Blue Lines: The Assassins Series: A Loveswept Contemporary Romance (34 page)

“We are not okay, are we?”

Looking up into his eyes, she shook her head. “No, we’re not.”

Pulling her wrist out of his hand, she turned and left the room. Once in her bedroom,
she shut the door softly, leaning her forehead against it as the tears fell down her
cheeks. Taking in a shuddering breath, all she could think about was:

What had she done?

The car was going slow as they headed to Lamaze class. Glancing at the speedometer,
Piper noticed that Erik was doing the speed limit, which was unusual because he always
drove fast.

So what was going on?

Looking back at the road, she knew she needed to say something. He was visibly upset
and she hated that, but before she could, he said, “I want you to know that I’ve been
thinking a lot about what was said last night.”

She looked over at him and nodded. “Me, too.”

He went on: “I understand that I’m not giving you everything you want, and I know
it must be hard, but this is all I’ve got right now, Piper. I want to give you more,
believe me I do, and I hope you can be patient with me, but if not, I completely understand.”

He paused and took in a deep breath as she said, “Erik—”

“Let me finish, okay?” he said, looking over at her. She nodded as he went on. “I
want you to know that you are the only girl that I want. I have been through a lot
of females, we both know this, but none of them have done what you do to my heart.
I want you to know that my day isn’t complete until I see your face, and I want you
to know that it took me twenty-four hours to have the balls to say all this.” Her
face broke into a grin as she nodded, her eyes clouding with tears. “I can’t promise
you forever, Piper, not yet, but I hope I can soon. Just give me some more time to
figure things out.”

Piper nodded as she reached across the console and took his hand in hers, “Some people
are worth waiting for, and I believe that you’re one of those people. I am so sorry
for the way I acted last night; it’s just been a tough month.”

“I know, baby,” he said, kissing the back of her hand. “I know it’s hard to be with
me.”

She smiled over at him and when the car came to a stop, he leaned over and kissed
her lips softly. Parting just slightly, he whispered, “Don’t ever question if I want
you, either. Believe me, Mrs. Titov, my dick stays hard around you.”

A giggle escaped Piper’s lips as her body caught on fire. “Well, believe me, Mr. Titov,
I stay nice and wet waiting for you.”

Closing his eyes, she smiled as he groaned, “You’re killin’ me, Smalls.”

As he pulled himself away to drive, she laughed as her heart beat happily. She loved
this man and nothing was ever going to stop her love for him. She knew that they were
going to be okay.

She just had to have faith in him.

* * *

Erik was glad he had a chance to talk to Piper. He felt horrible all morning as they
seemed to avoid each other before heading out to the Lamaze class. She actually seemed
surprised he was still going with her. He told her he would, and he was trying to
keep his word.

“This is stupid.”

Erik nodded as he looked over at Lucas.

“I don’t even know why Fallon wanted to come; she’s already had a kid, she obviously
knows how to do this,” he said with his arms across his chest. “I mean look at these
jokers; they all look scared shitless. Birthing a baby can’t be that hard.”

Erik wondered if he looked like the scared-shitless guys, because he sure felt like
one. Dimitri’s due date was around the corner and Erik had no clue what was going
to happen. Piper liked watching those birthing shows but once the women started screaming,
Erik usually left the room.

“I think we all need this,” Tate said with a shrug. “Audrey will need me, and I want
to know what I have to do.”

“Hold her hand and hope she doesn’t rip your head off,” Lucas said with a laugh. “If
Shea Adler can do it, we can do it.”

“Shea is a beast, Lucas, you know that. He is the Chuck Norris of baby-making and
life; you don’t mess with Shea,” Tate said with an awed look on his face.

“He is not! You know if you weren’t marrying my sister-in-law, I would think you had
a bromance with our captain.”

Tate scoffed. “Don’t hate me because he likes me more. I actually respect him.”

“No, you suck up, that’s why he likes you,” Lucas said with a laugh.

Erik chuckled as he shook his head. “This is going to be great.”

Lucas laughed as he nodded. “It sure is. Did you get a look at our instructor? She
decided to climb down her tree and come help us out today.”

