Chapter 12
S omething was off with Dosia. Pumpkin couldn’t put his finger on it, nor could he ask her about it with JJ and SJ in the cage.
It still went against the grain to have Dosia drive him around, even if their luxury new, armored SUV was the best thing to ever touch his ass.
And the massagers and warmers of the captains’ chairs?
That alone was worth two hundred and sixty thousand dollars.
At some point, he’d have to clue her in to the fact that there were hidden compartments in the cage with various weapons as well.
Only his fingerprints opened those compartments right now, but eventually, he’d add hers too.
He wanted to get her some training first, and she needed a carry permit.
He had to get a special one just to own this vehicle.
Normally, Darrin would drive them. His grumblings about doing so had stopped when he’d seen the vehicle Pumpkin had bought Dosia.
Then he practically begged to be allowed to drive them around.
This evening, though, Darrin was at the ol’ ladies’ beck and call to help get the festival cleaned up quickly so Main Street could reopen before church hours started in the morning.
Dosia had gotten good at calling Darrin when she needed something, especially with the kids.
Pumpkin did what he could, but he still wasn’t cleared to lift more than ten fucking pounds.
Technically, he wasn’t even supposed to be carrying his own children, but Pumpkin refused to let that stop him.
They could take away his driver’s license, but they would not interfere with what he could or could not do with his kids. He’d murder someone first.
Pumpkin was still trying to figure out what was going on with Dosia when she pulled the Lexus into her grandparents’ driveway.
He wasn’t positive, but she seemed nervous.
Was this about their date? The kiss? He hated doubting himself, but even more, he hated thinking that she was doubting him .
Did she think he’d played her just so she could win the auction for him?
That he hadn’t been serious about being with her?
Glancing at the house that had seemed to have become his second home over the past month, Pumpkin thought about all the nights they’d stayed up talking in her bed.
How beautiful she was with her hair sprawled out on her pillow as she smiled over at him.
How he fucking ached to crawl on top of her and make love to her like she deserved.
How he couldn’t seem to keep himself away from her, even in his sleep.
He always woke up with her in his arms, and as fucking perfect as she felt in them, he forced himself to move away so she didn’t think he was trying to push the boundaries she’d clearly set for him.
Did she think the kiss and asking her on a date was just for sex?
Had he not done enough legwork to prove to her just how devoted to her he was without sex ?
Dosia was the mother of his children and there were no limits to his commitment and affection towards her, and he’d eventually get a ring on her finger.
Even if she refused him sex for the rest of their lives, he’d still die a happy man. Just with very, very blue balls.
He’d never masturbated so much in his life.
Not even when he was a teen and had woken up with his first erection.
Hell, he’d had to excuse himself on more than one occasion to take yet another shower just from watching her read a book.
His dick was probably more devoted to Dosia than his heart was, and that was saying something.
Dosia put the cage into Park and then sat back with a sigh. Her smile trembled slightly as she looked at him. “Long day,” she murmured. “Let’s get these two bathed and into bed. We need to talk.”
Fuck. Those dreaded four words anyone in a relationship hates to hear.
But he was no coward and he was not planning on spending the entirety of bath time trying to guess what Dosia wanted to tell him. “Good talk or bad talk?”
A humorless chuckle left her mouth as she stared up at the vehicle’s ceiling. “I still haven’t figured that out yet.”
Ominous. Pumpkin didn’t like it. When Dosia made to get out of the cage, he grabbed her wrist to stop her. “Are you okay?” he asked. “The kids? Did something happen while I was on stage?”
Dosia looked over her shoulder where JJ and SJ were starting to fuss about being left in their car seats. JJ was just shy of the height requirement to switch her to a booster seat.
“They’re fine,” she told him, meeting his eyes.
Meaning she wasn’t. Pumpkin was not okay with this. But Dosia turned her hand in his grip and squeezed his fingers. “After bath time, I promise.”
Even though the kids were exhausted and likely wouldn’t play in the water like they usually did, this was going to be the longest fucking bath time of his life.
Pumpkin was soaked. SJ was definitely overstimulated and hadn’t handled getting into the bath well. It had been more of a dunk than a bath, really. So while Dosia washed and played with JJ in the tub, Pumpkin sat on the closed toilet seat with a naked, crying, wet SJ, trying to comfort his son.
