Blue Lines: The Assassins Series: A Loveswept Contemporary Romance (33 page)

What a coincidence.

Christina looked up at him and her eyes went wide with recognition before they refocused
in a glare. “Erik?”

Piper looked back at Erik, and then at Christina. “You know my husband?”

Christina’s glare deepened.

“Your husband?” she said with a nod as she moved to the scale. “Yeah, I know him.”

Erik waited for her to say she slept with him, but she didn’t. He didn’t care if she
did, it meant nothing to him, but he did worry if it would make Piper mad. Piper only
seemed amused, a grin on her face as she went through the motions of the appointment.
The whole time Christina said nothing. She did her job, sending Erik dirty looks the
whole time.

Following Piper into the exam room, he sat down in the seat beside her and looked
up as Christina asked Piper questions about her pregnancy. Once she left the room,
making sure to
send Erik one last pissy look, Piper moved to the bench to grab the sheet that she
needed to cover her legs. She had worn a skirt so all she had to do was take her panties
off.

“How do you know her?” she asked looking over at him as she climbed up on the exam
table.

Erik wasn’t sure how to answer her. He could lie; it was before they got married and
she didn’t need to know. But then again, he wanted to be honest with her.

“She sucked me off a while back.”

A grin came over her face as she nodded. “I know.”

Erik was surprised by her answer. “You knew?”

Piper smiled as she glanced back at him. “A couple of months ago, I came in and she
was on her phone showing her friends who she had been with. She said he was number
fifteen on the Nashville Assassins, which meant it was you.”

Erik was irritated that Christina was telling his business all over the doctor’s office
and that Piper tried to set him up. Scheming woman!

“So you tried to set me up?”

“I wanted to see if you’d lie,” Piper said with a grin.

Shaking his head, he muttered, “I should be mad at you.”

“But you’re not because I’m too cute to be mad at,” she answered, fluttering her eyelashes
as she swung her legs like a child. “I knew you wouldn’t lie.”

“I could have.”

“Yeah, but you respect me more than that.”

He had to smile at that because she was right. He was about to tell her so when a
knock came at the door and in walked what looked like an Abercrombie & Fitch model.

“Hey, Dr. Richards,” Piper said happily.

Doctor?

“Hey, Piper, how are we feeling?” he asked in his low, raspy voice.

Erik was a confident man and could even say when he thought another man was good-looking
without feeling the least bit gay and at that moment Dr. Richards fit that bill. He
was a very good-looking man, and Erik instantly hated him.

This was the guy that had his hands up in Piper’s pussy?

What the fuck?

Puffing up his chest, he got up to stand closer to Piper before he pinned the doctor
with a “She’s mine” look. He wanted to punch the guy right in his pearly white teeth
and then gouge out his eyeballs to make sure he never looked at Piper’s pussy again.
He never had such an intense hatred for someone the way he had for this guy and it
was all because of Piper; now what did this mean …?

“Good, thank you, and yourself?” she asked as she smiled up at him dreamily.

Erik’s jaw hurt, he was clenching his teeth so hard. He wanted to smack the guy and
then yell at Piper for asking how he was. Why did she care?

“I’m good, thanks. Hi! I’m Dr. Richards,” he said when he finally noticed that Erik
was in the room.

“Yeah,” Erik said in a stern voice. “I’m her husband.”

“It’s great to meet you,” he said a little overly happy for Erik’s liking, but then
again, Erik would be happy too if all he did was stick his hands up women’s pussies
all day long. Asshole.

Piper elbowed him in the ribs hard enough to get his attention. When he looked at
her, she shot him a stern look and said, “Sit down, babe. I gotta lie down.”

“I’m good,” he said, holding her hand tightly. He should have gotten Piper a bigger
ring, then this dude wouldn’t get the wrong idea. Piper was nowhere near single and
this guy needed to back up with that grin and those large hands. Looking down at his
own hands, he now wondered if his hands were big enough to please her.

Man, what was wrong with him?

Shaking his head, he watched as Dr. I’m-Too-Sexy measured Piper’s belly.

“Do you think I’m too big?” Piper asked.

