Fatal Jealousy (Black Widow Book 1) (8 page)

“Did someone say something about food?” Seth, Kris’s blond headed boyfriend, appeared out of her room, “Hey man. So you are the lucky guy?” He nodded at Carson as he went to join Kris.

“Yeah, I guess I am,” Carson answered, staring at the duo. They looked like a pair of chaos judging by the way they went through his craving kit, “Where is Ellie?”

Kris hissed, “Speaking to the she-devil!”

Before he could inquire further, he turned to the soft padding of feet on the hardwood floor.

“Did someone say food?” Ellie walked out of her room, a jar of peanut butter in her hand and a spoon hanging loosely in her mouth. She pulled the spoon out of her mouth and just stared at Carson.

“Hi. I brought you something to eat,” he said, pointing at Kris and Seth.

“Hey, hands off. He brought that for me,” Ellie warned, pointing at them with a spoon.

“Once you refill the refrigerator, we’ll be happy to, until then,” Kris bit into a slice of pizza she was holding defiantly.

“Kris, did you call me a
she-devil
again?”

Instinctively, Carson’s head jerked in the direction of the voice, “Whoa!” She looked exactly like Ellie the first night they met.

“Ellsa, Dale. Dale, Ellsa.” Ellie quickly introduced them.

“She-devil, baby daddy. Baby daddy, she-devil,” Kris added.

Carson turned to Kris with an arched brow. She made no attempts to hide her distaste for Ellie’s twin.

“Don’t mind her. She’s bitter, with no ambition in life.” Ellsa spoke, pulling his attention.

He gave her a weary smile, as he did a quick assessment of her.

She dressed in designer labels right down to her shoes. Her hair was held back, giving her makeup accentuated face precedence. Her red lips matched her red purse and shoes contrasting well with her black cocktail dress. Her confidence that amused him: She knew she was attractive and had no problem letting that fact known.

But it was her eyes that unsettled him.

When Kris coughed and Ellsa’s lips parted in a seductive smile, he knew he’d been staring for too long.

“You look like you are going someplace fun.”

She moved to him, a subtle sway in her hips, “I was, but I think I’ll stay a while.” She put her hand on his arm and squeezed. Her lips formed a red O then she looked up at him, her brow raised and her lips back to a seductive smile. “Get to
know
you better.”

Carson heard Kris snort. He shifted his eyes to Ellie. All her attention was on the jar of peanut butter. She was the only one in the room oblivious to her twin’s tactless advances.

He gave her hand a brotherly pat and pushed it away from his arm, “Maybe another time. I’d like to spend some time with Ellie.”

She sighed, “Well it’s the least you could do. You did knock her up.”

That caught Ellie’s attention, “Excuse me?
The least he could do?
What’s that supposed to mean?”

Ellsa huffed and rolled her eyes, “Let’s not pretend that baby is not an inconvenience.” She moved to Ellie and kissed her cheek, “All it did was trap you a man.”

Ellie stepped back, shock written all over her face, “You did not just say that!”

Ellsa shrugged and walked back to Carson, “Ugly way to keep a man sis.” With a bat of her eyelashes and a telling smile, she slid a card down his front pocket, taking the opportunity to feel out his chest, right down to his abs. She bit her lower lip and sighed, “Call me when you get tired of playing daddy.”

With a final gaze she called out, “Bye sis,” and left the apartment.

Seth whistled, “She’s something.”

“And then some,” Kris growled.

“Good night you two,” Kris dragged Seth into the living room. She stopped behind Carson, “One more thing,” she reached into his pocket and retrieved the card. ‘Don’t even think about it!’ then proceeded into her room.

Carson laughed, “Does your sister always do that? Hit on your boyfriend right in front of you?”

Ellie huffed, “It’s nothing. She’s just... it’s Ellsa being Ellsa.”

Nothing! Wow!
He thought.

“I’m sorry if she made you uncomfortable.” Ellie was sincere and yet the apology sounded automated.

“You do that a lot, apologise for your sister?”

She nodded and laughed, “It’s become second nature to me. The minute she leaves the room, I find myself apologising to everyone, even if I wasn’t paying attention. Ellsa can’t be in a room for five minutes without offending someone... or everyone.”