The pack-n-play Darrin had set up the first night Pumpkin had stayed at Dosia’s grandparents’ house had been moved upstairs to JJ’s room the first few nights before Pumpkin had gotten a crib and changing table delivered. JJ was thrilled that she shared her room with her baby brother .
Pumpkin was holding onto that attitude for as long as he could, because he highly doubted JJ was going to feel the same in a couple of years.
His house on club property had three bedrooms and two baths.
Pumpkin had the master with a full bath.
Frankie occupied one bedroom and SJ’s nursery was the third room with a connecting bath between them.
It had certainly been an interesting conversation when Dosia had found out that Frankie was ‘living with’ him.
But thankfully Dosia hadn’t made a bigger deal of it than it was, and now Frankie and she were friends.
When Dosia and JJ moved into his house, Frankie was going to need to move out so JJ could get her own bedroom.
He didn’t think Frankie, or Steel who had moved Frankie into Pumpkin’s house, would mind.
Frankie was thrilled to see Pumpkin and Dosia together, and her role in SJ’s life was slowly returning to how it had been prior to Pumpkin’s accident.
Solstice poked her head into the bathroom. “Everything okay?”
Pumpkin was rocking SJ in his arms. He’d taken off his shirt prior to bath time, a preemptive strike against the water monsters he called his children, and it didn’t hurt that Dosia’s eyes always landed appreciatively on his chest. Two birds, one stone, and all that.
He had a towel around SJ to keep his son warm. The way SJ curled into his chest, though, was more pitiful than angry. Dosia had already gotten up to turn off some of the lights in the bathroom to try to help SJ calm, but the best remedy would always be skin-to-skin between father and son.
Pumpkin nodded. “We’re just really tired.”
Solstice’s face turned adoring as she looked at SJ. “Want me to take him? I can get him into jammies and return him to you.”
Pumpkin and Dosia, though, shook their heads. “We’re almost done here,” Dosia told her grandmother. “Thank you, though.”
Solstice nodded once. “I’ll leave you to it then. Good night.”
“Good night,” Dosia and Pumpkin said in unison.
JJ moved quickly to the edge of the tub, splashing water everywhere in the process. “Good night, Grandma! ”
“Good night, baby. I wish you the happiest of dreams,” Solstice said before walking away.
Pumpkin continued to rub SJ’s back as his son’s cries were slowly transforming into sobbing hiccups. “I love your grandma.”
Dosia sent him a smirk over her shoulder. “That’s because she feeds you.”
Pumpkin waggled his eyebrows. “Yeah, she does. I am pretty sure that woman is the only one in the world who could have gotten me to eat kale and like it.”
Dosia chuckled. “Are you good to stand with SJ? I think it’s well past bedtime. I’m going to get this one dried off and we’ll be in for story time.”
“Then we get to have Mommy and Daddy alone time,” Pumpkin stated suggestively. He normally teased Dosia because she blushed each time he said that, knowing his words were making her think about them together in the bookstore. But this time, he meant every word exactly as he’d said it.
He used the counter next to him to stand, and had to suppress a groan.
SJ wasn’t the only one who had overdone it today.
Fuck, he better be up for following through tonight.
If Dosia wanted him as much as he hoped she did, as much as he wanted her, there was no way he was going to let some pain in his body prevent him from taking her.
But first they were going to need to talk . Pumpkin quashed another groan for an entirely different reason.
He’d been doing his damnedest to keep from thinking about the talk all through bath time. Having a pissed-off eleven month old did provide for an effective distraction. But it was never far from his mind.
SJ went down right away, but JJ wanted to read a book about a pony that reminded her of Phil, the pony she’d ridden that afternoon.
Twice. Dosia laid down in JJ’s twin bed with her while Pumpkin sat in a rocking chair that was older than he was.
Per Dosia, it had been Grandma Solstice’s grandmother’s.
The thing was an antique but built to last. Pumpkin no longer feared it would break under his weight.
Because, as much as he wanted to squeeze into bed with his girls, he doubted he’d be able to get back up if he tried.