Playing in SECRET (Corrigan & Co. Book 9)

by Crystal Perkins

  “Right,” I tell him laughing. We are such nerds.

  * * *

  Blake

  A nurse came and woke me up, to tell me Audrey’s awake, and I’m rushing down the hall to her now. They wouldn’t let me stay in her room, but I was allowed to sleep down the hall in another empty one. I let Jeanne go home with Scott Griffin—maybe meeting his wife and son will stop that damn swooning thing she keeps doing around him. I stop short near the nurse’s desk when I see a man already in there with Audrey, kissing her cheek.

  “Oh God, Caleb Hall is so hot,” one nurse says.

  “I know. I mean he’s a cowboy, and a scientist. Damn, I wish he was on the market. I’d let him experiment on me,” the other one at the desk says.

  “Do you think he’s the father of her baby?” I blurt out, before I can even think about what I’m saying.

  “No,” the first nurse tells me, her eyes widening.

  “I love Audrey, but I wouldn’t share my husband with her.”

  I turn, ready to face the woman who just heard me ask if her husband was sleeping with Audrey. She’s got bright red hair, and a cowboy hat on her head. She’s smiling, so I think I’m going to live to see another day.

  “Sorry about that. I’m Blake.”

  “I’m Tegan, and I know who you are. He’s advocating for you,” she tells me, tilting her chin towards the room.

  “Me? Why would he do that?”

  She looks at the nurses, and then motions me over to the chairs against the far well. Once we sit, she leans towards me, and starts to tell me her story. “When we were sixteen, Caleb and I were in love. And then his friend drugged my drink, and even though I got away before anything could happen, said ‘friend’ told him I had slept with him, and Cal believed him.”

  “That sucks.”

  “Yep. Especially because I had just found out that I was pregnant.”

  “Whoa. That must’ve been hard, getting past him thinking you betrayed him so you could raise your baby.”

  “I didn’t tell him.”

  “You didn’t—what?”

  “I won’t go into details, but he was pretty horrible to me. His friends were even worse. My parents wanted me to have an abortion, and I had no one. I needed Caleb, and he wasn’t there for me. The Society rescued me from the clinic my mom took me to, and I left my small town, and all the names I was being called, and gave my baby and me a fresh start.”

  “How long?”

  “Ethan was ten when they met. He just turned eleven. They met a few months ago.”

  “That’s…I don’t…I can’t imagine not knowing my daughter for twelve years.”

  “I know. Ethan never thought he was missing anything because he had everyone in the Society, plus the Griffins, and other friends to love him and teach him anything he could possibly want to learn. But when he saw Caleb, he needed him. I could see it in his face, and feel it in my heart. He didn’t want to let me down, but he had to know his father.

  “Lots of different people have opinions on what I should regret in my life, but I only regret this one thing. Once I was safe with the Society, I should’ve told Caleb. The only thing I can say in my defense is that I was heartbroken, and scared. Probably a little bitter, too. If Cal’s mom hadn’t asked us to protect him, I don’t know if I ever would’ve taken Ethan back to that town to meet him. That’s something I have to live with, and it hurts. I see the hurt in Caleb’s eyes when he thinks I’m not looking, and although Ethan would never tell me, I know he wishes his dad had been around.”

  “You protected him, and then got married?”

  “No. I protected him, married him, protected him some more—by making people think I was sleeping with his friends without telling him what I was really doing—and then we finally fought hard enough for each other to make it stick. It wasn’t easy, and both of us said and did things we’re ashamed of. We don’t dwell on those things, if we did we’d be over before we even had a chance to start again. We’ve spent the last few months concentrating on the present and the future, and I’ve never been happier.

  “No matter how happy we all are, though, I’ll never fully forgive myself for keeping my boys apart. Audrey would never do that to you. Our situations are different, and she would want you in the baby’s life, even if you aren’t together. You have to know that. I let him go in there, because I think he needed to rally for you since he never had that chance to do it for himself, but she was already going to talk to you.”

