Page 6 of Playing With Her

“That’s okay. You will later when I’m fucking that attitude out of you.” That effectively shuts her up. She takes her cup of tea with her as she spins around and heads for the balcony. One thing is for certain: Amelie can run, but she can’t hide.

NINE

Amelie

“Why doeshe think everything can be cured with an orgasm?” I mutter to myself, taking my seat on one of the small bistro chairs I have set up on the balcony. Thankfully, my stomach isn’t rolling with the urge to purge the small amount of tea I drank. Now, my emotions, sickness, it all makes sense. Chalk it up to the pregnancy and making me feel things I’ve never felt before. I close my eyes, inhaling the scents coming from down the streets. The spices in the gumbo, jambalaya, and crawfish are hitting already. It figures this child of mine would hate breakfast foods when I absolutely adore any and every item on any given menu to start the day.

“You’re going to need this in order to make an appointment with your doctor.” The man of the hour walks out, interrupting my tirade right as I was getting ready to blame him and his super sperm for making me the way I am—annoyed, horny, happy, then confused all in a matter of minutes.

“Thank you, Captain Obvious. I was trying to drink my tea before it got cold, but I’ll do it now. Clearly, you’ve got zero patience.” And now I’m going to need to add bratty to the list. It’s funny how you can miss a person, then suddenly, they’re back in your life. You would think it’d be the happiest day in your life when all you want to do is rewind the clock, get some sleep, and start over.

“Nope, not when it comes to you and our child. Amelie, there are only a handful of people I care about in my life. You’re one of them, probably more than my brothers and their significant others. I’m going to worry, more so now. You fainted, beautiful, full-blown body trying to drop down to the ground, then, when you’re coherent, you tell me you’re pregnant. I’m allowed to be concerned. Please make the call.” I take my phone from him and place it on the table. Boston sits down in the chair opposite of me, his big body dwarfing the balcony and the chair.

“I’ve already made the call. I made an appointment after my test came back positive. It’s for later this afternoon. And while I can understand your concern, is it possible to, I don’t know, maybe talk instead of order me around in the future?”

“Well, I stand corrected.” He crosses his arms over his chest, leaning back in the chair. He still doesn’t apologize, which is fine by me because I won’t either. Being bitchy is absolutely warranted.

“I’ll say.” My tea is gone, and the queasiness is finally gone, too. My mom and her intuition. Add a little creole on the side, and Isabelle LeBlanc Boudreaux probably has a sneaking suspicion on my being pregnant.

“Still, Amelie, I’ll be there. You get that I’m here to stay. We’ve got a lot of shit to work through, but we’re making this work. Shit, beautiful, if I had it my way, we’d have done things a fuck of a lot faster, including you being tied to me in a permanent way. I don’t deserve that, not yet. When the time is right and you’re not ready to upchuck the contents of your stomach, we’ll talk, hash things out, figure out a solid game plan, one that doesn’t have you pissed as hell.” Boston drops his forearms to his spread thighs, eyes staying on me the entire time he’s talking. This man right here, he’s the one I gave more than my body to, even if I shouldn’t have. The heart wants what the heart wants, and my heart wants Boston. Any way I can have him.

“Yeah, well, going silent for a month wasn’t the right way either, you know.” Jesus, I need to insert my foot in my mouth. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. Attempting to keep quiet is easier said than done.

“Amelie.” He says my name quietly, garnering my attention yet again. “You get who my father is. There was no way I wanted him to catch wind of the woman I’ve been spending my time with. Do you know what he would have done to you? Your father looks like a joke next to mine. Christ, I couldn’t have that. I needed a plan in place. Ezra needed the heat taken off his woman, and I’d already been down here. Theo is in California, both of us taking Four Brothers in a different direction, a necessity to stay fresh in the technology world. I found you, and keeping you safe, far away from Governor Wescott, was all I could think about. I worked night and day. My phone could have been hacked into if I so much as made the wrong move. It wasn’t right, but it wasn’t wrong either. Hopefully, one day soon, you’ll understand what you mean to me,” he drops an atomic bomb in my lap. I’m sitting here stunned into silence. I should get up, go to him, at least hug him. Of course, that’s not what I do; the simple thing to do slips away from me. Instead, I watch as he stands up from his seat, phone in hand, and walks toward me. “I’m going to grab your toast, make a few phone calls, then I’ll be back.” The kiss he drops on my lips when I look up as his presence looms over me, well, yeah, I still haven’t found the words necessary to respond.

“Okay.” It comes out on a croak.

