by April Lust
Amelia shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I really didn’t.”
“Why not?” Aubrey asked. “I mean, I never really thought about it...but clearly you’re into some guys, so what was the deal?”
“It was probably because I always figured I’d end up with a politician, so that’s what I usually went for. And actually, I didn’t even go for them, I just settled for them. It turns out I prefer guys with calluses, scruff, and leather jackets.”
“What woman with good vision doesn’t?” Aubrey asked with a grin. “So, tell me more about him. All I know is his name and that he got you pregnant.”
“He’s thirty years old and he--”
“Cut to the chase,” Aubrey cut in. “We both know what I’m asking is whether or not he’s good in bed.”
“Aubrey!”
Aubrey grinned unrepentantly. “I mean, I’m going to assume he is, but come on. Wenever do this.”
“This, what?”
“The girly talk about sex.”
“Before Ethan, there wasn’t much for me to say,” Amelia protested.
“And now you’re twenty-three and you finally have some experience so spill!” Aubrey ordered. “You only have to say as much as you want, but you’ve got to give me something.”
“He’s amazing,” Amelia said.
“Okay, I lied. You have to give me a little more than that.”
Amelia felt her face flush hot. “Well...um...he’s got stamina and imagination and he’s bigger than average.”
Aubrey laughed. “There we go!”
“He’s good out of bed, too,” she went on, getting into the spirit of the thing. “He brings fries home every night because I’m craving them like crazy lately. He also got rid of all the mustard in the house because for some reason the sight of it makes me want to hurl. And he’s so tall, Aubrey. So damn tall.”
“Very nice, indeed,” Aubrey allowed. “You’ll give me more of the story when I’m there, right? Because I love the fact that he’s tall and hot and sweet, I really do, but I still have no idea how this happened and I need more information because I want to help.”
“I will,” Amelia promised. She chewed her thumbnail, feeling guilty for ever doubting her friend. “Aubrey...I really am sorry. I should have told you.”
“Hey,” she answered seriously. “You don’t have to tell me anything, Amelia. Despite the conversation we just had,” she said, flashing that dimple before growing serious again. “I just want you to know I’m here. I feel like you could have used me over the past few months. You’ll probably need me even more once you really get into all of the baby stuff. Have you gotten an ultrasound? Found a gyno? How’s your insurance?”
Amelia stared at Aubrey blankly and her friend laughed. “See?This is why I’m here. Helping women plan this stuff is literally my job.”
Amelia wiped away sudden grateful tears. “Thanks, Aubrey. It really means a lot to me.”
Aubrey grinned. “I’m not going to comment on the hormone-induced tears either, because that’s how good of a friend I am.”
They were both laughing as they ended the call. Amelia took a long moment to simply be grateful to her friend before she tackled the baby supply list once more. She felt like she could face it now.
# # #
When her phone rang again later in the day, Amelia paused, looking at the name on the screen. Her first instinct was to ignore it and finish finalizing the list she’d completed earlier. Then she reached out, picked up the phone, and answered that call, too. After the conversation with Aubrey and knowing Ethan was on his way home, she was probably never going to feel much stronger than she did now. And it was time to have this conversation.
“Hello, Anthony,” she said.
“Amelia,” he answered, clearly caught by surprise. “I didn’t actually expect you to answer.”
“Then why call?” she asked bluntly.
He paused and she imagined him gathering his thoughts. He wasn’t used to people challenging him. Too bad.
“Mainly because your father keeps calling me and asking me to do it. He said you’re back together with that biker guy. The one who got you pregnant.”
“I wouldn’t say we’re back together.” For that matter, she wasn’t sure she and Ethan had ever been together. They’d been sharing a bed for a week now, but she’d been too worried to try to define the relationship with him. But Anthony didn’t need to know any of that. “It’s a little more complicated than that at this point.”
“Then why aren’t we going out anymore? You’ve shown up in the press. At the moment, it’s just little gossip column things about us not being together, but we both know it will get out of hand when they find out you’re pregnant. They’ll be easy enough to get rid of if we’re seen together soon. We’ll just say it’s my baby.”
She pulled the phone away from her ear so he couldn’t hear her snort. Easy as pie, just cut her child’s father out of her life. And in his world, it was that simple. Amazing that it had been her world, too. “And that’s the whole point to you, isn’t it? To be seen together? Is that really the only reason you called?”
“There’s no sense in getting emotional,” he said, already sounding distracted and bored with the conversation. She wondered who he wanted to be texting at the moment. “You always knew what this was, Amelia. Don’t act like it’s a surprise now.”
“I was aware our parents set us up, but I wasn’t sure how you felt about it,” she said honestly. “If it was just for show, I would have appreciated us all being on the same page.”
“I can understand that,” Anthony said negligently. “Your father didn’t want you to know because he was afraid you’d run off if you understood that our relationship wasn’t real. And I guess he was right.”
