0215543001348293036 vaughn piper oshea m.j. (14 page)

I snatched the phone off the desk on the third ring and answered without checking the caller ID. “H-hello?”

“Erik?”

The sound of Rue’s voice made me flinch. I looked around the room again, paranoid beyond reason.

“Hello? Erik?”

“Y-y-yes,” I stammered. “I’m here. S-sorry.”

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one small thing

“Hey. Is this a bad time?”

“Uh… no, I was just doing a bit of—” I broke off to clear my throat. “—reading.”

“Oh, well, Dusty just got here. We were wondering if you wanted to come over. We’re going to make some snacks and watch a movie.”

“Oh, I, um….” My eyes searched the ceiling for a clever excuse, then dropped to my laptop. The book was still open on the screen, and that paragraph seemed to be flashing at me in neon lights. I hastily slammed the laptop closed. There was no way I could hang out with Rue and Dusty, not with those images so fresh in my mind. I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to even
look
at Rue again without blushing until my hair caught fire. What if he could tell what I’d been thinking somehow? God, what if he figured out that I was picturing him naked, and I’d been about to jerk myself off just to try to get him out of my head long enough for me to be productive for at least an hour or two?

“I’m b-busy,” I finally went on. “I have, um, edits due s-soon.” The lie sounded lame even to my own ears, but it was too late to take it back. “B-but thank you. I appreciate the invitation.”

“No problem.” If Rue knew I had lied, I couldn’t tell from his voice. “Maybe next time, then.”

“Yeah.”

“Good luck with the edits. Bye, Erik.”

“Bye, Rue.”

I disconnected the call and set the phone back down. Saying no had made me feel a bit sad. Maybe a little… lonely? But I couldn’t face Rue right then. I just couldn’t. The feelings in me were too confusing. I had to get them under control before I saw him again.

[89]

Piper Vaughn & M.J. O’Shea

Chapter 7

Rue

“RUE, you ready? Class is about to start again.” I looked up from the calendar on my phone and jumped a bit. I hadn’t realized Dusty was so close. “What’s wrong?”

“Alice’s first real comprehensive exam is this weekend. I hate doctors.”

Dusty chuckled. “But
you’re
not going to the doctor, Alice is—

and just for a checkup.”

“I still hate doctors.” I’m sure I was making a pouty face. I could feel it and was annoyed at myself for being so stupid.

Dusty fluffed my hair, which was never quite as well styled as it used to be anymore. I didn’t really have the energy to care.

“Let’s go dye some eyebrows.”

Yeah, as distracted as I was, my test client was going to come out looking like Groucho Marx.
Head in the game, Rue.

I knew what my main worry was, though. It wasn’t really the doctor, or the idea of sitting in that waiting room filled with sick, screaming babies who were hurting and unable to tell their parent any other way… although I wasn’t looking forward to that either. My biggest worry was the doctor would take one look at my daughter and

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one small thing

tell me I wasn’t doing a good job, that I was failing my baby in some horrible way.

I didn’t want to sit there and be judged for who I was (or wasn’t).

I remembered the stares in my parenting courses. They’d ranged from

“aww, he’s so cute” to downright disapproving. The thought of any more of the second kind made my stomach quake.

I HAD myself so worried about it by Saturday morning (and so annoyed at myself for being worried) that my stomach was all queasy and fluttering in the worst way. I didn’t want to face that doctor alone, or the others in the waiting room who would be staring at me, my clothes, and my hair (which I refused to change to please the khaki-wearing mundanes). I was about a heartbeat away from calling Dusty and asking him to beg off his shift at The Bean, when Erik came through my door with a carrying tray of Starbucks coffees. He looked so pleased with himself, and I understood why. Making it to the crowded Starbucks and back successfully was probably pretty stressful for him.

“Erik!”
Oh, wow. That was about as desperate as it gets.

“Uh, morning, Rue. I brought you a vanilla latte.” He handed me one of the cups with a slight tremor. “Where’s Dusty?”

“He had a day shift at The Bean today.”

“O-oh. I guess I could have gone there for coffee.” I smiled sympathetically at his uncomfortable look.

“It’s okay, Erik. I know that’s not really your scene.” That place was so far from Erik’s “scene” it might as well have been another country. The unwashed hippies and emo kids, board games, paperbacks of poetry, the staff’s relaxed attitude toward service, chairs and tables that had years of graffiti drawn on them in permanent marker—it was like a trip to some odd coffee-themed commune. I’d taken Erik in there once, and he’d spent the next half an hour washing his hands. Yes, Starbucks was much better for him.

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Piper Vaughn & M.J. O’Shea

“So, Erik, have a seat.” He looked at me strangely. I’m guessing it’s because a huge and sugary smile was on my face. It probably made me look like an alien. He usually saw me in some form of sarcastic…

or laughing.

“Are you okay, Rue?” See? Alien.

“So, I have a favor to ask you. I can pay you for your time.” (Not really, but I was desperate so I would anyway.) He looked wary immediately. “I’d like for you to go somewhere with Alice and me today.”

“Where?”

“It’s not really a big deal. It’s just for Alice’s checkup, and I really just don’t want to go myself, so can you just come with me and Alice to the doctor?” I talked so fast I barely understood myself.

“Yes. I’ll come.” He actually looked relieved. What did he think I was gonna ask him?

“Really?” I’d figured he would turn me down instantly.

“Yes. It’s no problem. What time?”

“In an hour?” I was still so surprised at how nonchalant he was that it came out as a question.

“Let me go change. I’ll be ready on time.”

