Chapter 15 #2
“Yeah, buddy. Go have fun.” Jed’s gaze followed him all the way across the room.
“Are you going to get your woman situated and help us out or what?” Dagger asked as he backed through the door with a box labeled crib.
“Yes. I’m doing that now.” He started to steer her toward the women already making use of the two couches they’d brought in and set along the wall near the kitchen. Surely, that wasn’t their final resting spot?
“I can go. You don’t have to walk me over there.
” Sadie couldn’t hide behind him forever.
Might as well get started with making friends with the old ladies.
She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t happy to see that Kylie wasn’t among them.
She didn’t for a minute think the woman wasn’t here because she’d seen Darren and Tuck carrying something inside as they were getting out of Jed’s truck.
“Are you sure?” His hand dropped to hers, giving it a squeeze.
“Yes. I’ll be fine.” She smiled, hoping to reassure him. She didn’t want him worrying about her when he had things he needed to do.
He cupped her face in both his hands, the leather bracelet she bought him in her peripheral vision. “Have I ever told you how amazing you are?”
Damn. The way he was looking at her right now made her wish they were alone. “No,” she giggled.
“So fucking amazing.” He lowered his mouth to hers, his kiss telling her without words just how amazing he found her.
By the time the kiss ended, she had no doubts.
Cat calls from the men bringing things through the door broke them apart.
He smiled down at her, his hands still cupping her face.
“So fucking glad I got my head out of my ass.”
Her laugh was strangled. “I’m glad you got your head out of your ass, too.”
“Get a room!” Jackson shouted from the doorway.
“I gotta get to work.”
“Okay.”
He spun her around and swatted her ass as she started to walk away. She ran into Darren and Tuck along the way. Both greeted her, and Darren asked how she was feeling.
“Oh, someone’s got it bad,” Bellamy joked as she drew near.
“Sadie does look rather happy.” Calliope bounced her eight-month-old daughter, Harper, on her lap.
“I was talking about Jed. The man looks positively smitten.” Bellamy sat on the couch with her feet elevated on a chair with a pillow for cushioning. “By the looks of it, he must have taken my advice to heart. The man can’t take his eyes off of you.”
Sadie took a seat at the end of one of the couches. At Belamy's comment, she turned to see Jed helping Chris carry in a long, heavy-looking box, his gaze meeting hers with a smile. Her heart skipped a beat as she returned his smile.
“He'd better watch where he’s going, or he’s going to trip and fall,” Ginny chuckled.
“So when did you get back together?” Lindsey asked. She had her three-month-old son, Declan, on her lap. He was sound asleep despite all the activity going on around him.
“Last night.”
“How did it happen?” Calliope asked. She had her adorable daughter in her lap. Harper was pulling at strands of her mom’s hair, trying to put them in her mouth.
Sharing personal details of her life was hard for Sadie.
She didn’t have any close female friends that she confided in.
All her friends from school moved on with their lives and didn’t have time for her when she started helping her brother raise Oliver.
She had friends at her old job in Taos, but they were more acquaintances.
She never met them outside of work and she never told them any details going on in her life.
Again, if she was going to be a part of Jed’s life, she was going to have to learn how to do that with these women.
“He came by work last night and wanted to talk. I didn’t want to deal with him at the time and told him to leave.
” She explained about the old man, Lenny, and how he and Jed had become friends when Jed was still coming to hang out with her every night.
When Lenny found out they’d broken up and why, he wouldn’t let Jed have the seat next to him like he used to.
“Then Dick came out with his shotgun and pointed it at Jed. He told him to leave and never come back. Of course, Jed reminded him what club he belonged to and Dick told him the Sons weren’t the only ones who knew how to make people disappear. Jed wisely chose to leave.”
“I thought you guys got together last night?” Ginny’s brows dipped in confusion.
“We did. He showed up at my apartment after I got home. He begged me to let him in so we could talk. He apologized and we worked things out.” She didn’t feel like giving them a play by play of everything that was said or what they’d done. She never was the kiss and tell kind of girl.
“Wow.” Ginny shook her head. “I’m glad you guys worked it out. Too bad he didn’t do all that before Christmas.”
Sadie agreed. It would have been nice, especially since it was the first year without her brother.
It hit both her and Oliver hard. It would have been nice to be able to lean on Jed.
“Yes. It would’ve been nice. But he made up for it by giving me and Oliver property patches this morning.
He said he ordered them the day I went shopping with you guys. ”
Bellamy and Calliope shared a look before Calliope commented, “He must consider what’s between you two serious for him to give you those.”
That's what Sadie had thought, too.
“I’m impressed,” Ginny added.
“Come on. I need to use the bathroom and I’ll give you a tour of the rec center.
” It took a little effort, but Bellamy made it to her feet.
She started off toward wherever the bathroom was, assuming Sadie would follow her.
She didn’t make it ten feet before they heard Race shout, “Woman! Where are you going?”
