Chapter 24
Twenty-Four
Sean
“You’re not going to work,” I argue, struggling with my tie.
“I’m tired of staying home. I’ve been cooped up in this damn house for two freaking weeks.” Hannah saunters over to where I stand and bats my hand away. “Here let me fix you.”
“Why do we have to wear a suit to our team meetings?”
“My dad has this theory . . . if his players wear a suit, they’ll show up with a business-focused mindset.” Her eyes flit up to mine, an expression I can’t quite place flickering across her face as she loops the tie around itself. “Maybe his replacement won’t be so strict about it.”
“Well, if his replacement is you, then I know better.”
A devilish grin pulls at her lips. “If I replace him—and that’s a big if—the answer is no, I won’t change that, Mr. Mackenzie. You wanna know why?”
“Why, baby?”
“Because I happen to love stripping you out of your suit at the end of the day,” she says, smoothing my tie against my chest.
Her hand moves to the waistband of my pants, and as her fingers fumble with the button, I glance over at the alarm clock on the nightstand and groan.
“Fuck, Rebel. We can’t. If I don’t leave now, I’ll be late.”
I press my lips against hers, and her tongue peeks out, caressing mine. Hard as a goddam rock, my dick strains against the zipper of my pants. She drops to her knees, trailing her hands down my thighs, and all I can think about is being inside her perfect mouth.
“Just a taste.” She winks, taking me out of my pants.
Just a taste. Bullshit. I’m never getting out of here on . . . Mmm. Ohhh, fuuuck.
Hannah’s tongue swirls the tip of my dick before she swallows me as far down her fucking throat as she can take me. I cup her cheek, and without being able to stop myself, I thrust into her mouth, making her gag. The way her throat tightens around me . . . Goddamn.
“That . . . ahhh . . . That mouth, Rebel . . . Mmmm . . . Fuck.”
Her sweet eyes stare up at me, taking in every single one of my reactions as her velvety tongue glides up and down my shaft. Gripping the back of her head, her curly hair tangles between my fingers. I pull hard, yanking her head back and giving myself more access to her throat.
“You’re such . . . Mm . . . such a good fucking girl for me.”
My words spur her on, and she sucks even harder. She’s always so damn eager to please me. My body locks up, and she grabs my ass, holding me in place before I can pull out of her mouth. I toss my head back as tingles race down my spine and euphoria takes over.
“That’s it, baby . . . Swallow every. Fucking. Drop.”
Not only does she follow orders, but she takes it one step further. Releasing me with a pop, she opens her mouth and sticks out her tongue to show me. Why is that so goddamn sexy?
“Good girl,” I growl, gripping her chin and running my thumb along her bottom lip as she tucks me back into my pants. “If that’s how you plan to send me off every day, I’m never letting you go back to work.”
“Letting me?” She stands, raising a brow.
I pull her body against mine and slap her ass. “Don’t sass. You know exactly what I mean,” I say, dropping a kiss on her lips, then pluck my watch and keys off the dresser on my way out of the room.
She trails after me as I head into the garage. “I’m serious though, I’m going to work today.”
“No, you’re not. Don’t push me on this, mi amor. I want you resting.”
Does she stop? Hell no. Instead of telling me to have a good day, then sending me off to work like a good fucking girl before going inside and resting as she was told to do, she stands at my open truck door with her arms crossed against her chest, arguing with me.
“Ugh. You’re so infuriating.”
“Yep.” I flip my visor down and press the button to open the garage door.
“And fucking bossy!”
“Uh-huh. I think we’ve established that, baby, now I have to shut my door if I’m gonna get out of here.”
My beautiful little rebel steps to the side, fury gleaming in her eyes, and slams my door.
“I’m going to work,” she calls out, her muffled voice hitting my ears through the window.
Lowering the glass, I pin her with a hard stare. “If you set foot in that facility before your doctor releases you—”
“You’re gonna do what? Huh?”
“Test me if you wanna find out.” Shifting the truck into reverse, I stick my head out of the window as I pull out of the driveway. “I love you.”
She pins me with a glare, and despite tossing her middle finger in the air, she says those three little words back.
I know she feels fine now, but she’s going to overdo it and it’s only gonna set her back. Fuck. I bet she won't stay home if I don’t do something. A plan begins to develop in my mind, and I pluck my phone out of my back pocket to call Aiden.