“You are measuring right at thirty-four weeks, so only a week ahead. I think he might
be a big boy. We might need to discuss inducing you if you don’t go by thirty-eight
weeks.”

“That’s early,” Piper said.

“It is, but it’s okay. You have a small frame. I don’t know if I want to risk having
you go full-term, especially with how big your husband is,” he said flashing Erik
a grin.

Yeah, asshole, I’m big and I could kill you with my pinkie
, Erik thought as he glared.

“Really?” Piper asked and Erik could see that made her nervous.

“Yeah, he feels big but then again you are really small. We have to take it week by
week,
okay? Let’s check you out; scoot to the edge.”

Erik wanted to yell,
Hell no!
But instead he watched as some other guy put his hand up in Piper. Rage filled him
and reason wasn’t showing its face. All he saw was red, but when he glanced down at
Piper, he saw that she wasn’t enjoying it and that sort of made the whole experience
tolerable.

After his examination the doctor said, “Looks good. You are maybe a fingertip dilated,
if that. He’s dropped a lot, though, and like I said, I don’t think you’ll make it
full-term.”

“But will he be okay?” Piper asked.

Erik was so busy hating the doctor that he hadn’t been listening. Was there something
wrong?

“Yeah, he should be fine. There is always risk, Piper, but you are having him in the
best hospital in Tennessee with a great doctor and my dad will be a phone call away;
everything should be fine.”

Piper nodded, but he could tell she was still worried. “Okay.”

“All right,” he said, tapping her knee. “See you in two weeks, okay? Don’t worry,
everything will be okay.”

Piper gave him a small smile and nodded as he left the room with another wave. He
could tell she was upset and he didn’t understand why, so he asked, “What’s wrong?
Can the baby not come early?”

“He can, but it makes me nervous.”

“Why?”

“I don’t want to talk about that right now. I want to know, what the hell was your
problem with Dr. Richards?”

Erik glared. “You mean the Abercrombie and Fitch model?”

“Oh, come on!”

“You need another doctor, like a female one.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t like the idea of that guy’s hands up inside you,” he snapped back.

“Oh my God, Erik! Not only have I known him for years and he is a good friend, but
he is also gay.”

Erik paused.

He knew that guy was checking him out! Biting his lip to keep from laughing, he looked
over at the stages of pregnancy poster that was hanging on the wall. “So where are
you on here?”

“Oh no you don’t! You don’t get to change the subject! Why does it matter, Erik, if
he has his long, gorgeous hands up inside me?”

Erik whipped his head back to her and glared. “That’s not funny.”

“What? I’m just asking.”

When he didn’t say anything, she giggled as she leaned into him, giving him a wide
smile. “Are you jealous?”

“Hell no. I have nothing to be jealous of.”

“Oh, is that right?”

Erik nodded before giving her a heated glance.

“Yup, because you’re coming home with me, and when I’m between your legs, giving you
the most unbelievable pleasure you have ever experienced, the last thing on your mind
will be Dr. Richards and his long hands. So, no, I am not jealous.”

Piper bit into her lip and with a breezy smile said, “I like this look on you; it’s
sort of hot and makes me forget about everything I’m worried about.”

Erik shook his head.

“I’m not jealous.”

He would never admit that he was jealous, but he was. Erik had never been jealous
a day in his life, and that made him realize he felt more for her than he thought.
He had wanted to keep his feelings in check but apparently they had a mind of their
own and he was falling for her fast and hard.

* * *

Sitting on the couch, Piper let out a long breath as she held her stomach. She was
so nervous now, knowing that the baby could come early. Because if he did, Erik would
leave and she wasn’t ready for that. Glancing up from her Kindle, she watched as Erik
played his war games, shooting and stabbing people in the head. She wanted him to
turn to her and tell her he was staying for the long haul, but she was starting to
lose hope.

She thought by now there would have been some kind of declaration, some kind of
reassurance, but there hadn’t been. Her stomach turned at the thought of him leaving.
How was she supposed to readjust her life if he left? He was a part of her life now.
Her heart was completely invested, she loved him, and she was starting to feel like
a fool. Looking over at him, she let out a long breath as she shook her head.