“To the bathroom. Your child is dancing on my bladder.”
“You go straight there and straight back.” Race’s tone brooked no argument.
Bellamy smiled and waved him off, then turned away and started waddling. “He’s paranoid that I’m going to drop the baby in the floor.”
“What?” Sadie’s eyes shot her way.
“The baby is due today so he’s convinced I’m going to go into labor and he’ll be forced to deliver the baby or some silliness.
You’d think going through this three times before, he’d be a little more chill about having another one.
” She led the way to the hall where she showed Sadie the women’s bathroom.
It had three stalls and two sinks. There was also a men’s bathroom across from it.
Sadie opted to wait in the hall while Bellamy took care of business.
She pushed her back against the wall when Jackson and Trick came down the hall carrying a box that had a picture of a desk on it.
Oh, bummer. They were going to have to put it together.
Jed came from dropping something off in a room down the hall. Seeing her standing there, he stopped to give her a kiss. “How’s it going?” His hands settled on her waist as he stepped in close to give Dagger and Maverick room to scoot by.
“Good. Bellamy’s going to give me a tour after she gets out of the bathroom.” She smoothed her hands down his cut, enjoying the feel of the smooth leather.
“That’ll be good. This building is amazing. You’re going to love the room the old ladies are claiming for their own.”
“They have their own room? Then why are they out there?” She hitched her thumb back toward the gym area.
“It needs a few more touches before it’s ready, and they wanted to be where they can keep an eye on the younger kids.”
“I told them you gave me and Oliver property patches. I hope that was okay?” She tipped her head back to see his reaction. Heat fired in his eyes and by the feel of his hardening length, he liked the idea a lot.
“I’m glad you did.” He leaned down and whispered in her ear, “I would love to see you in my patch and nothing else tonight.”
She bit into her bottom lip, then replied, “I think that can be arranged.”
The bathroom door opened before anything more could be said, and Kylie stepped out. They both froze like they were shocked to see the other.
“Kylie?” The way Jed said her name he was clearly asking if there was going to be a problem.
“I’m not going to cause any trouble. I was just wondering if I could talk to Sadie for a minute.”
Jed turned his focus to Sadie to see if she was okay with that, and when she nodded her head, he dropped a quick kiss on her lips and headed back outside.
“I know I’m probably the last person you want to talk to right now and I promise I’m not going to cause any trouble or threaten you again.” When Sadie didn’t immediately walk away, she added, “I am so sorry for the way I behaved when we spoke before.”
Sadie wasn’t sure she wanted to let her off the hook so easy. She did come to her apartment and threaten her after all. “I’m guessing after seeing me with Jed you’re finally not feeling like I’m a threat to you and Darren any longer?”
“I deserved that.” Kylie nodded her head.
“I was a complete bitch to you and I really messed things up for Darren. I was serious when I said I would like for us all to be one big weird family. This baby is going to link us for the rest of our lives and it would be so much better if we all got along.”
“We’ll see.” That was all she could commit to until Kylie proved herself trustworthy.
“Okay. I won’t push. I’m really sorry and I hope you can accept my apology.”
She might not trust the woman but she’d be a real bitch if she didn’t accept Kylie’s attempt to smooth things over. “We’re good. And we’ll see how things go.”
Kylie’s smile brightened as she started backing down the hall. “Does this mean you won’t be moving now?”
“I’m not moving.”
“Yes!” Kylie clapped her hands. “Darren will be so happy.”
The bathroom door slowly opened, Bellamy sticking her head out. “You were going to move?” she asked as she came all the way out, checking down the hall in the direction Kylie went.
“Yes. I was thinking about it. I thought it would make things easier on Kylie by not having the baby and me thrown in her face all the time, and I didn’t want to live where I might run into Jed.”
“But you’re staying now?”
“Yes. I’m sure you heard me tell her I was staying.”
Bellamy didn’t look the least bit sorry for having eavesdropped through the bathroom door. “Come on. Let me show you around the rest of the building.”
Before they could start the tour, the sound of men’s raised voices came from the gym. They hurried to see what was going on and caught the tail end of every brother rushing out the door.
“What’s going on?” Bellamy asked the ladies.
“I don’t know. Race got a call and the next thing we knew, he was yelling for Jed to drive his truck. They all ran out after he told us to lock up after them and to stay put until they returned,” Jane filled her in.
All of Sadie’s experiences with the Sons had been positive so far, as compared to dealing with the Phantom Furies. Logically, she knew she and Oliver were safe with them, but seeing their reaction as they ran out the door dragged up bad memories. “Should we be worried?”
“Not like you think,” Jane said. “We’re all safe, but whatever got them riled up might be bad.”
Great. She was finally starting to relax around the old ladies and now she needed to worry about something none of them knew anything about.
Her fear was that it might have to do with Tinker.
She reminded herself to stay calm because there was no way he could get through all those men to get to her.