Masterson In Love

by Lisa Lang Blakeney

  "Hi." Is all I manage to say. Wishing I had come up with a more eloquent greeting for my baby's daddy.

  "You want to take your hand off of your employee's face, Elizabeth?"

  It just really hits me that Roman is wearing a severe facial expression. Very serious. He doesn't look exactly happy to see me or happy at all. Not that he ever does, but at least this time I think I understand why. I quickly drop my hand away from Blake's face. The sunflower charm on my bracelet delicately dangling mid air.

  You can literally hear a pin drop in the room. Blake is obviously quiet because he can't talk that much, but he is watching Roman's every moment with an eagle eye. My mother stops making my salmon salad, and walks over to stand beside my father at the dining table. The two of them standing behind Blake and myself at the table as if we're forming some sort of alliance against Roman.

  Crap, this looks really bad.

  "You used your key," I say through a forced smile in an attempt to diffuse the tension in the room.

  "I did."

  Mr. Tibbs is still basically lounging with his paws on my lap. I scratch under his chin and ears, which he seems to enjoy tremendously. So much that I think I see his eyes almost roll towards the back of his head in total bliss. This is the friendliest he's ever been with me. I'm always joking with Roman how he is more aloof like a cat instead of outgoing like a dog. He's usually so subdued, but today he seems really happy to see me, and I've got to admit that I feel the same exact way.

  "Tibbs missed you." Roman acknowledges proudly. "Hello Mr. Hill, Mrs. Hill," he greets my parents politely as they continue to stare at him, like he's some sort of unusual attraction at a county fair or better yet a motorcycle convention.

  Tall, tatted, massive, muscular, scarred and covered in denim and leather. Roman looks like the type who spends his days on the back of a Harley and his nights inside of whatever woman would be willing to spread her legs as long as she does what she's told. But that's not who he is at all. In fact I think for the first time in a long time, I'm starting to understand all that he really is, and what I mean to him.

  He's a complicated man that loves me.

  My layered onion.

  And me? Well, I'm the dumb chick who didn't trust it.

  "Hello, Roman," my mother says pleasantly enough.

  My father doesn't respond at all. I'm thinking Roman's talk with them didn't go as well as he let on that day he visited me in the hospital.

  "Blake."

  Roman gives Blake a simple but polite greeting, although I know it's strictly for my benefit only. I'm not sure how I feel about that. In fact my feelings are all over the place. On one hand I want to jump up and wrap my one good leg around Roman's waist and lick his face, and on the other hand I want to slap him for being such a brute.

  "It probably would have been a good idea to have called first before you came over," my father says.

  "Dad-"

  "Elizabeth doesn't have a new cell phone yet. So I thought I'd just stop by and make sure she settled in. I knew she was being released today."

  "Blake's restraining order is still in place," my father stiffly responds.

  Roman looks pained. I'm pretty sure he's dying to tell my father to shove the restraining order up his ass, but he's trying very hard to be respectful. Which makes me feel all fuzzy inside. The fact that he's trying when my father is being down right rude is appreciated.

  "Elizabeth, you really should get a landline," my mother interjects. "I know your generation does everything on your cell phones, but what if there was an emergency?"

  "I planned on replacing my cell this week. No one has a cell and a landline anymore, Mom. That's just a waste of money."

  Roman's nostrils flare for a moment as his inky eyes roam my face. I realize that I'm still sitting quite close to Blake, and that my father just made that comment about the restraining order. He can't control this situation, and I think that's driving him crazier than anything.

  "Elizabeth, you know I would never hurt you, and if I promise not to touch him again, could I talk to you for a moment? Alone," Roman asks carefully.

  "That's interesting. When you came by unannounced and unwelcomed to our hotel room, you had a lot to say to us. Now you just want to speak to Elizabeth privately? I think that whatever you have to say should be said in front of all of us. Including her friend who you assaulted."

  "Dad! This is my house and–"

  "It's fine, Elizabeth," Roman quiets my protest. "I can say this in front of your family, your employee, whoever. Just as long as I say it."

  "Ok," I say a bit stunned by his words, especially because I know this isn't what he wants to do or how he wants to do it. Roman is a very private person, and we have a lot of things left unsaid between us. I figure the number one issue on the discussion table is our baby.

  Roman pulls one of the chairs from under the dining table out and takes a seat facing me. There is a cumbersome leg cast around the entire length of my leg, so I do my best to turn myself around without hurting Mr. Tibbs who is interestingly enough still resting half of his body on my lap.

  Roman snaps his fingers once and Mr. Tibbs ears perk up, then he jumps off of me and goes to his usual corner of my living room where he lies down. Then Roman pulls my chair forward, away from Blake, and facing him.

  "You should have this leg elevated," he says as he lifts my leg onto one of his massively muscular thighs. I wince a bit from the movement.

  "Too high?" he asks. His jaw hard with worry.

  "No, it's fine."

  My stomach lets out an angry growl that fills the entire room. Everyone looks at me, and then my mother who scurries back to the kitchen to grab my lunch.

  "Let me get your salad finished, sweetie," she says. "You must be starving."

