Chapter Nineteen

Hadley

I could tell from Blake’s blasé attitude that he thought I was being ridiculous. In his mind, it was a simple fix to buy more clothes. Nothing about this was simple. At least, not for me it wasn’t. Things were changing. My body was no longer my own and I was struggling. Blake wasn’t helping. Take this morning, for example. I needed for him to hold me, to tell me that I didn’t look like a beached whale and that everything was going to be alright. Instead, he tried to fix me. I didn’t need to be fixed. Okay, I had to admit it was kind of funny when he thought I said ‘it’ popped out and started searching the floor with a horror-stricken look on his face, and it was really sweet that he offered to buy me new clothes. He was really sweet, but that’s not what was bothering me. When it came to sex, we were totally connected. Outside of the bedroom, however, I wasn’t sure we meshed.

“So what you’re saying is...?” Cat asked with a very perplexed look on her face.

“What I’m saying is that this is all happening so fast. Look at me!” I turned sideways to show her my new addition.

“Baby!” she gasped, running her hands over my very pronounced bump. “Blake must be so excited.”

“That’s just it!” I screeched, causing her to jump. “He’s more excited than I am. What’s wrong with me, Cat?” I dropped onto the chair beside her with a loud sigh.

“I think this is to be expected, Hads, but I’m not sure you’re being fair.” Ignoring my scathing look, she continued, “Before Zane proposed, we had a falling out. I won’t give you the gory details, but let’s just say I was a mess. I felt alone...as if I didn’t have anyone to talk to. Blake and I had never really been close, but at that moment in time, I needed him and you know what? He was there. You see, Blake didn’t know about me and Zane,” she further explained. “We’d been carrying on behind his back and Zane was filled with all kinds guilt about it. The night I turned to Blake, I ended up telling him everything. He was furious. As in ‘wanted to beat Zane’s ass’ furious. It took some work, but I finally got him calmed down enough to talk things through with me.” I was happy for her but didn’t see what this had to do with my current situation. “In return, he got me drunk,” she added with a reminiscent smile on her face.

“Did you just say he got you drunk?” I asked, wondering if I’d heard her right.

“Yes,” she clipped, waving her hand in the air, “But that’s not the point. The point is that he didn’t mock me or laugh at me. He listened to me, and when I was done snotting all over his living room, he told me to fight for it. I think his exact words were, ‘Decide if it’s worth it, Cat. If it is, then do any and everything to keep it. If it’s not, then let it go and move on.’ Now, I could be wrong, but I see Blake fighting for this,” she waved her finger at me, “which tells me you’re worth it to him.” He’s worth it, I thought, blinking back tears.

“The baby’s worth it to him, Cat, but I’m not sure he feels the same about me.”

She scowled. “Is that what you really think?”

“Yes. No. I don’t know what to think. None of this would be happening, if not for the baby. I would have stayed in Alabama and bought the bakery and Blake would have stayed here. You say he’s fighting for it, but the it isn’t me. The it is what’s growing inside of me.”

Her brows shot up to the sky. “Really? I distinctly recall you telling me that every time you two were alone together you couldn’t keep your hands off of each other.”

“That just proves we’re attracted to each other, but, as you’ve seen, Blake is also attracted to every other woman in Charlotte,” I argued.

“Oh, for heaven’s sake, Hadley! So...he’s not been with you every night over this past month?” She was clearly trying to make a point.

“He has, but—”

“Zane told me he’s never seen Blake act this way about a woman before, aaaand” she leaned forward and slowly emphasized, “he said this before anyone even knew you were pregnant. Yep,” she nodded in response to my wide-eyed look, “Zane said Blake was acting weird after the wedding, but it wasn’t until he confessed that he’d slept with you and was all bent out of shape that you’d taken off, that his foul mood made sense.” With a burst of laughter, she added, “You seriously damaged that man’s ego, girly. Then, you arrived in town and everything changed. Look, I know you’re afraid, but so is he. This is new for both of you. Trust me when I say you’re going to have growing pains. Hell, Zane and I are still having growing pains and we’ve been together for over a year, now.”