  “I believe that. I don’t want to be a part-time parent. I want my baby, but I also want Audrey. All day, every day, I want her.”

  She looks at me and smiles. “I think you mean that. Now you just need to prove it.”

  “I will.”

  Tegan surprises me by giving me a hug, and then I walk to Audrey’s door. Caleb comes out as I go in, and I shake his hand. “Thank you.”

  “She’s a special lady. Treat her right from now on,” he warns me in a smooth voice that carries a Southern accent.

  “I plan to.”

  “Good.”

  I stop inside the room to take Audrey in. She has a bandage on her head, and her hands on her stomach, where a monitor is attached. I can hear our baby’s heartbeat, but it’s Audrey’s smile that I’m focusing on. She’s smiling, and I feel like I just won everything in life. Every. Damn. Thing.

  Chapter 19

  Audrey

  “Hi,” Blake says, standing just inside my hospital room door.

  “Hi.”

  “Can I come in?”

  “Hmm…that question could mean so much more than you want it to.”

  He looks shocked for a minute, but quickly recovers. “I want. Believe me I want. I wasn’t referring to that, but it’s always on the table where you’re concerned.”

  “Always?”

  “Always, and all ways, too.”

  “Come over here so I can kiss you.”

  He doesn’t hesitate, sitting on my bed and letting me have his lips. I know we need to talk, but I’ve missed his mouth. And all of his other wonderful body parts. The Griffin women all joked about being extra horny while they were pregnant, and I totally understand. I may only be a few weeks along, but I feel like an addict who hasn’t had a hit in weeks. I haven’t had Blake in weeks, and I need him, especially after being stuck in that office with Jimmy the other day.

  I move my hands under his t-shirt, and start to pull it off. “Dree, you’re in the hospital.”

  “No I’m in a medical ward in a sublevel of Corrigan & Co. and I want you. Now.”

  “Someone could walk in.”

  “I just had my vitals checked. We have a little time,” I say as I stroke him through his jeans.

  “Fuck.”

  “Exactly.”

  “What the hell, it’s not like I haven’t shown my ass to the world before.”

  “Best movie ever.”

  “It was not even close to being my best movie,” he tells me as he takes his clothes off and gets under my blanket with me.

  “None of the other ones had your ass on full display, so I stand by my original declaration.”

  “Perv.”

  “Says the man who just got naked in a pregnant woman’s hospital bed.”

  “You practically begged.”

  “You’re right. Carry on,” I tell him as he slides his hands under the only piece of clothing I’m wearing.”

  He looks at the I.V. and various wires all over me. “I don’t think we’re going to get this nightie off you.”

  “Can’t you tear it off with your bare hands?”

  “Um, no. I could maybe tear a thong off of you, but even that would be pushing it. I’m not really a superhero, Dree. I just played one once.”

  “Where’s my call button? I’ll ask the nurse to bring us scissors.”

  “I am bare ass naked, and you want to call a nurse?”

  “Hmm, you’re right again, she might try to join in and I’d have to use the scissors to cut her
. Just move the wires out of the way.”

  He’s staring at me like I’m nuts. “I don’t even know what to say to that.”

  “So quit talking, and use your mouth for better things.”

  “Yeah. Good idea. If I think about this conversation anymore, I may feel objectified, rendering me incapable of performing to my best ability.”

  “This is going to be epic,” I tell him, arching my breasts towards his mouth. “And you’ll perform. Little Hollywood loves me.”

  He shakes his head as he lowers it, and takes my nipple in his mouth. That’s more like it. I pull him almost on top of me so I can stroke him without pulling my I.V. out. He’s getting into it, and it’s hot. Until my door opens, that is.

  “Oh my God. You women. You damn women,” Kendrick yells, turning his back to us.

  “That was Blake’s ass you saw, not mine,” I say, pulling my shirt back down. “The whole world’s already seen it, so nothing new.”

