“You hush your mouth, Nathanial Shepherd. Do not even put those thoughts out there into the universe,” Paige said, appearing on the other side of Brendan wearing a bathrobe over a hospital gown. Her hair was thrown up in her customary Paige-crazy-up-do-bun-thing that only she could pull off and not look like a bag woman.
“Wow, Paige.” Grace grinned. “That was some Southern sass coming out of your mouth.”
“She’s always had the sass, but the Southern sure is a development,” Denise said.
“Why aren’t you in bed?” Brendan asked, concern evident in every feature of his face.
“Because I don’t want to be. They said I could walk around for a little bit longer, so calm yourself,” she said, patting his arm.
“Brendan? Calm? Oh, Paige, that’s never going to happen,” Grace said, shaking her head.
“I know. My dear hot-headed man.” She sighed and looked up at her husband. “How about we go on a walk around the hospital so we can calm your nerves. You’re going to have a very hard night watching me push a tiny human out of my body.” She smiled sweetly.
Brendan’s lips quirked up and he shook his head. “Come on, woman. Let’s go.” He looped his arm around her back and led her down the hall.
They made a couple of rounds before Paige’s contractions got to be too much for her to stay upright and then they were back in the room. Over the next couple of hours Brendan and Denise were in and out getting Paige ice chips and keeping everyone updated. By two in the morning, Paige had a couple more centimeters to go before she was dilated enough to even start pushing.
Grace didn’t even remember closing her eyes, but when she woke up she was using Jax’s shoulder as a pillow.
“Hey,” she mumbled, grabbing his hand as she pressed her face into his arm and inhaled.
“Hey,” he said, kissing her head.
“What time is it?” she asked, tilting her head back to look up at him.
“Almost four. I got someone to cover for me.” He leaned down, kissing her mouth. He hadn’t shaved and his scruff brushed her face.
“I’m guessing there’s still no baby?” she asked, reaching up and running her thumb across his jaw.
“Still no baby,” he said, shaking his head.
“So no more late nights?” she asked hopefully.
“No more late nights.” He grinned.
“You’re all mine again?”
“I’m always all yours,” he said before he leaned down and pressed his mouth to hers.
* * *
Brendan won the bet. Trevor Oliver King was born at four fifty-eight in the morning. He weighed eight pounds two ounces, had a full head of dark brown hair the exact color as Paige’s, and Brendan’s nose. He was currently bundled in a light green blanket that was covered with monkeys, his teeny tiny little body cradled in Brendan’s massive arms.
Everyone who had been in the waiting room was now standing in a circle, staring at the father and son duo.
“He’s perfect,” Brendan whispered in an awed voice as he looked down at his son. “He’s absolutely perfect.” He reached up and wiped at his eyes.
As Grace watched her big brother hold his son, she was completely baffled that any man, or woman for that matter, could walk out on their child. Could leave behind something that was so tiny, so defenseless, so in need to be loved.
Grace hadn’t known her father, neither had Brendan, but maybe that was for the best. Jax knew his father, and Haldon Anderson wasn’t a good man by any standards. Jax would’ve been better off never knowing him. Really, unless a father looked at his child the way Brendan was looking at Trevor, he didn’t deserve to be in his child’s life.
“You want to hold him?” Brendan asked, looking up at Grace. He had to be exhausted, there was no doubt about that, but the sheer joy in his eyes completely overpowered everything. Grace had never seen him look so happy.
“Yes,” she said, taking a step forward.
Brendan gently put the little bundle in her arms. His delicate little eyelids fluttered as he slept.
“Wow,” Grace whispered, looking up at Brendan. “He’s you in miniature.”
“I hope he has Paige’s gray eyes,” Brendan said.
“Well, he has her hair.” Lula Mae sniffled.
Grace looked back down and put her finger in Trevor’s little hand.
“Hey, Munchkin, this is your Aunt Grace,” she whispered. “Now don’t let this go to your cute little head, but you’re pretty much the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen in my life. You’re going to get spoiled by everyone in this room, but just remember that I’m your favorite.”
Brendan laughed as he pressed a kiss to Grace’s temple.
“How’s Paige doing?” Jax asked as he came up behind Grace and looked over her shoulder at Trevor.
“Good. Exhausted, but good.”
“Is she still awake?” Grace asked as she passed Trevor to a clearly anxious Lula Mae, who promptly started sniffling in full force the moment Trevor was snuggled in her arms.
“Yeah,” Brendan nodded.
“You think it’d be okay if I went and saw her?”
“Absolutely.”
Grace took a step back from the circle and ducked into the door that was behind them. The blinds were still drawn, so the only light in the room was coming from a lamp in the corner.
“Hey.” Paige smiled sleepily from the bed.
Denise was settled in the chair next to her, her head resting on the back, her eyes closed.
“Hey, yourself,” Grace said, coming over and kissing Paige’s forehead. “He’s beautiful, Paige.” She brushed a stray hair from Paige’s cheek.
“Isn’t he?” she said, closing her eyes as Grace continued to stroke her hair back. “That feels good.” She sighed.
“You guys are going to be great parents.”
“You think so?”
“I know so.”
