, then I gasped as I remembered what had happened yesterday. I struggled out of bed, and pulled on a wrap before waddling to the door. I opened the door, my mouth falling open in dismay when I saw Blair and another man standing outside, paper bags in hand. Blair stared at me, a scowl on his face, before he spoke.
“You didn’t even ask who it was on the other side of the door, Lesley. We could have been anyone”.
“Sorry, but what time is it? I
had the alarm on my phone set, I must have slept through it”.
“Never mind old Grouchy, here, he has no manners. If he had, he would have called before we arrived, I told him we should. The name’s Art by the way. Is it ok if we come in while the coffee is still hot?”
I stepped back, and as the men walked to the kitchen, I scurried to my room to put on some clothes and brush my hair. I quickly brushed my teeth in the bathroom before entering the kitchen.
“What’s all this?” I asked, seeing food laid out on the table, takeaway coffee cups also in evidence.
“First, let me apologise, Lesley”, Blair began, “You don’t have a peephole on the door and I was rude. We’ll put in a peephole before we leave. I should have called as Art suggested, we came over early so that we could get ahead of some of the traffic, so we brought breakfast in case you hadn’t had any. But it’s just gone seven and we obviously woke you up. I didn’t know what time you were starting work today, so I wanted to get some directions from you without getting in your way”.
“A peephole? Well, ok, so long as Diane won’t mind if you drill a hole in the door? You shouldn’t have to pay for it though, tell me how much it is and I’ll reimburse you”.
A grin spread across Blair’s face.
“No worries, I’ll get the money back from Diane, she’s your landlord remember. Now sit down and eat, then you can do whatever you have to do, and we’ll get to work”.
As we ate, I found Art to be a good conversationalist, but Blair seemed to be very broody, not speaking much. Even though he didn’t speak, he did take note of everything I ate, and kept trying to put more food in my way. Finally I had to shake my head and push away from the table.
“I don’t know where you are putting it all, Blair, and Art, but I can’t eat another thing”.
“But you’re eating for two…”
“Horse shit!” I exclaimed. “I’m sick of hearing that old one. I only need to eat more than before I was pregnant, I don’t need twice as much or I’m going to have trouble afterwards getting all the baby weight off. As it is, I’ve eaten more than I should have, and I’m feeling a little seedy because of it”.