  "I went to Miami to meet with Kat," Roman starts. Not exactly what I wanted to hear from him, but I'll bite.

  "I know," I say.

  "To meet with her about business. Her production company put me and the Kings on retainer for the near foreseeable future."

  "Retainer for what?" my father snickers. "Lawyers get retainers. Not thugs."

  Roman keeps his eyes on me but responds to my father's accusation.

  "I help keep her actors out of trouble, out of the court system, and hopefully away from bad press. That's what I get paid a lot of money to do, Sir."

  "By whatever means necessary?" my father snidely asks.

  Roman doesn't flinch. "That's right."

  "That's how you plan on taking care of this baby?"

  Blake furiously begins scribbling on his note paper. For a moment I forgot he was even sitting here, and now I've just remembered that he had no idea about my pregnancy. I haven't seen him since the accident and my parents definitely wouldn't have told him. Knowing them they were probably worried he wouldn't want me, after he found out I was carrying another man's child. They're so delusional.

  Blake finishes writing and slides the paper next to me at the table.

  "One second," I say to Roman so that I can read the note, but he stops me from reading by slapping his hand on top of the note and sliding it back across the table towards Blake.

  "I'm not finished talking," he says sternly. Keeping his steely eyes on Blake's for an elongated moment, then on my father's, and then back on mine.

  "There is no one but you, Elizabeth. There will only be you. There could only ever be you. We don't need any more space or distance from each other. Not now and not ever again.

  "It kills me that I wasn't here when you needed me. It infuriates me that I gave the illusion to your employee here that there was even a sliver of a chance for him to move in and claim you. There is none. It incenses me that somewhere along the way you started feeling as if you couldn't trust me, because you can. You can tell me anything, Elizabeth, and I swear to fucking God that I will always listen, and that I will move heaven and earth to make whatever is wrong right for you.

  "I love you. I didn't know exactly what tha
t was at first. Loving another person like this. Loving someone without all the conflict or the hate that I've usually felt for people in my life who claimed to love me. So when I actually recognized what this was between us, that it was real, I didn't know if I deserved it at first. Especially from someone as smart, and beautiful, and innocent as you. But once I accepted it, and embraced it, then I became scared as hell to lose it. So I made some mistakes. Ones that I hope you will forgive me for, because it's going to make it awfully difficult for us to raise this baby together if you don't."

  I hang my head low to hide the tears that are rolling down my cheeks. I don't know if he's saying all of this because of the baby or because my accident scared the hell out of him, but the weight of his words tear through my chest violently.

  I know Roman, and this couldn't have been easy for him. Baring his soul to me in front of two people who have never been kind to him and one who I now suspect may have been hoping for our demise for quite a while now.

  In the middle of all of this, my mom places a mixed green salad with a piece of blackened salmon on top in front of me. Something about the poor timing of the gesture spurs me to say what I should have said the moment he entered the house.

  "I need everyone to leave," I say firmly.

  "Elizabeth, you just got out of the hospital!" my mother exclaims.

  "That's right I did, and it's my prerogative if I want to rest and recover by myself. And that's what I want to do. So could you guys come back tomorrow maybe? And Blake–" I turn around and look at my poor coder. My flirty friend. His mouth wired three quarters shut. I need to remember what Roman has done to him. Regardless of the reason, he didn't deserve this. Even if he does have more than friendly feelings towards me. Nobody deserves this.

  "Blake, thank you so much for the generous gift and for checking on me today, but I just need a moment to myself now. I will definitely start putting the computer to use sometime this week, and I'll try texting you tomorrow, okay?"

  Blake nods his head in agreement, but he doesn't look happy about it.

  "Elizabeth–" my father starts to lecture.

  "No, Dad. I want you all to leave. Roman and I need to talk ... alone."

  I couldn't make it any clearer than that without becoming rude.

  After five minutes of gathering their jackets and a few awkward good-byes, the three of them left, and I was now finally alone with one very intense looking Roman Masterson.

  34

  Roman

  "Why are you still in so much pain?"

  Elizabeth is oblivious to just how well I know her. She doesn't need to say a word. Her pained facial expressions tell me everything I need to know.

  "It's not so much pain like you're thinking, it's just a little. I'm not on any painkillers."

  "Because of the baby?"

  "Yes."

  I grin.

  "Let's talk about the baby, but first take a bite of your salad."

  I slide the plate of salad and salmon Elizabeth's mother made for her in front of me, pick up her fork, and attempt to feed her.

  "Open wide."

  "I don't need to be fed."

  "Actually you do. That stay in the hospital caused you to lose too much of your hips and ass. So what the hell am I going to hold onto while you're riding me, if we don't get your weight back up?"

  "Ha. Ha."

  I'm not kidding.

  "Was the food gross or something?"

  "I was asleep most of the time, so I didn't spend much time eating. Are you saying I look bad?"

  I look at her like she's crazy, because she is. Elizabeth Hill has never had a bad looking day in her life.

  "You need to eat for the baby. Speaking of my baby. How exactly did we get into this predicament?"

  I rub my palm across her abdomen.

  "I'm pretty sure you know how we managed to get in the family way. You were there. Repeatedly."

