Chapter 3 #4
Sadie: So are you going to help a girl out? You know I’m in this mess because of you.
“Way to lay on the guilt.” Bellamy high-fived Cathy over Sadie’s head.
Jed: Fine. How is this going to work?
She was sure she felt the heavy sigh in his reply through the phone.
Sadie: I need you to come to my apartment around six. I have to be at work at 6:30 to fill out paperwork and stuff.
Jed: What do I do with him?
“Oh, oh, oh! You should have some fun with this.” Cathy was all but bouncing on her toes.
Sadie: You’ll need to fix him dinner. He’s allergic to pizza, hamburgers, and tacos. Then you need to help him get a bath. After that, he can watch TV until 8:30, then you need to put him to bed. Read him three stories.
“Oh my God! I bet his eyes are bugging out and his head is about to explode.” Bellamy laughed.
No response.
“I bet he’s rethinking helping you out.” Cathy snickered.
Sadie: Hello?
Jed: Yeah. Okay. I’ll be there at six. Does he like peanut butter and jelly or scrambled eggs?
Sadie: Yes to both. And I’m just pulling your leg. He’s not allergic to anything but red dye. He gets very wound up.
That was putting it mildly. The kid was like the Energizer Bunny on crack until it wore off.
Jed: You’re a mean woman, Sadie. I’ll order a pizza when I get there. See you at six.
Sadie: Thanks, Jed. ;)
“Oh my God! That was so much fun.” Cathy had tears in her eyes and fanned her face. “Having a barfing kid was worth it to see his reaction.”
“I can’t believe he said yes. He must be feeling really guilty.” Bellamy smiled broadly and took a step back. “You let him off easy. I’d have strung him along for a while longer.”
“I probably should have, but as long as he doesn’t give him anything with red dye, he should be fine.” Sadie dropped her phone back in her purse.
“You were serious about the red dye?” Bellamy asked.
“Yes. He gets super hyper. He runs around the house like a squirrel on crack, jumping over furniture like he’s a superhero. He also gets into everything, and he talks a mile a minute.”
“He talks faster than he does right now?” Cathy asked, clearly unable to imagine how he could talk faster. She’d been good about not giving him anything with red dye in it and hadn’t had to deal with her nephew hopped up on it yet.
“Yes. He cannot physically sit still to save his life.” She hiked her purse up on her shoulder and wound her scarf around her throat. “Finding kids' medicine without red dye in it can sometimes be impossible.”
“Wow.” Bellamy got a devious look on her face. “Don’t you want to give Oliver something red before you leave for work?”
Sadie liked how she thought. It was tempting to give him something red as payback to Jed for all the grief he was putting her through, but she couldn’t do that to Oliver. The kid crashed hard when it wore off. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Bellamy moved back behind the counter. “You’ll have to let us know how it goes.”
Cathy remained next to Sadie. “I’ve got a niece who might be able to help you out. I’ll give her a call and see if she’s interested. What are your hours?”
“That would be awesome. I work Tuesday through Saturday from eight to two. If she were able to come stay with Oliver at the apartment, it would be so great. Let me know what you find out.”
“Will do.”
She headed toward the door, making a mental list of things she still needed to do today.
“Good luck tonight!” Cathy called out as Sadie opened the door to leave.
“Thanks!” She waved at the two women, then pulled the door closed behind her.
Driving her car around to the back of the building, she was still in shock that Jed had agreed to babysit Oliver. Part of her felt bad for pressuring him into doing it, but the other part truly believed he owed her. She crossed her fingers that he knew what he was doing.
He showed up at six o’clock, which gave her fifteen minutes to go over her nephew’s routine with him and to make sure he had saved her number in his phone in case there was an emergency.
By the time she got off work, she’d found Jed lying on the couch with his feet crossed at the ankles and facing toward the door.
One hand was bent behind his head, and he was pulling the other from inside one of his boots, sitting on the floor next to the couch.
The light from the television illuminated his tired features as he grinned at her.
He had a five o’clock shadow, and his hair was a little out of sorts, but it only made him look sexier.
Glancing at the television, it looked like he’d paused the series Stranger Things.
She’d wanted to watch it but never got around to it because she couldn’t watch it with Oliver awake, and when she had any spare time, she would rather read to unwind.
