by Amber Lynn
He moved so he stood next to Lacey. As if she needed him closer to feel the heat of him.
“I’m more concerned about how Rachel acted than Hannah. I don’t want her to be confused just because she saw you in my bed.”
She spoke in hushed tones as she grabbed some celery and carrots for her plate. With them off to the side, she grabbed the spoon for the macaroni salad and started adding the things Vasily had mentioned. They really didn’t need two plates if she only wanted a small handful of veggies.
Warmth from his hand gracing along and resting on her back made Lacey almost jump. She’d been trying to decide whether to get Vasily a barbecue chicken hot dog or the seafood one. She already had a Philly cheesesteak and a stuffed chili dog. She shrugged and grabbed the chicken. It would’ve been easier to just ask him, but her way was more fun.
“Good choices,” he said, his breath blowing on her ear lobe. “I only picked her up because I asked where you were, and she said she couldn’t see you from across the lawn. It wasn’t meant as anything nefarious.”
Of course, it wasn’t meant that way. He had no idea what the real problem with him carrying around her daughter was.
“Rachel rarely lets people she’s known for years touch her. Brady one time was twirling his kids around in the air while we were over and swooped Rachel up for a spin. I don’t know that I’ve ever heard her scream that loud, and she’s known Brady most of her life.”
While it didn’t surprise Lacey that Vasily had managed to get Rachel to warm up to him, anyone watching would be bewildered. Hannah had gone with it, but Lacey saw the shock in her eyes.
“I don’t know what to say about that. She’s always been happy to see me, and we’ve only spoken maybe fifty words.”
Yeah, and like most warm-blooded females, a smile was probably all it took to win her over. Lacey hated thinking in terms like that, but she had no clue why else Rachel would pick Vasily to be friendly with.
“Just try not to make any promises, okay? I know we’re going to see each other at things like this, so we have to act friendly, but my family is attached to you in ways I’m not comfortable with.”
“What if I want to make some promises?”
Lacey froze at the deep and dangerous words spoken just before Vasily kissed her earlobe. Since she had an oversized scoop of coleslaw hovering over the table, it wasn’t the best time to freeze. But, the idea of the promises those words invoked sent heat rushing through her.
She had no idea how to respond and was saved from trying when she heard Jake’s voice. Even with the intrusion, she wasn’t sure movement would return to her body anytime soon.
“How’s things going over here? It looks like you’re getting your appetite back, Lacey.”
It was a good thing she was already frozen, because mention of her appetite was not a subject she wanted to dive into. No one had guessed her change in diet came from a baby, not since the other women around her became ravenous when they were pregnant.
“Have you been sick?” Vasily asked.
Time for being frozen was over. She had to get out of the mess and find a place across the yard to hide from Vasily. Both were probably impossible, but she had to try.
“Nothing to worry about. And the food is for Vasily. Here you go,” she said, handing the plate to him. “I think I hear someone calling me, so I’ll catch up with you guys later.”
It took everything inside of Lacey not to run from the table. There had to be somewhere to hide but feeling Vasily’s eyes following her as she made her way through the crowd told her he would eventually find her.
Chapter 14
“What are you doing, Ox?”
There was plenty of censure in the question from Jake. Vasily knew that one of the bulldogs would eventually show up. He’d been surprised when Hannah didn’t run him off, but what little luck he had always ran out.
“You’re going to have to be a little more specific, if you want more than I’m eating potato salad for an answer.”
The potato salad was okay, but a little on the salty side. It also seemed to have crab meat in it, which was just wrong.
“You know what I’m talking about. You walked in here with only eyes for her. And I’m not the only one who noticed. The wives may think it’s cute, but they’re only concerned about Lacey’s sex life right now, and apparently they think you can fix a problem there.”
The only problem there was Lacey wasn’t in his bed every night. It had been months since their night together, and Vasily couldn’t get her out of his head. All the want building up inside had finally brought him to the decision that he would bring the topic of a relationship up. He wouldn’t make promises as far as it lasting, but they wouldn’t know if they didn’t try. The not trying was driving him crazy.
“Not that you need to know this information, but I haven’t been with anyone since that night. I’m not playing around with her.”
“Shit,” Jake uttered under his breath.
Best not to say words like that too loud with kids running around everywhere. Plus, Vasily got the feeling that his admission came as a complete surprise. It sure as hell surprised him. Not necessarily him saying the words, but the fact that the words were true.
He hadn’t felt like going to his usual hangouts for a week after being with Lacey. Even at that point, he told himself to go so he could prove the night and his feelings afterward were a fluke.
The fact that he didn’t even want to drink when he showed up at a bar was his first clue it wasn’t. Then, he compared every woman he saw with Lacey, and not even one of them matched up. He was completely lost, and the only way he could figure out to ease the suffering he felt was to see if Lacey wanted to spend more time together.
From the way she bolted as soon as she could, he figured there was an uphill battle in place. It didn’t scare him off. He committed himself for fighting for a chance, and the challenge would make winning that chance even more fun.
“If you want to hit me again, let’s at least find somewhere out of the way for it. We don’t want you scaring the kids or anything.”
