Attainment (The Temptation Series) (4 page)

“Spin that rotor blade there, Nate,” I instruct.

He does what he’s told then smiles as it spins effortlessly.
“It works!”

“I think we are done,” I say in response and get up from my
seated position on the floor.

“Thanks, Bryce. I like doing these things with you.”

The honesty in his words and on his face pulls at my heart.
I have no doubt that I love him like a father does. But at the same time, I am
fully aware that he has a father, a father that loves him dearly. One thing
that I never want to do is step on Rick’s toes where Nate and Charli are
concerned, but that doesn’t mean I cannot love them and show them both in my
own little way.

“You’re welcome, Mate,” I say as I scruff his hair with my
hand. And, as always, he jerks his head away playfully. “I like doing these
things with you, too. Now, let’s get these babies up in the air where they
belong.”

We place them down on the desk and take a step back,
pointing the radio transmitters in their direction. With a hum and a buzz, both
of them hover off the desk. I take control instantly, circling it around the
room. Nate, however, needing a little longer to perfect his new piloting skills.
Surprisingly though, he takes a lot less time than I expected he would need and,
before I know it, we have them flying beautifully out of the room. Nate follows
me into the passageway, our eyes trained intently on the hovering choppers.

Alexis and Charli duck out of our way with a scream.

“Shit! Sorry,” I smile apologetically.

“My bad!” Nate chimes in a little less remorseful.

Alexis shakes her head and pulls Charli to her side. “I knew
those things were a bad idea. Did you have to buy two of them?”

“Actually...” I reply with a smirk while keeping my vision solely
on my helicopter. I slowly walk past Alexis and Charlotte and head for the
stairs, Nate following in tow. “...I bought four.”

“Four! Why four? I don’t want one,” Alexis exclaims with a
little disgust.

“It’s not for you.”

“Who’s it fo—“ she cuts herself off and sighs. “Bryce, BB’s
not even born yet.”

CHAPTER FOUR

The buzzer to the door sounds, indicating Rick’s arrival to
pick up Nate and Charli for the weekend. Standing in the kitchen, I’m in the
midst of preparing a spinach, cheese, and tomato omelette for Alexis’ lunch,
the dish being high in protein, folic acid, and magnesium which I found out is
not only good for her but also good for our baby.

Wiping my hands on the tea towel, I toss it on the bench top
and head for the lounge. When I walk into the room, I spot Rick behind Alexis,
his hand on her shoulder and the other pushed firmly into her lower back.

Neither of them seem to notice me at first, any as I stand
there watching him place his hands on her, assisting with whatever the fuck he
is assisting with, it makes my blood boil.

“Is it there?” Rick asks her.

“Yeah,” she winces. “It’s not as bad as when I carried
Charli, but it still hurts.”

“Thought as much. I could tell straight away when I walked
in that it was bothering you.”

Not being able to stand there any longer and watch their
exchange, wanting to know what is hurting Alexis and why Rick knows about it
and I don’t, I make my presence known. “Is everything alright?” I ask,
desperately trying to curb my resentment.

Rick drops his hands and takes a step back just as Alexis
straightens and stretches, arching her back and poking out her tummy. The
discomfort on her face is obviously present.
Where the fuck has this
soreness come from?

“Yeah,” she murmurs, unaware of the fact that what I just
witnessed between her and Rick has unsettled me.

“Bryce,” Rick says with a nod of his head while extending
his hand.

The last thing I want to do is shake the fucker’s hand,
instead wanting to break it for providing relief to my pregnant fiancé’s back. I
really can’t help it. Seeing him with her pisses me off, infusing me with
jealousy. But, at the same time, I do know deep down inside that my reaction to
their interaction with one another is completely unreasonable. Regardless, he
still irritates me.

I honestly hate feeling this way. I’m not normally the
jealous type. And I’m not afraid to say the reason for this is probably due to the
fact that I always get what I want, therefore never being in a position to be
jealous in the first place. That being said, this feeling is somewhat foreign
to me, only having felt it one time before—when Alexis was married.

Begrudgingly, I shake Rick’s hand as I stand by Alexis and
instantly place mine on her lower back, wanting to remove his touch and replace
it with my own.

“Not long to go now,” Rick insinuates, nodding toward
Alexis’ stomach.

“No. Four weeks and two days,” I reply, wanting to reiterate
that I know exactly how long.

“Well, yeah, if she delivers on her due date. Alexis tends
to go into labour early.” He smiles at her knowingly, and it takes all the restraint
I have to refrain from knocking him the fuck out.

“Dad!” Charli yells, as she comes around the large central
pillar that leads to the stairs.

“Princess! Come and give me a big hug.”

Charli drops her shiny pink suitcase and launches herself at
Rick.

He lifts her up and places her on his hip, grimacing
playfully. “You’ve grown again since I saw you last.”

