Chapter Nine
Hex parked his bike under the carport, thinking he’d have to add another or maybe just expand this one so Elle had somewhere sheltered to park. It might not be such a big deal now, but he knew she would appreciate it when she was trying to unload a baby in the rain.
He was getting ahead of himself, he knew.
But he wanted to do everything he could to convince her to stay, and if that meant adding a carport to make life easier for her, he would.
He didn’t have the same lifestyle she was used to, hell, it wasn’t what he’d grown up with either, but it was a hell of a lot better than what he’d dealt with when he’d been in the Army.
Remembering how tired Elle had looked, he tried not to make any more noise than he had to as he climbed the steps and let himself inside.
As soon as he stepped in the door, he was glad he’d kept quiet.
Elle lay stretched out on the sofa, her face soft with sleep.
He fought the urge to go to her, to kiss her awake.
That wasn’t what she needed. She’d had a long day, and he wouldn’t make it longer.
But he wasn’t going to let her sleep there either.
But he had things to do first.
Still standing next to the door, he toed off his boots, leaving them there beside the door before he padded into the house, checking to make sure no one had been there and nothing had changed since he’d left after changing clothes earlier.
He went into the bedroom and picked up after himself.
He’d been in a hurry earlier and hadn’t been careful about taking care of his things.
Elle didn’t need to deal with his mess, so he cleaned up while she rested.
He stared at the bed for a moment, debating, then got to work stripping it and replacing the sheets.
After tossing the dirty ones in the washer and starting it, he went back into the living room.
Beside the sofa, Hex bent down to sit on his heels for a moment, watching Elle sleep.
Her eyes flicked back and forth beneath her lid, telling him she was dreaming.
He hated to wake her to move her to the bed, but he knew she’d sleep better in there.
He’d slept on this couch once or twice, when he fell asleep watching TV, and he always regretted it.
It might be comfortable to sit on, but it always did something to his back when he slept here, and he didn’t want that for her.
Leaning forward, he scooped her into his arms and cradled her against his chest as he stood.
He took a moment to make sure he had her balanced because the last thing he needed was to drop her, then carried her to the bedroom and his bed.
He’d give her the option to move to the guest room tomorrow, if she wanted, for now, he wanted to be able to hold her, so he stripped to his underwear and slid in beside her, pulling the sheets up over both of them, he pulled her into his arms and closed his eyes.
The ring of his phone jerked Hex from sleep. Glancing at the clock, he saw it was barely four a.m. He rolled out of bed and grabbed his phone and seeing it was Cypher, swiped across the screen to answer it as he headed for the bathroom.
“What?” Hex snarled into the phone.
“My, aren’t you grouchy.” Cypher sounded wide awake, as if he’d been up for hours, or more likely, knowing the tech sergeant, hadn’t gone to bed.
“Do you know what time it is?”
“No—” he paused. “Oh, shit. Sorry. I found something. Something you need to see.”
Hex rolled his eyes and sighed. There was so much they couldn’t say over the phone, he knew that, but he didn’t want to leave Elle here alone.
“Fine. Give me ten minutes. Maybe a little more depending on how long it takes to rouse a prospect.”
“I saw Nathan a little bit a go. I can send him your way.”
“If that little bit was less than an hour, and he’s sober, send him. If you can’t find him, find someone to stand guard while I come talk to you.”
“No problem. He’ll be there in a few minutes.” Cypher didn’t wait for Hex to reply before he disconnected the call.
Hex finished using the facilities then gathered clothes as quietly as he could, taking them out of the bedroom to actually dress so she could get as much rest as she needed.
Instead of heading to another bedroom or the other bathroom, he carried his clothes into the kitchen, where he started a pot of coffee.
He might as well let the coffee brew while he dressed, because he knew as much as he might want to, he wouldn’t be climbing back into that bed with Elle, at least not for several hours.
By the time he’d dressed, except for his boots, the coffee was ready. He poured himself some into an insulated cup and took it in the living room to wait for the prospect. He’d about finished the coffee when a soft knock sounded on the door. He got up and opened it.
“Come in for a minute, but keep it quiet, Elle’s asleep.” Hex let Nathan in, then turned and headed for the kitchen. “I need more coffee before I go anywhere. Want a cup?”
“Sure.”
Hex refilled his cup and pulled a second from the cabinet, filling that for Nathan.
“There’s sugar there and milk in the fridge.” He waved one hand toward the sugar bowl. I don’t have any of that fake sugar or flavored creamer shit.”
“Black’s fine. Thanks.” Nathan picked up the cup, put the lid on, and took a sip. “What do you need from me?”
“I need you to stand guard. Outside. I don’t want to freak Elle out if she wakes and there’s a stranger in the house. Sit on the porch, keep an eye out for anyone you don’t know. That’s it.”
“What if someone shows up?” Nathan asked, watching him.
“Don’t let them in and call me.”
“Can do.”
“How’d you get here?” Hex asked as he headed for the front door, grabbing his spare house key on the way. He hadn’t heard a bike, nor a truck before the prospect had knocked.
“Brought one of the golf carts. I figured it was early and anyone asleep likely wouldn’t be for long if I brought my bike back here.
” He lifted one shoulder and let it drop.
“Since the carts are electric, they’re almost silent, it made sense.
” He wasn’t wrong. Harley’s were loud and Nathan had a problem with his exhaust, which made it one of the loudest in the club.
Since the issue didn’t affect performance, the kid hadn’t gotten around to fixing it.
“You’re right. I’ll take the cart back to the clubhouse, so we don’t wake the whole compound.”
Hex let them out and locked the door.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can. Let me know if she gets up and comes out too,” Hex said as he descended the stairs and headed for the golf cart.
“Will do,” Nathan called after him.
Curious what Cypher had found, Hex slid in behind the wheel of the little golf cart and headed for the clubhouse.