The Blake Legacy (The Blake Boys) (17 page)

It looked like they’d be unwrapping presents for weeks. They’d have plenty of time to do it, since their move was imminent. The idea of being at the ranch fulltime was both exciting and depressing. She knew she’d love it here, but her life in Philadelphia was pretty awesome too. Sydney wasn’t the boogeyman anymore, and Morgan enjoyed seeing her brothers. She needed more time to set up her projects for the non-profit. Michelle was capable of taking over the store, but it was an appendage to her. Her adult life had begun with that store, and in time maybe she would be able to let go, but it all seemed too soon right now.

Morgan walked past the library to see Avery sitting in one of the overstuffed leather couches reading a book.

“Hi, Avery. What are you doing in here?”

Avery smiled and stretched out her legs to show off her new cowboy boots. “Just catching up on my book club reading.”

“You picked a nice pair.” Morgan smiled; Avery’s boots were pink like hers.

“Thanks. I liked yours, so I asked for a pair that looked similar.” Avery swung her feet back and forth.

Morgan plopped down on the couch next to her and took the book out of her hand. “Well, you are on a ranch filled with horses and there’s a carnival right outside. I demand you go have some fun and some more cake.”

“Thanks for the riding lessons. I enjoyed riding Reed’s Fire. He’s a beautiful horse.”

“I’m glad you’re having a good time. You know, you can come here in the summers when you’re on your school break.”

“Really?”

“As long as it doesn’t conflict with something your parents want you to do, you always have a room here.”

Avery jumped over and hugged her. “That would be awesome!”

“I thought you’d like that.” Morgan kissed her on the cheek. “I’m putting Jake down for a nap. Now go and have some fun. That book will be here when you get back.”

Morgan watched as Avery skipped out of the house. Then Morgan turned to Jake. “Your cousin reminds me of me when I was her age.”

Jake looked at her in disbelief.

“Honest.” She laughed and climbed the stairs.

Morgan lay beside her son in the middle of the bed, stroking his hair, enjoying the soft sounds of his breathing. He was growing up so quickly. It was only a matter of time before he’d be taller than her and going off to college. He was almost down for the count when Seth appeared.

“Daddy!” Jake said, seeing Seth.

“Hey, baby. Are you OK?” Seth said from the doorway.

“I’m fine, but your son needed a nap.” Morgan motioned to Jake. “Or at least he did until he saw you.”

“Looks like his Momma is tired too.” Seth smiled. “I brought you something.” Seth pulled a piece of birthday cake from behind his back and placed it on the nightstand.

“Thank you.”

“You want to tell me what’s wrong? Your mood changed from day to night out there when you looked at your phone.” Seth rubbed her cheek.

Morgan hitched a grin onto her face. “What makes you think something is wrong?”

“Morgan Blake, you can flash that beautiful smile at everybody else, but I can see past that particular defense mechanism.”

Morgan sighed. “I got a message from Maura at the library. They offered me a job at the library months ago. Director of Volunteer Affairs.”

“Wow, that’s great. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I know I can’t take it. And I didn’t want you to feel guilty about your decision. I accept that I can’t do everything I want to do in life. There are some opportunities that will pass me by. But it did make me a little sad that I couldn’t take it.”

“But—”

“Seth, I don’t want to talk about it. Maura’s call just took me by surprise. I want to enjoy our son’s birthday. One year ago today, our lives changed forever. He is our love manifested. How cool is that?”

“That is very cool.” Seth grinned. “Have you had any fun today?”

“Of course I did.” She smiled back.

“I meant non-organizational fun.”

She shrugged. “You know how I get.”

“Jake, it’s time for your momma to have some fun.” Seth opened the door to their bedroom terrace and the soft sounds of love a ballad the Dirty Rascals were playing filtered into the room. He took Morgan’s hand, pulled her into a tight embrace, and rocked in time with the music.

“I still don’t know how to dance.” She leaned into him and swayed with his body.

“Just follow my lead.” He kissed the top of her head.

Morgan smiled and held him tighter, thinking about that night at the Bright Star. Jake lay on the bed watching, the gentle rocking of his parents lulling him to sleep.

