22. Ryder
22
RYDER
W e never did get a chance to use those cuffs. While we were in the shower, we got a call that Ethan wanted to come home. He’d had a bad dream and needed his mom. There wasn’t even any doubt in my mind where they would stay once we left Tess and Harry’s.
As soon as we were dry and dressed, we headed over to her parents’ place. Ethan sat at the dining table drinking hot cocoa with his grandmother fussing over him. She’d brought him out of the room since Maggie’s kids were still sleeping.
As soon as she saw him, Shiloh pulled him into her arms. “Hey baby, what happened?”
He looked at me, his lip wobbled and I could tell he was trying to be brave. I wanted to take him into my arms and make sure nothing bad happened to him. But he was with his mother. The safest place I knew.
Shiloh picked him up, and sat with him on the sofa. Even though he was tall for nine years, he was still a little boy in her arms. “It’s okay to be scared, sweetie. Wanna talk about it?”
“You and Dad were dead.” The tears started to fall down his cheeks. “I don’t know what happened but you were both very angry and then you were gone and someone said you were dead.”
I looked over at Harry as I sat next to Shiloh. “Did he hear what happened this evening?”
A long sigh told me Harry felt guilty as hell.
“I had my police scanner on. I always do when Shi is out in the field.”
“Dad, we’ve spoken about this.” Shiloh moved Ethan to me and stood. She looked up at Harry, not an ounce of fear as she confronted the six-foot-one former Marine. “That thing is illegal and we agreed you wouldn’t use it around the kids.”
“I know.” He had the decency to at least look remorseful. “I wasn’t thinking. And I thought since you were reassigned for a while, you wouldn’t be in any danger. I never expected your man to succumb to peer pressure. He picked a fight with the Rippers.” He turned to me. “I said watch them, not provoke them.”
“They started it.” Yeah, I was being defensive. And I wasn’t even sure if I was telling the truth, but those assholes had it coming. I tightened my arms around Ethan. “Sorry, kiddo. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Ethan nodded against my shoulder. “It's okay.” Then he leaned back and frowned at me. “Who won?”
“Who won what?” I narrowed my eyes. I knew what he wanted to know but something told me Shiloh wouldn’t like my answer.
“The fight. Did the good guys at least win.”
“The good guys?” Shiloh shrieked, and I was sure there was a vein popping at her temple. “They’re all lucky your aunt didn’t press charges.”
God, she was sexy when she was pissed.
“Mom.” Ethan sat back in my lap and faced his mother. He batted his eyes at her. “If I know Dad can defend himself, it might help me sleep at night.”
Oh, he was good. I could see Shiloh was caught between frustration and wanting to placate him.
It was obvious we needed me to be the voice of reason. I moved him off my lap so I could face him. My hands cupped his cheeks and I spoke directly to him. “What I did tonight was very wrong, and stupid. Violence and fighting are never the answer to anything.”
“Dad, I know that.” He rolled his eyes in a way that told me he was going to give me a hard time in the future. “But Uncle Charlie and Uncle Keith are always very mean to Aunt Maggie.”
I turned to Shi and Harry. “They say that shit in front of the kids?”
“I don’t know what was said tonight.” Shiloh folded her arms. “But yeah, they make a point of belittling her in front of those kids.”
Ethan moved his head to get back in my line of sight. “So, tell me how you did.”
I chuckled and shook my head. “Your Uncle Jason broke one of their noses and both Uncle Theo and I got some knocks in. It's fair to say we more than defended ourselves.”
“Good. Aunt Maggie, is the kindest of my aunts. She needs people defending her.”
Shiloh moved next to him and rubbed his back as she smiled at him. “In this family, we will always defend one another.”
After that, the night went smoothly. Everyone was warm and comfy at home and in bed. There was no question where Shiloh would sleep. And waking up with her knowing my son was a few feet down the hall was equal parts heaven and hell.
Heaven because that was how I wanted to wake up for the rest of my life. Shiloh’s limbs tangled with mine, her hair caught in mouth. Hell, because waking up with an erection was not something my son needed to see. I had no doubt that conversation would come, but it was still a while away.
I also had to suppress a smirk as I watched Shiloh try to race through her morning routine from my house. The space was not entirely familiar to her and she struggled with my breakfast choices. In the end she ended up making pancakes for all of us. It helped that she had requested the day off to shoot the music video with me, giving her a little extra time.
By the time I was ready to leave with Ethan, she had just about made it to the shower. And less than thirty minutes later, I had picked up Maggie’s kids and dropped all three of them at school.
Of course, she was ready for me when I arrived back home. She was wearing another one of her floral sundresses with a slit that rested high on her thigh. This one was a pale pink with deep red cherries printed on it and thicker ties at her shoulders. The stringy straps of her white bikini top peaked through, making me hard instantly.