“Brendan’s been worried,” Paige said, opening her eyes. “He said something a couple of months ago. Something along the lines of he doesn’t want to be anything like his father.”
“Have you seen the way he looks at that little boy? There’s no way,” Grace said, shaking her head.
“I told him before that he’s nothing like his father. But yeah, I saw the way he looks at Trevor.” Paige smiled. “Like he’s never seen anything more perfect.”
“You both mean the world to him. You’ve given him so much.”
“He’s given me a lot, too,” Paige said sleepily.
“Like that little angel out there?”
“Yeah, and you. I always wanted a sister.”
“Me, too.” Grace smiled.
“Love you, Grace.”
“Love you, too.”
“You can keep rubbing my head like that for as long as you want,” Paige said, closing her eyes again.
“Will do,” Grace said, and she kept at it until Paige was soundly asleep.
* * *
Jax and Grace left the hospital just before seven. They went back to his house, where Grace had just enough time to take a shower and head out the door to work. She was going to be surviving off caffeine all day. But so was he. He’d scheduled a delivery for nine o’clock that morning weeks ago. Installing the wooden boards for the ceilings and floors was the next step. If he rescheduled the delivery it would get pushed back another two weeks.
Jax had gone with amber wooden planks for the ceiling in the living room, kitchen, den, and master bedroom. They were just a little bit darker that the hardwood floors that would be in all the rooms of the house, except for the tile in the bathrooms and the carpet in the spare bedrooms. But the floors would be installed after the painting was finished.
At least Jax had picked out the colors. He and Grace had done that the week before. They’d decided on dove gray for the kitchen, living room, and hallway, butter cream yellow for his bedroom, lime sorbet for his bathroom, ocean water blue for the second bathroom, and so on, and so on. He couldn’t wai
t to see everything painted.
“What time will you be done tonight?” Jax asked as he snatched Grace up before she walked out the door. He pulled her into his body and kissed her before she had time to answer and she melted into him. Her tongue was in his mouth and her hands were traveling to the back of his head, her fingers playing with the hair at the base of his neck.
“Around six,” she said, pulling back a minute later. She was breathless and her cheeks were flushed. He could tell by the look in her eyes that she was as desperate for him as he was for her.
“So I’ll see you here?”
“Yes, and I’ll take care of dinner. Something we can just throw in the oven, because as soon as I walk in that door I’m going to tackle you to the floor.”
“Sounds promising.” He grinned and kissed her one more time before she left.
* * *
By five o’clock, Jax was in countdown mode. He wanted Grace underneath him, now. Ten minutes ago. This morning. Yesterday. He just wanted her.
He’d had Grace on the brain all damn day. Who was he kidding? She was always on his mind because he always wanted her. Bennett and Tripp came by to help out at around twelve, and they had to ask Jax questions three or four times before he answered. They’d been working on the ceiling and Jax was lucky he hadn’t been hit in the head with a piece of wood at this point.
“So I think we should call it a day,” Tripp said as he nailed the last board in the ceiling of the den.
“Scared for your life?” Bennett grinned.
“Well, yes. But Grace just pulled up,” he said, nodding to the window in the kitchen that looked out into the front yard.
Jax’s head whipped around, and sure enough there was Grace, getting out of her little Bug wearing a red sundress. She’d gone home and changed.
Jax was out the front door in five seconds flat, grinning like an idiot as he made his way down the steps.
“Hey, stranger,” she waved as she walked up the drive.
He didn’t even respond, just grabbed her and pulled her into him as he laid a big old kiss on her mouth. Grace’s arms wound around his neck.
Jax would’ve loved nothing more than to bend down and grab Grace’s thighs so that she could wrap her legs around his waist. But there was some sense of sanity still buzzing around in his brain, because he really had no desire to give Bennett and Tripp a show.
“I thought you weren’t going to be done until six.” He pulled back and placed his hands on her hips, thinking about what color underwear she was wearing under her dress.
“I was, but apparently patiently waiting for you for eighteen years has led to all of my patience drying up.”
“Oh, really?” He grinned.
“Yes.” She smiled, leaning into him and stretching up onto her toes so she could put her mouth by his ear. “But I can assure that’s the only thing that’s dry,” she whispered.
Jax inhaled sharply just as a hand came down hard on his back.
“We’re out of here,” Tripp said, walking by them. “Good seeing you, Grace.”
“Yeah, you two have a good night,” Bennett said, putting his hand in the air and waving as he headed for his truck.
“Bye, boys,” Grace called out after them. “They scattered pretty quickly,” she said as her hands journeyed up under the hem of Jax’s shirt to his abdomen.
“Yeah.” He nodded. “I think they caught the vibe.”
“What vibe is that?”
“The I’m about to jump you vibe.”
“Oh, that one.” Grace looked over her shoulder as both men backed out of the driveway and disappeared through the trees. “Coast is clear,” she said, turning back to Jax. “Let’s go.” She grabbed his hand.
“What? Here?” he said, looking around like someone was watching from the trees.
“Absolutely.”
“You can’t be serious,” he said as she dragged him toward the house. “There is nothing for us to do anything on up there. At least not comfortably.”
