18. Chapter Eighteen ~ Emma
Chapter Eighteen ~ Emma
The next morning when I wake up it takes a minute to figure out where I am, because I’m used to the sky-blue walls of the room I've been staying in for the last few weeks. I’m definitely not used to the deep green here.
Or the heavy wood of the large bed.
Or the man sprawled out naked beside me.
But then everything from last night comes back to me and I glance down at myself and my obviously pregnant body, which is also sprawled out naked on the bed.
Quickly I sit up and start looking around for my clothes but Chris grumbles in response and reaches for me, his arm snaking out to pull me close. I can’t help the slight smile that spreads across my face, even as I feel more than a little embarrassed at him seeing me like this.
But I’m carrying his baby, right? So shouldn’t he be all right with me being pregnant? And besides, he didn’t seem to have a problem with my body last night. Why should this morning be any different?
If the look in his eyes as he finally opens them is any indication … it’s not.
There’s still heat there. Passion. And something else that I don’t quite understand.
He leans forward, one hand behind my head so he can draw my lips to his own and I can feel myself melting under the feel of him, a moan spilling out of my mouth.
“I thought you weren’t interested in me anymore,” I tease and he practically growls at me.
“I am most definitely still interested in you, Baby Girl. And I’ll show you just how much.” He’s pulling my body even closer to his own when there’s a loud crack of thunder.
I hadn’t even noticed the sound of the rain until that sound shook the entire house, and the lamp beside the bed went out.
It takes both of us a moment to react. At least, I assume it takes him a moment because it’s so dark in here that I can’t see anything. I can only feel his breath on my face, his hand on the back of my head, the weight of him on the bed beside me.
Then there’s a curse and I feel the bed shift and his hand move as he stands up. “I’m going to check things out,” he tells me and I hear rustling as he shifts around, presumably for some pants, and walks toward the door. “There’s a flashlight in the nightstand.”
It’s almost an afterthought that he tells me but I gratefully dig into the drawer to pull out a rather hefty light that looks more like something a hunter would carry than a billionaire. Still, it’s large, it’s bright, and the batteries work.
I’m able to shine it around the room and find my clothes, which I pull on quickly before making my way carefully down the stairs and to the living room.
“What are you doing?” Chris’s sharp voice next to me nearly makes me jump out of my skin and I quickly flash the light in his direction. “Hey,” he puts up a hand to block the light from his eyes and I lower it, trying to catch my breath.
“You scared me,” I admonish and he scowls slightly in the half-light.
“You shouldn’t be coming down the stairs by yourself with no lights in the house.”
“I made it just fine. This flashlight is really bright.”
“It’s not safe. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
His words make my heart constrict a little and I have to mentally shake myself. He’s only saying that because of the baby.
Though I’m sure even a non-pregnant woman falling down his stairs would probably be an issue. So maybe it’s partially the baby and partially a potential lawsuit. At least, that’s what I insist to my racing heart that’s trying to tell me that there was real concern in his voice, for me.
“What’s going on?” I ask instead of responding and he frowns again.
“Power is out. I’m going to make a couple calls, see if it’s a localized thing. If it is then I can get power back on quickly enough.” He sounds confident of that and I wonder just how many city personnel are on his payroll or at least open to bribes to put him at the top of the list.
Unfortunately, when he comes back from making his calls it’s with yet another annoyed look. So it’s clearly not just a localized thing. And he confirms that when he shakes his head.
“It’s the whole town. The club is out of power too. I told Ethan to start making calls to everyone. We’re going to be shut down for a couple days.”
“You don’t have a generator?” I ask, surprised that with all of his money he’s not prepared for something like this.
“There’s a generator, but it’s not going to power everything. And with this storm, not only will everyone have trouble getting there but also we won’t get our order and we’re likely to be short on customers. It’s easier to shut it down for now.”
I give a nod, though I’m thinking about the hours that I’m going to miss out on if we’re closed for more than a day.
“Since you’re here, I can tell you myself. Club is closed until further notice. The city wasn’t sure how long it would take to get things back up and running. They’ve got all their crews out but there are lines down everywhere. Everyone gets paid for their schedule until we open again.”
