Blue Lines: The Assassins Series: A Loveswept Contemporary Romance (21 page)

She really didn’t feel like getting up to get ready, but she knew she had to. She
wanted to look perfect. With a grumpy sigh, she sat up and wished she could lie back
down.

“What are you about to do?” Erik asked, his eyes on the TV.

“I’m going to start getting ready. I’ve got to curl my hair and do other crap,” she
whined.

He shook his head. “I hired the same salon who is doing Elli’s hair and makeup. They
won’t be here for an hour, so you could actually go to sleep if you wanted.”

Piper blinked twice and wanted to scream out in delight. Instead, she wrapped her
arms around his neck and kissed him loudly on the cheek. He froze, but when she whispered
“Thank you,” she could feel his face move into a smile as his hand came to rest on
her thigh.

“I know you’re tired; take a nap,” he said.

“Thank you, really,” she answered as she cuddled back into the pillows.

“It’s no big deal,” he muttered as he leaned back into the bed. She watched him for
a moment. She wanted to cuddle into him, hold his body as she fell asleep, but she
was pretty sure she’d crossed the line when she hugged and kissed him.

When he glanced down at her, he raised a brow. “What?”

Piper smiled. “I like the way you look.”

He chuckled as he looked back at the TV. She closed her eyes but when he said, “I
like the way you look, too,” her heart kicked up a beat. Only two days into this trip
and they were getting more comfortable around each other and also a little flirty.
Was it real? Would it last?

She was learning so much more about him, her husband. He had so many different sides
to him, and she couldn’t understand why he wanted to hide the good with the bad. She
had always thought he had a good side to him, and after today seeing how he interacted
with the kids at the charity events, she knew it was true and she wanted him. Badly.
But no matter his sweet words, and his flirty smiles, she couldn’t sleep with him;
she just couldn’t because she was sure
that was all he wanted from her. She had to listen to the logical side of her brain.
Too bad Piper really didn’t pay much attention to that part.

She was pretty sure that side was what got her in trouble the first time.

* * *

Piper felt like a million bucks.

After being brushed and polished to perfection, she almost didn’t recognize the girl
who looked back at her in the mirror. Her hair was done in beautiful curls that were
brought to the side so they cascaded down her shoulder. The girls who did her hair
and makeup were in heaven when they saw how much hair she had, and boy, did they know
how to work with it. Her makeup was dramatic but classy. The dress, though—that was
money well spent. It was a heart-stopping, soft peach, strapless fitted minidress
that came to the middle of her thighs. A sparking belt of diamonds came under her
breast, highlighting her little tummy. Piper paired the dress with a pair of open-toe
mint heels, which she had to admit looked amazing.

When she came out of the bathroom to find Erik leaning against the wall watching TV,
breathing wasn’t an option. He wore a fitted black suit that hugged every part of
his delectable body, and a mint-green bow tie. He had shaved, leaving a five o’clock
shadow that drove Piper insane. When he turned and his eyes met hers, she was sure
she was going to pass out from lack of oxygen. He smiled appreciatively as he turned
off the TV.

“I really like the way you look in that dress,” he said, his eyes caressing her body.

Piper smiled shyly, smoothing down the dress around her belly. “I don’t look superfat?”

Erik shook his head, his eyes never leaving hers. “No, not at all.”

The air was crackling around them, and she felt her resistance to this man quickly
going out the window. He was standing there, looking like Mr. Sexy
GQ
in his suit and it just wasn’t fair. She was pretty sure he was thinking the same
thing. They didn’t
need
to go to the awards, no; they needed to have sex.

Dirty, lusty, fun sex.

Looking up at the ceiling while biting his lip, he asked, “You ready?”

She let out a long, frustrated breath and nodded.

Best to get away from that bed quickly before they did something really dumb.

* * *

Erik stepped out of the limo first and buttoned his coat as he smiled brightly for
the cameras. He hated this part of his job, but in a way it was doable this year.
It was mostly because of the person he was now helping out of the limo.

Piper.