I dropped my head back on the chair and stared at the ceiling. She was right. I was acting like a spoiled brat, which was so unlike me. I was scared that I was about to lose everything.

“What if he decides I’m not worth it?” I asked, voicing my fears out loud.

“The only way he’d think that is if you keep pushing him away. You’re in this together. If you’re scared, think what Blake must feel?” Shit, she was right. I dealt with fear by avoiding it. Blake tried to control it. I jerked my head up and snapped my eyes to hers. Then, I bolted upright, thinking that maybe Blake was still upstairs.

“I’ll catch up with you later!” I called out, as I sprinted for the door and raced up the stairs to my apartment. Much to my disappointment, Blake was already gone.

An hour later, while I was getting ready for work, my phone pinged with a text from him. Apparently, he was working at Whisky’s instead of Sazerac’s this evening but was still giving me a lift home after work. My heart shot into my throat. Was he so upset with me that he couldn’t even work in the same place? I read it a second time and then noticed I’d missed an earlier text asking if I was okay. He really was the sweetest. After shooting him a quick reply, I called Cat and asked if she could give me a lift to Sazerac’s. If I was riding home with Blake, there was no need to drive my car.

On the ride to work, I tried not to focus on the fact that the only thing in my entire closet that I could fit in were the polyester maternity pants given to me by my mother and sister when they came to visit. Instead, I spent the time planning a way to make this morning’s meltdown up to Blake. When Cat brought up cooking him a special dinner, I jumped on it. My initial thought was to do it at my place, but why not surprise him with it when he arrived to pick me up? Yes, it would be later than normal, but he had tomorrow off, so we would be able to sleep in. What better time for us to explore where things were going than over a nice meal?

Wayne happened to be walking into the hotel at the same time we arrived, and of course, the first words out of his mouth were, “Is it just me or are you looking a bit...puffy?”

“You did not just say that!” Cat scolded.

“Whaaaat?” he asked, his hands grasping his chest as if he was the injured party.

Even though his comment stung, I pretended not to let it bother me. “I’m pregnant, Wayne. I’m pretty sure I’m supposed to be puffy,” I dryly commented.

“Well, those pants don’t do you any favors. How about you let me take you shopping. I know the cutest little maternity shops.” Cat and I both stopped and stared at him. Since when did Wayne become an expert on maternity clothes? “Puuulease,” he snorted, executing a dramatic eye roll. “Just because I’m gay doesn’t mean I’m not in the know, ladies. I have three sisters who all have children. I also have several girl friends, thank you very much.” With a loud huff, he stormed ahead of us.

“Wayne,” Cat called after him, but he was already halfway across the bar. Great, maybe I should ask Wayne to join Blake and I for dinner tonight. That way I could apologize at the same time to all of the men I’d offended today.

Sazerac’s was super busy that night. By ten-thirty, when the crowd began to thin out, I was second-guessing my dinner idea. Then I thought of this morning and how Blake and I really did need to talk and decided to forge ahead with my plan. As both bars closed at eleven on weeknights, I probably had a little over an hour before Blake’s arrival. First, I prepared the part of our meal that wouldn’t spoil; dessert. I really hoped he liked chocolate, because tonight he was getting chocolate mousse whipped with raspberry sauce.

At eleven-on-the-dot, I went in search of Wayne, only to discover that he’d taken off early. So much for apologizing! This left me with Patrice...and Ashe. Like everyone else, I was enamored with Ashe when he first arrived. I mean, who wouldn’t be? With his long blonde hair, piercings, and tattoos, he was the epitome of a rock star. Looks aside, the man was an amazingly skillful piano player. Too bad he was also a pompous jerk. Blake didn’t like him and neither did Zane. They would never admit it, but I could tell, especially with Blake. His entire body tensed whenever Ashe was near.

“Hey, sweetheart, you okay?” Ashe asked, jerking me from my thoughts.

