Chapter 28
Twenty-Eight
“We can leave at any point,” Jessie chewed on her finger nail while her leg bounced in the passenger seat of Hawk’s truck.
His hand landed on her thigh, squeezing gently.
“Why are you so nervous?”
“What happened the last time we were together with my family? I’d rather be spending time with our friends.”
Hawk sighed. “It’s just your brothers. And Lachlan asked us to come because they have the same concerns about your safety that I do.
Something isn’t adding up here, Jess. And the more people that I have to trust your safety with, the better.
Otherwise, you’re going to get really sick of me following you around to make sure you and the baby are okay. ”
“It seems excessive,” she muttered.
Hawk flipped the turn signal on and pulled into Davney’s.
“It’s not. What happened with your car is fucking terrifying. But there was someone in your room at the ranch. There was that car out front of the shop that scared you. Maybe even the same car that tried to run us down in the parking lot.”
“Oh god,” she groaned. “Don’t remind me. I think that was just my mom-instincts going wonky.”
His hand moved off her thigh, up to her belly.
She was a sucker for that move. There would be a day, probably very soon at the rate Bee was making her stomach balloon, where he wouldn’t be able to wrap his hand all the way across.
But for now, the majority of her belly still fit so perfectly in his palm, and it made her heart flutter wildly in her chest. “Jess, the most important skill I learned in all my years of training in and out of the Navy was to always, and I really mean always, trust my gut. I never want you to doubt yours.”
“What if my gut is telling me to run from tonight?”
Hawk winced. “Is it your gut, or is it that pesky voice inside your head that tells you our baby is something you need to apologize to your family for?”
“Ouch, Chief. Direct hit,” she joked as she pressed her hand over her heart.
“Want me to kiss it and make it feel better?”
“I fear if you do that, I’ll lose all sense of myself and we’ll never make it inside.”
“Being responsible really stinks sometimes.”
Jessie threw her head back and laughed. “Don’t worry. I think I know how to make it up to you if I survive tonight.”
Twenty minutes later, Jess knew she didn’t have to worry about making anything up to Hawk, because she wasn’t going to survive this night with her brothers.
Colt and Lachlan were being normal, thank God for that, but Beau and Hayes could have frozen Hell over with how icy their interactions with Hawk had been.
“Hey, sorry I’m late.” Dakota twisted his baseball cap so the brim was in the back and smiled at Jess. “This seat taken?” he asked as he pointed to the open chair next to her.
“Nope. It’s all yours.”
He chuckled as he sank into the seat next to her. “Damn, Blue Jay, you sure know how to make your brothers turn into pillars of ice. I swear it dropped forty degrees when I walked in this place, and not because of the air conditioning.”
Dakota’s hand landed on her arm. What the hell was he doing? There was already enough tension in the room, Jessie didn’t want to trigger an argument, so she patted his hand before pushing it off her arm.
“Did we order food? Drinks? Isn’t this supposed to be brothers’ bonding with boyfriend time?”
“Yup.” Hawk leaned forward. “Which has me wondering what you’re doing here.”
“Lachlan invited me. Since I’ve been out of town for a while, and I’m an honorary Ford after all,” he chuckled. “Besides, I’ll be someone watching after Jess sometimes at the shop.”
“No offense, Dakota, but if one of her brothers isn’t with her, one of mine will be.
” Hawk crossed his arms as he drank his water.
Jessie had told him there was no harm in having a beer with her brothers, but Hawk wouldn’t hear of it.
Something about how he’d never have a drink knowing Jessie and the baby would be riding with him behind the wheel.
The lengths that man would go to to keep her and their daughter safe was sexy as hell.
Bee decided to roll at that moment, a foot landing in her ribs as the baby’s head pressed down on her bladder. Jessie jolted, her knees pressing together so she didn’t pee her pants. God, that would just be the icing on the awkward cake.
“You okay?” Hawk’s worried eyes bounced around her face.
“Fine,” she smiled as she pressed up from her chair. “Your daughter thinks my bladder is the perfect pillow and is head-butting me so much I need to pee. I’ll be right back.”
“I’ll come with you.”