She looked stunning in a short little dress that made her tan legs scream his name.
The dress hugged her in all the right places and when she asked if she was fat, he
almost let out a gut-busting laugh. She was nowhere near fat: She was beautiful. Taking
his hand, she smiled up at him as the lights flashed around them. He brought her hand
to his lips and kissed it softly, before tucking her arm under his. Erik’s heart was
beating in triple time and it wasn’t because of all the people staring at them. It
was because he was staring at her, and he swore he saw something other than innocence
in those light blue eyes of hers.

The ride over to the awards was quiet. Ever since she came out of the bathroom back
at the suite, he had a hard-on that wasn’t going away anytime soon. She was gorgeous
and he really had no clue how he was supposed to keep his hands off someone so tempting.
They were less than two weeks into this, and already he wanted to rip her clothes
off? Hell, if he was being honest, he had wanted to rip those clothes off her since
the beginning, but that was beside the point.

How was he supposed to make it for three more months?!

With a deep breath, Erik placed his large hand over her small one as he began to lead
her down the red carpet. They stopped for pictures, posing for the many cameras while
people yelled various comments and questions at them. They mainly wanted to know who
she was, and of course, he answered that she was his wife. He made certain to never
leave Piper’s side, even when the reporter asked for pictures of just him. He would
kindly decline and they’d walk away despite the protest of the reporters.

When Koey appeared at Piper’s side, she smiled and greeted him: “Hey, Koey.”

He gave her a big smile that made Erik a tad uneasy, then said, “Hey, Piper, you look
gorgeous tonight.”

Not cool.

Piper, being the sweet person she was, smiled prettily and said, “Thank you.”

Erik cleared his throat, deciding that he didn’t like the way Koey was looking at
Piper, or the way she was looking at him, for that matter.

“You have an interview with Alana Richards; she is the fourth interviewer in the press
line, the one with red hair,” Koey said, pointing to her. Erik saw the hot redhead
Koey was referencing, who was now interviewing Shea and Elli. “You’re after them,
so you need to start making your way toward her. You don’t have to stop to see anyone
else, but Alana is a must. She’s with the NHL.”

Erik nodded. “No problem.”

“Thanks. Have a nice night, and let’s hope for a win.”

Koey sent them one last grin before heading off the carpet toward the auditorium.
Erik took in a deep breath, and then looked down at his gorgeous wife.

“How are you holding up?”

Piper shrugged her shoulders as she smiled. Her lips were shiny and it brought his
attention to her sexy mouth. It was one of his favorite things about her, and right
now, it was screaming to be kissed. Looking away before he gave in to his desire,
he heard her say, “Okay, but my feet hurt.”

He smiled. He hardly ever saw her in heels. She wasn’t like all the other women he
used to hang around. She was different.

“Do you want to sit down?”

“No, it’s okay. I can wait.”

“All right, well I think we’re up,” he said as he escorted her toward Alana.

“Elli looks gorgeous,” Piper said, causing him to glance at his boss. Piper was right.
Elli did look gorgeous in a long blue gown that had a see-through back.

“She always does.”

“That’s a really sweet thing to say,” she said, not looking at him.

“Ah, it’s the truth,” Erik said, giving her a silly grin as they stopped in front
of Ms. Alana Richards.

“Erik, how are you?” Alana asked, shaking hands with him.

He nodded. “Just fine, and you?”

“Good, thank you,” she said as her eyes fell on Piper.

“Alana, this is my wife, Piper,” he said with his arm snaking around Piper’s waist.

Alana’s face brightened as she shook Piper’s hand. “I was wondering if you were, and
I have to say, Mrs. Titov, you are simply stunning!”

Piper smiled. “Thank you, you are, too. I love your dress.”

“Thanks! So I see a baby bump! How far along are you?”

Erik watched as Piper smiled sweetly, placing her hands on her stomach, and said,
“We are due in September.”

“Aw! How sweet! Do we know what we are having?”

And on they went. For the next ten minutes Erik’s interview was about Piper and the
baby. In a way he didn’t mind; he hated answering the same questions, and it was fun
to watch Piper smile and gush over baby talk. He played his part as the doting husband,
the excited father, smiling and caressing her, but it was hard because the caresses
were of the innocent kind. He wanted to do the naughtiest things to Piper, and rubbing
her belly sweetly was not one of them. He also felt dirty, like he was leading her
on because when she looked at him, he saw her heart.

