The Running Series Complete Collection: 3-Book Set plus Bonus Novella (186 page)

S
lowly, I awake, suddenly aware of how uncomfortably hot I am.  Did I sleep through the entire winter season like Rip Van Winkle?  Have I been transported to the tropics in my sleep?  And why can’t I seem to be able to move my body?

I open my eyes to discover I am draped in Adam Cooke.  He’s wrapped around me like a blanket.  He’s fast asleep with his head on my chest, his arm over me, holding me close, one of his legs thrown over and hooked around both of mine. He’s suffocating me with his body heat, and he’s heavy. 

My right arm is stretched in search of a cool spot. He’s asleep. Tentatively, I lift my hand and run the tips of my fingers down his back. Deep in his throat, I hear a faint, distressed groan, and he stirs. He nuzzles my chest, inhaling deeply as he wakes.  Sleepy gray eyes meet mine beneath his tousled mop of hair. “Good morning,” he mumbles, and frowns.  “Is it time to get up already?”

He moves slowly, unpeeling his limbs from me as he struggles to wake up. I become aware of his erection against my hip. He notices my wide-eyed reaction, and he smiles a slow, sexy smile. 

“Hmm ... this has possibilities, but I unfortunately, I have to get up.” He leans down and nuzzles my ear with his nose.

“You’re very hot,” I murmur.

“You’re not so bad yourself,” he mutters, and presses himself against me, suggestively. 

He props himself up on his elbow, gazing down at me, amused. He leans in and plants a gentle kiss on my lips. “Sleep well?” he asks.

I nod, staring up at him, and I realize that I’ve slept very well except maybe for the last half hour when I was too hot.

“So did I.” He frowns. “What time is it?”

I glance at my alarm. “It’s seven thirty.”

“Seven thirty?  Shit.” He scrambles out of bed and drags on his pants. It is my turn to look amused as I sit up.

“Where do you think you’re going?” I ask as he rifles through his closet searching for something.

“Work.  Cole’s coming in to sign his contract today.”

“Adam, honey – stop.  You took off today, remember?  We have an appointment with the obstetrician for an ultrasound at ten.  After that, we’re supposed to take Kai to Chuck E. Cheese for lunch.”  I won’t even mention the conversation we’re supposed to finish about Alex.

He halts dead in his tracks.  “Fuck.”  He paces around the room, searching for something.  He finds his cell phone and dials a number.  He listens to it ring as he pulls on a pair of shoes.  When he doesn’t get an answer, he calls Evan.

“Mac, I need a huge favor.  Find Cole and tell him to get his ass to the stadium ASAP.”  He pauses to listen as he slips on his watch and grabs his wallet, shoving it in his back pocket.  He really thinks he’s going to work today.  “Great – wake his ass up and get him down there.  I’ll explain later.”

He reaches for my hand and kisses each of my knuckles in turn.  He pulls me into an embrace, and I go willingly into his arms.   “I have to work for a while,” he says apologetically. “But I promise I’ll be back in time.  I’ll meet you at the doctor’s office.”

I don’t even try to hide my disappointment.  “That wasn’t the plan,” I remind him.

“I know, but last night we got word that another team is seriously looking at Cole, too.  We need to sign him before someone else swoops in and grabs him.”

“We,” I ask, “as in you and Alex?”

He looks at me strangely.  “Yeah – sort of.  Alex got the call.  But we both agreed that we need to sign him immediately.  You don’t want me to lose my first player, do you?”

“No, of course not,” I reluctantly agree.  “Listen, I know you want everything at work to be perfect, but at what cost?  Don’t you want to be the best father you possibly can be?”

He knits his brows together and stops to look at me.  “Of course.”

“Then you need to be there with me today.  It’s not just a regular appointment, I’m getting an ultrasound today and we’re going to see Bean, remember?”

“I know, baby.  And I can’t wait.  But I can do both.  You’ll see.”

I’m not happy about it, but I agree.  “Okay.”

“Great.  It’s settled.”  Before I can say anything, he swings around, grabs his jacket, and bounds straight for the front door.  “Love you!” he calls just before the door slams shut. 

Asswipe Alex strikes again.

“E
mmalyn Akins,” the nurse calls out into a room full of pregnant women.  I am surrounded by women in every stage of pregnancy.  Some barely showing like me.  Others look like they are ready to give birth right here in this very room.  They are all accompanied by someone – a parent, a partner, a friend.  But not me.  I am here alone because Adam promised me he’d be here.

I stand up and follow the nurse, furiously texting Adam as we walk down the hallway.  Where the hell is he?

While I wait for the technician to join me in the examination room, I call Adam’s secretary, Margie.  It goes straight to her voicemail.  “You have reached the desk of Margaret O’Hare.  I will be away from my desk on Monday, but will return on Tuesday.  If this is an urgent matter ...”  I don’t need to hear the rest of it.  Of course she’s not in today.  Adam gave her the day off because he’s supposed to be off, too.  Crapspackle.

My hopes of Adam arriving in time are dashed when the examining room door swings open and a young woman dressed in a lab coat strolls in holding a clipboard.  “Emmalyn Akins?” she asks.

“In the flesh,” I announce.

“I see you’re here for a routine ultrasound.  My name is Melissa and I’m the technician on duty today.”  She walks over to the ultrasound cart and rolls it closer to the examining table.  “Ready?”

“Honestly Melissa, no I’m not.  My boyfriend is supposed to be here by now.  Do you think we could wait just a little longer?  I really wanted him to be here to see this.  We’re supposed to find out the baby’s gender today.” 

My phone rings.  Quickly, I look down and see that it’s Adam calling finally.  Maybe he’s in the parking lot.  I look up at Melissa, “That’s him now.”

