Chapter 31
Thirty-One
Lachlan nodded at Hawk for the millionth time. “I know the rules. She’s coming with me to the shop, and then I’m to get her out to the ranch because Ma and Mae need her final sign-off on baby shower shit.”
“It’s not shit, Lach. It’s important,” Jessie’s voice filtered out into the living room from the bathroom.
Hawk heard her feet padding down the hall before he saw her, belly first. “Don’t laugh,” she scolded as he bent down to give her a kiss.
“I feel like I’m about to tip over any time I stand up. Bee is getting so big.”
“She’s healthy. And so are you. Two things I am extremely grateful for.” Hawk smiled, tapping the device around her wrist. “Nausea level?”
“A three this morning, but barely noticeable with how excited I am for everything coming up.” She smiled up at him. “Are you sure you don’t want me to stay and help you pack up the truck? I have all that stuff in the fridge I made for today, and don’t forget about the ice cream in the freezer.”
“Jess,” he grumbled. “I’m perfectly capable of putting food in the cooler and driving it out to the ranch. Go with your brother.”
“I don’t need to carry anything down. I could just direct you.” Hawk watched her smile fade as her eyes landed on the bookshelf. “What is this still doing here?” Jess grabbed the vase Dakota had given her off the bookshelf and walked into the kitchen.
Hawk heard the vase make a thunk as it hit the bottom of the trash can. Fucking finally. He hated looking at that damn thing.
“Did you just throw that away?” Lachlan laughed as she walked back into the living room.
“Yep. I’m still mad at Dakota. I don’t need that kind of energy in my home. Sorry I kept it for so long.” She looked at Hawk, who couldn’t help but smile.
“It’s no problem, Pretty Girl. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t absolutely love seeing that.”
She placed her hands on her hips and shook her head. “Are you sure I can’t stay to help?”
“Absolutely not.” Hawk crossed his arms over his chest. “All the girls are going to be at the ranch waiting for you by the time you’re done at the shop, and you don’t want to be late.”
“Eee!” she squealed. “You’re right. I want to be out there with them.”
“Ouch,” he laughed.
“Oh hush. It’s going to be a good day! Right, Lach?”
Her brother sighed, holding out his hand. “Right. Come on, preggers.”
“Ew. I don’t like being called that.” Jessie wrinkled up her nose and Hawk laughed beside her, before lifting her chin and kissing her.
Lach rolled his eyes, but her brother still offered Jessie his arm for balance as they walked out of the apartment and down the hall.
“I know things are strained with Dakota right now, but does that mean you’ve decided not to go forward with having him buy into the shop?” she asked as she huffed and puffed until they made it to the elevator.
“He needs to shut his mouth and figure some shit out, and fast. But if he can do that, I don’t see why it wouldn’t be a good decision to let him buy in. Someone else to shoulder the monetary burden. Someone to bring in more business.”
Jessie sighed as she let go of his arm, digging her fingers into her back as they rode down to the ground level. “I just worry—”
“Well, quit it, would ya?”
“Lach,” she groaned. “I’m serious. I’m still furious over what he did at Davney’s, but if he’s using more of the garage for his business, it’s only right that you should get a cut of that.”
“Maybe. I’m thinking about it, Jess. I promise.” Lachlan placed his hand on her shoulder blade as he opened the door and led her outside. “I was going to wait until we made it back to the garage, but I have a surprise waiting there for you.”
“You do?” Her smile grew as she attempted to bounce on her toes. Gosh, being almost full-term really did limit what she was able to do. Bee gave a good kick in solidarity.
“Mhm. I’m finally ready to show you the restoration I’ve been working on.”
Her heart skipped a beat. She knew how important the project was to her brother, and her eyes welled with tears.
“Really?”
He looked at her, absolute mortification written all over his face. “Jesus, Jess. Don’t cry! Hawk will kill me if he calls to check up on you and you sound emotional.”
“Sorry.” She gave a watery laugh. “I’m just already so proud of you. I can’t wait to see it.”
Ten minutes later, Jessie’s breath caught in her chest as she ran her fingers over the robin’s egg blue paint.
“This is beautiful. I can’t believe how well you’ve done with this.”
“It’s been so much fun. I didn’t think this sort of thing would interest me, but god. Yeah. Every time I lift the car up and get to work, it just lights something up inside of me.”
Jessie smiled at her brother. It had been such a long time since she’d heard him speak so passionately.
