by Scarlet West
I laughed. “Well, I guess that’s something we should have talked about before we got married, but I was thinking you could move into my place with me.”
“What!” she exclaimed. Once again, she looked at me as though I’d lost my mind.
“Well, if we are going to be convincing about this, then we’re going to have to make ourselves look the part, you know. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do, but last I checked, married people lived together.”
“What about my place?” she asked. “What are we going to do with that?”
“I’ll pay your rent. It’s not like I don’t have the money. That way you have a place to go back to when this is all over, though I’d rather you closed your end of the lease and moved in with me officially. Hell, that way I’ll be able to get you a new place of your own when we’re done with this,” I shrugged.
She thought for a moment. “How many bedrooms do you have?”
“Three,” I said. “It’s a nice place I think you’ll really like, and you’ll get your pick of the room you want.”
“It’s just the thought of moving with the baby,” she put her hand on her stomach and sighed. “Do you know how big of a pain it is to pack up and move? Try doing it with a kid in your stomach.”
I laughed and put my arm around her. “We’ll hire movers.”
“Really?” she looked surprised.
“Yeah. I don’t like moving shit, and you’re right. You aren’t going to be in there packing boxes and moving shit with a baby in your stomach, either. Not while I’m around. I’ll pay for it. I’ll pay for everything. As long as you’re my wife, I’m going to take care of you and the baby both,” I assured her. “Then when the baby is born and you want to go your own way, I’ll take care of just the baby.”
“I wasn’t going to come after you for child support,” she said.
“And I wasn’t going to come after you for marriage, but things happen, and we need to make the best of them. Don’t worry. This is all going to work out, and it’s going to make for a great story someday,” I kissed her forehead, and she grinned.
“I get the impression you do a lot for the show and the story,” she said.
“You were there on that yacht that night. Who do you think pulled all that together? I know how to put on a good show for people,” I said. “And that includes your grandparents and my father. They aren’t going to know what hit them, and by the time they figure it out, it’s going to be done and over with.”
“I hope so,” she replied. “I just want to take care of the baby.”
“We will. And right now, we’re going to do that over dinner. Name where you want to go, and we’ll go. Make it as classy or as casual as you want. I’m sure with your life you’ve been to plenty of both,” I said. I hailed a cab as she decided, then we gave the driver the name of the restaurant when we slid inside.
I didn’t know what came over me, but I had the urge to put my arm around her. I refrained, of course. I wasn’t going to cross that line. If this was going to be simple, it was going to be professional. That’s all there was to it.
But seeing Ashley in that dress told me already, this wasn’t going to be easy.
10
Ashley
“And that’s the last of it,” the mover said as he brought the box inside the apartment. I was still trying to get used to the sight of the penthouse. My grandparents lived in a house that was fancier than anything I ever thought I’d live in, so I was rather shocked when I got the chance to live in a place like this.
It was always promised to me when I got my inheritance I’d be able to afford any house I wanted. I looked forward to that more than once, before I got pregnant, that is. I now had resigned myself to the fact I’d be living in the lower income apartments for as long as I could make the money last.
I didn’t see anything wrong with that sort of life, but it was always a shocker to me when I walked into places like these. Then again, Blake had grown up with money. I was just waiting for mine to come in. Sure, I’d gotten to experience a lot of wealthy things when I was growing up, but it was always clear that it came from my grandparents.
They always made us remember that they were the ones with the money, not us. They were the ones who paid for all this, not us. We were lucky to have them, and that was the end of the discussion. There were times in my life when I wondered what it would have been like to have normal grandparents, but I’d long since resigned myself to the fact that this was how my life was.
“What do you think?” Blake asked when he walked in from the kitchen. He had a drink in his hand, and his shirt was unbuttoned. It very much reminded me of when I first met him – including the feeling it gave me in my panties.
I had practically thrown myself at him that night, and the feeling was rising inside me again. It sent tingles down the back of my spine when he told me I looked good at the wedding, and I hoped that he still thought so with my hair down and my shoes off.
“I think it’s perfect,” I said. “I like this one over here.”
I’d chosen the bedroom that overlooked most of downtown. It even had a view of the Statue of Liberty if I looked hard enough. It wasn’t as large as the other bedroom, but then, both of them were bigger than the room I currently lived in. Hell, this entire apartment was nearly three times the size of the one I’d had downtown.
“Good. You can unpack if you want, or I can have the movers do it,” he said. “Which is what I’d think is better, but I’m not going to tell you what to do, especially when it comes to your own things.”
“I’d like to do it. I want to make sure I put things where I want them, and I don’t want the movers to have to do that. Besides, we put most of my stuff in storage, so there’s really not a lot for me to go through,” I assured him.
“Alright,” he nodded. “Do you want anything to drink? I’ve got lemonade and tea, and coffee in here.”
“I’ll take some tea,” I said. I was glad that he had stocked up on non-alcoholic drinks for me. He already told me he’d done that before the wedding, hoping that I’d want to move in with him after.