“Alright, you and me, Amelie. We’re going to make this work,” are his parting words. My stomach somersaults for another reason. Three times today I’ve had to calm myself down in one form or the other. Though, this one might be my favorite yet, a close second to the desire Boston illuminates in my body whenever we’re pressed against one another. I listen as he opens the door, steps inside, and grabs the plate my mom brought up. I know there’s butter and cream cheese, a concoction I’ve always loved on one of my favorite breakfast foods. He sets down the plate, then closes the door as he goes back inside this time, leaving me to contemplate what to make of this new life of mine. One thing is for sure: I’m calling Eden as soon as I’m done eating.

TEN

Boston

“Ground rules.I can see you’re going to be the type of man who attempts to bulldoze a path of destruction should you not get your way,” Amelie tells me as Scott navigates our way to her doctor’s appointment hours later. I made a few calls, one to Parker, asking him to set up a conference call with the rest of our brothers since everyone is going every which way. Tomorrow morning, we’ll all hop on the call, and I’ll tell them what’s going on, figuring more will be ironed out after this appointment. Amelie’s nerves as well as mine will be a little more settled.

“Go on.” Little does she know rules are meant to be broken, and I’ll never be the one to agree to them. Though, there’s no harm in her thinking she’ll get her way.

“First, I’m going to ask the questions and receive the answers before you attempt to stampede your way in like a herd of elephants. Also, while we’re on the topic, no bringing up the fact that I’ve been sick when smelling certain aromas. It’s normal, and so is fainting.” Scott coughs attempting to cover his laugh, while I’m seething inside with Amelie thinking it’s okay to conk out ice fucking cold.

“Wow, you think highly of me. I’m being compared to a bulldozer and an elephant. It’s a good thing I don’t have any insecurities. I’ll agree to you asking the questions first. Should you not ask the ones I’d like answers to, I’ll go from there. As for you passing the hell out, that will absolutely be brought to the doctor’s attention.” Amelie huffs and turns her head away from me when only moments ago, she had no problem giving me those pretty green orbs. Parker warned me what it would be like when I found the one who’d make me fall. Ezra, too, for that matter. Both of them found their life partner. Nessa and Millie are best friends; they also have an independence streak a mile wide. It seems Amelie is right there with them. She can be pissed all she wants. If the mother of my child can’t protect herself, I’ll be doing it for her.

“Whatever, Boston.” The sad part of this equation is I’m at a disadvantage. What started out as a fling of sorts has vastly changed. Having a child together will do that, though our relationship started changing well before I found out she was pregnant. The late nights started creeping earlier into the afternoons, I lingered in the morning, and we exchanged texts during the time I was in New Orleans. It was only when I went back to New York that things got dicey. Unfortunately, Amelie doesn’t know just how cruel Governor Wescott can and will be, no matter the fact he disowned me a few days ago.

“Amelie.” Her name comes out as a grumble. My hand moves to where hers lies between us. The good news is, when I lock our fingers together, she doesn’t pull away. “I’m not some overbearing dick. Can we at least agree that when it comes to your health, questions need to be asked? What if it happened while you were working?” Amelie and Isa pull their weight at the Inn. No task is too menial—cleaning windows, scrubbing toilets, washing laundry. The two of them work alongside the employees to take care of the daily tasks. They don’t act like pompous assholes while watching the people they hired work harder than they do.

“Fine. Don’t get used to me saying this, but you’re right in that regard,” she admits, unwillingly. We’re saved from further conversation when Scott pulls up to the hospital where her doctor’s office is located, a two-for-one deal. I’m happier about it, too. If there’s a problem, well, she can be escorted safely in a wheelchair or hospital bed to the next floor.

“Thank you. I didn’t get to ask with all the phone calls I had to field. Is your doctor a male or female?” I question. My calls didn’t take too long. Parker was the fastest. I laid it out about the building and then asked for him to set up a good time for the guys to receive a call all at once. I made another call to my realtor, where I relayed the information about the building. How I managed to remain calm is anyone’s guess, when all I wanted to do was fire her on the spot. The mistake may have been an honest one; it still didn’t sit well with me. Adding that Amelie and her mother could have been hurt in the process only makes it that much worse. Needless to say, the company now knows what will and won’t be tolerated. Margaret Smith is currently working on finding another building, this one not being sold out from beneath an unsuspecting family. And if I have my way, it’ll happen immediately. Time is of the essence in my line of work.

“Oh, dear God, you did not ask that question. Is your job to piss me off today?” She tries to snatch her hand away. I don’t allow that to happen, keeping it firmly in place with mine.

With her hand still in mine, I pull her closer, “Not particularly. I do enjoy when you bring all that feistiness to the bedroom, though.”

“Shut up, Boston.” There’s no anger or annoyance in her tone. Pregnancy hormones are working in my favor.

“Answer the question, beautiful.”

“My doctor is a female, but I wouldn’t switch if she were a male. You would have to get used to the fact that another man is looking at something you’ve already had.” The lust between us passes as we make our way to the hospital entrance, and the sliding doors open automatically.

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