Falling for Her Husband (10 page)

Chapter Fourteen

Two months later

“So what’s been going on, darling? You’ve been quiet lately.”

“I’m sick. Well, I’ve been sick. Thought I’d be over it by now.” Amber propped her elbows on the table and held her head in her hands. She hadn’t felt right in days, figured it was the stomach flu that had been going around lately. She knew Stasia and the kids had been miserable with it last week and figured she caught the bug from her.

“Sick, hmm? When my girls gain weight and feel nauseous I always take it as a sign that they’re pregnant,” Debbie Kaye said with all the authority of a sage.

Amber jerked her head up, staring at Debbie silently. No way. No freaking way. “I can’t be,” she said, her voice firm. Because there was zero chance she could be. She shouldn’t get pregnant the first time they had unprotected sex. No way could it happen that fast.

Right?

“Why not?” Debbie shrugged. They were at lunch at a crowded little bistro not far from the agency. They usually met at least once a week. And every time they did, Debbie was always trying to sink her claws into Amber and pull her back into the world of modeling. Debbie wanted her working despite Amber’s reluctance to have plastic surgery on her face. She wasn’t going to do it and it didn’t bother Debbie at all.

However she could get Amber, she’d take her, scars and all.

She had no desire to work as a model anymore. Forget it. She had enough money and she had her husband’s support. Her parents were doing all right. Dad was still in rehab and Mom was working hard but not struggling.

Life was good. Simple. She was madly in love with her husband, they spent lots of time together and she couldn’t ask for a better, more supportive man by her side. She considered herself lucky.

Incredibly lucky.

“I couldn’t be pregnant,” Amber finally said, grabbing the glass of ice-cold water in front of her and taking a sip. It felt good going down her parched throat. She was always thirsty lately, but never hungry.

Her stomach lurched at the mere thought of food. This lunch was going to be torture. The scents floating in the air already had her wrinkling her nose, her stomach doing a slow roil.

“Again, why not?” Debbie stirred sweetener into her iced tea, the spoon clanking against the interior of the glass with every circle. The sound set Amber’s teeth on edge and she pressed her lips together to keep from snapping at Debbie to knock it off. “I’m sure you and that gorgeous husband of yours do it as much as possible. I know I wouldn’t be able to resist his swarthy, gorgeous Italian looks and that yummy accent. You can’t keep your hands off of each other, hmmm?”

Amber had no words because Debbie was right. Vince made love to her almost daily. Their nights consisted of them going to bed early, but there was rarely sleeping involved. Not until hours later, after their tangled bodies were limp and sated from continuous lovemaking.

She and Vince were both caught up in a heady haze of love and lust, and she had no regrets either. Her attentive husband cherished her and made her feel like a princess, a woman he desired and loved unconditionally. But a baby? They’d only just started trying, and it was a halfhearted effort at best.

“I’m getting over a stomach flu. My sister-in-law and niece just had it last week. I think they gave it to me and it’s still lingering. You know how that stuff is. It’s so hard to kick, especially this time of year.”

“Uh huh.” Debbie sounded doubtful. “My darling, when was the last time you had a period?”

Amber shrugged, uneasiness settling over her. She didn’t remember, truthfully. “I don’t know, but it really doesn’t matter. I’m irregular. I can never count on it.”

“And do you use protection during all of those hot and sexy moments with your hot and sexy husband?” Debbie raised a brow, a smug smirk on her face.

Sometimes yes, sometimes no, not that Amber was willing to share that bit of information either. They were so informal about it, how they treated birth control. Both of them wanted a baby but figured it would take months. “You’re asking terribly personal questions,” she said primly, feeling like a prude.

Debbie laughed so loud other people at the nearby tables turned to look at her. Amber wanted to slide under the table in embarrassment. “We used to have terribly personal discussions all the time. This is nothing new.”

Amber swallowed hard, trying to push the new wave of nausea away. She didn’t like Debbie’s personal questions. So what if they used to talk like this all the time? They hadn’t since Amber had her accident, and that was nearly three months ago. Yet Debbie still pushed, always wanting more information from her. Such intimate details too. Why, Amber wasn’t sure.