“Why don’t you lay it all out for me?” she asked, trying to slow her breathing down. Anger was flooding through her, making her breathing ragged. She didn’t want him to know he was upsetting her.
“Okay. It doesn’t bother me to be seen out with you. You’re not my type, but I think this could be beneficial for us both. I won’t ever question you about who you fuck or where you go as long as you keep it out of the public eye. My dad owed yours a favor. He wants the debt paid; I want him off my back about my sex life. Is that clear enough for you to understand?”
Amelia blinked. “Oh.” It had been abundantly clear that she wasn’t Anthony’s type, but she hadn’t known that Governor Barlow owed her father a favor. “So you didn’t ever plan for us to be...together?”
“God, no,” he said quickly. “I never planned to have a... for lack of a better term... real relationship with you. And, as I said before, I’m not going to expect you to stay faithful to me either. You can have other relationships if you want. Not that Ethan guy, because that’s probably already too public...but other relationships. That would be fine with me.”
Amelia laughed bitterly. “You really think I would do that, Anthony?”
“I don’t see why not. You said you weren’t exactly back together.”
“That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t allow him to be in his child’s life!”
“Oh, so you decided to keep it.” He didn’t sound the least bit interested in that either. “I really don’t understand why you would. I told you the tabloids haven’t gotten hold of that information yet.”
She heard the door open and watched as Ethan walked in. He stayed quiet when he saw that she was on the phone, but she could see the curiosity in his eyes. Oddly, seeing him calmed her down.
“Yes, I have,” she answered Anthony. “And you don’t need to worry. I’ll be sending your ring back as soon as I can.”
“I guess it’s your mistake to make, Amelia.”
“No,” she corrected firmly. “It’s my decision. And it’s already been made.”
“You know,” Anthony said, sounding really annoyed for the first time, “you don’t have to sound so happy about this.”
“I’m just relieved to know you didn’
t want to go to bed with me any more than I wanted to go to bed with you,” she said, happy to let him have a taste of his own medicine. “Good luck finding someone who wants a political partnership with you.” She hung up before he could reply.
Ethan stood leaning against the doorframe. “I guess that was Anthony. Unless you had some other guys on the line that I didn’t know about.”
Amelia stood and they walked into the kitchen together. “Yeah, that was Anthony. I’m going to be sending his ring back as soon as I figure out how.”
“Okay,” Ethan said carefully. “How do you...you know...feel about that?”
“I was supposed to marry him,” Amelia said helplessly. Now that the conversation was over, she realized exactly what she’d done. One more bridge back to her old life, and her father’s approval, burned. “But it’s not like we loved each other. And I’m having a baby with a different man.” She spread her hands. “I’m not sure how to feel, to be honest.”
“Well....” Ethan said slowly. “Since we’re the ones having the baby, you could always marry me.”
She stopped and stared at him in wide-eyed shock. A part of her was screaming with excitement, jumping up and down, relieved and exalted. Another part was frozen, waiting for him to say that more than duty had prompted his proposal.
But he didn’t. He didn’t say anything else; he just watched her. The silence filled the small kitchen until she felt it pressing in on her ears.
“I... I don’t...” she finally stammered out. “I don’t have any idea what to say to that right now. We...we hardly even really know each other.” And that had just occurred to her somehow. Her mind was suddenly spinning with all the things that she didn’t know about him. How could she marry him? On the other hand, how could she not?
Ethan held up a hand. “It’s fine. You’ve got time; there’s no pressure. Just think about it. Meanwhile, do you want to go down to HQ with me tomorrow? I’d like to show you around.”
“HQ?” Amelia was still too thrown from the fact that he’d proposed as casually as he asked her if she wanted pizza to think clearly.
“Headquarters,” he said with half smile.
“Oh!” She rubbed her temples, trying to get herself together. “I’d love to...oh, wait,” she interrupted herself. “I actually can’t. My friend is coming up.” Then she realized she hadn’t actually asked Ethan how he felt about meeting Aubrey yet. She didn’t want to make plans for him. Not when she wasn’t sure what they were. “Um, she wants to meet you, by the way.”
“When’s she coming up?”
“She’s driving up from Texas in the morning,” Amelia answered. “It’s about eight hours away, so she probably won’t be in until around five. She’s not exactly an early riser.”
Ethan nodded. “Sounds fine to me. And we’ll have time to go to HQ before if you’re into it.”
“Don’t you have to go to work tomorrow?” She hardly saw Ethan with the amount of overtime he’d been putting in. And from the list of baby necessities, she wasn’t about to complain.
“Not tomorrow,” he said. “I wrangled the day off.”
She batted her eyelashes at him. “Just to show little old me around?” she drawled in her best attempt at his slight accent.
“The accent needs work,” Ethan informed her. “But yeah, basically. I thought you might want to see what I do when I’m not at work.”
