Chapter Sixteen
I felt at peace.
There was a sense of liberation that came with handing in my resignation. While it had been delayed a few days, which put us at less than two weeks before the end of the month, I still intended for my last day to be at the end of June. With Fourth of July soon after, I’d start with the Stallions the Monday following the holiday.
Since I had hardly more than a week to finish things up and hand things off, I knew it would be a busy few days, but it would be worth it. I was looking forward to a change of pace and scenery. I texted Winnie, Jenna, and Tess right after I delivered the letter to Jacob, and I was rewarded with congratulations and encouragement. It was nice to have friends that were excited. Though, their messages reminded me I hadn’t spoken a word of this change to my family.
I needed to. And I would. Soon.
I was focused intently on a task when a knock at my closed door interrupted me. I opened my mouth to call out to whoever was on the other side when the door opened, revealing Jed.
“Hey,” he greeted. He held up the paper sack he had in one hand and inquired, “Hungry?”
“You brought me lunch?"
I recognized the logo on the bag as the one belonging to the coffee shop across the street. He—and the Stallions who’d been keeping an eye on me—knew it was my go-to spot.
“I’m definitely hungry now,” I insisted as I stood to meet him on the opposite side of my desk.
“Also thought I’d check in. See how you were doin’ after givin’ notice.”
I smiled up at him, admiring him for a second before I boldly proclaimed, “I really like you.”
He smirked, then leaned down to press a kiss against my lips. The familiar tickling sensation of his biker ‘stache against my skin was more than welcome.
Pulling away slightly, he muttered, “Right back at you, gorgeous,” and then kissed me once more.
As we sat in the two chairs in front of my desk, he unpacked our lunch and I filled him in on my morning.
“I’m doing okay. I got a pretty generic best of luck response. Jacob said he hated to see me go, but he didn’t try to convince me to stay. It just solidified my decision. Here I’m just a cog in a machine, you know?”
“On to bigger and better.”
“Yes. Precisely.” Unwrapping my sandwich, I said, “I’m going to miss being two seconds away from this place, though.”
I took a bite as he finished one of his.
“We should talk weekend plans,” he told me. “You need to make a trip to your place?”
I nodded as I finished chewing then asked, “About that. How much longer do you think we need to worry about me not being alone?”
“Hard to say. It’s been real quiet. I’d say too quiet. It’s only been a few days. I’m not ready to take that chance yet. You got shit to do this weekend, just let me know.”
“I probably should stop at my place. Swap out some clothes. I could stand to do some laundry, if you wouldn’t mind me using your machine.”
He scowled at me, as if to say I was being ridiculous.
“Right. Okay,” I laughed.
“I’ve got the kids next week. We’ll tell ‘em you’re gettin’ some work done at your place and you needed somewhere to crash. I’ll take the couch so we can keep up the friend facade.”
It was my turn to scowl.
“Jed, you’re not sleeping on the couch. I won’t kick you out of your bed. I’ll take the couch.”
“Or,” he began to say, leaning toward me with a conspiratorial smile. “We both take the bed, and you pretend you’re takin’ the couch. It’s summertime. My kids aren’t up before seven-thirty, and even then they’re only up cause I won’t let them sleep all mornin’.”
“Mmm,” I hummed, meeting him halfway, the tip of my nose a hair’s breadth away from his. “I like this plan.”
“Then we’ve got ourselves a deal.”
He tilted his head and brought his lips to mine, lingering a little longer this time.
“Well, hello .”
Pulling away from Jed with a gasp, I turned to see my sister standing in the open doorway. Her eyes were wide and bright as they shifted from me to Jed then back at me before finally settling on Jed.
“I was stopping by with a little surprise,” said Bella, lifting two paper cups—also from the coffee shop across the street. “But it turns out you are the surprise. And a much better one.” Smiling at me, she insisted, “Aren’t you going to introduce us?”
“Uh, yes. Of course.”
I stood, as did Jed, wrapping the remainder of his sandwich as he did so.
“Bella, this is Jed. Jed, my sister, Bella.”