She was an idiot.

“You ready to tell me what has been bothering you?”

Her eyes widened as he turned in his seat to look at her. When she didn’t answer,
he stood up to come sit beside her. Taking her legs in his hands, he drew them over
his legs and looked over at her expectantly.

“I know something is wrong.”

She shook her head; she didn’t know how to tell him that she was scared he was leaving
her. Would he confirm her suspicions, or would he deny them? So much was scaring her,
and she felt like she was drowning in it all.

“Tell me,” he said encouragingly.

Letting out a long breath, she said, “I’m scared.”

“Scared? I don’t believe that. You are fearless.”

If only he knew. She shook her head as she looked down at where his hands held hers.

“I’m scared that I’m going to be a horrible mom, Erik. I’m afraid he is going to hate
me. I’ve never done this before and I have no clue what I’m doing. Harper is still
broken over her miscarriages and I know that if I ask her to help me with the baby,
she will want to raise Dimitri and then I’ll never be able to be a mom.”

“Piper,” he said with a shake of his head, “you know that will never happen. Don’t
get mad, but you are just really emotional right now, and that
What to Expect
book said that things like this will come up. It’s normal; just calm down.”

She looked up at him. “You read my book?”

“I glanced through it. I worry about you.”

Her heart expanded as she held his gaze. He had to care about her, love her even,
so why couldn’t he just tell her that?

“That book has a lot of information, Erik, but it doesn’t tell me how to reassure
myself that you aren’t leaving. That’s what I’m most afraid of,” she said softly,
and watched as he looked away.

“Piper, why are you even thinking about that? We don’t have to worry about that right
now.”

She shook her head as tears gathered in her eyes. “No, I have to worry about it now
because I have to prepare myself for you leaving. I don’t want you to go, Erik. I
want you to stay.”

He cupped her face, bringing it up to look at him. “I can guarantee you that I don’t
want to go, but I can’t say I’ll stay.”

“What does that even mean?” she asked as the tears started to fall. “Either you want
to be with me or you don’t.”

“Piper, it’s not that easy.”

“How do you figure? I am invested here. I feel like this is a one-sided relationship.”

“That’s not true,” he said, shaking his head.

“You have never reassured me about us at all; you won’t even have sex with me!”

Erik shook his head as he let out a long breath.

“You don’t have sex, Piper. You make love and I don’t. I do it for pleasure and until
I know that I want more than that, I can’t touch you that way. I am thinking of you.
It’s going to be hard if I leave but don’t you think it would be even more difficult
if we were having sex?”

Piper nodded. “Yes, but I need some kind of reassurance that you do want me, that
you don’t want to leave me.”

“Even if I do leave, I’ll always be there for you; maybe not the way I am now, but
I will be there when you need me.”

“I want you to stay, Erik, with me and the baby,” Piper said, moving her hands out
of his to wipe her tears.

“I can’t guarantee you that, baby. Training camp is about to start and then I’ll be
traveling for preseason. I have never been so nervous about that in my life, but I
am now because I’m not sure if I’ll hurt you or not. I don’t want to break my promise
to you but I don’t know what it is going to be like when I’m back playing hockey.
It’s easy now. I am with you all the time, but when I’m gone, I don’t know what will
happen, if I can be faithful.”

Piper had a look of disbelief as she shook her head. “That is the stupidest thing
I’ve ever heard. You don’t know if you are going to cheat so that’s what is keeping
you from committing to me?”

“Yes, and it isn’t stupid. I care about you, and I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You are hurting me because I don’t know what is going to happen and I’m scared.”

“I told you I was trying,” Erik said, looking into her eyes. “You said that was enough.”

“I don’t know if it is anymore.”

Silence filled the room. She didn’t know what she just said, but it might have been
the start of a breakup. That wasn’t what she wanted but maybe it was what was needed.
Something needed to change, someone needed to make a move and she felt like if she
didn’t, he never would.

“I don’t know what to say,” he said softly.

“I don’t, either,” she said with a shake of her head. Moving her legs off him, she
stood up and when she reached for her Kindle, he took hold of her wrist.