Actually, that was a lie. Me being in a permanent state of arousal had nothing to with the white bikini. Or anything else that Shiloh wore. It all had to do with her. She turned me on by merely existing. Kissing her, touching her, loving her…loving her?
Yeah, there was no denying it. To myself at least. I loved her. For all the reasons I had told Harry the night before. For the first time in my life, I knew I was more than my voice. I was more than my looks. I had a son who needed me to be more than those things. He just needed me.
By the time we arrived at the shooting location at the beach, all the guys were already there. Carl was sitting with his wife who wore a navy blue and white striped bikini top and a white cover up wrapped around her waist. Roan’s wife was rubbing lotion into her arms. Even though it didn’t get as cold this close to the equator as it did in other parts of the country, no one sported fully tanned bodies. There was a chill in the air and I knew Shiloh had pasted on nipple covers before she got dressed. Something I was grateful for.
Jason came walking up with Tiffany hot on his heels. I wasn’t sure what she did, but I heard her talking to Shiloh about what to wear.
“Gentleman.” Jason shoved his hand into his shorts pocket. “This is Tiff Snow, stylist for the day. She’s the one who helped your wives wear what they’re comfortable with today. She’s also picked your swimsuits so it doesn’t clash with your women.”
Tiffany waved at everyone. “Lara, are you happy with the one piece? Alternatively, I have a bikini you could use, and we can airbrush the stretch marks.”
Her husband frowned. “I like your stretch marks.”
She smiled at Tiffany. “One piece it is.”
Tiffany nodded and then turned to Shiloh. “Did you like the bottoms I suggested? It should hide that little pooch that worries you so much.”
What the fuck? It was my turn to frown as I faced Shiloh. “There is nothing wrong with your body. I love the fact there is evidence that you brought my child into this world.”
Shiloh touched my cheek and smiled. “And you can look at it whenever you want. But I do not want it on camera, okay.”
I nodded. She was right. Only she decided which parts of her body would be on camera. All four of us changed into variations of red, white and navy-blue swimsuits. Jason spoke to the crew who set up all the scenes as we waited for Skylar to arrive. Since Oscar was not married or in a committed relationship, we had to hire an outsider to be his partner. Skylar had agreed to do it if I doubled her normal rate. I had it in the budget for the video and I knew he was difficult to work with, so it was an easy decision.
What I was not expecting was Hilton to accompany her and argue with her about what she was wearing. I could tell that her eyes were red. She wasn’t bruised or anything, but she was in serious need of makeup. Shi stepped away from me and went over to her friend.
I walked up to the two of them and glared at Hilton. “Hey. If you can’t keep your mouth shut, you will get off my set.”
He may have been a big deal at Moore Pictures, a job he only got because of his relationship with Sky, but this was a Big Records set, and I was in charge.
Hilton huffed out his chest. “I don’t see why she needs to wear so little.”
“It's required for the video.”
Technically, it wasn’t. My mandate when Jason said he knew someone who could handle the wardrobe, was that I wanted the women comfortable on the beach. And I gave him a budget. I had no idea who he hired, but I was glad he found someone who did in fact talk to all the women involved. It was how I knew Skylar was happy with the navy-blue and white polka dot sixties style bikini. It wasn’t too revealing, but it gave the vibe I was going for.
Skylar’s eyes darted between Jason and I. “What happened to the two of you?”
Shiloh stepped up and rolled her eyes, hands on hips. “Oh, their faces met the Rippers’ fists. Don’t worry Charlie and Keith got off worse.”
“Jason.” Then she went off on a tirade about leaving well enough alone until Tiffany dragged her to the makeup area. Of course, Hilton followed not far behind.
I turned to face both Shiloh and Jason. “Are we just going to let that happen? We need to do something.”
“We are doing something, Ry.” Shiloh leaned on my chest and wrapped her arms around my waist. “We’re making sure he doesn’t isolate her. She knows how we feel about him. She just thinks it's because we’re team Aidan.”
“Team Aidan?” I remembered him as the guy who had won the obstacle course race a few weeks back. “Does he…?”
“It doesn’t matter.” Jason shook his head. “Not while he’s still part of DEVGRU.”
I didn’t know much about the military, but I knew that word. That meant he was the elite of the elite.
Jason shoved his hands in his pockets. “She is my oldest friend. Watching that asshole tear down the fiercest woman I know is killing me. As for Aidan, he saved my life in a way no one will ever know. I’ll watch over her until they can get their act together.”
With that he also went to the makeup tent. Shiloh turned in my arms and looked back up at me. “What are you doing on Christmas Eve?”
We still needed to get through Thanksgiving and she was already planning Christmas. “Why.”
“We’re all spread out for Thanksgiving this year. Normally we spend Black Friday together but everyone is either deployed or working in one form or another, so we’re foregoing the tradition. But many of us will be home at Christmas, so we want to do something then.”
I knew Shiloh lived for tradition and that her friends were as important as her family. “I have some meetings in the day or two before. But I will be here on Christmas Eve.”