With her hands full, he didn’t bother to extend his for a shake. He dipped his chin cordially and responded, “Good to meet you.”
“Yeah, you know, I feel like I’ve seen you before. It’s the mustache. Do you work at Stallion Motors?” she asked, pointing at his vest.
“Yup.”
“That explains it. Except, my sister doesn’t get her oil changed there. I’ve been trying to get her to make the switch, but she’s always gone to the place on First Street. Unless, maybe, that’s changed?”
Jed flashed a crooked smile my way and replied, “It will.”
I smiled back at him, partly because he was right—my auto shop loyalties were certainly about to change—but mostly because he was hot without even trying. When he looked at me like that, like we knew something the rest of the room didn’t, it made me feel like the luckiest woman in the world.
“I’m gonna get out of here, leave you two to it,” he told me. “I’ll see you later.”
“Okay. Thanks for lunch,” I murmured.
Not the slightest bit deterred by our audience, he kissed me goodbye, winked, and headed the short distance to the door. Bella cleared his path, and they exchanged farewells, my sister gaping at my man as he left.
“Oh, my gosh,” she gushed when he was out of earshot. “How is it possible you’ve been keeping a secret that hot? How long has this been going on? When were you going to tell me?”
“Okay, could you maybe calm down? Come in. Shut the door. And which one is mine?” I asked, pointing at the cups she still held.
She thrust the one in her left hand toward me then shut the door and filled the seat Jed had vacated. I took a sip from my tea, made just the way I liked it, and then sat next to her.
“Is this why you haven’t been coming around as much? I thought you were mad at Alejo.”
“I am mad at Alejo,” I was quick to affirm. “And I’ve had a lot going on. Like— a lot .”
“Well, yeah . He is a lot. A lot of muscle. A lot of hair. I’m guessing a lot of—”
“Bella!” I interrupted.
“What?” she asked, grinning. “Seriously! When were you going to tell me? Mami is going to want to meet him, like, yesterday.”
“Isabella— do not tell mami. Jed and I are still new. I was going to tell you about him soon. When things calmed down a little.”
“New? I don’t know, Lexi. You two didn’t look new. You seem pretty comfortable to me.”
I thought back over the last couple of weeks and the intensity of it. Jed and I had been through a lot in such a short span of time. Bella was right. I was very comfortable with him. Life’s challenges brought us together, and our bond was forged under fire. It was unique, to say the least.
“Just—please, let me have this one. Don’t tell mami. I’ll do it when I’m ready.”
My sister rolled her eyes. “Aren’t you going to tell me something? How’d you guys even meet?”
“We met here. He needed a lawyer, and I got assigned his case.”
She quirked an eyebrow. “He needed a lawyer? Bad boy like him? What’d he do?”
“Just because he rides in a motorcycle club doesn’t make him bad ,” I muttered defensively.
This time, she waggled her eyebrows. “He’s a little bad, though, right?”
“My gosh, you’re ridiculous,” I said, reaching for my sandwich. “He came to the firm to get help with a custody battle. And, honestly, he barely needed me. His track record spoke for itself.”
“Custody? He has a kid,” Bella asked, finally sobering a little.
“He has two. They’re ten and nine.”
“Oh. Have you met them?”
“Yeah,” I admitted with a nod. “They don’t know we’re dating yet, but I met them last week.”
“ Hermana! You’ve seriously been holding out on me,” she chided, nudging my leg with her foot. “New or not, you date a man with kids—and you meet those kids—that’s serious.”
Speaking around a bite of my sandwich, I fought a smile and teased, “I never said it wasn’t serious.”
“Yeah, okay ,” she said mockingly.
“Enough about me. What are you doing here? Is everything okay?”
“Yeah. Things are fine,” she said with a wave. “Ellie’s at vacation bible school today. I had to take advantage of the free time. I was out running errands, and I wanted to say hi. It’s been a couple weeks.”
“I know. I’m sorry I’ve been preoccupied.”