He picked that up, but there was something else that nagged him about
Ellsa
.

They stayed quiet, just staring at each other, neither one of them too keen to take the first step to each other. It was Ellie who broke the silence, the scent of the burgers driving her border line insane with hunger. At the rate she was going, she was going to end up giving birth to a ten pound baby, “Can I get you anything?”

“Do you have anything to drink?” taking off his leather jacket and placing it on the couch, “preferably something with alcohol in it.” Ellie brought out two cans of beer and set it on the counter for him, “Wait, you are not drinking, are you?” he asked, taking a seat. As far as he knew, pregnant women didn’t drink.

“No. The two cans are for you. I figured you’d want to chase them one after the other,” she said, pulling a burger out of the bag and biting into it. She purred when the sauce touches her tongue.

Carson laughed, “Are you okay? Would you and that burger like some privacy?”

Ellie smiled embarrassed, “It’s not easy eating for two. Food just... I don’t know... it’s kind of like a lover.” She laughed, “I can’t believe I just said that.” She picked up her burger and moved to the couch, Carson followed. “The food I used to love, I now hate, and that I rarely ate, I now can’t live without.”

“Is that how you noticed you were pregnant?” he shifted his gaze between her face and her belly. He could clearly see her small bump with the tight white vest she had on.

She put her hand on her belly, “I thought I was stress eating and when I couldn’t fit into my skinny jeans, I went on a diet. Two days into it, I collapse in front of a class of fifty. Not my proudest moment.”

“Were you wearing a skirt or a pair of pants?”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

His eyebrows arched upwards, “Really? You have to ask?”

She rolled her eyes, “I was wearing leggings. Anyway, I woke up to a smiling nurse looking down at me,” she laughed. “She freaked me out at first, but once I realised where I was, she yelled with this freakish high-pitch voice, ‘you’re pregnant!’ She went quiet for a while, smiling to herself, “I was frightened at first, but after a few days it felt.... right.”

Carson stared at her, soaking in her happiness. He was happy she was happy, but he couldn’t help but worry. That was going to be his new role, “I’m happy you are happy.”

“But are you happy you’re going to be a dad?” She asked cautiously. She’d spent the day preparing herself for a bad reaction, but she still wasn’t sure if she would take it well. She was going to breathe through it, no matter what; she had Kris and Ellsa to help. Well... maybe not Ellsa.

“As hard as it is for my ego to admit, I’m scared and worried. There are so many bad things out there...”

“I’m not as worried. I googled the cases you guys have worked on and you have a good record.”

Carson smiled, such blind faith, “A good record doesn’t guarantee I’ll be able to protect you, or the baby if something bad happens.”

Ellie moved to him and laid her head on his chest, “Don’t think of the bad things. I think of the good things. And I think feeling like that is normal for dads.”

He wished it was that easy and normal, but it wasn’t. He put his arm around her and held her close, kissing the top of her head, “One step at a time. You want some ice cream?”

“Actually,” she pulled up and stared at him with an embarrassed look on her face, “Being pregnant is the weirdest thing,” she bit her lip, wondering if she should say something.

“What else, other than the insane cravings?” he tugged at her curly hair and watched as they sprang back to place.

“Another kind of craving,” she covered her face with her hands and giggled, “Oh God this is so embarrassing.”

“What?”

Standing up from the couch and going to the kitchen, “Forget it, I’ll just have an ice cream.” She pulled out a tub of ice cream from the freezer and opened it, digging up a full spoon of strawberry chocolate chip and putting it in her mouth.

He stood up and turned to her, “Wait, cravings?” With an arched brow his lips lifted in half a smile, “My kind of craving?”

She rolled her eyes and smiled shyly, “You are impossible!” She walked back to him, the tub of ice cream in her hand.

“Is it an insane craving?” he placed his hands on her round waist and pulled her to him, “Like you want me right now craving?”

“It’s the hormones, I can’t help it!” She grumbled.