Morgan looked at her son. “Jake, promise me you won’t use these cheesy moves when you get older.”

“Hey, these cheesy moves work.” Seth laughed.

She rubbed his back. “I know.”

A few minutes later Morgan did a silent cheer when Jake fell asleep. Seth led her to the chaise lounge by the window. Morgan sat back in his arms while he fed her cake. Neither said a word for a while.

“If you’re not OK with my dad’s present, we can give it back,” Seth said against her ear.

“I know your family does things a bit differently than I’m accustomed to. That was a generous thing John Jacob did for his first grandson. It’s his way of looking out for Jake’s future.” She sighed. “I’ve been thinking.”

“About?”

“I want to make another baby with you. Our lives are going to change in a hundred different ways soon, and I want to make another baby with you.” Morgan looked up at him.

“Is that right?”

“That’s right.”

“Morgan.” Seth covered her mouth with sweet kisses that grew more passionate with each stroke of his tongue.

“Wait, we can’t have sex in the room with the kid.” Morgan stopped his hand from unzipping her jeans.

“Hang on.” Seth jumped up and went into the walk-in closet. He started moving things around.

“Shhh,” she said. The sound of his banging and clanging would wake up Jake.

Seth emerged from the closet. “Come on.”

Morgan walked into the closet to see Seth had laid out a sleeping bag on the floor and had fashioned several pairs of jeans into makeshift pillows. She closed the doors behind her.

“Very classy.” She giggled as he pulled her down on the floor on top of him.

Morgan nipped Seth’s neck as he unbuttoned her shirt. The camisole she wore underneath was no match for his nibble fingers. He slid it off her with ease. She returned the favor by unbuttoning his shirt, careful not to tear the buttons off this one. As she slid the fabric down his sculpted arms, she caressed every muscle and moved to his back as he shrugged off his shirt. Seth flipped her over on her back and liberated them both from their jeans. He braced himself on his knees, and Morgan opened wide to welcome him. He looked at her for a moment and didn’t say a word, but she knew what he was thinking. The culmination of this intimate act, in a walk-in closet on a floor no less, would result in creating another life. Just like the perfect one that was spread out in the middle of their bed taking a nap during his first birthday party.

Seth raised her hips up a bit and plunged into her. The feel of that first contact of him inside of her never failed to take her by surprise like it was the first time they’d made love. Each moment with him was a series of first times that never got old. After all, his body was made for a rigorous, full body contact sport like football. He once told her that he used every muscle in his body when making love to her, just as he did on the field. He gave it his all, in pursuit of the lusty victory of claiming her as his and his alone.

The muscles tightened in his chest as he found the rhythm with her body. He pulled her up to meet him, and Morgan tightened her legs around his waist and anchored her arms around his neck. The satin and lace of her demi cut bra created a scintillating friction between them. Seth trailed kisses down and between her breasts, and he pulled at the bra with his teeth to expose a nipple. The feel of his breath so close made her skin tingle. He licked and sucked her nipples, and she shuddered—they’d become more sensitive since she’d had the baby. Morgan sighed as Seth rocked back, manipulating her buttocks to meet his thrusts halfway. The friction of sliding up and down on his steel rod was making it hard to stop the orgasm building inside her. Seth’s sweat mixed with hers, his hair plastered to his head. Morgan leaned back to give in to the feeling ripping through her body, but he pulled her forward and covered her mouth with his to smother her climactic moans and followed her into rapturous oblivion.

Jake repositioning himself on the bed brought them out of their lust-filled haze. Morgan and Seth slipped into the bathroom and cleaned up before he could fully wake.

“What time is it?” Morgan grabbed Seth’s wrist and spied his Rolex. “Crap, we’ve been gone for two hours!”

Seth laughed and tried to kiss her again, but she ducked and headed for Jake’s bedroom for a change of clothes. Once Jake was up and ready to return to the party, they walked out of the house as casually as possible. No one said anything but the look on Tate’s face said everyone had been discussing their absence. Seth shook his head while Morgan tried to slink back into the house. She didn’t get too far. Teri-Lyn and Sydney were waiting for her at one of the tables. Channing and Tyler were back at the party with Jake’s present: a border collie puppy named Rowdy. Jake clutched awkwardly at the puppy at first, but when Seth showed him how to pat Rowdy, they became the best of friends. Morgan smothered J.J., Channing, and Tyler with kisses for coming up with such a wonderful present.