“I’ll save my punches for later, but now isn’t a good time for you to spring this idea on her.”
Vasily let the statement hang for a second. When Jake didn’t continue with a damn good reason why, he had to prod for more.
“Telling me that without an explanation isn’t going to stop me.”
Jake sighed and ran a hand through his shaggy hair. Vasily knew he didn’t approve of him, but the hesitation made him think it wasn’t about him. Was there something wrong with Lacey? Kevin hadn’t said anything, and she’d seemed fine. Her skin was a little pale when she first saw him, but a blush quickly fixed that.
“Honestly, I don’t know what’s going on. Rachel’s mentioned Lacey’s been sick and not eating much. Living with someone with an eating disorder has me worried about her. I haven’t noticed her losing weight, but with George going to be back in town in a few weeks, I’m afraid she’s trying to prove something.”
So many things in that statement brought a chill to Vasily’s whole body. He’d known they were playing his old team soon, and he’d made plans for all the ways he’d make George’s life hell on the ice. He’d even thought a little bit about how Lacey would deal with her ex-husband.
He hadn’t thought for a second she’d try to win him back. That wasn’t exactly what Jake said, but his words put the idea in his head.
No. There was no way that would happen. If Jake thought this news would drive Vasily off, he was crazy. It made his path even more concrete.
“She’s not getting anywhere near George.”
Vasily would camp out in her front yard to make sure that didn’t happen. He played back her reaction to him just a few minutes ago and tried to remember any real animosity towards him. That didn’t mean she wasn’t trying something to look good for George, but if she had really tried to push him away, he’d be more concerned. She didn’t want to be happy about seeing him
, but there was confusion more than anger in her eyes.
“No, she’s not. I’m just saying I think there’s a lot on her mind right now. Adding you to the mix, could pour gasoline on the fire.”
The problem with that was he was already in the mix. He’d stayed away from her, but he couldn’t keep it up.
“Or it could solve the problem. I honestly don’t think she’s hung up on George. Kevin told me a couple of weeks ago that George tried to call and talk, but only spoke to Kevin.”
The news had pissed Vasily off, but the fact that Lacey didn’t talk to him calmed him down. With the kids involved, things could get messy. Kevin didn’t seem to know the details of parental rights, but George probably wanted to see them when he was in town. If that was the case, Vasily wanted to be there to strangle the guy, away from the kids’ presence, of course.
“Really? That’s weird. We were sure he had something to do with her keeping everyone at arm’s length the last month or so. Nina had to threaten to drag her by her hair here today.”
Chances were that had to do more with Vasily being there than the rest of them. He’d seen her when he picked Kevin up and dropped him off, but they hadn’t made much conversation. He wanted to change that, but her running off made that a little difficult.
He searched the crowd for her. She had moved quickly and darted between people when she initially left, so he’d lost sight of her. Since it was a party where she probably knew everyone, he decided it was okay not to stare at her the whole time. Not that he didn’t want to, he just didn’t want to come off as a total creep.
Rachel was easy to spot, still with Hannah by the ice cream. She had a cone that looked like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It was three scoops, one dipped in chocolate, one he assumed was cherry and the other one butterscotch. Just the ice cream part was bigger than her whole head. She tilted it from one side to the other, trying to figure out where to start.
Vasily chuckled as he moved on in the crowd looking for her mom. It was his first team barbecue in the new city, and he had to admit, they knew how to do things. Which meant, Nina knew how to do things. He’d heard rumors of her parties in the locker room, but never dreamed how big they’d be.
Along with the massive food options, there was a live band, every inflatable kids’ toy imaginable, and those where just the things Vasily could pick out easily from his location. Vasily didn’t mind hanging out and having a good time, but this was over the top even for him.
“Is that a pony?”
He didn’t mean to ask the question out loud, but his disbelief couldn’t be contained. Unless he was hallucinating, one of Hannah’s kids was on top of said pony being trotted around the party. At least he assumed it was Hannah’s. No one else stood out as having red hair.
“I’m guessing you haven’t seen the petting zoo yet. It’s over on the side of the house. I wouldn’t doubt if there were tigers,” Jake said.
Shaking his head was all Vasily could do. Definitely over the top.
His search for Lacey finally came to an end when he saw her standing over where a group of guys and kids played football. He was surprised there wasn’t an ice rink magically not melting in the eighty-degree air.
Lacey wasn’t paying attention to her surroundings. She appeared deep in thought, and even thirty feet or so away it looked like her lips were moving. Whatever was going on in her head looked frustrating, judging by her scowl. Vasily seemed to see that look often on her, so he figured chances were it had to do with him. Or maybe he just wanted the thought of him to frustrate her.
“Look out,” someone yelled.
Vasily felt the crowd all at once turn to where he was already looking. Lacey’s eyes barely darted up to the voice as a guy barreled into her, knocking her to the ground with his body landing on top of her. Vasily was in motion before they hit the ground.