“Adam, where are you?” I ask, frantic.

“Emmy, I’m stuck on the parkway.  A tractor-trailer flipped over and they closed all but one lane on the parkway.  I’m not going to make it.  I’m so ...”

I don’t need to hear the rest.  I end the call and silence the phone.  I simply look up at Melissa and shake my head.  She understands and doesn’t push the matter.

She looks down at her watch and then again at the clipboard.  “Unfortunately, I don’t have any other openings.  Back-to-back ultrasounds for the rest of the day.”  She puts the clipboard down, rolls a stool over, and takes a seat beside the table.

“How would you feel if we did the ultrasound here and now and if I can decipher the gender, I’ll write it down and put it in an envelope.  You can open it up and read it together.”  She looks at me with genuine sympathy. 

“Does this happen a lot?” I ask.

“No, not a lot – but it does happen.  Usually the partner has some sort of work obligation or family emergency.  I’ve had couples come back and thank me.  Some make a really big deal out of it and throw a Gender Reveal Party.”

As special as that sounds, it’s not at all what I had planned. 

“Listen, you can always cancel and come back another time.  I should have an opening in ...” she flips through that damned clipboard again, “... two and a half weeks.”

“I can’t wait that long,” I whine.  “I guess I really have no choice.  Let’s do this,” I tell her.

In typical fashion, Bean is not cooperating much at all.  The tech keeps saying things like, "baby does not want to show it's face,” or, “baby’s hands are up around the face."  And when she’s scanning down around the baby’s legs I hear, "This baby does not want to give me a good shot.” Wow – already a little stinker.

She thinks Bean is sleeping, so she has me empty my bladder half way (as if that’s actually possible), and asks me to turn on my side to try to get the baby in a better position. I’m pretty sure the only movement Bean makes is moving it’s tiny little arms from front of face to back behind the head, stretching.

Melissa does the best she can and feels fairly confident that she was finally able to identify the gender.  As promised, she hands me a sealed envelope and sends me on my way.  As I climb into my car, I check my watch.  It’s nearly eleven. 

I know Adam can’t control traffic, but he shouldn’t have left me in the first place.  Had he kept his promise, this wouldn’t be happening right now.  So what do I do now?

The only thing I can think of is to drive straight to Reese’s condo. 

Lucky for me, she’s home.  I park the car and debate what to do about Adam.  Do I let him run around all over town looking for me?  Let him go to the doctor’s office and make an ass out of himself?  It would serve him right.

My mother’s words come back to haunt me, “Two wrongs don’t make a right.”  Guilt grabs a hold of me and before I reach the front door, I pull out my phone and send Adam a quick text letting him know where I am.

Reese lets me in and turns down the music she has blaring throughout the house.  There’s a vacuum plugged in and dusting rags sitting on the table.  At least I didn’t interrupt anything important.

I hand her the envelope.  “Reese, I’m trusting you with this information.  Under no circumstances are you to open it or allow me or Adam to read it unless we are together.  No matter how much I beg, yell, or scream, don’t give it to me.  You have to hide it.”

“Um, okay.  Sure.  But, can I ask one question?”

I nod.

“What is it?” she asks, turning the envelope over in her hands.

Sheesh.  She has no idea.  Of course not, how could she?  Adam and I didn’t want anyone else to know the gender so we didn’t tell anyone about today’s appointment.  Reese listens very patiently as I retell all the details.  Surprised by Adam’s behavior, she blinks at me, green eyes wide. 

“I’m sorry, Emmy.  I know you don’t like drama and everything but this is fucking bullshit,” she announces.  She reaches forward and grabs my hand, “I love you, you’re like a sister to me and I can’t just sit back and watch you get your heart broken into a million tiny pieces.  You better say something this time or I will,” she warns.

I hear a car pull up outside.  Reese jumps up and runs to the window.  “Hey, I think Adam’s here.”

I hop up and move the curtain to the side just in time to see Adam getting out of his car.  He walks right up to Reese’s door and knocks loudly.

I gather up my coat and my keys and scurry towards the door.  “Reese, I’ve got to go.  Remember what I said – hide that envelope and don’t let me near it.  Promise?”

“Promise,” she agrees.

With a deep breath, I open the door and step outside.  “You’re late,” I reprimand him as I walk straight past him towards my car.

He trails behind me, grabs me by the elbow and swings me around to face him.  “Emmy, you have to believe me when I tell you how sorry I am.  Please talk to me.”

“I will talk to you and you will hear every word I have to say.  But not here and not now.  Go keep your promise to your son – take him to lunch.  I’ll be home when you’re done.”  I pull my arm from his grip, get in my car, and head straight home. 

I use the time while Adam is out with Kai to calm down and cool off.  If I allow this to cause a rift between us, Alex wins and our relationship becomes vulnerable.  I cannot and will not allow that to happen.

All sorts of crazy ideas go floating through my mind.  The first of which is to remind him what his priorities are and to help him find a proper perspective, maybe through a little role-playing.

I could put on my sexy schoolteacher costume.  I’m sure I could come up with some clever punishments for my naughty student.  Perhaps I could be an old school disciplinarian and hand out some corporal punishment by way of a sound spanking.

That is how the old Emmy would handle the situation.  Adam’s favorite has always been my sexy cheerleader costume.  But now that I think about it, I think it’s that exact role-playing escapade that brought Bean into our world in the first place.  Maybe I should rethink my strategy.

Adam and I are going to be parents.  And parents
talk
about their problems like the responsible adults they have become – or in my case,
must
become.  I guess that’s what I need to do.  I just hope Adam can handle the new and improved version of his fun and flirty girlfriend.