The UN Series Complete Box Set (95 page)

She gives me a small smile. “I’m fine, baby. I have been for days now.”

I nod my head and then run my hands through my hair. I swear if it’s not one thing it’s another.

“Are you going to change?” she asks sitting on the bed to put her shoes on.

“For what?” I walk to the closet.

“We are going over to Courtney and Josh’s tonight. They have invited us over for dinner,” she says frowning. “Didn’t Josh talk to you?”

“No.” Come to think of it, the only person I spoke with on the phone today was Tate... “Shit,” I say once I realize I forgot my phone up at the office.

“What?” she asks jumping to her feet in a rush. “What’s wrong?”

“I forgot my phone in my desk up at the office.” I wave her concern off.

She tilts her head to the side and frowns like my outburst was exaggerated.
It’s just a phone.
“That’s okay. Anyone who needs us can call my cell or the house.”

I start to unbutton my shirt.
If only she knew what kind of day I had…
“No. I will go by and pick it up on our way,” I say slipping a clean shirt on.

“Okay. I’m going to go take Peaches out before we leave,” she says as she walks out of the bedroom.

“Will you call Tate and tell him we have plans? He was supposed to come over.”

I hear her yell a ‘yes’ before I walk into the bathroom and turn on the cold water to wash my face. I let the water try and calm my nerves. I’m so frustrated that I forgot my phone. I never do that. I need that phone at all times for work.

I splash my face one last time and then grab a towel to dry it off. I can hear her in the kitchen putting the puppy back in her crate.

“Ready to go?” I ask walking into the kitchen.

“Yeah.” She grabs her purse, and we head out to the garage. “Tate got invited to Josh’s as well. He said he messaged you earlier that he would be there.”

I just nod my head as I get into the car.

“Is everything okay, Slade?” she asks again, once we pull out of the driveway.

I reach over and grab her hand. “Yeah, work was just stressful today.”

Within thirty minutes later we are walking into Josh and Courtney’s house. I smile when I see that Courtney has also redecorated Josh’s house like Angel did mine. There are several different shades of yellow and a few shades of greens, giving it a brighter feel than the dark bachelor pad he once had going on.

“Hey I called you three times today,” Josh says walking up to me.

“I forgot my cell was in my desk on silent. Why didn’t you call the office?” I ask guiding Angel to sit down on the couch.

“I figured if you weren’t answering your cell then you were in court or in a meeting.”

“No. I just…was busy and forgot about it,” I say.

I look up when I hear Tate walk in. He looks pissed off as he stomps in with his black boots and leather jacket. His jaw is tight, and his blue eyes hard.

“Why do you guys look so pissed off?” Holly asks looking at Tate with a frown.

I go to say something, change the subject, but am interrupted when Missy walks into the living room.

“I’m fine,” Tate mumbles as his eyes rake up and down Missy. He looks away quickly, but I didn’t miss it.

“Okay.” Courtney claps her hands together getting our attention as we all gather around in their living room.

“What’s up with you guys having us over?” Angel asks leaning into me. “You called in sick today.” Angel had called me concerned this morning, afraid that she had passed her infection to Courtney. “You seem fine,” she observes with a smile.

Courtney blushes and looks at Josh. “She is perfect,” he declares, looking at her from his recliner. All the girls make an ‘ahh’ sound which makes me laugh and Tate roll his eyes.

Courtney laughs and stands up from the couch to face all of us. She looks nervous all of a sudden as she takes in a deep breath and looks around, tears brimming in her eyes.

What the hell is going on?

Angel pulls away from me and sits up straight. “Courtney, are you okay?” she asks with concern.

She nods her head quickly. “I’m just really happy.” She then reaches down and places a hand over her belly.

Angel gasps from beside me placing a hand over her mouth. “Are you...?” she asks slowly.

Courtney gets a big smile on her face and starts nodding her head quickly, tears now rolling down her face.

Before I can figure out what the question was, Angel and the girls jump up out of their seats and run to Courtney, giving her hugs as they all cry together.

“I’m so confused,” Tate whispers, leaning over.

“You’re not alone,” I retort. I’ve never been much of a guy who understood the female language, unless it involved my cock.