She put her arms around him. “I’d like that a lot.”
Chapter 20
Ethan
“So, this is it,” Ethan said the next day. “The Angel’s Keepers’ headquarters. What do you think?”
Amelia looked at the building. It was a brick and metal building, slightly on the small side and pretty unassuming. Not exactly where you would expect supposed drug dealing sex traffickers to hang out. She’d expected more neon, given the type of bar she’d met him in.
“Is there anyone here now?” she asked as he held the door open for her. She wasn’t sure she was ready to meet a bunch of people.
“Probably not,” Ethan answered, not bothering to tell her that was a big reason he’d picked this particular time to show her around. “Most of the guys are either at work right now or they’re getting ready to go to bed.”
Amelia gave him a questioning look. “Getting ready to go to bed? It’s nine in the morning.”
“A few of the guys work nights,” Ethan explained. “Well, lay it on me. What do you think of the place?”
Amelia looked around, struggling for something to say. “Well...it looks...it looks...nice.”
Ethan quirked an eyebrow. Amelia raised her hands in a defensive sort of surrender.
“I’m sorry!” she said. “I’m just kind of thrown by all of this, actually.”
“Why?”
“Because it all looks so normal! I expected...”
“Hookers and blow?” Ethan supplied when she trailed off. “That’s the next room. I’m glad you don’t mind.” He couldn’t help but chuckle with her eyes darted to the closed door to their right. “I’m just teasin’ you, baby. That’s just the garage.”
“What’re all the papers on the desk?”
Ethan glanced over. “Tax forms, membership roster, dues paid and owed, a sheet telling me just how fucked we are money wise, other bullshit like that.”
“It all sounds so legitimate.”
He raised an eyebrow. “That’s probably because it is.”
She flushed. “I didn’t mean it that way. I knew it was different from what my father said it would be. But I guess I thought it might be more...I don’t know...”
Ethan gave her a slow grin. “A little more dangerous?” he supplied. “Did you picture motorcycle outlaws riding the desert, taking what we want? Whiskey and women and wild ways? That kind of thing?”
“Sort of,” she said, raising her chin defiantly when he walked closer. “That’s how it always looks on television. Maybe this life isn’t going to be as exciting as I thought. You’re going to have to step this up.”
“I don’t think now’s the best time to start dealing,” he said, brushing his knuckles over her stomach as his mouth curved. “Maybe I’ll wait ‘til after the baby’s born to join the one percenters.”
His mouth closed over hers deliciously. Her head was spinning when he drew back, and she gripped the front of his vest to keep her balance.
“I could get you a leather jacket and put one of those ‘property of’ patches,” he teased. “What do you think? Good way to let everyone know that you’re mine.”
She smacked him in the center of the chest. “I’ll wear one if you wear one, too,” she challenged, making him laugh.
“Want to see my other baby?” he asked, linking his fingers through hers and pulling her out to the garage before she could say yes or no. “You’re really gonna love this.”
A very rusty bike sat on a ripped and stained tarp in the corner. Amelia’s gaze slid right past it as she looked for something that would make Ethan that happy. He slid his arm around her waist and pulled her in against his side.
“Isn’t she beautiful?” he asked.
“What?” Amelia asked in confusion. “Who?”
“The bike,” Ethan said, sounding confused too. “Right there.”
“That...does it even run?” It didn’t look like it possibly could. At least, not without falling apart completely.
“Not yet.” He walked closer, touching the bike as gently as a surgeon would if he were performing brain surgery. “But, baby, she’s gonna purr like a kitten when I’m done.”
“Where do you even start?” she asked, still amazed at the idea of taking something that broken down and actually riding it at some point.
Ethan sighed heavily. He’d hardly gotten anything done. “With a lot of patience,” he admitted. “Actually, I’m thinking of moving her back to our--the house. I’d have more time to work on her there. Do you care if I pack some stuff up before I show you the rest of the place?”
She liked the
idea of him being around more in the evenings. She liked his slip of the tongue even more. “No, go ahead. Is it all right if I wander around while you work, though?”
“Yeah, go for it.”
She walked back into the main part of the headquarters and over to the glass case she’d noticed when they first came in. There was a black leather jacket inside it. It was hanging so the back of the jacket faced out. She saw The Angel’s Keepers’ patches. Colors, she corrected herself. Ethan had called them colors. Then she noticed the name. Marcus Billings.
This was Ethan’s dad’s jacket. There were other things in the case, as well, a belt buckle rested on one of the small shelves inside and there were a few articles and things in frames. Her gaze kept returning to the jacket, though. The leather looked soft from wear, especially at the wrists and collar. He must have practically lived in the thing. Did Ethan wear his own jacket that much? He usually wore a vest, but it was still summer. Maybe he had a butter soft leather jacket of his own in a closet somewhere.