Erik held in his laughter as he looked across the room, where the midwife stood with
Fallon, Audrey, and Piper. She was as tall as him, superskinny and hairy. It was kind
of scary but apparently she was the best in the state. Since Erik and the rest of
the guys wanted the best for their wives and babies, Mrs. Tree-Hugger would be their
instructor.

“You are an ass, Lucas,” Tate said with a shake of his head. “I got a hundred bucks
that says you don’t make it through the class.”

“You’re on, my friend.”

The two shook on it. Looking up, Erik noticed that everyone was sitting in a circle
and that Piper was calling him over.

“Showtime boys, let’s go,” he said as he threw his cup of soda in the trash before
heading over to Piper. He sat down beside her and looked around.

“This is going to be fun,” he whispered and she laughed.

“Oh, I know. Hopefully we learn something.”

He nodded. “I hope so, too.”

“Welcome, everyone!” their instructor said loudly.

* * *

A half hour later, Erik stood out by his car with Piper, Audrey, Tate, and Fallon.
Lucas was inside throwing up and Fallon was pissed. She wouldn’t even speak as Audrey
and Piper retold what happened for Tate, since he apparently missed the whole thing.
It was hilarious and fun to reenact but Erik was sure that Fallon was not happy.

“So, BFF, have you decided what you want to do for your birthday?”

Erik glanced up and looked over at Piper. Her birthday was coming up?

“I don’t know. It isn’t like I can go to a club or drink, so I’ll probably just hang
at the house.”

“We could go to dinner, maybe shop?” Audrey suggested. “Or do you have something planned,
Erik?”

Erik froze. He didn’t have anything planned because he didn’t know it was her freaking
birthday! Shaking his head, he said, “Um, not really, still working out details.”

“Oh, cool, well keep me in the loop; I want to do something because we are all about
to get stupid busy with these kids, so we need to enjoy our free time together.”

Piper nodded as they hugged tightly. “I’ll let you know,” she said. “We are going
home. I’m starving.”

Erik was stewing; he hated being out of the loop, especially when it was something
important, like her birthday. Saying goodbye to Audrey and Tate, Erik helped Piper
into the car before climbing in the driver’s seat. They were almost to the highway
when he asked, “When is your birthday?”

She glanced over at him as she shyly said, “Thursday.”

It was Saturday. Fuck.

“Thanks for letting me know.”

“It’s no big deal. I probably won’t do anything. We have dinner tomorrow with my parents
and sisters. We’ll celebrate tomorrow, and then maybe go out to dinner with Audrey
and Tate on the actual day.”

“I didn’t even know that was why we were going to your mom’s house; I thought it was
just for dinner. I would have looked really stupid, Piper, thanks.”

She bit into her lip and nodded. “I know, I’m sorry, we’ve been so busy and all. It
really isn’t a big deal.”

“It’s your birthday.”

“I know, but don’t worry about it. We will just do what I said, no big deal.”

It was a big deal and Erik found himself irritated the whole way back to Sweetbriar.
When they got to the house, they made their way inside and settled in for the night.
When Piper was cuddled up in her blanket, Kindle in hand, Erik snuck out to the back
of the house and called Shea. He answered a few seconds later.

“What’s up?”

“Hey, how fast can your sister plan a birthday?”

Erik might be too scared to fully commit, but he was ready to let her know how much
she meant to him.

Someone was shaking her.

Opening one eye, she peeked out of the covers to see Erik grinning at her. Making
a disgruntled noise, Piper covered her face and muttered, “Go away.”

His chuckles filled the room as he wiggled his way under the blanket. His hands were
warm against her exposed skin as he pulled her close to run his nose along hers. “Good
morning.”

“I’m sleeping,” she muttered again as he kissed her nose.

“Well, excuse me for being rude but I want to kiss the birthday girl.”

She opened one eye again and set him with a look. “I have morning breath.”

“I don’t care, now kiss me,” he said against her lips. She didn’t even have time to
smile or say no; he smothered her mouth with his own. She had to admit it was a great
way to wake up. As he pulled back, Piper opened her eyes and smiled sweetly at him.

“Happy birthday.”

She snuggled closer to him. “Thank you.”