The photographer was ready for a group photo. It took almost an hour to wrangle everyone together and get them perfectly placed before the picture was taken. When the camera flash started going off, Morgan teared up, knowing all of the Blakes and Reeds and their friends were in the photo. No matter where they lived, she would always have that memory of the day they were all together. The photographer finished up and everyone retreated back to their party spots. After disappearing for hours, Morgan handed Jake over to Sydney and Teri-Lyn without a fuss. The Dirty Rascals began to croon another slow tune. That was her cue to keep moving again even though her life was changing. Morgan went in search of her husband. It was time for another dance.

Chapter Ten

Seth told Morgan he wanted to take her and Jake to the Titans stadium to get one last look at the place. Since their return from the ranch, the wait for the free agency window to open was interminable. She went through the emotional wringer while Seth showed very little reaction at all. She went to work, he took care of Jake. They’d even planned a vacation to take after he made his announcement.

Today was the day he’d announce to the whole world that he was leaving the Titans and would become a Tomcat. He’d spent all morning talking to his agent, Luke. As expected, the Tomcats made an offer to Seth, which was communicated to the league and to the Titans. Seth had had a meeting with the Titans three days ago.

There was an eerie silence in the stadium as they made their way to the field. She laughed to herself, thinking how funny it was that this giant building felt like home to her. The first time she’d seen that larger than life banner they had of him on the outside of the building, she had a better understanding of what the sport of football and its heroes meant to fans.

Seth would stop and show something to Jake, who listened like he knew what his father was talking about. She liked the relationship that was developing between the two of them. She’d been around Seth and John Jacob enough to know they had that same bond. Seth listened to his dad and enjoyed spending time with him. Now that Seth was a dad, they talked more about life and family.

Once on the field, a bittersweet feeling took over. He’d helped change the course of a football dynasty. He’d won three Super Bowls with this team. No easy feat in the history of the sport. Now he was off to accomplish a new dream. She was rooting for that ten-year-old boy who’d made the declaration to his dad that he would be a Tomcat one day.

Seth stopped at the fifty yard line, pulled a mini football out of Jake’s bag, and gave it to him. “OK, Jake, throw a pass to Daddy.”

Jake ran for a bit then threw the ball at Seth and yelled, “Touchdown!”

Morgan got out her cell and snapped pictures of the two of them. “Jake, this is where all the magic happens. Your daddy did some good work here.”

Seth picked up Jake and put him on his shoulders. “The first time I set foot on the field, I was terrified. I’d just left a defunct team, the Titans were in a slump, and I didn’t know if this was the right move despite the money they were paying me. Philadelphia was so foreign to me.”

“What changed?”

“Patton Hawkes.” Seth smiled. “The first words Patton ever said to me were ‘So, you’re here to save the world.’ Then he laughed.”

“What did you say to him?”

“I told him I didn’t know about saving it, but I brought my shovel to help the Titans dig themselves out of the hole they were in.” He sighed. “Patton told me he was here to dig with me.”

“And the budding bromance of Seth Blake and Patton Hawkes begins.” She giggled.

“I guess you could say that. I didn’t do all of this by myself. Patton and the other guys all made an effort.”

“I think you gave them inspiration.”

“I like to think I did.” He nodded.

She rubbed his cheek. “I know you did. That’s why it’s been hard for some of them to see you go. I’ve been on the receiving end of one of your speeches. You have a way of inspiring people to want to reach their fullest potential. How do you think I’ve trudged along with my reading programs? You believed in me, even when there were days when I didn’t believe in myself. You didn’t try to buy a solution for me; you helped me find a way through them. Obliterate an obstacle, and you won’t have to worry about seeing it again.”

“You are always in my corner.” Seth kissed the top of her head.

“That’s what you do when you’re crazy in love with someone.” Morgan gave him a squeeze.

“Even give up everything you love and move to another state?”