“We aren’t going up to the house,” she said, bypassing the stairs and heading around the back to the river. “I think we should take a dip. You seem a little hot.”
“I don’t think a swim is going to cool me off.”
“Good,” she said, looking over her shoulder and grinning at him.
“We can’t go skinny-dipping. The sun’s still out; someone will see us.”
“I never said anything about skinny-dipping.”
“You going to go in that dress?”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “My black lace panties and bra.”
Jax about tripped over his feet. He could just imagine what Grace was going to look like in all that wet lace.
And all his objections went out the window.
When they got to the water’s edge Grace turned to him and her hands immediately found the hem of his T-shirt. She began working it up his sides. He lifted his arms, and she pulled the clothing up over his head. He pulled off his boots as quickly as possible before he reached for her again.
His mouth found hers as his hands traveled behind her back. As soon as he found her zipper it was down and so were the straps at her shoulders. She dropped her arms, and the dress pooled at her feet.
Oh, jeez, she was wearing those black lace boy short things that made him forget his name.
“Your tongue is hanging out of your mouth.” Grace smiled as she reached for the front of his pants and undid his belt. His zipper was down a second later, and she was pushing his jeans down his legs. He pulled his socks off as he freed his legs from his jeans so that he was only wearing his navy blue boxer briefs.
Grace eyed him appreciatively for a moment before she turned and ran into the river. Jax followed right behind her, unable to stop himself from laughing as they splashed through the cool water. She dove in and started swimming away from him, and he followed, his head going beneath the surface as he picked up a fast stroke and grabbed her feet. He twisted her around and opened her legs as he brought her body into his. Her arms and legs wrapped around him like a vice in an instant.
There was no more laughing from either of them as he kissed her hard and his tongue claimed possession of her mouth. His hands were on the small of her back holding her to him as she started to rock against him. One of his hands moved down to her bottom, his fingers tracing the lace edge of those panties that he loved so much. He kept on that path until he was able to pull back the material and his fingers were traveling down a path that made her moan into his mouth. He kept at it for a good while, and as he moved inside her, she moved harder against him.
“Jax.” She said his name breathlessly. “I can’t…I’m going to…”
“I know. I’ve got you,” he said as her hands fisted in his hair. He was pretty sure there were a few casualties as she buried her face in his neck to muffle her cry. She tightened around his fingers, her body trembling in his arms.
Grace’s grip in his hair slackened, and she rested her head on his shoulder as she attempted to catch her breath. Her fingers moved through the hair at the back of his neck, slowly and lazily making a circular motion.
Jax pressed his lips to her shoulder and placed a warm opened-mouthed kiss against her skin.
“That was nice,” she said after a moment.
Jax pulled back so he could look at her. “Excuse me? Nice?”
“What’s wrong with nice?” Grace asked, unable to keep her lips from quirking up.
“Oh, so this is funny to you?” he asked, trying to stay serious. It was really difficult to do that when her eyes were lighting up and she was chewing on her lip to keep from laughing.
“You’re funny to me.”
“Well, prepare yourself, Princess, ’cause I’m about to show you just how not funny I can be.” He began to make his way out of the water, Grace’s arms and legs still wrapped around him. He palmed her bottom as he made it to dry ground and walked them back up to the house.
Flat surface. He needed a flat
surface like ten seconds ago.
He spun around the yard while Grace started nibbling on his neck. He spotted his truck and made a beeline for it.
Desperate times and all.
Jax’s house couldn’t be seen from the street, there were too many trees sheltering the view, and his truck was parked at such an angle that no one randomly coming down the river would be able to see them, either. He just prayed no one was going to show up in the next ten, okay, twenty minutes.
“Stay here for a second,” he said, popping the hitch and sitting her down on it. He disentangled himself from her arms and legs before he ran around to the cab of his truck and opened the door.
Nothing, there was nothing to lay her out on.
“Hey, Jax,” Grace called out.
“Yes?” he said, looking under the seats.
“There are blankets in the back of my car.”
“Why didn’t you say anything before?” he said, slamming his door shut and running over to her car.
He grabbed both and came back over to her. He hopped up on the hitch and stood up in the back of the truck. He held on to two of the corners of the first blanket, popping it up in the air and letting it float down to the floor. He repeated the same process with the second, stacking them on top of each other so that there was a little extra padding.
When he turned back to Grace she was grinning at him.
“A little anxious, are we?”
“You have no idea,” he said, dropping down to his knees beside her. “Come here.” He leaned toward her, grabbing her head in his hands and kissing her.
She pulled back still grinning and scrambled back toward the blankets, giving him an awesome view in the process. The second she was flat on her back he was straddling her legs and working the lace down her thighs. And then he stopped when he realized exactly what he didn’t have on him.
“Shit,” he said, resting his face in the bend of her neck. “I don’t have a condom.”
He was going to cry. He was actually going to start weeping at any moment.
“I do,” Grace said in his ear.
He pulled back and looked down at her. She was grinning up at him with the sexiest smile as she reached in and pulled not one but two condoms out of the cup of her bra.
Undeniable (A Country Roads Novel) Page 20
