Fighting for Keeps (Rocky River Fighters 2)

“Ah, I see. You didn’t need the book after all, did you?” Ellie asked with a wink.

“No, I didn’t,” Amelia said with a laugh. She watched as Ellie stretched out her back again, wincing as she did so. “Are you all right? Do you need to call someone?”

“No, no,” Ellie replied with a wave of her hand. “This is normal lately. It’s uncomfortable, and sometimes unpleasant, but it’s normal.”

“Why don’t you go sit down?”

“I’m leaving after my help gets here. Just a few more minutes.”

“Doesn’t Kelsey work here?”

“Oh, yes, but we don’t unleash her on the customers just yet,” Ellie replied with a laugh.

“Are you very far along? I mean, of course you are, obviously, but—what I’m trying to ask is, when are you due?” Amelia asked, cheeks heating in a blush over her stammering through the question.

Ellie smiled, looking amused. “I’m eight months pregnant. I have about three weeks left, but I feel like she’s going to come early.”

“You’re having a girl?” she asked with a smile.

“Yep. Which means my house is going to be crazy in about twelve years, give or take,” she said with a laugh. “My husband and I live in a big old ranch house with my brother and sister-in-law. They have twin girls who are two, so we’re going to have a house full of teenage girls. Hormone city when they get older.”

Amelia smiled wistfully. “Oh, but what fun for the girls. I was an only child, and well… it was a bit lonely at times,” she said, admitting it to herself for the first time.

“I never thought of it that way,” Ellie said softly. “I’m an only child as well, and you’re absolutely right. This baby will be blessed,” she said, caressing her belly as she looked down with a smile that had pure, unadulterated love shining through.

Yearning swept through Amelia’s body, stealing her breath. But it wasn’t longing for a sibling when she was growing up. It was the sudden desire to have what Ellie had. A husband who loved her, extended family nearby, and a baby on the way. And the husband in her mind’s eye was Seth.

She didn’t know where the hell that came from. She’d never, not once, given thought to marrying. When other girls were daydreaming about their weddings and future families, she was thinking about schoolwork or dreaming about running her own lab one day. And sure, she occasionally thought how nice it would be to have relatives close by, but she never wasted much energy on it, because it was pointless and a waste of time to wish for something she’d never have. And she never did anything if it was a waste of time.

But the truly mind boggling part of the longing she felt was the yearning to be pregnant, to have children. She never thought of kids in terms of having them herself, unless it was to think she had no desire, time, or room in her life for a child. Where was all this coming from, and why did she want that life with Seth, even more than she wanted to go back to England and work in her lab?

Thoroughly unsettled, she gave Ellie a shaky smile and held up the book. “Do you know if this one is any good?”

“Eh, that one is so-so. I can recommend better. How many were you looking to get? Because today is my last day until well after the baby’s born. Jake gets more nervous the longer I work. Becky, my soon to be full time employee is good with recommendations, but she’s not much of a romance reader.”

“Load me up,” Amelia replied.

By the time they were finished and Ellie was ringing her up, Amelia had fifteen romance novels picked out. She went through three in as many days, but these should last her a good bit, and if they didn’t, she’d know which authors to look out for. She could always order more on the internet.

“Do you have a Kindle?” Ellie asked as she handed her the bag, a hesitant look on her face Amelia hadn’t seen before.

“No, but I have my laptop, and I can get the app. Why?”

“I thought of some others you could read. These are paranormal, so you might not be interested. They’re shifter romances.”

“Shifter romances?” she asked, puzzled and intrigued.

“Yeah, the characters can shift into animals. Kind of like werewolves, without the crazies. There are all types out there. Wolves, bears, even dragons.”

“Oh, yes please,” Amelia said, trying not to appear too eager.

Watching as Ellie wrote author names down on a slip of paper, Amelia cautioned herself to not get too excited. They were just fictional stories. Still, weren’t most legends and fiction based on something real, to an extent? Except maybe Harry Potter. She didn’t think. Could witches and wizards really exist? If there were people out there who could turn into animals, then it couldn’t be too much of a stretch for witches to exist, as well.

Ellie handed her the paper, interrupting her crazy line of thought. “Here you go. Those are a few of my favorite authors.”

“Thanks, Ellie. Congrats in advance, and good luck. I hope everything goes well.”

“Thank you. And I hope things continue to go well with the seduction,” she said with a wink.