I thought about all the things that were on my mind; all I hadn’t told her; all I probably never would. I didn’t see the point. It would just create stress and worry over things that had already come and gone.
As for my present troubles, I had the Stallions at my back.
“Have you heard from Alejo?” I asked, settling for our constant shared topic of concern.
“He called mami yesterday. Apparently, he might come around sometime this weekend. I’ll believe it when I see it.”
Bella stayed and kept me company while I finished my lunch. With errands still left to run on her end, and work to be done on mine, we said our goodbyes shortly after. I promised to drop by on Sunday for a visit, and I made a mental note to tell Jed about the addition to my weekend plans.
For all of about thirty seconds, I thought about inviting Jed to join us. Then I pictured my beautiful mammoth in mami’s small house, and the look on her face upon meeting the tattooed biker with long hair I’d never mentioned, and I decided better of it. She needed a bit of a warmup. I’d wait a little while longer.
On Sunday, Kade was my tail, following me to church so I could attend mass with my family. Turned out, his grandmother attended St. Matthews. While he didn’t often find himself in a pew, he didn’t mind his morning assignment, and it was far more inconspicuous than if anyone else was seen following me around.
When mass was over, he trailed me at a distance until I turned into mami's driveway. He then took off down the street, as if he hadn’t been following us at all. The plan was for me to stay for as long as I wanted. When I was ready to go, I’d text Kade, and he’d swing by to escort me back to Jed’s.
It was all very covert and a little more irritating with every passing day. I wasn’t entirely sure it was necessary anymore. I understood the initial logic. The two times I was kidnapped, it happened when I was alone. But it had been nearly a week, and Fred hadn’t made a move. Granted, I was never alone, but his situation had changed. I wasn’t his bottleneck anymore. He had no connection to the Wild Stallions at all, which meant he had bigger problems than me.
I hadn’t been able to convince Jed that maybe we should ease up a little. He insisted, until I was no longer working at the firm, we were to remain cautious. Seeing as that meant I was going to get to spend the week with him and his kids, I didn’t put up too much of an argument. I was actually looking forward to that part.
“You don’t have any laundry to do?” asked mami as I followed her inside.
“No. I did it yesterday at a friend’s house.”
She paused in the middle of the living room and looked back at me with suspicious eyes. “A friend’s house. Is this friend a man?”
I gasped, quickly shifting my gaze toward my sister. “You told her?”
Bella merely shrugged with a smile. “It slipped.”
“I don’t understand why you didn’t tell me,” said mami, turning to face us.
“Auntie has a boyfriend, auntie has a boyfriend,” sang Ellie, skipping around the room.
“Giselle!” I called, wide-eyed.
She giggled in response.
I had no allies in sight.
“She’s excited for you,” said mami. “I might be, too, if he wasn’t such a secret.”
“It’s not like I was deliberately keeping anything from you. It’s only been a few weeks. We’re new.”
“Mmhmm,” she murmured, folding her arms across her chest. “Bella says it’s serious.”
I glared at Bella, who was still smiling, and then softened my expression for mami.
“I like him. A lot.” I paused long enough to realize I was still underplaying it before I added, “A whole lot. And I’m pretty sure he feels the same way about me.”
“I hear he has two kids. He’s divorced? You won’t be able to marry him in the Catholic church, hija .”
“Oh, okay, wow, mami,” I muttered, taking a step back as my eyebrows shot up. “We’re new . You’re getting a little ahead of yourself.”
“You’re thirty-three. How old is he? At your age, serious puts marriage on the table sooner than later.”
I was suddenly a little uncomfortable. Jed and I were serious, but we hadn’t talked about the future like this. He never married Nicole. I wasn’t even sure if marriage was something in which he was interested.
If he wasn’t, could I be okay with that?
I didn’t know.
And I hadn’t considered whether or not he’d want more kids.
I definitely wanted to make babies.
Except, I hadn’t thought about marriage or babies with Jed before this moment. My plate had been a little full, and what we had at present was enough. At least, I thought it was.