Ignoring Patrice’s dagger-filled stare, I asked Ashe if he could help carry one of the smaller tables into the office for me. He readily agreed and surprisingly was nice enough to stay and help me set everything up. All the while, we chatted about Charlotte and Sazerac’s. The few times he tried to get more personal, I managed to shut him down.

With the table in the office and everything set to go, I expected for Ashe to take off. When he made no move to do so, I excused myself and headed to the kitchen to prepare the salads. While there, Zane stopped in to inform me that Blake was on his way and he and Cat were heading home. I told him not to worry and that Blake and I would lock up.

Minutes later, I breezed into the office with appetizers in hand, only to find Ashe still there. The guy needed to go.

“Thanks for helping me tonight, Ashe. I’ve got it from here,” I said, praying that he would get the hint and leave.

“Not a problem. I’m glad I could help,” he responded, and I felt my shoulders relax. I really didn’t want him here when Blake arrived. As I set the appetizers on the table, I was reminded that I’d forgotten the salt and pepper shakers.

“See you tomorrow,” I called out as I escaped out the door and made my way back to the kitchen, where I took an extra few seconds to add some lime juice to the marinade for the steaks. Stepping back into the hall with salt and pepper shakers in hand, I paused when I heard voices...coming from the office. Dammit, Ashe! I thought as I marched back down the hallway.

When I neared the office doorway, I heard Ashe say, “Sorry man, we were just about to have dinner.”

Picking up the pace, I flew through the door and almost collided with Blake’s back.

“What did you just say?” I gasped, gawking at Ashe. At the sound of my voice, Blake’s head swiveled, his golden gaze narrowing on me, but I was too busy staring at Ashe, who was kicked back in Blake’s chair and eating Blake’s salad. “Stop that!” I scolded, glaring daggers at him. The audacity of this man!

“I can’t wait for the steak,” he responded through a smile.

My eyes quickly shifted to Blake. “He was helping me set this up for you,” I attempted to explain.

“Liar,” Ashe sang out from the table as he shoveled the rest of Blake’s salad into his mouth. Oh, my God, was this guy for real? Blake studied me for a minute before turning his scowl on Ashe. Sensing that he’d gone too far, Ashe held up both of his hands, and through a bout of nervous laughter, said, “Relax, I’m just fucking with you both. Geez, talk about lack of a sense of humor. You two are perfect for each other.”

Right as I opened my mouth to blast him, Blake charged. Ashe let out a yelp of surprise before toppling over backwards in his chair. On the way down, he latched onto the table cloth. Down went the empty salad plate, then the waters, silverware, and second salad plate, all landing...right on top of Ashe.

Blake turned to me, and with a huge smile on his face, said, “Now that’s funny.” It was more than funny. It was hilarious. So funny, that once I started laughing, I couldn’t seem to stop.

“Clean this mess up,” Blake told him. Then he snagged my hand and dragged my laughing ass down the hallway and into the kitchen, where he pressed me against the wall and kissed the laughter from my lips.

“I’m sorry about this morning,” he murmured between kisses.

“I overreacted,” I panted in reply.

His lips dropped to my ear. “You’ll have to be patient. All of this is new for me.” His whispered breath tickled across my neck and I let out a needy sounding moan. With his body pressed against mine, I could feel every hard inch of him. I also knew that Ashe was probably standing outside with his ear to the door. The man really had no shame.

“I wanted to make you dinner,” I pouted.

“I don’t want dinner,” he growled, thrusting his arousal against my lower abdomen. I needed to stop this, but I didn’t want to.

Threading my hands in his hair, I gently tugged, forcing his head back and his eyes on me, before asking, “What do you want, then?” I knew full-well what he would say, but I still wanted to hear him say it.

“I want you to move in with me.”

“What?” I whispered, clearly taken aback.

“Move in with me,” he repeated with another hip thrust.

“But we barely know each other.”

“What better way to remedy that than to live together,” he countered. I had to admit, he had a point.

Feeling brave, I asked, “What if you change your mind?”

