Chapter 26
Jessa picked at her salad while Cowboy took a bite of a big, juicy cheeseburger dripping with fried onions. The smell was appalling. Not that she had any appetite lately, anyway.
“I called you a few times,” said Cowboy.
“I know.” She eyed him sheepishly. “I wasn’t ready to talk.”
“Jax told me about the baby you lost. I’m real sorry, Jessa.”
“Thanks.”
“I hate to think you were going through that all by yourself.”
Her stomach threatened to reject the minestrone soup she’d just consumed, and she put her spoon down with resolve. “What about you, Leo? There anyone special in your life?”
“Always.”
She laughed. “Just one woman?”
He scowled. “Of course not, Jess. Have we met before?” He held out his hand. “I’m Leo Wilson.”
“I see.”
He picked up his mammoth burger. “What about you? Are you really having a baby with Jax?”
“I’m really having a baby, and Jax is technically the father.”
“You couldn’t do any better for father material than Jax.”
“What do you mean?”
“He’s the greatest leader I’ve ever known, and I’ve known some. An honest man. I respect him, and I don’t respect a whole hell of a lot of people.”
He stared at her to the point of making her uncomfortable.
“If you don’t mind me asking,” he said, “how did you two end up together?”
“We’re not together. And just because he’s good at killing people and blowing things up doesn’t mean he’d be a good father. There’s an entirely different set of job requirements for those two positions.”
“Are you kidding me?” Cowboy asked. “Maybe you ain’t never seen him, but he’s great with kids. They run a crack right through that tough-guy exterior to the gushy middle inside. He wanted kids bad when he was married to Linda.”
“No, he didn’t.”
Cowboy turned his head and eyed her from under his brow. “Yeah, he did. But Linda was on birth control and hiding it. You should ask him about it.”
Coming from Cowboy, Jessa knew it was true, and she felt a pang of sympathy for Jax and his relationship with Linda. First his wife lied to him about having children, then she’d tried to take one away.
Don’t feel bad for him now!
She conjured an image of Jax in her living room, telling her Steele was dead, and the memory had the desired effect. She remembered why she hated Jax Andersson.
“I don’t care what happened between Jax and his ex-wife,” she said.
“Seems to me, you ain’t caring about the people you need to be caring about right now.”
She raised her head. “Excuse me?”
“I’m sure you think you’re doing what’s best, but you’re just watching out for yourself. Being a good mom might be more important to you than anything, but you have to realize you might not be the only person this kid needs in his life.”
“Jax has fewer emotions than a robot. What kind of parent will he be?”
“Your kid couldn’t do better. And if you don’t see that, you ain’t looking at things straight on like you ought to.”
“He’s holding me against my will, Leo. He tied me to the bed so I couldn’t leave. That’s why he jokingly insisted you not let me out of your sight. It’s not a joke at all.”
“He doesn’t want you to disappear with his son or daughter. Can’t say I blame the man for that.”
“He told you that.”
Cowboy nodded. “He did. Can’t say as I believed him at first, but it’s true, ain’t it?”
She looked at the tablecloth.
“It’s hard for me to see two people I care about tear each other apart,” he said. “Worst part of it is, I think if the two of you got your heads screwed on straight, you’d realize you’re the best thing for each other.”
“No way.”
“C’mon. I think it’s time for me to bring you back to Jax now.”
“So he can handcuff me to the bedpost and hold me hostage?”
“If that’s what he chooses to do, then yes ma’am.”
She stood up, raising her voice in the restaurant. “This is absurd. Inhumane.”
Cowboy leaned in close, taking her elbow in his hand. “If you’ve got any sense left in your mind, you should love that man.”
“What?”
“You could do a hell of a lot worse, Jessa.”
Over Cowboy’s shoulder, she saw Jax walk into the restaurant. Cowboy must have seen from her expression that there was something worth turning around for.
“What is he doing here?” she asked.
“I don’t think he trusted me with his prized hostage. I’m going to say goodbye now, kitten,” he said, moving forward and planting a kiss on her cheek. “It was good to see you doing so well.”
Jessa was left stammering in her old friend’s wake as Jax crossed the room. “We need to stop at HERO Force while we’re out,” he said.
She shook her head quickly. “No. I’m not going back there.”
“We have to, Jessa. There are things that need to be done to make sure you stay safe.”
She couldn’t take much more of this. She was at her breaking point, completely out of the emotional energy it would take to go into that building, but also not prepared for another fight. “Fine. One stop at HERO Force, and I’m done.”