“Mami…” I took a breath, glared at Bella again, and then sighed. “Jed’s thirty-nine. He does have a couple of kids, but no, he’s never been divorced. He and his ex didn’t get married. And before you go freaking out about that—here’s what I’m betting Bella left out .
“He makes me happy. He makes me feel safe and seen and beautiful. He’s a really great guy and an amazing dad. I can’t see into the future, so I have no idea if we’ll get married—but I’ve got enough going on right now. I’m not trying to rush things.”
“And when do I get to meet this Jed who makes you so happy?”
I smiled in spite of myself. “Soon, mami.”
“Soon,” she mumbled, rolling her eyes. Continuing toward the kitchen she said, “The most ambiguous measure of time I can think of.”
I cut my eyes at Bella.
“What? Alejo stood her up yesterday. She needed the distraction.”
Hearing this was enough to curb my annoyance. I didn’t like that I hadn’t been the one to share my news, but if it had successfully redirected mami’s thoughts, I couldn’t stay upset.
“Fine. Whatever,” I grumbled, following after mami.
We started on lunch, and I managed to go the rest of the afternoon without getting interrogated on all things Jed . It helped that I had other major life updates to share. Bella was as surprised as mami to learn I was leaving the firm, but it was easy to convince both of them it was a smart career move.
Twenty minutes before I planned on leaving, I sent Kade a text. When I heard the rumble of a passing motorcycle, I knew that was my cue to say goodbye.
It was a little after four when I arrived back at Jed’s place. I found everyone in the backyard. Marlowe was stretched out on the porch swing, reading another book. Axel—whose arm was now free of his cast—was with his skateboard, practicing tricks on the half-pipe. Jed stood with his shoulder propped against the corner post of his patio, keeping a close eye on his fearless son. Much like the night we met, the kids took my presence in stride.
We had grilled chicken for dinner, and I contributed by throwing together twice baked potatoes and cheesy broccoli. Jed teased I took most of the nutritional value out of the broccoli, but the kids devoured it, and I considered that a win.
After we ate and cleaned the kitchen, Axel wanted to watch a movie, so we all settled on the sectional and watched Back to the Future —which, I learned, was his current obsession. They’d watched it half a dozen times since Jed introduced the series to them a couple of months back. He didn’t mind watching it for the millionth time because Marlowe was into it, too. Apparently, getting the two of them to agree on a movie was a rarity.
Jed and I ended up on opposite ends of the couch, Marlowe snuggled close to her dad and Axel stretched out with his feet in his sister’s lap. I found myself watching them. It would have been easy to feel like an outsider, but I didn’t. Instead, I felt like I wanted to be part of it—part of them . And as the movie played on, I kept thinking about what mami said to me earlier. While I really hadn’t thought much of it before that afternoon, I felt like I couldn’t stop thinking about my future with Jed.
I wanted all of it. Marriage and children.
It felt crazy to say I wanted it with him—but every time he caught me staring, he’d smile or wink, and I had to admit that I did.
The question was, did he?
The kids went to bed at ten, and Jed and I made up the couch to make it look like I intended to sleep there. We gave it a half hour before we went to get ready for bed ourselves. I was setting my alarm for the morning when he returned to the room after double checking doors and windows. I set aside my phone and watched as he stripped down to his underwear.
“What is it, gorgeous?” he asked, kicking his ankles free of his jeans.
“Hmm?” I hummed.
He wasn’t even looking at me, so I didn’t understand the question.
“Been starin’ at me half the night. Somethin’s in that head of yours.”
I drew in a breath as he climbed into bed next to me, wondering if I was brave enough to ask. Then his eyes found mine, and I knew in an instant I was going to. I had to. Like a band-aid, I needed to rip it off. I needed to know. I was falling too hard, and I couldn’t pretend otherwise.
I wet my lips and shifted until I was facing him directly.
“I know it’s only been a few weeks, and the last thing I want to do is come on too strong or freak you out, but I need to ask you something.”
“Already opened that door, darlin’.”