“Coming right up,” he said. I thanked him and picked up a box, moving it into my room. I really had only brought with me the things that I wanted to put in my bedroom. I didn’t want to change the décor in the rest of the house, and with the difference in taste and finances that we had, it was clear I’d made the best decision.
I made the bed with my sheets, then I set out the few things that I always kept on my bedside table.
“It’s looking good in here,” Blake said as he walked in from behind me. “You’re really transforming the place.”
“I’m not sure that’s quite a good thing,” I said with a laugh. “I’m sure it cost a lot more before I put this junk in here.”
“Your things aren’t junk and who cares what the cost is?” he said. He handed me the tea and looked around. “It looks like someone lives in here now, and I like that. I’ve had some lonely nights in this giant ass penthouse.”
I blushed and quickly looked away. God! Why can’t I take anything he says without feeling giddy? That’s not how this is supposed to be, and it’s certainly not how it’s going to last. Do you really think he wants to keep being married to you after all this is over?
When I felt I had control over myself, I glanced back at him, but had to fight another blush when I saw the look on his face. Clearly, he had seen me, and he was attracted to it. He liked making me feel good. He liked being the one to do that to me.
But, I had to be careful here. I didn’t sign up to move in and start having sex again. Sure, I would be down to do so again in a heartbeat, but I was still having a difficult time reading him. I wasn’t sure how much of what he said to me was to be nice, and how much was actually genuine.
I wanted to believe that he was still attracted to me, but I had grown up in a home where weight was really attacked. My grandparents had made their comments over the past few months,
and I was glad they hadn’t been able to put two and two together.
But, they still made me feel enormous and undesirable. I liked a man who was able to love any sized woman.
Stop it! There you go again, thinking that he loves you. He doesn’t. He told you plainly that this is to get us both out of the shit we’re in. When we do that, we’re done, and we’re moving on. There’s no love about it. No attraction in the equation.
No chemistry.
“Well, I’m going to order some food, Chinese alright with you?” he asked. “I’m tired of cooking and after dealing with the movers all day, I don’t really want you to cook anything, either.”
“Anything you order is great with me,” I said with a smile. “Thanks.”
“Anything for you, m’lady,” he said with a wink. I had to fight another blush, and the smirk he had on his face as he left told me that he’d done that on purpose. I had to get myself under control if I was going to make it through the next eight months.
If it even lasted that long. I hated the reality of the situation. I barely knew this man. I didn’t know what his temper was like, I didn’t know if he had a sense of humor. I didn’t know how he kept his house or what he’d want me to do around the place.
Those were all things that I thought I’d figure out with someone before we moved in together. Hell, I often thought that I’d live with someone before the two of us were married. I wanted to get to know someone before we reached the stage of our lives we were now in, and I’d done it all backwards.
“It’s not your fault, baby,” I said as I put my hands on my stomach.
“What’s not?” Blake’s voice filled the room again, and I nearly jumped out of my skin.
“You can’t sneak up on a pregnant woman like that! We’re high strung enough as it is, it doesn’t help when you come sneaking around!” I reprimanded him. He held up his hands to show it had been an accident. There was a menu in one hand and his phone in the other.
“Sorry! I was coming to see what you wanted for food,” he said. “Then you said something wasn’t the baby’s fault, and I was wondering what you were talking about.”
“Nothing,” I said. “I wasn’t talking to you, I was talking to the baby.”
“Alright, fuck,” he said. “What do you want for food?”
“I’ll just take a chow mein or something, I’m not too picky when it comes to Chinese,” I said. “Whatever you’re having, get me something like that.”
“Alright, suit yourself,” he said as he shrugged. “But I like fried rice a lot more than Chow Mein.”
“Fried rice is great too,” I called after him. I rolled my eyes and sighed when he was gone. That was one glimpse into how his temperament must be. I can’t say that it was bad, but he was certainly defensive.
I ran my hand over the back of my neck and closed my eyes for a moment, trying to get the tension out of my shoulders. I knew a lot of it had to do with the stress I was under, and it sucked. I didn’t want to spend the next eight months – or however long it was – with the stress of what might happen or what was happening.
I just wanted to live my life how I wanted, and make sure the baby was okay. But now, I had to run my grandparent’s investments as best I could with them out of the country, hope to God that I’d be able to pass off my marriage to Blake Bogart to his father in a natural way, and get through my own stress of just being pregnant.
It certainly wasn’t an ideal situation, and I had to remind myself it was for the best. But most of all, I knew I had to find a way to get along with Blake through all this. It was going to be hard enough, we didn’t need to fight on top of it.
I walked out to the kitchen. He was pouring himself another drink, and I smiled. “Sorry that I snapped at you like that. I’ve been really tense, and you startled me. It wasn’t your fault, you didn’t know.”
He turned and looked at me in surprise. “Sorry I scared you.”
“I just feel stressed out about this whole thing, and I’m a little on edge. I’m sure it’s going to pass as I get used to this idea,” I said.