If it had been one of the kids playing, he would have still been worried. But Benny was a two-hundred-and-thirty-pound man. He was the biggest guy on the team and he had just mowed Lacey down. At the very least the wind would probably be knocked out of her. Knowing it wasn’t that long ago that she’d had broken ribs, Vasily was more worried about her reinjuring them.
By the time he got there, Benny had rolled over, so he didn’t have to throw him off her. He wanted to pick the guy up and punch him for not watching where he was going. It didn’t matter the football two feet away made it clear what he was doing running in that direction.
All that mattered was Lacey lying motionless on the ground gasping for breath with tears in her eyes. When her eyes focused on him, the tears turned into sobs.
“Shh,” he whispered to her as he wiped some unruly hair from her forehead. “Shh. Everything’s going to be okay. Where does it hurt?”
Her lips moved, but she didn’t say anything he could hear. Since her lips continued to move, he leaned in closer to try to hear what she was saying.
“The baby. The baby,” she repeated over and over.
Vasily straightened up and looked at her. Did he really hear her right?
“The.” He couldn’t say the rest of it.
He leaned back a little and looked down at her stomach. Did she land on her back or stomach? She was obviously on her back now, but had she rolled over? If she was pregnant, the way she fell could make a big difference, not to mention the hippopotamus falling on top of her.
If she was pregnant, the baby could be his.
He pushed the thought away as he reached his hand down and caressed her belly. He’d studied every inch of her body the night they shared and instantly he could tell her stomach had a slight curve that wasn’t there before. Jake had said she’d been having issues with food. Was it morning sickness?
He looked back to her face. She looked miserable. It was an angry mix of fear and pain.
“I can’t lose it,” she whispered.
“No, we can’t,” he said quietly, before yelling. “Someone call an ambulance.”
The need to pick her up and rush her to the hospital himself was hard to tamper down. His car was too small for her to be comfortable, and he was worried about moving her.
“It’s yours. Please don’t be mad.”
As if he needed her to tell him. He’d thought it could be his when she mentioned it, but there was no doubt in his mind it was. He hadn’t been thinking clearly that night, and it hadn’t come to him until much later that he hadn’t once considered protection.
The move was so unlike him. Making sure he wasn’t tethered to a woman had been almost an obsession with him. He never took them to his house and he never entered a woman without a condom. With Lacey, he hadn’t taken her home, but he would’ve if she’d been up for it, and he sure as hell didn’t use protection the half a dozen times he made love to her.
“Never, lyubimaya. Everything is going to be okay. We’ll get you to the hospital and have them take a look. Right now, can you tell me if it hurts anywhere specific.”
She wasn’t grabbing at her stomach, which he thought was a good thing, but she also wasn’t moving much at all. Air seemed to be making it to her lungs just fine, so if the wind was ever knocked out of her, it returned quickly. Other than her tears to indicate an issue, he couldn’t register anything hurt. She hadn’t gasped in pain when he’d put his hand on her stomach, which was still there, so he hoped she was just worried.
“It doesn’t feel like before. I’m just scared. I can’t lose it. I’m afraid to even move.”
Her words were scattered amidst cries. Her words and cries were still soft, so you had to be right on top of her to hear them. They were just for him, as far as he was concerned. Sadly, their little bubble of the world couldn’t stay closed forever.
“Is she okay?” Benny asked.
Vasily didn’t look up from Lacey. If he looked at his teammate, there was a good chance he’d have killed him. The world in large was going to have to understand that if you hurt Lacey, you had to answer to him.
“If you’re the praying
sort, I’d start doing it. Because if she isn’t, I can’t promise I won’t beat the hell out of you.”
With his focus on Lacey, he saw her eyes widen, either from his words or the anger in them. Her breath caught before her breathing started rapidly accelerating.
“Shh,” he said again. “You’ll be fine. I’m sure the ambulance is on the way and we’ll get them to check you out.”
He didn’t want to look away from Lacey, but the thought of her kids being in the crowd he felt around them worried him. What were they seeing and thinking? Most of the talk had been soft other than his bark at Benny. If that was all they had to go on, they had to be scared.
Just a quick look showed them around ten feet away with Hannah closest to Rachel and Jake with Kevin. The adults were holding the kids back. He could tell Kevin had been fighting the resistance from the angle of the arm around him. Rachel may have fought some, but the tears streaming down her face said she was scared more than anything.
Undoubtedly, they all were. He gave the girl a half smile, trying to ease some of that worry.
“She’s going to be fine. We just need to let a doctor check her out.”
Since he kept repeating the words to himself in the back of his mind, they flowed easily out of his mouth. Vasily hoped like hell they were true. And if they were, Lacey and he were going to need to have a completely different conversation than the one he had planned.
Chapter 15
There had only been one other time in Lacey’s life that felt even remotely as terrifying as it did lying on the hospital bed as a doctor looked her over. The doctor was still working on a more physical exam, asking if it hurt as she touched different spots.
Nothing did, but it was hard to tell if that was the numbness she felt take over her body once she felt the impact or if it didn’t really hurt. Having Vasily sitting next to her, clutching her hand like a vice made her even more confused. She’d been thinking about how she was going to tell him about the baby when she’d been hit.