BY THE time we got to the doctor I was a pint-sized ball of stress. I was flipping my hair back and forth and about a half second away from starting to chew on my nails. Erik, on the other hand, who had the handle of Alice’s car seat slung casually over his elbow, looked like nothing was getting to him. He smiled at the other parents in the waiting room and even laid a calming hand on my shoulder. That earned us a few glares from the khakis, but the glares were tempered with more “how adorable” smiles, like Erik and I were little tiger cubs at the zoo. Those were nearly as bad.

Get me the hell out of here.

By the time the nurse with the clipboard called Alice’s name I was ready to vibrate into thousands of little pieces.

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one small thing

Erik squeezed my shoulder gently. “Rue, it’s fine. I spent my childhood in doctors’ offices. They’re just going to look Alice over and see if she’s developing the right way, growing enough—all those sorts of things.”

“How do you know that?”

“I looked it up on the Internet. It’s really not a big deal.” For some reason that calmed me down a little. I let Erik lead us into the little examining room. We sat there, quieter than usual, until a nurse came in to take Alice’s vitals and do all the measuring that appeared to be necessary. She smiled and chirped at Erik and me about nothing in particular. He must’ve been answering her, but I was too busy watching Alice. She seemed fairly complacent, for the moment, but if that nurse made one wrong move my baby would blow up in a heartbeat, and things would get pretty unpleasant for all involved.

“How long have you two been together?” Oh, that got me out of my daze. Say what?

“Huh?” It was the first thing I’d actually said.

“You two make an adorable couple. How long have you been together?”

I looked at Erik in horror. Usually I’d have some glib line, a joke… anything. But I had nothing—nothing other than the memory of my lips against the top of his head as I inhaled his scent.

“Oh, we’re not a couple. I’m just the manny,” Erik told her with a surprisingly charming smile.

The manny? Where did he pick that one up?

He and the nurse both chuckled, and I joined in, but my heart wasn’t in it. The moment that nurse had called us a couple, my head had been filled with a picture of him and me on the couch, popcorn and snacks on the coffee table, and a beautiful black-haired toddler lying on the couch with her head on Erik’s lap—a family. Us. I coughed.
Holy
shit.

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Piper Vaughn & M.J. O’Shea

AFTER the doctor’s appointment (which was disappointingly trauma-free) Erik and I stopped for lunch at the Charcoal Pit, a burger place he loved. It was a bit out of the way, but I’d have driven to Philadelphia if it would make him happy, just for agreeing to go to the doctor with me.

We got settled in a booth, and Erik rubbed his hands together excitedly.

“What do you think you’ll get?”

He didn’t even look at the menu. “A Philly cheesesteak with fries, mozzarella sticks, a root beer, and a Tiger.”

“A Tiger?”

“Ice cream sundae. It’s amazing. You’ll see.” I chuckled and folded my own menu. “Um, no, I won’t. I have to get into my short shorts for beach night next weekend.” Erik made a face I didn’t want to interpret… well, I didn’t have to. It was pissy. I chose to ignore it. Our server came up to us with a notepad right about then anyway.

Erik ordered his cholesterol-fest, and I got a chicken Caesar and an iced tea with Splenda. He rolled his eyes at me and handed his menu to the server. I knew he had some comment about salad, but he kept his mouth shut. I might get to hear about it later if something else didn’t come up to take his attention.

“So what have you been working on lately? I saw your light on last night when I got home from the club.”

Erik blushed. I thought it was adorable.

“Well, that’s the thing….”

“What’s the thing?”

“My publisher says that science fiction isn’t selling like it used to.”

I cringed. That had to be crappy news. “I’m sorry, Erik. What are they going to do?”

Erik sighed. “They want me to write romance.” The iced tea I’d been sipping nearly came out my nose.

“
Romance
?”

He coughed. “But not the normal kind.”

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one small thing

“What do you mean by not the normal kind?” Erik looked so damn uncomfortable that I had to chuckle.

“They want my two main characters in the last book I wrote to have a romantic relationship.”

That was it?
“So?”

“They’re both guys.”

That time I did spit my iced tea out. It sprayed all over the table and onto Alice’s cheek. She didn’t appreciate the cold liquid and immediately started to bawl. It took me a while to get her (and myself) calmed down before I could ask him what the hell he was talking about.

When I finally did, there was more blushing and muttering.

“Well, um, my publisher has opened an e-book division, and their best sellers are the, well, guy romances. With two….” He gestured between himself and me.

“And how’s that going for ya?”
God, I wanted to laugh.

“They called three months ago. I haven’t written anything yet.

That’s about how it’s going. I have done some research, though.” I felt awful for him. I automatically reached out and brushed my finger across the top of his hand. “Poor baby.” I didn’t mean to laugh, but it came out soft and sympathetic (I hoped). “What are you doing for research?”

“Well, I looked into the, um, logistics….” I wasn’t sure if he could get any redder.

“And?”

“My agent sent me a few samples of the genre.” That caught my interest.
Gay book porn?
“Oooh, are they hot?” His face obviously
could
get redder, and did. That was clearly a yes. “I want to read one. Maybe you can show me yours when it’s done.”

“Rue, I don’t think….”

I squeezed his hand. “Don’t get all embarrassed. I bet you’re good.”

“You never wanted to read my books before.” He flashed a slightly accusatory look my way.

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Piper Vaughn & M.J. O’Shea

“Well… yeah. I know.
Now
I do. I can help you write the naughty scenes.” I’m sure my grin was pretty dirty. I didn’t mean it to be, but we were talking about
sex scenes
between guys… and my little Erik had to write them. The picture of that alone was enough to make me giggle. I held it in.

He looked kind of scared, but I did notice he didn’t move his hand under mine. “I think I can do it. Maybe.”