The Blake Legacy (The Blake Boys) (3 page)

She grimaced. “If I do five, can I have a cookie?”

Seth leaned down and got in her face. “If you want a cookie, you have to do ten sets of five.”

She did three more crunches, then collapsed on the floor. “Stomach cramp.”

Seth reached for her belly, but she pushed his hand away.

“No touching the jiggle.”

“If you do two more crunches and your cool down stretches, you can have that protein shake I made you.” He smiled.

“Do I want to know what’s in that shake?”

His smile widened. “No, you don’t.”

Morgan followed him into the kitchen and planted herself on a stool. Seth hit the blender to meld the contents he had waiting and poured the shake into a glass. She took a deep breath before swallowing. A delightful strawberry flavor overpowered the unidentifiable healthy ingredients in the drink.

“This tastes good.” She licked her lips once she’d downed the rest.

Seth turned off the second blender, which contained his daily protein shake. “I know you like strawberries, and you didn’t have to sacrifice any calories.”

“Thank you, Sergeant Blake.” Morgan saluted him.

“You’re doing great, babe.”

“You think so? It feels like a waste, getting up early, twisting my body into a pretzel, and not getting any cookies.” She huffed.

“Think of it as training for chasing after Jake when he starts walking.”

“That’s true. He’s going to be all over the place.”

“Soon he’ll be moving out of his crib, making room for his brother.”

Morgan raised an eyebrow. “Renting out his crib already? I don’t know if he’ll go for that. It’s a nice crib.”

“If he won’t go willingly to make room for his sibling, I intend to bribe him with a big racecar bed. Already have it picked out.” Seth devoured the rest of his shake.

“Devious man.” She shook her head. “I have a new appreciation for your workout routine. Why do you do it every day?” She tapped her fingers on the counter.

“When someone twice my size is coming at me on the field, I don’t want to get squashed like a pancake.” He snickered.

“Right. Then you wouldn’t get to hear sound bites of your wife calling an opposing player a son of a bitch for hitting her husband. We only heard about that quote for about a month.” She grimaced.

“Well, you were pregnant and your filter was nowhere in sight. Besides, I love it when you defend me. It’s sexy. According to my countdown app, there’s three weeks to go.” Seth leaned over the counter and swept his tongue into her mouth.

Morgan let out a low groan in appreciation. Seth rounded the kitchen island and pulled her to the edge of the stool, positioning himself between her legs. He deepened the kiss as she grabbed hold of his shoulders. Just as Seth slipped his hands under her T-shirt, Jake let out a cry on the baby monitor. Seth sighed and pressed his forehead against hers.

He uttered a curse. “How does he do that? Every time I touch you, he wakes up.”

“Language, Blake,” Morgan whispered. “I think he knows about your plan to kick him out of his crib soon.”

Seth chuckled. “You may be right.”

“Welcome to fatherhood.” She laughed as she disentangled herself from him and headed to the nursery.

* * *

Morgan was changing Jake’s diaper when the reminder beeped on her cell phone that her anniversary was in a week.
If you ever need someone to watch the baby, I’m just a phone call away.
Sydney’s words ping ponged around in her head. Did her stepmother mean it? Morgan wondered, but the sincere smile that had accompanied the statement meant Sydney wasn’t just being polite. Sydney’s kindness over the past year had taken Morgan by surprise on more than one occasion. Sydney had even thrown her a baby shower. It was a nice surprise, walking into the house after her reading hour at the library to an intimate celebration with a few close friends and family.

“What do you think, kid? Want to spend time with Sydney while Mommy goes shopping?” Morgan blinked when she saw the faint traces of a smile on Jake’s face. She dialed Sydney’s cell phone number while slipping Jake’s adorable chubby legs back into his jumper. On the third ring, Morgan contemplated hanging up. Maybe it was a sign it wasn’t a good idea. She’d just about given up when she heard her stepmother’s voice.

“Hello, Morgan. How are you and the baby?”

“Hi, Sydney. We’re fine.”

Sydney chuckled. “That’s good. I was thinking about you this morning.”

“It’s going well, but I’m afraid I’m going to break him or something.” Morgan tapped Jake’s nose with her finger.

“Nonsense. You can’t break him. He’s a tough little boy. He’s part cowboy and part Reed.”