  “I have not seen it. I didn’t go to that movie. Why would I have gone to that movie?”

  “To study his anatomy?”

  “Stop, Audrey. Please stop,” Blake begs as he puts his pants back on. “You can turn around now, Doc.”

  “This is just…unacceptable. What if a nurse had walked in?”

  “We wouldn’t have let her join in. I promise.”

  “I think she hit her head too hard, man. She wasn’t like this before.”

  “She’s always been like this,” Kendrick tells Blake, looking at him curiously. “How well do you know her?”

  “Well enough to knock me up.”

  “Oh God. I’m in the Twilight Zone, or there’s a hidden camera, right? It would have to be HBO or Showtime with the nudity, but there has to be a camera in here somewhere.”

  “No cameras, Mr. Armstrong. This is just business as usual here. I’d say you get used to it, but I’ve been here for three months, and I’m still shocked by one of them every single day.”

  “We like to keep you on your toes,” Reina says as she walks in. “What was so disturbing that you needed to call me down here, Ken?”

  “They were about to be intimate when I walked in. That is not proper.”

  “Aud?”

  “We’d barely just started the foreplay. We had at least a few minutes to go before the main event.”

  “Oh God. Is there an escape hatch in here? There has to be, right?” Blake asks Reina, practically pleading with her.

  “It’s fine, Blake. We’re all adults here.”

  “It is not fine,” Kendrick tells her.

  “I explained that you’d be facing some interesting situations if you took this job.”

  “I expected ‘interesting’ to mean injuries and other such things you’d find with a secret spy group.”

  “You’ve had those.”

  “Yes, but this…this…”

  “Sex,” I tell him. “It’s called sex, Kenny. I think you need some. Stat.”

  Reina shoots me a wicked smile before putting on a serious face for Kendrick. “I am truly sorry that Audrey has upset your delicate sensibilities. Blake and I will leave while you examine her.”

  “Wait. Shouldn’t I be here? You know, since I’m the dad?”

  “Yeah. He needs to hold my hand.”

  “As long as that’s all he’s holding, he can stay,” Kendrick tells us.

  I hold out my hand and Blake takes it with a rueful smile. “What have I gotten myself into?”

  “Me. And now we’re having a baby. Buckle up, Hollywood. It’s going to be a bumpy ride with me. Always.”

  * * *

  Blake

  Kendrick checks Audrey’s chart and then checks her vitals, and gives her an exam—you know, the woman kind of exam. He says she’s doing well, and can go home after breakfast. I hold out my hand to thank him, but he just shakes his head. I was using it to hold myself up over Audrey when he walked in, and not doing other things with it, but whatever. He really is uptight.

  “That was awkward,” I say as he walks out.

  “Ready to try again?”

  “Definitely not.”

  “He won’t come back,” she tells me with a pout.

  “No, but he said breakfast will be here any minute.”

  “Can we at least cuddle?”

  “That, we can do,” I say, taking her in my arms as I lie down next to her. “I never realized you were so funny.”

  “There are a lot of things we don’t know about each other.”

  “I know. I was thinking about that while I was waiting for you to wake up. Would you go out with me?”

  “Like 80s ‘going out’ as in dating?”

  “Yes, please. I want to get to know you. All of you, Aud. I already know I love you, but I want to learn how much I like you, too.”

  “Well, of course I’ll go out with you.”

  “Great. I thought we could take turns planning the dates.”

  “That’s a perfect idea.”

  “I can be smart sometimes.”

  “I’m pretty sure it’s more than just sometimes.”

  “Thanks for saying that.”

  “It’s true. You’re more than just a pretty face.”

  “You’ve always seen that, haven’t you?”

  “Yes.”

  I kiss her, because how can I not? Just a little kiss to take the edge off. “I’ve got six weeks left on the play, and then I have to start promoting my movie that’s coming out a couple of weeks after that.”