“It will. Just take a deep breath and take care of yourself and the baby. The food is on the way, and you can take the rest of the night off. Those boxes are still going to be there in the morning, no need to worry about them all tonight,” he said.
I smiled. “You’re right. I can worry about that later. I’m going to go put on something more comfortable, and I’ll be back out here in a second.”
“Put on that t-shirt you had on the other day,” he called after me, and I stopped. I looked over my shoulder at him with raised eyebrows, and he shrugged. “You looked cute in it.”
I turned away before he could see the blush sweep over my cheeks. This was flirting, I knew it was, and I wasn’t sure what to make of it. All I knew was that I needed to reign my own thoughts in before I let them get out of hand and got swept up in this fantasy I was living.
I shut myself in the bathroom and looked myself in the eye in the mirror. Pointing at myself, I spoke in a low, firm voice.
“You need to get a grip before you lose your head. This was an accident. This entire thing was an accident. If it weren’t for that accident, you wouldn’t be here right now. Let the flirting go, and don’t engage in it yourself,” I said.
But, I sighed and took a deep breath. There was no way I could be around that man and not flirt with him. Since the moment I saw him I was attracted, it I knew it went both ways.
We were in trouble, both of us, and it had nothing to do with our families.
Nothing at all.
11
Blake
“Call me if you need anything, and don’t let them make you work late,” I said as I pulled up in front of the bank Ashley worked at.
“I won’t. I’ll get a cab for the ride home, and I’ll see you when you get off,” she said with a smile. “Thank you for the ride, I appreciate it.”
“I told you I’d take care of you as long as you’re living with me, and I meant it. I’m going to take care of you,” I told her. She smiled and closed the door, then headed inside. I waited for her to be out of sight before I drove off, and I shook my head.
I didn’t know what was happening to me, but I was becoming downright doting. I knew it wasn’t a good idea, and I didn’t think it was going to happen that way, but having her in the penthouse was just so domestic, I didn’t realize I wanted that kind of life.
It had been nearly two weeks since she had moved in, and as far as I was concerned, things were going great. She had been taking care of the emails that were meant for her grandfather, and we’d been getting along great. It was perfect bliss as far as I was concerned, and I was really getting excited for the baby.
None of it seemed to be as bombarding or overwhelming as it had been when I first found out, and I was glad Ashley didn’t hold my reaction against me. She clearly was happy living with me in the penthouse, and she seemed to also like the flirting that we did back and forth.
Of course, it was also driving me crazy. Seeing what she wore when we were at home turned me on more than I could say. I didn’t know I was so attracted to pregnant women, but I wanted to fuck her again. I wanted more than anything to be inside her.
I couldn’t bring it up to her. I didn’t want to frighten her or make her think that was the real reason why I’d brought her to live with me, but it was still hard. I loved everything about her curves, her tits. They were huge now, and she had an ass that was heavenly.
I loved the sight of her pregnant belly, and more than once I had to stop myself from grabbing it when she walked by. There was a part of me that thought she wouldn’t mind if I did, but I didn’t want to press my luck.
Things were going too well for that.
I walked into the office with a bigger skip in my step than normal. I was still trying to work with Pete on the side over our startup, but since Ashley had moved in, that had taken the back burner. He still didn’t know why I wasn’t as worried about i
t as I had been, and I knew I was going to have to tell him the truth eventually.
But I didn’t fully trust the man to keep his mouth shut around my father. And until my father found out, I was going to keep things under wraps. Even if I did feel bad doing it.
As it turned out, I didn’t have to wait much longer.
“Blake, I need you in my office, now!” he snapped as soon as I walked through the door.
“Okay,” I said with my usual uncaring shrug. It was the attitude I had adopted when I was a teenager, and though I didn’t feel nearly the same way about it now, I was going to maintain it in front of the other colleagues. I’d come out as the tough guy on them when I was in charge of the place.
For now, they could enjoy what my father had to offer.
“Close the door,” he said when I walked in. I obeyed and he nodded toward the seat on the opposite side of his desk. “Sit down.”
I obeyed again, still without a word. I had a feeling I was about to get a lecture from Hell, and I wasn’t thrilled. I wasn’t expecting him to know about Ashley, so that wasn’t a concern for me, but I was surprised for the second time that day when he started shouting.
“You’re fucking married? What the fuck? How dare you go behind my back like that? I told you who you were going to marry, and you’ve got some other broad in your penthouse? When were you planning on telling me this? What the fuck are you doing? Are you fucking stupid?” he was talking so fast, I didn’t have the time to answer in between his attacks.
I held up my hands. “Calm down, Dad. I didn’t know you thought so highly of Candace as you did about her money. I married a girl with money, we’re going to get this taken care of.”
“You have some explaining to do, and I suggest you start talking,” he said. He crossed his arms and sat back in his chair as I told him I had met Ashley. I left off the part about her being pregnant, only telling him that I’d been in love with her since the day I met her, and I never thought I could get his or her grandparent’s permission.
