See, Angel is letting Sadey sleep with us. At first, I didn’t mind. But that was back when she was a tiny little baby who didn’t move much. She had a little white wedge that kept her in one spot and protected her, so we didn’t roll over onto her. Now she’s fifteen months old and is just like her mommy—constantly rolling around in bed. No bed would be big enough for all three of us. Oh and you can’t forget Peaches. That damn dog loves to lay across my legs. The other morning I got up for work and almost fell flat on my face due to the numbness. That dog needs its very own room.
“Don’t you have something you need to be doing?” I question him while I still look over my screen.
“Nope.” His chipper voice is quite annoying as well.
I look up to see my office door open as Tate, my other best friend and brother-in-law, walks in. He plops down in one of the black high-rise chairs next to Parker. “Please tell me I can beat the shit out of someone today?” He fists one hand into the palm of another.
“The day is young.” We have a party that we are working tonight. Some big rig who works in the oil industry is having a party for his closest three hundred friends. They hired us to be security.
The security company we have isn’t exactly ‘traditional.’ I know when others think of a security team, they think a bald headed man with a beer belly standing in the center of a mall. That’s what I think, anyway. But that’s not what we do. We do mainly private parties. Very upscale private parties. Parker’s father is the mayor of St. Louis and has kept us busy. I guess some would think that we’re not qualified for this type of job considering none of us went to school for this, but I would disagree.
Parker has plenty of skills that he brings to the table since he is a cop. Tate is just Tate. He can just look at you and it would scare you shitless. He’s the first to throw a punch and the last to go down. He towers over most, and the tattoos that run up and down his arms would make you think twice about fucking with him.
And myself, I have lots of connections from being a defense attorney. People talk about how ruthless I was in the courtroom and how many cases I won. Now that I’ve jumped the fence and want to help those who aren’t always guilty, they want me. It’s a win-win.
“Man, you two need to get laid,” Parker chimes in leaning back in his seat talking to Tate.
“Speaking of laid…” Tate quips, looking over to him. “That bitch you had over last night…?
He gives a chuckle before he responds. “That bitch would be Sarah. She was fun.”
“I’d say. I could hear her in my room. Can’t you go sleep with them at their house?” Tate growls. Tate invited Parker to move in with him about two years ago. Back then, they were both single. But now that Tate is engaged, I think things have changed.
“Wow. You both are very pissy this morning. What’s the problem?”
“You will be the one with a problem if you don’t quit bringing all these girls home. I have to hear about it twenty-four seven from Missy.”
“Why does she have a problem with it?” Parker asks all defensively.
“You’re joking, right?”
Parker shakes his head. “What?”
Tate sighs. “Nothing. Just be careful with who you bring home. That’s all.”
Parker nods his head in some sort of understanding. “Noted.”
The door to my office swings open once again and in walks our assistant. Angel and I both took off when she had Sadey. And I had left Tate and Parker to hold down the fort for a week. That was a mistake. I came back to having an assistant. I was going to fire her, but Angel talked me out of it. She thought it was a good idea and thought I should at least give her a chance. Turns out, she was right. Who knew?
“Hey guys,” she says as she walks up to my desk. I smile up at her. Tate mumbles his hello, and Parker all but whistles as she walks past him. I catch him staring at her ass through the clear view of her black pants. I clear my throat in warning. If something were to happen between them, I would have to fire one of them. Guess which one I would keep?
“Glad someone is happy today,” Parker says as he leans back in his chair with a smile on his face. His eyes run up and down the back of her, taking in her small curves and curly blond hair. If I had to be honest, I would say I have grown quite fond of Krystal. Do I think she is pretty? Sure. Do I find myself attracted to her? No. I have come to look at her almost like a sister. Parker, however, wants to fuck her. After her first week here, I had to give her a dress code. She wasn’t dressing bad or anything, but I just felt like I needed to lay some ground rules. After all, a girl covered in a trash bag could turn on Parker.