Morgan smiled. “I know it’s just first time mom nerves, but I still worry.”

“The worrying will never stop. The trick is to get a handle on it early before you’re hiding behind fire hydrants and garbage cans, stalking him for the rest of his life. You’re doing a great job. Your mom would have been so proud of you.”

Morgan went mute waiting for the golf ball size lump in her throat to budge. Hearing Sydney mention her mom felt odd to her. Finally she eked out, “Thank you.”

“How does Seth like fatherhood?”

“He’s over the moon about it.”

Sydney began rattling on about Morgan’s father, Curtis, taking an interest in golf. Which brought Morgan back to her reason for reaching out to her.

“Sydney, I know it’s a lot to ask, but would you be able to watch Jake for me? My anniversary is next week, and I wanted to go shopping for Seth’s present.”

“I’d be delighted to watch him,” Sydney bubbled into the phone.

“Well, you pick the day—”

“Tomorrow is fine. I have a few things I wanted to bring over for him anyway.”

Morgan exhaled. “I think this family has bought everything in the city of Philadelphia for a baby. What else did you find?”

“He’s too young for half of it, but in a few months he’ll be the sharpest dressed baby in a hundred mile radius.”

“OK, how about you come by at ten? He usually takes a nap around that time, and he won’t be too much trouble.”

“Sleep. Awake. It doesn’t bother me. I just want to spend time with him.”

Morgan looked at Jake and waggled her eyebrows at him. He gave her a curious look. “We’ll see you tomorrow at ten. Thanks so much.”

“Anything for you. You know that.”

Morgan hung up, surprised at how well that had gone. She’d never asked Sydney for anything and now she was asking to watch her son. The pregnancy had changed so many of her relationships. She felt closer to her entire family. Seeing one of the Reeds walk through the door of the bookstore no longer made her tense up. Robert dropped by the bookstore often for lunch, she was helping Jared, who was recently divorced, decorate his new bachelor pad, and she talked to Charles, who was in the military and currently stationed overseas, all the time. She was even spending time with her niece Avery. She credited her niece’s newfound interest in her to Seth. Avery was thirteen and had a not so secret crush on him. Whenever he came into the room she would blush and go mute. Morgan sympathized with her niece’s plight and prayed the family wouldn’t catch on and tease her about it.

* * *

Morgan couldn’t wait another minute. After poking him and sprinkling cold water on his face, she still couldn’t get Seth to budge. In a last ditch effort to wake her husband, she slid her hand under the covers and caressed him.

“Good Morning, Mrs. Blake,” Seth cooed and reached for her.

“Happy anniversary!” Morgan straddled him and planted kisses all over his face.

“Is it our first anniversary already?” He opened one eye.

Morgan went still. “Don’t even joke about that.”

“I’m just pulling that terribly cute, short leg of yours. How could I forget the day I married you?” Seth kissed her and rolled her onto her back.

Morgan was so engrossed with his sensual caresses she didn’t realize he’d fastened a diamond tennis bracelet onto her wrist until they came up for air.

The bracelet sparkled against her skin. “It’s beautiful.”

“You’re beautiful.” Seth placed a trail of kisses along her collarbone.

She glanced over at the alarm clock on the nightstand. “We have exactly seventeen minutes before your son wakes up.”

“What do you have in mind?” He tugged at the lace strap on her nightgown.

Morgan pushed him off her and went to one of the guest rooms to retrieve his present. She’d wanted to build up to the big gift but now she said screw it, he could open the smaller gifts later.

When she returned with his new set of golf clubs in a bag with a big red bow wrapped around it, he started to laugh.

“What’s so funny?”

“Great minds think alike.” Seth went into his office and brought back a set of clubs in a bright pink bag with plaid trim. “I thought we’d play a round when the new golf resort opens in Arizona. I can teach you how to play.”

“You’re on.” Morgan checked out her brand new clubs.

Seth stretched his arms above his head. “How about we start practicing today at an indoor driving range?”

“Sounds good to me. I’ll see if Sydney can come over for a couple of hours.” Morgan reached for her phone.

“I already asked her. She said yes.” His green eyes twinkled with mischief. “And I have one more present for you. But I’ll give it to you later.” Seth kissed her hard.