  "I'm also pretty sure you told me you were on the pill."

  She snaps her eyes up to mine. "Are you angry?"

  A flash of worry crosses her face.

  "Of course not. I'm just curious as to how we created this human being when I've seen you pop your pill practically every morning."

  "I may have skipped a few pills a while back when my prescription ran out. I thought I'd be fine as long as I got back on track a few days later. Honestly I thought my system was so flooded with birth control hormones that missing a few days wouldn't make a difference."

  "Did you ever think about not having it?"

  "Never." She looks like she wants to slit my throat right now. "Is that what you want?"

  "Calm down, mama bear. I'm just trying to see where your head is at about all of this. You've got a lot going on, and you've never talked about wanting kids. You can't blame me for being a little surprised by it all."

  "I haven't talked about kids before?"

  "Not in a positive way."

  "Well I suppose I'm a little afraid of the sticky little troublemakers, especially when I'm barely an adult myself, but getting rid of our baby was never a consideration. Listen, I know I've just complicated what is already a pretty complicated relationship between us but–"

  She sounds like she's apologizing.

  Shit.

  I didn't mean to put her on the defensive, so I cut her off.

  "It's not complicated. I mean it is, but it doesn't have to be. I admit that I don't know shit about raising a kid. I'll also admit that I never seriously considered bringing kids into this world because of who I am, what I come from, and what I do for a living, but all that's changed now. I want this baby. I want our baby."

  That puts a beautiful smile on her face, and I can't help but reach out and finger a few strands of her hair. I've missed her so fucking much. Talking to her. Touching her. But I better let go of her hair, because I can't help but think about how I'd rather be pulling back on it, while I'm deeply rooted inside of her.

  She's got one good leg, asshole. Get control of yourself.

  "Have you talked to Joseph?" she asks, which breaks through my lust filled daze.

  "No."

  "Why not?"

  "He knows I took the letter. He's probably waiting for me to call him and curse him out about it."

  "And you haven't?"

  "I've been a little preoccupied."

  "Worrying about me?" She grins.

  "Every single moment of every single day. Here, take another bite for me."

  I feed Elizabeth another forkful of her salad. It's important that I shove as many veggies and healthy proteins I can down her throat so that my baby will overcome being jostled around and scared to death by the car accident. I don't care what those doctors say. I'm sure my little bambina or bambino was scared as shit inside of there.

  I also feed her to stop myself from doing what I really want to do, and that's to move in between her legs and never leave. I can't get her pussy off of my brain. My horny ass is already sitting here planning how I'm going to need to strategically position her, so that she can receive all of my cock without getting hurt. It's going to be tricky to get around this neon yellow leg cast she's wearing, but if anyone can figure out how to get it done, it's me. I'm highly fucking motivated.

  "We have a lot to talk about, Roman."

  "So talk."

  I want us to put everything on the table, so that we can get past it and get on to the making up part.

  "I don't see how I can work with Blake, now that you've beaten him to a pulp."

  "I agree." I smirk. "There's no way you can work with him now."

  "I'm not kidding."

  I sigh. She doesn't get the humor I guess.

  "He seems to be taking it rather well if you ask me. Over here for a holiday lunch with your family. Buying you expensive Christmas gifts with my fucking money."

  "Seriously!?"

  "I paid his bills, AND I gave the prick extra. So yeah, seriously. He bought you a fucking laptop with my money."

  "You've got
some nerve. He wouldn't need your money if you hadn't broke his frackin' jaw."

  "All right, all right. Maybe the money comment was a cheap shot, but I'm serious when I tell you that he doesn't give two shits about making School Bucks a household name. All he wants is to get in your pants."

  "I'm flattered that you think I have this universal sex appeal, but I thought that we were in agreement that you're a bit over the top with it."

  "What agreement? We're talking for the first time in weeks, and I told you in the hospital that I wasn't sorry that I beat Blake's ass. I meant that shit. He deserved it. He said some very foul shit to me while you were fighting for your life–"

  "I wasn't dying, Roman. Stop being dramatic."

  "He wants you, and he can't have you. He seemed to need some clarity on the topic, so I gave it to him. I'm just sorry that your parents had to see it. So really you should admit that not everything I tell you comes from a place of insane jealousy, and that I actually know a lot more about the deviant nature of people, especially men. I knew early on, maybe even before he knew himself, that Blake was interested in you."

  I lower her injured leg on the floor and pull her chair in even closer towards me.

  "I don't blame him for wanting your pretty ass, but he picked the wrong woman to crush on."

  "So you want me to fire him?" she asks distracted by my intimate proximity.

  "Is he still working for you?" I feed her a little more salad. "Chew."

  "I think so," she says with a mouthful of salad. I push a spinach leaf that's sticking out of the corner of her mouth back inside with my finger.

  "Would you fire him?" I ask with my face now in the crook of her neck.

  She swallows. "Would you fire Jade?"

  "What's she got to do with this?" I ask a little defensively.

  "She basically blackmailed me."

  Oh yeah, that.

  "I talked to her. I made it very clear that she overstepped her boundaries, and it won't happen again."