“Hey, man,” he answers with a sigh.
“You okay? What’s the matter?” I ask, pulling onto the highway.
“I’ll talk to you about it when you get here. Jade, baby, please sit back in your seat like a big girl, okay? Yes . . . I know that was a police officer, and if you’re not seated, I’m gonna get a ticket.” He sighs again. “Sorry about that. What’s up?”
“You still need someone to watch Granny, right?”
“Yeah. But she’s being a huge pain in the ass—”
“Don’t say ass, Daddy. It’s not nice.”
“Sorry, princess. Anyway. I don’t want to put her in a nursing home, but she refuses to let a nurse come in and help her. I don’t know what the fu—what to do. I’m scared, Man. She’s old and fragile.”
The more he talks, the more confident I become that the plan I have in mind is going to work.
“I understand where you’re coming from. Hannah’s being stubborn.
I need someone to keep an eye on her, make sure she doesn't go to work. Think you can have Cammie drop Granny off with Hannah? I’ll call Hannah and tell her you need someone to watch Granny.
You call Granny and tell her I need someone to watch Hannah. ”
“You’re a genius. You know that?”
Throwing on my shades, I laugh. “I know. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”
The phone beeps a few times, and I pull up Hannah’s contact.
“What?” She answers on the first ring.
“I just got off the phone with Aiden. He’s gonna have Cammie drop Granny by before work because he’s scared to leave her alone.”
Dead silence hangs from the other end of the call. Pulling my phone away from my ear, I glance at the screen, seeing she’s still there. “Hello?”
“Do you think you’re that smart, or do you think I’m just that stupid? I know what you’re doing.”
I pull into the parking lot next to Aiden’s new Tahoe. He sits in the driver’s seat—a manilla envelope laying on top of his dash—and sifts through papers, a frown tugging at his brow.
“I’m not doubting your intelligence, baby. Look, I’m here, so I gotta go. Just look after Granny, okay?” I don’t give her time to argue before pressing the end button and hopping out of my truck. The locks on Aiden’s SUV click, and I open the passenger door, then slide into the seat next to him.
“Seany,” Jade squeals, bouncing up and down in her seat in excitement.
“Hi, princess. That dress is pretty.”
“My daddy bought it for me. He said he’s good with clothes but doesn’t know a thing about fixing my hair.”
I assess the rat’s nest and laugh. Stepping out and walking to her door, I open it and smile at my second favorite girl. “Hop out, mija.”
“What’s a mee-ha?” she asks, sliding out of her seat.
She follows behind me, and I grab the hairbrush out of my truck, then turn and guide her to face the other direction.
“It means ‘my girl’ . . . like sweetheart. Do you want a braid or a ponytail?” I ask, carefully brushing the tangles out of her hair.
“I want a bun like yours.”
“A bun like mine, huh? I can do that.” I gather up her hair and pull the band off my wrist with my teeth.
“How’d you learn to do hair?” She turns her head to the side to look at me, and her silky strands slide right out of my hand. I guide her to look straight ahead, then gather her hair back up, and twist the brown locks around on top of her head.
“When I was younger, I had to get my baby sister ready for school.” I secure the band around her bun, then turn her to face me. “There you go. All set.”
“Thank you, Seany.”
“You’re welcome, princess.”
Aiden glances at us, a stack of papers still in his hand.
I lean against the open door, resting my arms on top of the car. “Okay. Spill. What’s going on with you?”
“All this legal crap. Here . . .” He reaches across the seat and hands me the documents. “You were pre-law, right? Can you make sense of this?”
“I can try. I only took a couple of law classes before I was drafted,” I say, flipping through the pages. The first thing I come across is the paternity test.
“Mark didn’t go over this with you?”
“He did, but I couldn’t pay attention after he read me the test results.
I just kinda zoned out. Like I knew she was mine, but gettin’ that confirmation?
It just made everything real. She’s perfect, Mac.
So damn perfect. I-I mean, look at her. And to think .
. . I created that. She belongs to me,” he chokes out.
Jade spins in circles, her dress fanning out mid-thigh, as her sweet laughter carries through the air.
“She’s a special little girl. You’re really lucky,” I say, then focus back on the document, reading over areas marked with sticky tabs.
“There’s a petition to have your name added to Jade’s birth certificate and one for you to gain custody .