“But I can,” he whispered seductively, and then nibbled on her ear. He got heated when he heard her moan. She tried to put the tub down, but he took it instead, “I can find some use for that.” He kissed her, savaging her mouth and pulling her high and close to him with one arm. He hoisted her up on his waist with one hand, the other still securely holding on to the tub. He rushed to her room, closing the door with his foot, the entire time, their lips still locked in a hungry kiss. He set her down and put the tub down on her bedside table to free his hand. He broke the kiss for a moment to pull her vest and his shirt off.

She felt like she was about to explode if he didn’t make love to her that moment. She grabbed his pants and pulled him down on top of her as she laydown on the bed. Her hunger for him was so intense, she felt like she could eat him whole. “Wait,” he gasped, “won’t this hurt the baby?”

“No,” her breathe raged, “just be gentle.”

He moved down and kissed the bump, “I promise not to break you.”

The comment made Ellie laugh hard, “You can’t be serious!”

“I was just giving him a heads up,” he moved up and tugged on her lips with his teeth, “Now, back to taking care of mommy.”

Ellie laughed as she kissed him back, “You are impossible and I’m stuck with you.”

He looked into her eyes with such intensity it made her shiver, “Completely, irreversibly inseparable.”

Ellie could tell he meant it, and the doubt she’d carried in her heart felt lighter, not completely gone, but lighter.

Carson ran his thumb over her lower lip, his eyes still on her, but his mind elsewhere. His brow was furrowed and he had a faraway look in his eyes.

“Dale, what is it?”

His lips spread in a slight smile, “Ellie, I’m going to say something and I really hope you don’t take this the wrong way.”

Oh no
, “What?”

“I love you. I’m in love with you.”

She felt her heart jump, “Sorry, what?”

He chuckled, “Don’t look so shocked. I know I came off as a player-.”

“You are a player.”

He went on, ignoring her, “-the night we met. But when you left me, I got stuck in this rut that I’ve never been in before. It was like you took a vital piece of me with you and I hated the empty feeling. You completely threw my life off track.”

She gave him a guarded smile, “That’s a good thing, right?”

His lips parted in a deeper grin, “It’s a wonderful thing. It’s the best and the scariest, most wonderful thing that has ever happened to me.”

She felt her body relax, “And the baby?”

He reached between them and stroked her belly, “Especially the baby.”

“But you are worried that I’ll think you only told me you love me because of the baby?”

His lips shrunk to half smile as he nodded.

She felt the doubt disappear, and she loved it.

She ran her fingers over his bearded chin. She loved the scratchy feel of it against her soft skin, “The truth is, I was worried you didn’t love me back because... you’ve thrown my life off track too. I’m truly in love with you... even if the baby wasn’t in the package deal.”

He chuckled, “Isn’t that supposed to be my line?”

She shrugged, then wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down to her, “I don’t care. You love me, I love you and in a few months we’ll finally get to hold our beautiful baby. We’re happy. I have everything I could ever want... well except for one thing.”

His brow creased, “What?”

“Stud service, mama is horny.”

He threw his head back and laughed. Then he flipped them around, putting her on top “Daddy is extremely happy to oblige. Ride away.”

Chapter Ten

Carson stared out the car window, contemplating how different his life had become these past five months and what was in store for him once his kid was born. He couldn’t live the life of a bachelor anymore; he was going to be a family man.

Did he miss his former life? He wasn’t sure. He would miss the carefree life though, not worrying if his family were safe once he stepped out of his home.

Correction,
their
home.

The day after he found out about their baby, he demanded- more like begged- Ellie to move in with him. She didn’t like the strong, bold colors and decor in his apartment. And, of course, hated his ‘promiscuous’ bed even after he told her over and over again that he never brought any of his dates to his place. Long story short, like a good boyfriend he conceded, bought a new bed and paid for extensive renovations to the apartment. His once upon a time bachelor pad looks like a chic art gallery with the most perfect nursery he’d ever seen and a master bedroom that aroused more than just relaxation.

She may be an art nut, but with a paint brush, she knew how to capture the mood and inspire a lot more.

Carson did worry about missing the little things that were so hugely important. He had missed a couple of ultrasounds, and Ellie told him not to sweat it, but he still felt guilty about it. His guilt only mounted when she called him excitedly when the baby performed one of its acrobatic routines inside her. He wouldn’t be able to take it if he missed its first steps.