“Well yeah, Dad,” Charli rolls her eyes. “I slept four times
since then, so I’ve grown four times. Miss James says you grow in your sleep.
Did you know that?”

“I do now. Where’s my kiss?” Rick asks, puckering his lips
like an idiot.

I notice Alexis smiling at their exchange and it irritates
me even more.

“Nate, come on,” Ricks yells. “We’ve got the footy this
afternoon.”

“Coming, geez, don’t go all loco on me,” Nate answers while
entering the room.

“Loco?”

“Don’t ask, Rick,” Alexis says before giving both Nate and
Charli a kiss goodbye. “Now be good, and I’ll see you after school on Monday.”

They hug their mum before fist-bumping me and then walking
out the door.

After they are gone, I waste no time in finding out what the
hell is wrong with Alexis’ back. “Wanna tell me what’s wrong with your back?” I
ask, my tone deliberately snappy.

She gives me an unsure look. “I get back spasms. Why? What’s
wrong? Why are you angry?”

“Because this is the first I’m hearing of it. Yet
he
seems to know all about them.”

I hate speaking to her with such anger in my voice, but I
can’t help it. Her ex-husband just pisses me right off. Look, there’s not a day
that goes by where I don’t feel the slightest bit guilty for moving in on
Alexis when she was married to the scumbag. After all, I’m not a heartless
bastard. I think that what angers me where Rick is concerned is what he did to
her—cheating on her right after she gave birth to Charlotte when she was at her
most vulnerable. The thing is, if he hadn’t fucked up on an epic scale like he
had, she may still be married to him. So it’s bittersweet in a way.

“Really, Bryce? You’re angry because Rick knows that I get
back spasms?” she asks with a roll of her eyes.

Her blatant dismissal of my unease at being kept in the dark
angers me even more. “I’m pissed off because
I
don’t know about
them.”

“Well, sorrrryyy,” she says, sardonically drawing out the
word. “I didn’t realise I needed to tell you absolutely everything. How about I
make you a list?” She places her hands on her hips. “Number one...” she
explains, raising her hands and pointing to her finger. “My feet have begun to
swell and look like little bloated piglets, see?” she kicks off her shoe,
sending it hurtling through the air and into the lounge. “Feel free to oink at
them, they may respond.”

The notion that her feet can resemble piglets makes me want
to laugh, and I feel my anger toward her slipping away.

“Two...” she points to another finger, clearly not finished
with her defensive tirade. “My nipples are dry and sore and starting to leak
colostrum. Would you like to hear more?” she asks, pausing only for a second.
“Good, ‘cause I’ll give you more,” she continues, not allowing me the option to
refuse. “I have the constant need to urinate. I feel like I could shit a brick.
I have heartburn from hell. And I am so hungry I could eat a horse.”

Colostrum? What the fuck is colostrum? And why is it
leaking from her nipples?

I don’t answer her for a minute as I try to process the list
she has just heatedly rattled off, a list I need to get onto. The fact she
could eat a horse stands out to me as the first problem I can solve. 

My absent reply—I can only assume—frustrates her further as
she huffs and starts to turn away. “They are just back spasms, Bryce. I didn’t
think it was that important.”

I soften my voice, feeling like an absolute piece of shit
for making her upset. “Hunny, everything to do with you and our baby is
important.”

She stops, turns back around and sighs, exhaustion clearly
present. “Honestly, they come and go. They haven’t bothered me until recently.
I used to get them a lot when I was pregnant with Charli which is why Rick
caught onto it straight away. I’m not deliberately keeping my ailments from
you.”

I take the remaining steps between us and place my hands on
her shoulders. “I want to know everything, EVERYTHING that is happening with
that body of yours. I can’t help if you don’t tell me what is going on.”

Wrapping her hands around my waist, she closes the remaining
distance between us as she pulls herself to me, the gorgeous bulge in her belly
preventing our complete unity. “Okay, but you can’t help me shit a brick, or
stop me from constantly peeing.”

“No, but I can dish you up a horse.”

She laughs. “I know my cravings are crazy, but steed
sandwiches are definitely a no no.”

“What’s colostrum?” I ask, my thoughts back to her nipples.

She pulls away and smiles then lets out an adorable giggle.
“It’s pre-breast milk.”

Pre-breast milk?
I can’t help but look at her
breasts.

Suddenly, I feel a slap and a push to my chest and she is no
longer in my arms.

“I’m not going to drown you in it, you know,” Alexis
deadpans as she walks away.

“What? I...I didn’t say that.”

I quickly take off, capturing her and holding her back to my
front.

“You didn’t have to,” she says in a sulky voice. “You looked
at my breasts as though they were ready to shoot at you like a fire hose.”

I laugh out loud. “I did not. Although...”