. . and right here is where Mark wants you to create your will and add a plan for Jade .
. . as in who will take guardianship of her in the event that something should happen to you. ”
“She’ll go to Hannah, of course.”
“Not your mom?” I ask, confused, and hand the papers back to him.
“I love my momma, you know? But she doesn’t have the kind of support system she would need to raise Jade. It’s too much for her.”
I’m actually impressed with how much thought he’s put into all of this.
He clears his throat. “Will you uh . . . will you be Jade’s godfather?”
“Me?” I’m taken aback, but then I think about the differences between us. “I don’t know if you understand what being a godfather means where I come from, Aiden.”
“I know what being a godfather means to you, Mac.” He raises a brow.
“I may not understand everything about your culture, but I do understand what I’m asking.
I know you’ll be another father figure in her life.
I didn’t grow up with a dad, and I don’t want that kind of life for her.
. . God . . . this is morbid . . . talkin’ like something’s gonna happen to me. ”
“It’s necessary. You don’t want to leave any loose ends or for her to end up in state care.”
“Exactly. I trust you with her, Sean. I see the way you are with her. There’s no one better than you.”
I squat down in front of the little girl who’s had my fucking heart from the moment I met her and remove my shades. She stares back at me, the sweetest smile spreading on her lips, and with the ends of her dress in her hands, she twists from side to side.
“What do you think, mija? Think you can handle me being your Padrino and bossing you around for the rest of your life?”
“What’s Pa . . . pa . . .” Her brows pinch together. “That word you just used?”
“Padrino? It means Godfather.”
Jade taps her chin, as if she’s deep in thought. “Will you buy me all the pretty dresses like daddy does?”
“So many pretty dresses.”
“Can I draw on your arm again?”
“Any time you want.” I wink.
“Okay.” She shrugs.
A smile tugs at my lips as I turn to Aiden and reach out to shake his hand. “You have no idea how much this means to me. I’ll always be here for Jade. Fucking always, man.”
“Thank you,” he says, releasing my hand, then snatches the envelope off the dash, and shoves the papers back inside. “Will you please not mention anything to Hannah yet? I’d like to be the one to talk to her about it.”
“I got you,” I say as Coach pulls into the parking lot. “Come on. We better head inside.”
“Kitty!” Jade squeals.
What the hell?
I turn around in place and look down. The ugliest cat I think I’ve ever set eyes on meows at my feet, rubbing its head on my leg.
“Look, Daddy, it’s a kitty!”
Aiden takes her hand in his and steers her toward the glass building. “I see that, sweet girl. Don’t touch it, okay? You’ll end up with ringworms.”
I try to ignore the dumpster kitty, but as we make our way toward the entrance, it meows and circles my ankles.
“Would you stop? You’re going to trip me,” I say, trying to step around it.
Aiden laughs as the kitten tries to follow me inside.
“You can’t come in here,” I say, picking it up and setting it several feet away from the door. Doesn’t make a bit of difference because the little fucker tries to dart back inside.
Dammit!
“Looks like you have a new friend.”
“I do not have a new friend.”
“If that’s what you wanna keep telling yourself,” he tosses over his shoulder, leaving me to deal with the cat as he takes Jade to the game room.
“Is Seany gonna get ringworms . . .” Jade’s voice fades as they disappear out of sight.
I stare down at the cat as it looks up at me with pleading eyes. “Why are you doing this to me? Huh?”
I may be a dickhead, but there are two things that get me every fucking time . . . I take that back. Three: Hannah, children, and animals. ?Ay, ay, ay! What the hell am I supposed to do? I can’t just leave the kitten out here to starve or get run over by a car.
Shit.
I pick it up and head to the conference room, trailing in behind Cal.
He looks over his shoulder and does a double take. “What the hell? Should I have brought Puck? Is today bring your pet to work day?”
“You didn’t get the memo?” I ask, plopping down in the chair next to him.
“Mackenzie! What the hell is that ugly ass cat doing in my meeting?” Coach barks from the front of the room.
I cuddle the little guy and pet his head. He’s so ugly that he’s fucking cute.
“It’s okay,” I coo near his ear. “Grandpa doesn’t mean it.”
Laughter fills the room as I hold the kitten up in the air like Simba, his four little legs dangling straight down in front of him. “Coach, meet your new grandson, Chávez.”