“Maybe this is something we can work more into the business. One or two passion projects for collectors in the area. If we market this correctly, document more of the process for people to watch, this might be able to supplement the mechanic business.” Jessie smiled.
Lachlan nodded, clearly in agreement. “Do you think you could take some pictures or videos of me while I work on it today? We could start advertising services soon if we did.”
Jessie’s heart warmed. “Yeah, absolutely. Let me grab my phone and we’ll get to it.” She pushed up out of the chair, slapping away her brother’s hand as it flew in front of her to help. “Hawk may get away with doting on me, but you and Colt— hell, Beau and Hayes too—didn’t teach me to be so needy.”
“Yeah, well, sometimes, I think we put too much on your shoulders. Expected too much outta ya. A little doting now won’t hurt. Until my niece pops out. Then I’ll forget all about you and start doting on her.”
Jessie laughed, holding her bump up so it didn’t do that weird shaking thing like Santa’s belly when he laughed. It wasn’t her favorite sensation.
She made it back to the office, sliding into the chair behind the counter. Her phone was plugged in, charging, because Hawk made her promise to keep it near one hundred percent as much as possible. Like she wouldn’t be able to get to him, two streets over, if something was wrong.
Jessie laughed at the image floating in her mind of him running all the way from their apartment to the auto shop.
His hair blowing in the breeze… he’d probably take his shirt off because the summer heat was absolutely brutal.
And he’d either be in his tailored work pants, or those loose-fitting shorts she loved…
Oh god. She needed to snap out of it! Jess wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth and felt her body heat through sixty shades of red.
“Sorry, guys. Shops closed today. If you’ve got car trouble, you can leave it with me, but I won’t be able to look at it until tomorrow at the earliest.”
Jess sat back in the office chair, proud of her brother for setting the boundary.
“Hmm. We certainly were expecting this place to be closed. A real fucking bummer that you’re here. Anyone else in here with you?” Jessie froze behind the desk, a shiver working its way through her body. Where did she know that voice from?
Lach coughed, and she heard metal clang in the garage.
“Nah. It’s just me. Working on a pet project.”
“Mack, check the office. Maybe we’ll get lucky and she’ll be here. Sure as shit would save us some time.”
“There’s no one else here.” The edge in her brother’s voice flipped her stomach. He was worried about what was going on.
At that moment, she knew she needed to run. But her shoes were slipped off under the desk. And hefting herself out of the chair was nearly impossible. She could maybe slip down under the desk, but that would require trying to pull the chair in and–
“Ah, looks like it is our lucky day.”
Jessie looked up and instantly placed the man speaking to her. The guy from the diner. The one Dakota was working with all those months ago. The one who grabbed her ass and wouldn’t take no for an answer. They were at the shop before too… Mack and…
“Well, hey there, little mama. Looks like you’ve been a busy girl since the last time I saw you.” His eyes lingered on her belly. When his tongue came out and licked at his lower lip, Jessie shuddered. “Why don’t you come join the party out here?”
“Please don’t call me that.” Jessie pushed herself to her feet and tried to reach for her cell before the guy could catch her.
But twisting and walking at the same time apparently wasn’t something she was going to be able to swing, and Mack just laughed as she swiped the phone, watching it tumble to the ground at her feet.
“Yeah, I’d tell you not to pick that up, but I’m pretty sure you would tip over trying. Come on. You’ve got something we need, and we’re running out of time.”
She stepped in front of the guy, the smell of cigarette smoke turning her stomach.
Shit. Her nausea had been so good lately.
Trying to ignore the churning deep inside, Jessie made her way out into the garage.
She walked over to Lachlan’s side, not failing to notice the large wrench that his fingers were wrapped tightly around dangling down by his side.
The restored car was in the air, and Jessie’s nerves went into overdrive as she walked onto the shop floor.
“What seems to be the issue? I heard my brother explain that the shop is closed today. We can help you if you stop back tomorrow.”
“See, that is the problem. My friend and I won’t be in town tomorrow. And what you have, well, we really need.”
“A car part? We haven’t kept spares here in years,” Jessie answered. “If it’s something other than a basic air or oil filter, we’ll need to order it in. And I was just looking over the orders. There’s nothing here that isn’t already accounted for.”
“Not a car part, honey. We have a very particular client who won’t be very happy with us when he learns we’ve misplaced something valuable of his.”