Krystal frowns. “Is there something wrong?” She looks down to me. “Is Samantha and Sadey okay?” Over the last year, she has become real close with Samantha. They do regular girl shit together. Like spa days and the gym. She even watched Sadey for a few hours while I took Angel out on our anniversary.
“No, they’re fine. I’m just tired.” I wave her off. Now that Parker has set down the sunflower seeds, I’m better. “What do you have for me?” I ask looking down to the papers that she holds in her hands.
“Yes, Krystal,” Parker smirks. “What do you have for me?” He wiggles his eyebrows and it makes me nauseous.
Tate reaches over and slaps him on the arm. He just chuckles as Krystal giggles. The poor girl. If she only knew how serious he was. He would eat her alive and spit her out. Good thing she is engaged. And if you didn’t know her as we do, all you’d have to do is look at the huge-ass rock on her left hand. Her dad is in financing, and she’s marrying his best friend’s son. They all have money. She actually quit working for her father to work for us. Said she needed some different scenery—whatever she meant by that. I’m thankful.
“This is your schedule for the week. I have printed off copies for all of you. Tate and Parker, yours are on your desk waiting for you.”
“You’re too good to me,” Parker jokes, and Tate rolls his eyes.
“Thank you,” I say taking them from her and placing them on my desk.
She nods her head and turns around, shutting the door behind her as she leaves.
“Are you trying to get us sued?” Tate asks Parker.
“I’m just playing with her.” He laughs. “I wouldn’t really fuck that. She’s engaged, and I’m sure, out of the two of us, Slade would fire me.”
“I would,” I say with a smile of my own.
“Slade?” I look up as the door opens again. Krystal pokes her head in. “Sam is on line two.”
I nod my thanks and pick up my office phone. “Hey, beautiful.” Parker makes a choking sound that I ignore.
“Did you get my emails?” she asks sounding like she’s out of breath. My dick starts to get hard at that thought. Our sex life isn’t as exciting as it once was. It used to be romantic, and we would take our time with foreplay. Now, when we do it, we usually have to hide in the closet from our daughter. Or the other day, we did it in the back seat of her SUV while it was parked in the garage. And it’s usually a quickie. Real exciting, I know. But as both parents and running a company, there’s just not much time for us to hang out as a family, let alone have sex as much I want it.
“Why do you sound so out of breath?” I ask.
She gives a half laugh. “I’m out of breath because I just helped Courtney bring in two hundred pounds of sugar. Those bags are heavy. But enough about sugar. Did you get my emails?”
“Yes.” I sigh. “But I haven’t had a chance to look at them.”
“Slade.” She takes a deep breath. “I need to know which fabric you want. I have to place the order by five tonight.”
“Order for what?” I hate to admit it, but I sometimes forget what she tells me.
I can feel her aggravation with me grow over the phone. “The curtains. I sent you emails of different fabrics that I think will look nice with the new furniture.”
Ah, the new furniture that she just had to have last week. If I didn’t know her better
, I would think she is going through a nesting stage. She went through a big one right after she had Sadey. But I think that only happens when a woman is expecting. I’m not a hundred percent sure. “I will look at them and give you an answer by lunch,” I say already pulling up her email.
“Thanks. I gotta go. Love you.”
Click.
I hang up the phone and start to read the email. “Holy shit!” I say in surprise.
“What?” Parker demands.
“She sent me over fifty different links to choose from.” I was thinking like maybe three. My wife is very picky and when she finds something she wants, she gets it. I’m surprised she can’t narrow it down.
“Just pick one,” Parker says with a wave of his hand, and I arch an eyebrow in question. He sighs. “Do you think she really wants to know what you like best? She’s gonna choose what she likes best. So, just pick one.”
I hate to admit that he has a point. I slide the mouse over the selections and pick one.
My cell phone starts to ring. I reply to her email with the number that I chose and pick up my phone. “Hello?”
“Slade,” comes my dad’s voice. “I need a favor, son.”