Although maybe she should forgo the hot, steamy biker romance books she’d been reading lately because seeing Jed sprawled out on her couch with one arm bent behind his head, all relaxed and smoldering good looks, was giving her imagination ideas. Sexy ideas she had no business having.
“Stranger Things?” She dropped her purse on the end table next to the couch, then removed her coat and laid it on the back of the recliner.
She unwound her scarf and dropped it on top of her coat.
His playful grin flatlined as his eyes dropped to the fading bruises on her neck.
She thought he might say something about it, but he kept whatever he’d been thinking to himself.
He probably didn’t want to discuss how she got them and how they’d ended up here at this point.
Probably a good decision on his part. She wasn’t in the mood to beat that dead horse. She was too tired.
Her eyes dropped to where his navy colored Henley had ridden up, giving her a good couple of inches of his tight stomach to view.
Her tongue slipped out to wet her lips before her eyes flew to his to see if he’d caught the action.
By the way he was smirking, he did, and it appeared that he was happy with himself for getting a reaction out of her.
Uhhh. The man was insufferable. Fine. So she was horny.
The only time she’d had sex in the last two years was when she’d been with Darren, and that shouldn’t count since neither of them really wanted to do it.
Not that Darren wasn’t any good, because the man rocked when it came to sex.
What they’d done was more of a physical release to ease the pain than being emotionally connected as a couple.
She’d never had better sex and felt less connected to a partner in her life.
“Have you watched it?” One side of his mouth hitched up at the corner, and she had to tell herself not to shiver.
Despite all the arguing between them, she was still drawn to him.
She always had been, and there lies the problem.
He’d been the star in more than one of her fantasies thanks to those biker romance books.
An image of him lying just like that, but naked, flashed through her overheated brain, and she almost melted into a puddle on the floor. She took a seat on the arm of the recliner and prayed he couldn’t read her mind right now. “I’ve been wanting to but never had the time.”
“You want to watch it now? I can start over. I’m only on episode three.”
“I don’t know. It’s getting late, and I have to be up early in the morning to take Oliver to school.”
“Okay. Maybe next time.” He sat up and pulled a gun out of his boot before slipping it on. So that’s why he had his hand in his boot when she came in. As he stood, he put the gun at his back under his cut. “For protection, and Oliver never knew I had it on me.”
“Okay. That’s good.” She stood as he moved toward the door. “How was Oliver? Did he go to bed okay for you?”
Jed’s smile grew at the mention of her nephew.
“Oliver was great. The kid is really into cars. He thinks having one that looks just like my car is awesome. I told him I’d have to give him another ride in it sometime, and he got really excited.
He ate pizza. We played cars.” He ticked off each thing like he was giving an official report, but her brain was stuck on a picture of Jed playing cars on the floor with Oliver.
“We watched The Secret Life of Pets movie, then he brushed his teeth and went to bed. I read him three stories.”
“You really didn’t have to read him three stories. One would have been enough.”
“I know, but he’s a great kid.” He lifted a hand and set it on the side of her neck.
He pulled her toward him and lowered his mouth to hers.
She was so surprised by the move that she opened her mouth on a gasp.
He took advantage of her shock and slipped his tongue inside.
It would be so easy to give in to anything he wanted.
She’d been so lonely for so long, it would be easy to hand her heart over to Jed and lose herself in everything he had to offer.
The only thing stopping her was knowing he wasn’t a one-woman kind of man.
All too soon, he ended the kiss and pulled back.
“If you don’t have anybody to watch him tonight, give me a call, and I’ll come over. ”
“Really? You wouldn’t mind?” She felt like she had a little brain fog because he couldn’t have possibly volunteered to babysit Oliver again.
“Like you said, it’s my fault you're in this predicament.” He turned the knob and opened the door. “Goodnight, Sadie. Sweet dreams.” He slipped out into the night, closing the door behind him. She automatically locked the door and set the alarm he’d had Jackson install over the weekend.
She turned the television off, pitching the room into darkness.
The light from the parking lot was more than enough to see by.
She peeked in on Oliver and smiled when she found him fast asleep.
His mouth was slightly open, and one leg had come out from under his covers.
She quickly covered it up and kissed his forehead.