She didn’t understand Debbie’s motives. At all.

“I’ve been sick,” Amber said firmly, not wanting to pursue the conversation anymore. “Like I said, it’s just lingering. Stasia had the same issue. She was miserable for days and she couldn’t shake it. I’ll be fine soon, I’m sure. Probably need more fluids or something.”

“Whatever you say. I just don’t want to lose you to such a mundane thing as having a baby. You still have a flourishing career, you know.” The tone of her voice said she didn’t believe a word Amber said, and Debbie flitted her hand, dismissing the conversation like she was wont to do. Good. Amber was eager to change the subject too. “So. I must tell you. This is such juicy gossip and I know you’ll relish it as much as I did.” Debbie paused dramatically before the words rushed out of her. “Annika lost her contract a few days ago. They caught her snorting lines in the bathroom during a photo shoot. They suspected she was high because she could hardly hold her head up while the photographer was shooting, so he sent someone into the bathroom when she stayed in there too long. Her nostrils were coated with the white stuff. Contract, gone. Just like that.” Debbie snapped her fingers. “They were sick of her behavior. She’s been up to no good for far too long. What that girl needs is a long stint in rehab.”

Amber could sometimes appreciate a bit of juicy gossip here and there, but she had no idea who Annika was. So it rendered the news kind of pointless. “Should I care about this?” She sounded like a bitch, but she disliked how eager Debbie was to spread vicious gossip about the models. She was supposed to be everyone’s confidant. Not the one spreading horrible stories about them.

Debbie looked aghast. She even rested her hand on her chest. “Should you care about this? Why, absolutely! That sneaky little bitch Annika
stole
this contract from you. She knew how badly you wanted it and went straight to the CEO of the company. One minute we firmly believed you had it and the next, she’s the new face of Adore You perfume.” She grimaced. “Of course, then we heard she fell to her knees and gave him a blowjob. With promises of multiple blowjobs to come.”

Disgust filled Amber. “Please don’t tell me I gave a blowjob to the CEO to try to land the contract too.”

“Of course not,” Debbie snapped. “I mean, that’s up to you if you want to service anyone without Vince knowing. It could be our dirty little secret, because you
know
you can trust me, darling. But no. You’ve never done anything like that. Not that I know of, that is.” Debbie winked.

Gross. She wouldn’t doubt for a minute that Debbie wouldn’t bother stopping her if she did want to give some random CEO or photographer a blowjob if it helped further her career. And Amber could trust Debbie just about as far as she could throw her, which wasn’t very far at all. “I would never do that sort of thing,” Amber said firmly. “I would be a fool to risk my relationship with my husband.”

“Hmm. A few months ago you wouldn’t have given a crap about your husband or your relationship with him. He was driving you crazy.” Debbie put on an innocent look as she sipped from her iced tea.

“You keep saying that.” Amber stared hard at Debbie, willing away the wave of nausea threatening to take over yet again. She needed to say this. Needed to get her feelings off her chest. “I know you miss the old me. I know you wish I would come back and work for you. That I would return to my snarky, bitter self so we could laugh at people and gossip and be mean together. But I’m not that person anymore. I don’t
want
to be that person anymore. I wish you would understand. I’m happy just as I am. I don’t want to change back into the old me.”

Debbie smiled, though it didn’t quite reach her eyes, tapping her chin with her index finger, her blood red nail stark against her pale, pale skin. “Someday the old you will come back, Amber. And you’ll be shocked. Positively shocked at what you’ll discover. Life isn’t as sweet and rosy as you think it is.”

“Why are you so determined to make my life miserable?” Amber asked incredulously. She really didn’t get why.

The smile Debbie wore grew into a full on grin. “Because misery loves company?”

Vince was worried. And suspicious. Amber had been sick for a few days and every time he tried to broach the subject, she blew him off, insisting she had the stomach flu. So what if his sister and her kids had suffered through it? He had other things on his mind.

He suspected his wife was pregnant with their baby.

The mere thought thrilled him beyond measure. He wanted a child with Amber. Loved the idea of them starting a family together. She was young, but so was he, and he’d always not-so-secretly dreamed of having a big family like the one he grew up in. Hell, he’d have even more children. Five or six sounded ideal to him.