Feeling her struggle to free herself from my arms, I hold
her tighter, her freedom not even in the cards. “I’m kidding. No, seriously, I
just thought they couldn’t leak anything until after BB is born. And speaking
of BB, can we please discuss names? I really cannot bring myself to call him
that anymore.”

“Why not? It’s cute.” She drops her head back onto my
shoulder and looks up at me with a smirk. “I was actually thinking of calling
him that officially.”

I squint at her, narrowing my gaze and trying to assess
whether she is bluffing or not. “Don’t kid a kidder, my love”

“I’m not.”

“You better be, because there is no way in hell we are
naming our son BB.”

She bites the inside of her bottom lip and smiles. “Fine,
but I at least want his name to begin with B.”

“Why?”

“No reason,” she shrugs.

Leaning forward, I plant a quick kiss on her forehead,
causing her eyes to close momentarily. I love how her eyelids fall heavy for
the smallest of moments when I kiss her. It shows her vulnerability to my
touch. “Okay, the letter B it is. It’s a good letter,” I confidently grin at
her.

“Hmm, I know,” she moans, arching her head back further, her
lips reaching for mine.

Lowering my head so that I can give her what she wants, what
I want—what I always want, to taste her—I savour the feel of her sweet warm
mouth, the soft silky glide of her tongue against mine. She tastes like the
most delectable form of oral consumption known to man, and I am the lucky son
of a bitch who solely gets to consume her.

Regretfully, I separate my mouth from hers and pull away. “I
have a little work to do.”

She pouts, and it’s so fucking lovable. “Fine, you important
business man. I have a date with a very naughty priest anyway.”

What naughty priest? This is the first I’ve heard of
Alexis being religious.

I pull my head back from her in slight disbelief. “Priest?”

“Yes, Father Stearns.”

“Are you Catholic?”

“No. But after reading this book, I’m thinking of possibly
converting.”

“What book?”

She laughs and gives me a little shove. “Never mind. Go, go
and do what you do.”

I take a few steps backward in the direction of my office,
still confused by this Stearns bloke.

Still laughing, Alexis blows me a kiss. “Don’t look so
concerned.”

“I’m not. I’m not scared of a priest.”

As I turn and open the door to my office, I hear her mumble
something barely audible until I hear the word clown.

I pause.

“I love you,” she calls out, giggling.

“Hmmm,” is my only response.

***

I spend the next hour looking up baby names beginning with
the letter B. Let’s just ignore the fact that I am supposed to be finalising
the complex’s involvement in the upcoming AFL Grand Final celebrations, because
the thought of giving my son a name is far more important.

“Bailey,” I say to myself.
Nah, too much like Irish
Cream.
“Bane,” I voice with a wishy-washy tone.
Hmmm
.

I decide to check the meaning behind that particular name.
“Son of a farmer.”
No, that won’t do, although, he is the grandson of a
farmer.

I keep scanning.

“Beaver?” 
Are you fucking for real, who would call their
son Beaver?
“Bowel?”
Now that’s just cruel.
I shake my head and keep
reading down the list. “Boyd.”
Maybe.
It does say that Boyd means blonde
haired, and I’m fairly certain our son will be blonde.

Scanning further down the list, I spot my name. Curious as
to its meaning, I read on. “Ambitious and quick minded,” I smile and nod.
Fuckin’
oath, I am.

My phone rings, breaking my attention to the name searching.
I pick it up and notice Derek’s goofy looking face on my screen. “Hey, Mate.
What’s goin’ on?”

“I was thinking ‘bout the intro song for the next gig. How
‘bout ‘Birth’ by 30STM?” Derek suggests, apparently forgetting the courtesy of
a greeting.

“Yeah, nice! Have you spoken to Will about it? That song is
all about the drums.”

“Yeah, Will’s on board.”

“Good. I guess we open with ‘Birth’ then,” I reply, still
gazing at the list of names on the screen in front of me.

“You busy?”

“No, not really. Just lookin’ up baby names.”

“Call the little tacker Derek.”

“Fuck off, Dickhead. I’m not calling him Derek.”

“Why? It means big knob.”

I roll my eyes even though he can’t see it. “Yeah, you can
say that again.”

Ignoring my insult, Derek continues. “He who owns largest
cock. Almighty and powerful with massive dong.”

While he’s spinning bullshit into my ear, I look up the real
meaning of his name. “You are bloody shittin’ me,” I say out loud.

“What? You just looked up my name, didn’t you? What’s it
say? It says big cock doesn’t it?”

“No. It says full of shit,” I answer, closing the subject
when really it had said ‘the people’s ruler’. I’ll be damned if I’m going to
tell him that, he loves and worships himself enough as it is.

“What did it say? I wanna know.”

“Look it up yourself. Hey, while I’ve got you, Alexis wanted
to know if you and Carly could come round for dinner tonight.”

“I’ll check with the Mrs and get back to you. It should be
fine though. Hey, you cookin’?”