Josh turns and looks at us. “We are having a baby,” he announces with a proud smile on his face.

Tate and I sit there for a few seconds trying to absorb what he just said. “What?” I finally ask somewhat shocked. “A baby?” I look back over to Courtney and now realize why she had placed her hands on her stomach.

“We found out today.” The shit-eating grin he has on his face has me smiling back like a fool.

My best friend is having a baby. I couldn’t be happier for him. “Congratulations.” I stand up and hug him. “How did this happen?” I ask still shocked. I very clearly remember the conversation Courtney and I had just Christmas Eve.

“I don’t think I want any kids,” she says.

“None?” I ask, glancing from her to Josh.

She shakes her head.

“How do you feel about that?” I ask him.

He shrugs but smiles brightly. “Whatever she wants is fine with me.”

“I’ll let Sam demonstrate that for you later,” Josh says with laughter.

“You know what I mean.” I laugh.

“Believe me, no one is more shocked than us,” Courtney says with a smile. “But it was just meant to be,” she whispers looking over at Josh with a smile on her face.

We all watch as he crosses the room and pulls her into him before he gives her a slow passionate kiss that makes me feel like we are intruders.

“I’m so happy for you guys,” Angel gushes as tears run down her cheeks.

I plop down onto the couch and look up as her and Courtney talk about my best friend’s baby on the way. My eyes drop to Angel’s stomach, and I imagine her pregnant with our child. I smile as my eyes move back up to her face. I know we are not close to that part of our lives yet, but I can’t help how excited I feel for when that day does arrive.

CHAPTER FOUR

SAMANTHA

“Oh, I like this one,” I say pointing to a white crib.

Courtney frowns. “Isn’t white for a girl?”

I shrug. “It could be for either one but I just know you’re going to have a little girl.”

“When did you become psychic?” she asks placing her hand on her hip.

“Oh, I’ve always had the talent,” I smirk.

She laughs as she shakes her head at me. I close the page on my phone and place it in my purse. “How are you feeling?” I ask.

Even though we’ve known for a little over two weeks, her pregnancy is still the talk of our circle.

“I’m feeling great. I haven’t had any morning sickness.” She shrugs. “But I have felt emotional,” she admits with a frown.

“Shouldn’t that come later?” Missy asks before popping a fry into her mouth.

We finally had a day that all of us girls were able to have a lunch date. It’s very rare that we can all get together at once, with work and Missy in school.

“My doctor said it’s common to have mood swings around six to ten weeks. But I mean mine are drastic.”

“Explain,” Holly says sitting down next to Missy after refilling her drink.

“Well, Josh and I were having sex last night, and I just started crying. Like uncontrollably sobbing.” She laughs at herself. “It was embarrassing.”

“Why were you crying?” I ask frowning. I’m not surprised she mentions they were having sex. Courtney has never been embarrassed about her sex life. If I have to hear about how great Josh’s dick piercing is one more time, I may scream, and I’m pretty sure that knowledge freaks Holly out. But Missy seems intrigued by it, which is very surprising.

“He said he loved me. And that brought memories from the first time he told me that.” She sighs. “I was so afraid that it was never going to work. That I was going to fuck it up.” She gives a little laugh. “Because I always seem to do that. And then I remember feeling I had fucked it up by getting pregnant but instead he was happy.” She shrugs.

“You thought of all that while you were having sex?” Missy asks with a surprised look on her face. “Isn’t your mind supposed to be…elsewhere?” She waves a hand in the air.

I laugh at her innocence.

Courtney nods before she shoves a French fry in her mouth. “Crazy things always pop up in my head when I’m having sex. Anyways, he tried to calm me down, but it was pointless. He held me until I finally cried myself to sleep, and then this morning I cried as I apologized for ruining our sex last night.”

Missy snickers, and I laugh. “I bet that was the least of his worries, Court.”

She shrugs. “I still felt bad.” Then she smiles as she looks over to Missy. “What are we doing for your birthday?” she asks, changing the subject.

Missy frowns, knowing exactly what she just did, but she answers anyway. “I’m having dinner with my family.”

“Well, we’re family, what about us?” Courtney asks.