“OK.” Morgan shook her head, wondering what outrageous thing he’d done now.

* * *

Morgan was in the process of giving Jake his fiftieth kiss goodbye when Sydney kicked them out of the house and told them to have a good time. Clubs in hand, Morgan and Seth got on the elevator and headed for the lobby. Morgan didn’t think anything of it when Seth declined the doorman’s offer to bring his car to the front of the Ashcroft. He smiled and said they’d be going to the garage to get it. Morgan followed him through the parking deck, stopping dead in her tracks when she spotted a new Firenze red Range Rover with a big red bow on it in the parking spot next to his.

Seth spoke first. “Before you say anything about it being too extravagant, I want to remind you that it’s my anniversary too, and I get to do what I want for my wife.”

“What kind of logic is that?” Morgan glared at him.

“It’s not logic. It’s heartfelt emotion.” Seth took a deep breath. “It’s fully loaded. I took your brothers to the dealership with me, just in case I missed anything you would want.”

Morgan laughed. “You don’t take kids to a candy store. Those idiots like tricked out cars almost as much as they like football.”

She opened the car door and flipped through the manual on the seat. The SUV looked just like Seth’s with a few modifications. She inspected the vehicle, impressed with the shadow walnut console and the supple ivory leather. The new car smell was intoxicating.

“We did have a good time. My salesman Peter ordered lunch for us. We watched a hockey game.”

Morgan put a hand on her hip. “Was that the day you told me you had to go to the stadium?”

“Yes, I wanted it to be a surprise. I just want you and Jake to be safe.”

Morgan closed the door and walked to the front of the car. The license plate caught her eye. It read M BLAKE. “Very subtle with the vanity plates.”

Seth looked at the plates and grinned.

“Thank you. I love it.” She hugged him.

Morgan fielded happy anniversary calls via her blue tooth in her new SUV as Seth directed her out of the city to the driving range. She had to admit her new car was a smooth, elegant ride. It had plenty of room for Jake’s things and all of her work stuff. She was going to miss her old car; it was only a few years old. She pondered if she could talk her brother Robert into letting her give it to Avery when she started driving in a couple of years.

The golf lesson began with a detailed explanation of the game. Morgan loved how intense Seth got when he talked about sports. She slipped on her new gloves and grabbed a club. He helped with her stance, explained to her the difference in the clubs, and told her to try them out until one felt right in her hands. Hitting those balls was more therapeutic than she’d imagined. Seth, impressed with her swing, let her be and started hitting a few balls of his own.

“Hey, you want to have a wedding?” Seth said.

Morgan kept her eye on the ball. “I love the thought of the sublime redundancy of it all, but I thought we had one already.”

“Did you want a formal wedding?”

Morgan glanced up at him and then back. “Uh oh, what brought this on? Have you been watching those reality wedding shows in the middle of the night again?” She laughed.

Seth sighed. “OK, I will admit that I watched a few of those shows and the women seemed super excited about getting married. A big, splashy wedding in front of family and friends. Hell, even in front of a few enemies. I don’t want you to feel cheated years from now when you look back on how our married life began.”

Morgan broke her putting stance and looked him in the eye. “OK, let’s do it. We’ll go back to the island and find Alvin. He can perform the ceremony again. I’ll go dig out my wedding attire. I believe it was a pair of carpenter shorts and a T-shirt with blue flowers on it. Jake can be the best man. Maybe Reed’s Fire can be my maid of honor.”

Seth raised an eyebrow. “That sounds more like a circus. And your wedding T-shirt had pink flowers on it.”

“You remembered.” Morgan kissed him.

“It sounds very animated, but—”

“Did you enjoy our first fake wedding?”

When it looked like he was contemplating it, she hit him in the stomach.

“Ouch.” He clinched his abs. “Yes.”

“The only thing that was missing was family, friends, and much fancier clothes. Those carpenter pants cost me fifteen dollars. A nice wedding dress would have cost at least ten thousand dollars.”

“Ten thousand? Wow, I have no concept of what things cost.” He smirked.

“True. But remember, I’m friends with Nina, who is my part time fashion consultant. Nina would make sure I find the most exquisite and expensive gown your money could buy.”