  “Okay. How many dates a week do you want to do?”

  “Seven.”

  “Jeanne needs time with you.”

  “I know. I was hoping that we could have a few family dates.”

  “I’d like that, but I’ll never try and take Misha’s place.”

  “I understand what you mean, but there’s really no place to take. You may not be Jeanne’s biological mother, but I plan to make you her step-mom one day. She’ll also have a little brother or sister in a few months, and you’ll be that child’s mom. We are a family, Dree.”

  “You need to meet mine. My family, I mean.”

  “Whenever you want, I’ll go with you,” I tell her, but have to amend my answer. “Well, as long as the studio doesn’t have me committed to something. I can get pretty busy around premiere time.”

  “I’m busy, too. I don’t expect you to just be hanging around the house all the time.”

  “You’re not moving back to San Diego, are you?”

  “No. This is my home. I may have to work in my lab more than going out on missions from now on, but I won’t leave the Society.”

  “I wouldn’t ask you to. I can move my home base.”

  “I wouldn’t ask you to do that either.”

  “What’s the solution?”

  “Maybe you keep your place, and I keep mine. We can spend time at both. I normally get one week off per month.”

  “I like that idea, but maybe with a different house in San Diego or La Jolla. The one I have now is too big. I don’t want to give up living there at least part-time, though.”

  “You don’t have to give up anything for me. Except other women. I don’t share.”

  “Me either.”

  “Then we’re good. Glad we got that out of the way. Now on to the fun stuff. Who’s picking the first date?”

  “Ladies are always first.”

  “This is why the women swoon.”

  “Did you swoon just now?”

  “Maybe a little. Can we have a free day today? Maybe just hang out with Jeanne, and then I’ll plan something for tomorrow?”

  “Sure. If she wants to come home, that is. She was swooning for that bastard, Scott Griffin, and then I let her go home with him while I stayed here. What was I thinking?”

  “Scott is not a bastard.”

  “He is when my baby’s swooning over him.”

  “He’s a hot computer nerd, and she’s a twelve-year-old computer nerd who’s just starting to believe that she�
�s pretty. What do you expect her to do? He’s pretty much her dream man.”

  “He’s too old for her,” I growl.

  “He’s not going to make a move on her,” she tells me, laughing. “He loves Yasmin more than life. And even if he didn’t, he’s one of the most honorable men I know. He’d never date a teenager.”

  “Yeah, I saw that. He was ruffling her hair and shit. Being nice, but not flirty,” I admit.

  “Let her have her crush, and just be glad it’s on him, and not some asshole.”

  “I guess.”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll hold your hand when she goes on her first date.”

  “She’s not dating.”

  “See, this is where the step-mom earns points. I’ll be doling out the sexual favors in exchange for you giving her some dating freedom.”

  “Playing dirty?”

  “Yep, and you’re going to love it when I get really dirty with you.”

  “Don’t I know it.”

  One of the nurses brings breakfast in, and I’m pleasantly surprised that someone remembered what I ordered yesterday, and got it again for me today. Once we’re done eating, they disconnect all her monitors, and give her the clothes Stella left for her. I make her get dressed alone, because I don’t trust her not to try something I’d like too much, and then I take her home.

  Chapter 20

  Audrey

  Tonight is my first real date with Blake. I’m not counting last night, even though we stole as many kisses as we could while hanging out with Jeanne. I feel the pressure to bring it, and I hope he enjoys what I have planned.

  “Stop worrying, Aud,” Stella tells me, zipping up my dress.

  I called her over to help me pick out something fun, but sexy. I can normally pick my own clothes, but I’m as nervous as a teenager tonight. The strapless black dress with white lines all over, and the skirt that has pieces laying over each other in varying lengths, is perfect for what I have planned. If only I was sure that my choice for a date would be perfect.

  “What if he doesn’t like it?”

  “Then he’ll just sit back and watch. Relax, and have fun. You’ve waited 20 years for this.”