“How about we throw you a party at our house?” I say. “We can play pool or cards, have some drinks, and just relax. Not have to worry about going out to a loud bar or club, and everyone can crash at the house if they need to.” I point a finger at her. “You will be staying for sure.”

She smiles. “That sounds like a great idea. Thank you.”

I pull out my phone and navigate to the calendar. “Your birthday is on Wednesday. We leave Friday for Vegas.”

“How about we do it Thursday. Since she is spending time with her family on Wednesday?” Holly suggests.

“You guys want to have a party the night before we leave for Vegas?” I ask surprised.

“I’m good with whatever. I can’t drink.” Courtney sighs but the small smile on her face gives her away. She could care less about drinking.

“It will be fine.” Holly waves me off. “Plus, our flights aren’t until midday.”

“I think that sounds great,” Missy says readjusting her glasses.

“Okay then. Let’s start planning.” I’ve only got a few days to put this party together.

*****

The girls and I finish up our lunch before Courtney and I head back to work. Her and I laugh as we talk about what all we need to get to pull off a twenty-first birthday party within two days when Tate enters my mind.

I reach down and get my phone out of my purse to call him when I hear Courtney speak. “What the fuck?” she says in a hard tone.

I stand up quickly. “Watch your language.” Geesh, Slade’s use of cuss words has worn off on me but I try not to cuss at work. Management seems to look down on us using colorful language.

“Jax is here,” she hisses, making my head snap over to the entrance where she is looking. Sure enough the piece of shit is walking straight to my counter.

“Hello, baby,” he says giving me a slimy grin. His red shirt looks like it is covered in grass stains, and his holey jeans look like he got in a fight with a pair of scissors. It’s almost sickening how much he has gone downhill.

“What do you want, Jax?” I ask flatly.

“I heard you upgraded from bar whore to a bank.”

I roll my eyes. “You can’t keep showing up wherever I’m at.”

He holds his hand up. “Yes I can,” he responds calmly.

And I hate that he’s right. We never followed through and got a restraining order on him, because he didn’t show up more than that one time. I’m going to remedy that problem as soon as I leave here. “What do you want?” I snap.

“I just came to tell you that Slade is not as stupid as he looks.”

I frown, not knowing how to respond. “What does that mean?”

Courtney decides to cut into our conversation. “Hello dipshit,” she says in greeting Jax.

“Hello bitch,” he sneers.

I gasp, but Courtney just laughs it off. I’m actually surprised her hormones don’t have her crying at that insult. She must hate him that much—even his words can’t hurt her mood.

“I told you to stay away from me, Jax. I mean that. I’m engaged to Slade. I’m not playing hard to get. Just leave us alone.”

“Slade is onto you.”

Courtney and I exchange a confused look.

He rolls his eyes. “He knows you’re fucking Tate.”

Courtney bursts out laughing as I stand there staring at him. “I don’t know who the hell you have been talking to but they are lying to you,” I advise. How does he even know Tate? Tate had stayed inside of Larry’s that night we all went up there.

He gives me an evil grin that reminds me of the Grinch. “I spoke with Slade.”

“No you didn’t.” Slade would have told me.

“I spoke with him about a week ago. I went up to his office.”

I start shaking my head quickly.

“Oh, it’s true. Need proof? Well, how about that picture he has of you guys at a Rams game? Or the picture of you guys in New York?” My heart starts to pound and I just stand there and stare at him. The smug smile he now wears tells me he’s telling the truth. “Anyway, he also told me that you were cheating on me with Tate. And that he knows you still see Tate. After I gave it some thought, I realized it makes sense. If you fuck around then he has an excuse to as well.”

“I would never cheat on Slade,” I whisper, afraid to speak any louder since I may start yelling and lose my job.

His eyes darken, and he takes a step toward my counter. “So, you admit that you cheated on me with Tate then?”

I shake my head again. “I never did,” I respond truthfully, and he gives me a smile, as if I didn’t have the balls to do that either. “But I should have.” His smile drops off his face and his lips thin.

“Watch what you say to me,” he barks.

“Why? What are you going to do, Jax? Shove me again?” I’m baiting him, and we both know it. If he does something to me while I’m at work then I will have witnesses. Hell, there are cameras in here.