“Right,” I whispered, sweeping a bit of hair behind my ears. “Why didn’t you and Nicole ever get married? You were together for such a long time. You had two kids and a house—are you, like, opposed to it?”
He shrugged nonchalantly.
“We never got married because she never made a big deal of it. When we first met, she hooked up with me to get back at her parents. She was wild and we were fun. We moved in together because she spent more nights at my place than hers. The club knew her as my ol’ lady, and that wasn’t nothin’. Then she got pregnant, and life was what it was. It worked until she wanted me to be someone else.”
I nodded slowly, trying to extrapolate his answer from all he said.
“So, you’re saying, you’re not opposed to it, but you’d only get married if the person you were with made a big deal of it?”
“I’m sayin’, I don’t need a piece of paper to hold me to the commitment I make to my woman—but if it’s important to her, I’ll do it.”
“It’s important to me,” I blurted.
I knit my eyebrows together as soon as the words fell out of my mouth, startled I actually said them out loud.
Jed merely smirked, like the cool guy he was, and replied, “Noted.”
In for a penny, in for a pound.
I hesitated only a second before I laid it all out there.
“And, um, what about kids? I mean—would you be open to more of them?”
His smirk stretched into a grin, and my breath caught as I waited for the answer that accompanied the expression. Before he spoke, he held out his right arm and jerked his chin down at the ink on his forearm. I glanced at the black bands broken by the roman numerals I’d yet to interpret.
“The top one is Lowe’s birthday. Bottom is Axel’s. Left a bit of spare room. We get that far and you want more, I’ll give you as many as you want or as many as will fit, whichever limit we hit first.”
I coughed out a laugh, relieved and elated in equal measure.
“Good answer.”
He moved his hand until it was pressed against the small of my back and insisted, “Come ‘ere.”
I crawled toward him obediently, straddling his lap.
“Know this, gorgeous—I’m searchin’ for forever, whatever that looks like.”
I shouldn’t have been surprised, and yet I was.
Until he said those words, I was anxious to share the truth about what I wanted when it looked so different than what I knew of his past. But he’d proven to me over and over again that I could trust him.
With my life.
With my heart.
He was a safe place.
He was my safe place.
“You have flaws, right? I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop, for this whole Prince Charming thing you have going to fade, but it’s not.”
“Prince Charming?” he muttered with a furrowed brow.
I hummed my amusement, leaning toward him until my forehead was pressed against his. “That night at the storage unit—you rescued me, and you brought me my shoe. My Prince Charming.”
“Cute. That’s real cute, Lex, but I’m no prince. I’m a Stallion, and I come with plenty of flaws.” He squeezed his fingers at my sides as he added, “Need you to do somethin’ for me.”
I pulled away so I could see clearly into his eyes. “What is it?”
“Don’t hold me to some fantasized standard you’ve got in your head. I’m gonna mess up. You will, too. No one’s perfect. Doesn’t mean we can’t work anyway.”
“Papi,” I began with a grin, reaching up to sink my fingers into his hair. “You’re doing it again. Saying only the right things.”
He slipped his hands underneath the hem of the shirt I wore, seeking the bare skin of my back. The feel of his rough callouses gave me goosebumps, like they had since the first night he touched me. He coaxed me closer, and I didn’t resist.
“This much I can tell you—I’m a happy man. Don’t have much to gripe about. Got a job I like. A brotherhood I belong to. Kids I love. House I earned. And you. Knew I wanted you the moment I laid eyes on you. Realized you were worth keepin’ shortly after.
“I might not be a prince, darlin’, but I’m content. A man who’s content doesn’t stir shit up just because. You got enough trouble, Lex. We’ll deal with that, then maybe my flaws will become more obvious.”
“Okay, I’m going to need you to stop talking,” I murmured, bringing my lips to his. “If you don’t shut up and kiss me, Jed Barker, I’ll never believe you’re not a prince.”
He chuckled, pulling me closer still, and then he kissed me. Thoroughly .
This time, in spite of his sleeping children on the opposite side of the house, when our longing for one another became quite obvious—we didn’t hold back.