It made him nervous. Was she falling for him more than she already had? He didn’t
want to hurt her. Hell, it was even starting to bother him when she became angry or
upset. Shit, he was starting to care about her, too. Things were changing and he had
to get his feelings in check before he did something stupid like sleep with her and
then fall for her.

He had never loved another woman but he felt like he could love Piper and that freaked
him out to the core. He didn’t understand his feelings at all, but the last couple
of days he had been feeling things he had never felt before and a lot of it had to
do with her. He needed to talk to someone about it because he was starting to think
that maybe he was suffering from a disorder or something, because no girl ever mattered.
Period. The end.

But Piper was starting to matter.

Glancing over at her bright, glowing face, he had to smile. She was talking with her
hands, talking about the events they had attended that day. He didn’t realize she
had been paying such close attention, but she recapped the day better than he even
remembered it.

“Will your child play hockey?” Alana asked.

Piper smiled and looked up at Erik. “I think he or she will, because Erik is a damn
good player and more than likely our child will want to be like him.”

“That’s for sure. Are you ready to win the Art Ross Award, Erik?”

Erik smiled. “Oh, it’s my turn to talk?” Both women laughed as he gave them a dazzling
smile. “Yes, I am. Now if you’ll excuse us, I think my beautiful wife is hungry.”

“This is true! It was so nice meeting you!” Piper said.

Alana smiled as she and Piper hugged. “You, too. Good luck, Erik.”

“Thank you,” he said with a wave as he led Piper away. “You stole my interview.”

“I know! I’m so sorry!”

He laughed as he shook his head. “No big deal. I think you covered all the bases.
I’m awesome, my charities are awesome, and I’m going to win.”

Piper nodded. “See! I had your back.”

“Good, now come on, let’s get some food before the ceremony starts.”

“Sounds like a plan to me. I think that turkey leg has my name on it,” she said, leaving
his side for the buffet table.

“I don’t think you’re supposed to eat that!” he called out after her.

She glanced back at him and shot him a drop-dead gorgeous smile. “So?”

Man, she blew his mind.

* * *

Erik didn’t win and he wasn’t sure who was more disappointed about it, him or Piper.

“I think that ballot was rigged! How in the world did you get beat out by someone
on the Carolina team! I didn’t even know they had a team,” she complained as they
made their way back up to the room. She didn’t want to go out with the rest of the
team so he was walking her back to the room before meeting Phillip downstairs. During
the awards, Phillip sat beside them. “We are cool, dude, don’t worry,” he had said
to Erik. That’s why Erik was best friends with him. They read each other and just
got along. No hard feelings over minor disagreements. Friends like Phillip were hard
to come by.

“I mean really, the dude is not even that good in my opinion,” she said, tapping her
toe as they rode the elevator up to their suite. Erik liked that Piper was so upset.
It was nice to have someone who actually cared if he won or lost something. Plus,
she was just so damn cute when she was mad. Her cheeks turned a bright red, while
her lips puckered out, making it hard not to kiss her.

“Bullshit, I tell you!”

Erik started to chuckle as he shook his head. “I agree, sweetheart, but it is no big
deal. It was only my second year in the league. I’ll get it next year.”

Piper stopped tapping her foot and glanced up at him. She had a weird look on her
face while all the irritation that he saw earlier evaporated. “Well, let’s hope so,”
she said quietly and he didn’t understand where all her fire went.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I’m tired.”

He never liked that answer.

“No, there is something, tell me,” he said as the doors opened. Before she could step
out, Erik took hold of her arm. She turned, giving him an annoyed look.

“You called me sweetheart,” she said with a shrug of her shoulders. “I told you about
that.”

He rolled his eyes as he let out a long breath. “Listen, you are going to have to
get used to that. It’s what I call you.”

“And how many other girls?”

“None,” he said honestly. “You are the only one, so deal with it.”