“Hawk. Stay with my brothers. Please try to break this tension up. I don’t think I’m going to last much longer if I come back and they’re still being stupid.”
His hand slipped over hers. “Are you sure?”
“You can see the restroom from right there. I’ll be fine.”
“Did you see the way she was looking at him? God, it’s bad enough you trapped him by getting pregnant, but honestly, does she really think he sees anything in her?
I swear Hawk was about to ask me out just after New Years.
I didn’t get why he just dropped off the face of the planet, but it makes sense that’s when she would have told him about the baby. ”
Jessie was mid-wrestle, trying to get her maternity leggings back up over her belly when the cackling voices came into the bathroom. She cringed the second Hawk’s name hit her ears.
“We don’t even know if it’s really his, Bianca. Maybe he’s just stepping up because she was with someone else. You know Jess didn’t sleep around in school, but since we graduated? I mean, come on. We’ve all heard the rumors.”
“Can you imagine. How fucking horrific for him—trapped in Silver Springs with a kid that’s not even his and a girlfriend who’s never done anything more than say ‘can I take your order.’”
Jessie forced her hands to relax, took a deep breath and marched with her head held high out of the bathroom stall.
She didn’t look over at the women, who had gone deathly still.
She simply washed her hands and left. In the hall, Jessie stopped, the sting of tears blurring her vision.
No. Those women hadn’t said anything she hadn’t thought in the past. And Hawk had always made it crystal clear that those thoughts were wrong.
She wasn’t about to make a mountain out of a moron hill.
Still, hearing all that hadn’t helped her nerves any, or the way her emotions were simmering beneath the surface of her skin as she walked back to the table.
Beau and Hayes stood with their arms crossed over their chests, pretending to shoot pool. Not saying a word to her. Not saying a word to Hawk. She fiddled with the band of her anti-nausea device as she sat back down at the table.
“I’m heading up to grab another one.” Colt held up his empty bottle. “Can I get you anything, Hawk?”
“Yeah, sure. I’ll just take a coke. Ginger ale. Whatever they have.”
Colt nodded. “Jess?”
“Ginger ale, thanks.” Jessie smiled at her oldest brother.
“Sure thing.”
“You okay?” Hawk leaned over, his hand rubbing over her wrist.
“Fine. Just wish my brothers would chill with the death stares.”
“Did something happen in the bathroom? Your eyes were red when you came out.”
“Just some mean girls. We don’t have to get into it here.”
Hawk’s thumb lifted her chin.
“Fine. We don’t need to talk about it here. But we will be talking about it. Because whatever they said hurt you, and I don’t fucking like that.”
Before she could respond, her brothers racked their pool sticks and slid into chairs around the table.
“Well, should we talk about why we’re all here?” Hayes sat forward, his elbows resting on his knees.
“Jess,” Lach grimaced as he looked at her. “We’re all worried. Something’s not adding up here, and unfortunately, you’re the common denominator.”
“Lucky me,” she snorted.
“Your brothers and I agree that the safest thing is for someone to be with you when you need to go somewhere. Most of the time that will be me.” Hawk’s hand came up, sliding under her hair and resting at the nape of her neck.
He gently squeezed, and the tension that had been starting to pull her shoulders tight melted away.
“But there are going to be times where I’m at The Trident, and I don’t want you to be trapped in the apartment going stir crazy. ”
Dakota’s foot slid over and his leg bumped against hers. “Lach and I are good if she’s at the shop. We’ll make sure nothing happens there.”
“What are you doing?” Jessie turned in the chair, hoping Dakota would get the hint. She couldn’t understand why he was trying so hard to touch her. The hand on her arm, now his leg brushing hers. It was making her uncomfortable.
“I just want you to listen to our concerns. Your brothers’ and mine.” Dakota’s hand went on her arm and Hawk was standing in front of her in the next breath.
Don’t kill this douche bag. He’s important to the Fords.
“I’m not sure what game you’re playing at,” Hawk growled as he closed in on Dakota, “but I don’t fucking like it.
She’s been clear with you more than once.
Since you seem to think you don’t need to listen to her, let me make things very clear.
Touch my girl again, make her uncomfortable by even looking at her, and I’ll handle things myself. ”