“What if you change yours?” he challenged. I stared down at his lips, which were mere inches away from mine, while contemplating his answer. “I want you, Hadley. The baby comes with you but make no mistake that it’s you I want...in my bed and in my home.” He thrust his hips up and swallowed my gasp with his lips. “Do you feel that?” he asked, his lips still pressed to mine. I nodded my head and he smiled. “It’s all for you, baby. Now, say you’ll move in with me.” Why was I fighting this? He was telling me exactly what I needed to hear. We were both taking a risk, but we were doing it together.

Pulling back far enough to look into the golden eyes I’d come to love, I gave him what he wanted. “Yes,” I whispered.

“Yes?” he asked, his eyes wide with excitement.

“Yes,” I repeated on a laugh, which was cut short when he dropped his lips to mine. We stood there for the longest time, me with my back against the wall and Blake pressed to my front, making out like two teenagers. When his hands suddenly dropped to the elastic waistband of my pants, reality kicked in.

“We can’t do this here,” I protested, but only partially meant it.

“I’m pretty sure we can,” he responded, before yanking the polyester pants over my hips and down my legs. So maybe maternity pants weren’t that bad after all. They sure were easy to remove.

“But...what about Ashe?” His face lit into an evil looking smile as I stepped out of my pants and reached for his belt buckle.

“Trust me, Ashe is long gone by now.”

“I can’t believe he did that,” I mused.

“Can we not talk about Ashe right now,” he grumbled, and smiled when I laughed.

Within minutes we’d stripped each other’s clothes off. Blake still had me caged against the wall, but instead of pouncing on me, like I expected, he took half a step back and dropped down to his knees. His face was now eye level with my most intimate parts; parts that really, really needed to be touched. He lifted his hands to my belly and I sucked in a deep breath when they reverently brushed over it. Leaning in, he placed a kiss directly below my belly button and my heart literally melted.

“Lift,” he ordered, tapping my leg. I did as he asked and groaned out loud when he placed my leg over his shoulder. “I’m going to taste you, Hadley, and then I’m going to take you against the wall.” Before I had time to respond, his lips were on me...licking, tasting, sucking...ramping me up to an earthshattering orgasm. His mouth didn’t tip me over, though. It was his hand stroking his hard shaft that did the trick. The visual was more than I could take and the orgasm slammed into me like a gale-force wind, toppling me clean over the edge into spine-melding bliss.

Blake caught me as I began to slide down the wall. Instead of standing, he levered up onto his knees.

“Oh, God,” I moaned, when I felt his shaft kiss my entrance. With my back against the wall he drove forward, seating himself to the hilt, causing both of us to shout. God, it...him...this, felt so good. His hands latched onto my ass as he pulled out and thrust back in. The wall at my back allowed him to get deeper than normal. With his eyes locked on mine, he pulled out and pushed back in again and again. Pretty soon, a tingling sensation pooled at the base of my spine again, warning me of my pending orgasm. Beads of sweat glistened at Blake’s temples as he sped up the pace.

After a minute or so of this, I was close. “Blake,” I gasped.

“You there?” he asked, his words a guttural growl. Tiny tingles of electricity were firing all over my body. The pleasure was all consuming and I opened my mouth in a silent scream as it rushed through me.

“Fuck yes!” he answered, and we both let go, groaning through what was debatably the best orgasm I’d ever had.

Still planted deep inside me, Blake dropped down to his butt and flipped around to where his back was against the wall. All the while, I lay against him like a limp noodle.

A few minutes passed, before he whispered, “Jesus, what you do to me,” and kissed the side of my head.

“Just think, once we move in together we can do this every day,” I said into his neck, and smiled when I felt his body shake with laughter.

Out of nowhere, we heard a tap on the door, followed by Ashe’s voice shouting, “I’m done cleaning!” My head snapped up, my eyes colliding with Blake’s and bugging in surprise. Neither of us said a word, because what could we say? Even a deaf person would know what we’d been doing in here. “Okay, well...bye!” he called out, then muttered, “Thanks to you guys, I’m now going home to work one out in the shower.”

Blake lowered his head to my neck and laughed. I just wanted to crawl in a hole and cry.