He leans over the counter before he takes a quick look around to see if anyone is watching him. “I might have been gone a while, baby, but I still have friends in high places in this town. You think you are untouchable because your boyfriend is an attorney? Think again.” He looks over at Courtney and gives her a look of disgust then turns around and struts out the front door as if he just withdrew a million dollars. The fucker knows he got to me, and I hate that more than anything.

“There has to be an explanation,” Courtney says from beside me.

“He knew too much,” I say more to myself than to her. “It just doesn’t add up.” Slade is going to have a lot of explaining to do, and the more I sit here and think about what just happened, the more pissed off I get.

“What time is it?” I ask still watching the entrance to the bank.

“A quarter past two. Why?”

I grab my purse and start going through it to find the business card of the officer that I need. “Because I need to do something as soon as I get off of work,” I say smiling when I find it. I remember Slade calling him Brad when we sat in his office after I was attacked outside of Larry’s one night. His card reads
Bradley Knowles, Crime Investigator
.

I’m filing a restraining order on that sorry bastard.

*****

SLADE

I look down at my watch to check the time. It’s six thirty, Angel should have been home an hour ago. She sometimes stops at Larry’s to visit with Holly, but the girls had plans to meet for lunch today. So I doubt she went to see her after work.

“Let’s go to the Super Bowl,” Josh says sitting on the couch while we hang out down in the basement at my house.

“Where is it again?” Tate asks lining up his pool stick with the cue ball.

“I think Indianapolis.”

We all pause when we hear the front door slam shut. Not seconds later Angel is storming down the steps to the basement. She appears livid but from the look of her red rimmed eyes, I can tell that she has been crying. Whatever made her sad has pissed her off because she looks like she wants to rip someone’s head off.

“What’s wrong?” I ask frowning.

“Why did you lie?” she screams making Josh jump.

Guess it’s my head she wants to rip off. No surprise there cause that’s nothing new. “I don’t know...”

She reaches up and slaps me across the face, the contact making my cheek sting. Josh’s eyes go wide while Tate takes a step back from me.

“Quit lying,” she shouts.

I throw down my pool stick and take a step toward her. I look down at her as my temper flares. “What the hell was that about?” I demand.

“Why are you lying to Jax?” she retorts. “Why are you even talking to him in the first place?”

I grind my teeth as I see Tate stiffen beside me. Josh lets out a hard laugh. “You really think Slade would talk to that idiot let alone lie to him?”

I give him a hard look, and his face falls.

“Oh,” he says in surprise.

“Don’t deny it, Slade. He knew about the picture of us at the first Rams game being in your office. Along with the picture of us in New York.” She turns and points to Tate. His eyebrows shoot up, concerned with what might come out of her mouth next. “And he knows about you. Want to explain how he knows who you are?” she snaps at him.

I’ve never seen Tate look so terrified. His eyes go back and forth between her and me a few times. He must be thinking that she’s talking about him being her brother but that can’t be true. As far as I know, no one else in this town knows that information.

“What are you talking about?” I ask before this gets any worse.

She narrows her eyes back on me “You told him I was cheating on him with Tate,” she snaps. Tate starts coughing as if he’s choking to death at that statement. “Then you made it sound like I am
still
sleeping with him. Like you two just pass me back and forth.” She’s almost frantic, her hands waving around in the air. “You know, like a piece of meat,” she spits out.

“Calm down,” I growl. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. And where did you come up with all this shit?”

“He showed up at my work today.” She crosses her arms over her chest. “You and Tate have him scared to death.”

Tate chuckles, and she gives him a death glare.

“Should he not be?” I ask her. “Do you want him coming around? Because if you want that…” I spread my arms out in front of me leaving the question hang.

“You are not going to do this.” She stabs a finger into my chest. “You are not going to blame me for something you did.” She throws her hands up in the air. “But just so you know, I’m okay.” She snorts. “He didn’t try to touch me or anything.” She throws her hands out to her side. “Not like you asked, but he just threatened me.”

I step toward her. “Threatened you with what?” I snap.

She crosses her arms over her chest and sticks her hip out. “Don’t worry, I took care of it. I filed a restraining order on him.” Then she spins around before she storms off running up the stairs.

“Man, what the fuck was all that about?” Josh asks. “Why would you be talking to Jax?”