It’s a generous offer and I’m surprised that he’s making it. Not that I ever thought he was cruel or cold but this just seems a little more generous than I would expect of any employer.
“Thank you,” I tell him, though my mind is still whirling thinking about Leann and Mom. Does Leann have any appointments coming up? I can’t remember. I hope there’s nothing that’s going to be canceled. And I hope they have everything they need during the storm. They don’t usually buy much ahead because there’s no money, but I gave them some last week so hopefully there’s enough in the house now.
“Emma?”
“Hmm? What?” I glance up and realize that Chris is staring at me with a curious expression on his face.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes, fine,” I reply quickly but his eyes narrow and I can tell he doesn’t believe me. “Don’t you have a generator here?”
“I’ve got limited power,” he replies and though he gives me another long look, he turns and walks away. The lights in the living room click on while he’s gone and I assume a few other areas of the house that I can’t see from here. “Come on,” he gestures for me to follow him into the living room and I slowly make my way forward. What are we going to do now?
If he wanted sex we’d go back to the bedroom, right? So, what does he want with me here? Usually when we’re in the living room together it’s just because that’s how things end up, not because we planned it that way. But today …
He slumps backward into a chair and I slowly make my way to the couch, wondering if there’s something else coming. But he doesn’t say anything at first; he just sits there.
“So, what do you normally do when the power goes out?” I ask and he gives me a wry look.
“Call the city and have them come take care of it immediately.”
“But even you aren’t powerful enough to get priority now,” I retort and he actually laughs, slightly.
“Apparently not. For some reason they seem to think the water plant and the treatment plants and mayor rank higher than me.”
I can’t help but laugh at that and it seems to melt away any tension that I might have felt in this moment. This is still Chris. Even with whatever else is going on around us and whatever else I might be feeling (that I’m still trying to convince myself that I’m not feeling), it’s just the same as it’s been.
“How is everything going?” he asks and it’s my turn to look at him in confusion. “The baby. Your appointments. How have you been feeling?”
“Oh, well, it’s all going fine. The baby is doing fine. I’m fine.” I feel like I’m saying the word ‘fine’ too much but I don’t know what else to say.
He nods and glances away for a minute then turns back. “Have you started making any plans?”
“For what?”
“The baby’s room. The room next to yours will be the nursery. Unless you want the baby in the room with you, of course. You can decorate it any way you like.”
I’m surprised at that. I hadn’t really thought about it. But then, it makes sense. “Right. Um … well, I think they’ll probably be in the room with me for a little while and then … then they’ll need a room. But maybe I’ll wait to find out what it is first.”
“Are you going to find out?” He seems interested. Genuinely interested and I can feel my heart melting a little more.
“I think so. I want to be prepared. As prepared as I can be.”
“Good. And you have everything you need?”
“I’m pretty sure I have more than I need,” I reply with a laugh and he smiles at me. A smile that is certainly doing things to my heart yet again. What is it with me lately; there’s nothing going on with Chris. Not really.
He’s just interested because of the heir thing, right?
“I want to make sure that both of you are well taken care of. And I want to make sure that you are both going to be happy here.”
Happy. Am I happy here? There’s silence again and this time I feel like it’s my turn to ask a question.
“How did you get into this business?” I ask finally, feeling somehow emboldened by the dim light.
He pauses a moment and I wonder if he’s going to answer. Wonder if he’s going to think I’m crossing some kind of boundary by asking personal questions. “There was a group of us that wanted to get into the business. So we set it up.” He shrugs like that’s no big deal. Like people set up companies all the time just because they feel like it.
But I’ve seen his parents’ house. Money was not an issue when these guys got started.
“And now? Are you all still in it together?”
“Ethan and I are the original partners that are still left. One of the other guys is still somewhat of a silent partner. He never sold but he doesn’t take an active role in anything. The rest of the guys are just part of the crew, but they don’t have ownership of the place.”
“You guys seem close.”
“Relatively close, yeah,” he agrees with a shrug. I know the whole crew is close. But it’s Ethan that he’s closest with and now that makes sense. They started this thing together.