CHAPTER TWO
SAMANTHA
“Courtney?” I yell over my shoulder as I stand in the back of the bakery making my third batch of scones for the day.
“What?” I hear her yell from the office.
“Did you ever find out what happened to our shipment of packaging supplies?” I ask, hoping she has an answer for me.
Our shipment never arrived yesterday and after several phone calls and a few yelling matches, I found out that our delivery truck had an accident. Apparently, there was a twelve car pileup on the freeway, and our truck was involved. I felt like a terrible person for causing such commotion over freaking supplies. Thankfully, they said that he was gonna be okay.
She makes her way out of the office and comes to stand beside me. “I spoke with them about an hour ago. They said that there is a new truck on its way with our supplies. It should be here by tomorrow afternoon.” She then blows a few loose strands of her blond hair out of her face. I know she’s exhausted. Twin boys will do that to you, yet it hasn’t affected her job. When I hired my best friend, she pretty much just worked up front, taking orders and greeting customers, but now she runs the back. She does all my inventory and keeps the books. Missy still runs the front, and Holly helps me with all the cooking. The bakery that I started because of my mother is a success, but it wouldn’t be that way if I didn’t have all of them helping me out.
I sigh. “Do we have enough until then?”
She nods. “It’ll be close, but I checked after I got off the phone with them and we should be okay. If not, I will think of something.”
I laugh at her idea of just being able to make something work. “Just keep an eye on it and let me know when you think I should start to panic.”
“Will do, boss,” she says before she reaches over and grabs a muffin from the counter. She turns around and walks back into the office.
I get back to my scones when the door that separates the bakery from the back swings open. I smile as I see my half-brother, Tate, walk in followed by Parker. “Good morning,” I say cheerfully.
“Morning,” Tate growls.
“It is a beautiful morning, isn’t it?” Parker says with a smirk on his face. I guess he got laid last night. He’s usually not a morning person.
“Everything okay, Tate?” I ask turning to face them as they sit down at the round table that they always come in to occupy. I swear our guys can eat as much baked goods as our customers.
“Fine,” he mumbles as his eyes slide over to Parker quickly. It makes me think that they are fighting over something. The fact that Missy now lives with them has to be hard on their friendship. I love all my girlfriends to death, but I couldn’t imagine any of them living with us. But I would for sure be the first to welcome them into our home if any of them needed it. I can just understand how hard it would be a couple to live with a bachelor.
Parker leans back on the back legs of his chair and places his hands behind his head. His cocky personality is in full force today, and it’s not even ten o’clock yet. “Don’t let him fool you. He’s a little pissy.”
“Is there something I can do?” I ask.
“Nope.” He reaches over and shoves Parker in the chest. Parker’s hands and feet go flying as his chair tips back and he goes crashing down to the floor. Tate finally cracks a smile. “But Parker just did.”
I try to hide my laugh as Parker picks himself up off the floor followed by his chair. “Fucker,” he mutters before sitting back down—with all four legs on the floor.
“Where’s Slade?” I ask, looking back to the door wondering why he hasn’t come in yet. He must still be up at the office.
“He was on a phone call,” Parker responds as he dusts off his shirt. “We were being too loud.” He does air quotes around too loud. “Told us to get the fuck out of his office so we just left.”
Slade and the guys bought an office a couple of doors down from Angel’s bakery. So, they show up here quite often. “A new job?” I ask. I couldn’t be more proud of Slade. Changing his life for me and Sadey. Changing his life for himself. It’s been hard work, but he is proud of what he does. Thankfully his mother, Vivian, doesn’t work and watches Sadey for us. I didn’t want to have to put her in daycare. I was thankful and heartbroken all at once when she offered to watch her. My first week back at work, I cried like a baby. Vivian assured me that Sadey was just fine. She sends me pictures of her throughout the day. Sometimes I FaceTime her. Other times Vivian brings her up to the bakery when they are out on one of their shopping trips.