“Do you want to get up or am I going to have to drag you out of this bed?”

“Why on earth would you do that?” she asked in mock horror.

He laughed. “Because Stanley and I made you breakfast and you have gifts.”

Piper thought for a moment before saying, “I do like food and presents.”

“I thought so. Why don’t you crawl out of bed and come on,” he suggested as he kicked
the blankets off.

“Ugh,” she complained as she sat up, looking around the room. “I look a hot mess.
I don’t want to do birthday stuff, Erik. I suck, I know.”

“I think you are beautiful, even when you are bitchy,” he said with a grin on his
face. “Now come on.”

With that he turned and left her alone in the room. With a huff, she scooted to the
edge of the bed and let out another breath. The night before had been hell; she had
been up all night with Braxton Hicks contractions and Lord, were they a doozy. After
she called Dr. Richards and cried
to him, the doctor reassured Piper that she was fine and would get through them easily.
He gave her the warning signs, and said to go to the hospital only if they were five
minutes apart or if her water broke. Neither happened, fortunately. Erik was great,
holding her and rubbing her back to help ease the pain. It was a nice bonding moment.

Out of bed and down to the end of the hall she found Erik standing with a couple of
wrapped boxes.

“Happy birthday!”

Piper giggled as she went around the corner, wrapping her arms around his waist. She
lifted up on her tiptoes to kiss his jaw.

“You are so awesome, thank you,” she gushed.

“You are welcome, and here is your first present. Stanley got it for you,” he said,
handing her a box.

She took it from him and smiled sweetly at Stanley as she opened it. It was a mittens
and winter hat set. Glancing up at him, confused, she asked, “I think the high for
today is ninety-nine.”

He laughed as he nodded. “Yes, but the temperature in an ice rink is forty-nine degrees,
so you’ll need those.”

“What?”

“Here, open this one,” he said, ignoring her as he handed her a bigger box. She had
a bad feeling that she knew what the present was. When she opened it, her feeling
was confirmed. Erik had bought her a pair of hot pink ice skates.

“Ice skates,” she said with a nod of her head.

“Yup, I even got Dimitri some, too; they are already in the hockey bag in his room.”

That was so unbelievably sweet, she wanted to cry.

“That’s awesome, but I don’t need these.”

“Yes, you do, we are going skating today,” he said with a huge grin.

“No, I’m not.”

“Hush, open this one,” he said with a laugh as he handed her a smaller box.

Piper ripped the paper but paused when she saw the Tiffany blue box. Her hands shook
as she opened the box and set her eyes on a little circle pendant that said “Dimitri
Blake,” with the September birthstone in the middle. Looking up at him, speechless,
her eyes began to cloud and
she cursed her stupid emotions.

“Okay, maybe you’ll get me on the ice,” she said, causing him to laugh as he took
the necklace from her and put it around her neck. She reached for the pendant, rubbing
her thumb along it before placing it in the middle of her chest. Looking up at him,
she whispered, “It’s perfect. I love it, thank you.”

“I’m glad you love it,” he said, leaning down to kiss the side of her mouth. “It looks
beautiful on you.”

No one had ever given her a present that touched her in the most fulfilling way, but
Erik had. Her heart skipped a beat every time she touched her son’s pendant, and when
she thought that Erik had handpicked it for her, it made it a thousand times better.
He was really coming around, really trying. And she would have to say that was the
greatest present of all.

Glancing up at his gorgeous, happy face, she asked, “So when are we going ice-skating?”

* * *

Piper should have stuck to her guns and said heck no to the skating thing.

She felt like she was going to fall at any minute, but then Erik would take her in
his arms and all her fears were gone. He stood behind her, his hands at her waist
as he instructed her to move one foot and then the other. He was very careful, making
sure she was safe. It was unbelievably sweet and romantic. When her foot slipped out
from underneath her, she swore she was about to fall to her death, but Erik had her,
bringing her upright and holding her against his body.

Taking in a labored breath, she said, “Eck, Erik, please don’t let me fall.”

Erik’s chuckles ran along her chest bone before he whispered, “Never, Mrs. Titov,
never.”

Chills ran down her back and it wasn’t from the chill of the ice rink.