Amber would have a coronary if he so much as whispered such a thing to her, especially the Amber he knew before the accident. He spoke of having one child and she flipped out.

He couldn’t help but wonder if she was in denial. They’d recently talked of having a child. She’d been receptive to it and had halfheartedly made a few attempts by not using birth control. But they weren’t consistent. Sometimes he wore a condom and sometimes he didn’t. He always followed her lead when they were having sex since she was the indecisive one when it came to babies.

Deep down, he believed she was pregnant. He just didn’t know how he’d approach the subject. She was so sensitive lately. Besides her feeling awful and her skin having a tinge of green to it since she was plagued with nausea, she was also dealing with the aftereffects of her amnesia. Retrograde amnesia, they call it. She’d been steadily going to the psychologist and it was helping.

But she still didn’t remember their argument that happened before the accident. He knew it was wrong, being happy about that. He hoped she never remembered and he’d done enough Internet research to know that was a possibility.

Amber also met with her former modeling agent for lunch at least once a week and that…didn’t make him happy at all. He didn’t like Debbie Kaye, he never had. He knew the feeling was mutual too. He always felt like Debbie was jealous of him and possessive of Amber. That feeling hadn’t left him either. He knew Debbie had dropped hints that his and Amber’s marriage had been rocky, his wife had let him know, but Amber had told Debbie more than once she didn’t care about that. She was living in the present, not the past.

Thank Christ for that.

The door opened and he turned to watch Amber enter the apartment quietly. She leaned against it and closed her eyes briefly, taking a deep breath. She looked better than she had in days. There was color in her cheeks and when she opened her eyes, he noticed they didn’t look as dull and uneasy as they had when she was feeling so bad.

“Have a good lunch?” he asked from where he sat on the couch.

She glanced in his direction, a relieved smile curling her lips as she pushed away from the door and started toward him. “It was okay. I really didn’t eat much. I didn’t feel well.”

“Still feeling sick to your stomach?” He let his gaze wander along the length of her, taking in her long, sexy legs clad in black leggings. She wore an oversized cream sweater, her long hair pulled back in a simple ponytail, her face bare of makeup save for a slick of gloss on her lips.

She was beautiful. Stunning. His heart stuttered every time he looked at her.

“A little.” She stopped before him, an unsure expression on her face as she nibbled on her lower lip. “Debbie flat out said I was probably pregnant.”

Well. Guess he didn’t need to approach the subject after all. Keeping his face neutral, he asked, “Do you think you could be pregnant?”

Shrugging, she reached inside her purse, which still hung from her shoulder, and pulled out a small white-and-pink box. “Maybe. I’m going to take this test and find out for sure.”

Excitement rippled through his veins and he stood, grasping her shoulders and bending his head so he could stare directly into her eyes. “Are you okay with that? The possibility that you’re pregnant? Be honest, Amber. I know you’ve said before that you want to start a family, but maybe when you’re faced with the reality of it…”

She remained quiet, studying him, her expression solemn, her gaze full of a myriad of emotions. “I’m scared,” she whispered.

He took her into his arms and held her tight, his face buried in her hair as he smoothed his hands up and down her back in a comforting gesture. “I am too, sweetheart. But this is a good fear. Having a baby, creating a family together, it’s a good thing.”

“Listen to you. We don’t even know if I’m pregnant for sure,” she said, her voice muffled against his neck as she emitted a tiny sob.

“Sshh.” His fingers tangled in her hair and he kissed her forehead. “We could find out in minutes if you go and take that test.”

She stilled in his arms, a little sniff escaping her before she slowly pulled away. He let her go, knowing that she was conflicted, worried, frightened. He knew because he felt the same exact way.

“I’m going to take the test right now. We should know the results within five minutes,” she said as she clutched the box in her hand. “What if I am, Vince? What are we going to do?”

“We’re going to celebrate,” he said simply.

She rolled her eyes, a little smile teasing her lips. Exactly the reaction he was hoping for with his answer. “And what if I’m not pregnant? What then?”