“Hopefully,” Parker speaks. “The bastard needs to beat the shit out of someone. Maybe that will help his shitty mood.”
I frown. “Slade’s in a bad mood?” I didn’t get to talk to him this morning. I rarely do in the mornings. I have to get up early to open up the bakery by five am. Slade sleeps in, gets Sadey up and ready, and drops her off at his parents’ house on his way into work. But I didn’t get that he was in a bad mood when I called him about my emails. I mean busy, yeah, but not hateful.
Tate kicks Parker under the table, and Parker squeals like a child. “Is this beat up on Parker day? Jesus,” Parker growls as he leans over and rubs his shin.
“If you continue to talk, yes!” Tate spits out.
Parker goes to speak but closes his mouth as the door opens once again. Finally, I see my brother crack a real smile when his fiancée walks into the room. “Hey, sexy,” she says sweetly with a naughty smile on her face.
He pats his knee and she goes over to sit down on it. He slides his hand through her long blond hair and lowers her ear to his face as he whispers something into her ear. She giggles like a little schoolgirl, and Parker rolls his eyes as he lets out a heavy breath. I think public displays of affection drive him crazy. Whenever any of his buddies are showing any kind of affection to their wives, he acts like it’s putting him out. If you ask me, he’s jealous.
“What’s up, Missy?” I ask placing a smile on my face.
Her smile grows and her blue eyes shine when she looks over at me. “Are the scones ready? We are just about out.”
“Yes,” I say spinning around and picking the tray up off the counter.
She gives him a kiss on the cheek and then stands from his lap. “Here you go.” I hand them off to her.
She thanks me and then turns, walking out of the room, telling Tate over her shoulder that she loves him. He goes to say it back, but the door has already shut.
“Yuck. You two make me nauseous,” Parker says with a look of disgust.
Tate’s face has lost that smile, and he looks angry all of a sudden. “You make me nauseous, fucker,” he growls. Tate shoves his chair back all of a sudden and stands as he grabs his phone out of his pocket. “Motherfucker,” he mumbles before he turns and shoves the back door open b
efore he walks into the back alley.
“Well… this has been an eventful day, and it’s not even lunchtime,” Parker says before he goes to stand as well.
“Are things not going well with you and Tate?” I ask. Parker and I have never been real close. I hated the guy when I first met him. I was afraid that he was gonna show Slade what he was missing by being with me. Parker’s free. He sleeps with all the chicks he wants. Slade was once that way. But over the last year and a half, Parker and I have become closer. I think him saving mine and Sadey’s life brought us closer together. He’s still an arrogant idiot, but he has shown me several times that he will do anything to protect his friends. I’m glad to know that he considers me one of them. Although I would never tell him that. It would just make his head bigger and no one could deal with that.
“Not that I know of.” He shrugs. “He’s just in a bad mood. Doesn’t mean I did something to put him there.”
“I know,” I respond. “I was just wondering. I just got this vibe that he was mad at you over something.”
He shakes his head as Tate walks back into the bakery. “Come on. We gotta go,” he calls to Parker as he storms through the front door.
I go back to my cooking and pull out everything that I need to make some muffins when Missy comes into the back. “Do you know what that call was about?” she asks as she approaches me.
“No. He didn’t say. He took the call outside. Why? What’s up?”
“I don’t know,” she says softly as she looks down at the floor. “Our wedding is in two weeks. And I think it’s stressing him out.”
“Weddings can do that to you.” I agree with her.
“I think…” She stops herself for a second. “I think he’s worried about his mom coming in. You know.”
Tate and his mother don’t have the best of relationship, but I thought they had worked that out. “Didn’t you guys go and spend some time with her up in Alaska?” I ask.
She nods. “We did, but at times it just felt off.” She lets out a heavy sigh. “Tate has come a long way but you know how much it takes for him to open up to someone. I know he loves her, but I think he wants to fight it.”
The UN Series Complete Box Set Page 153