I was sprawled across Slash, and he was trailing his fingers up and down my spine.
“How are you going to take care of it?” I asked, pressing my nose into his chest, not at all being discreet about smelling his warm, clean skin. We’d showered and he’d made me come twice before we even moved to the bed.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean do you have a game plan? How are you going to deal with Kurt?”
“I’m not going to deal with Kurt,” he said. “Kurt is nothing more than a low-level employee. Even the muscle, the guys they used to rip up the street and fuck with your business, those are low-level people, too. They’re not a danger if they don’t have directions from someone. I’m going to find the snake and cut off its head.” He tightened his arms around me.
“You surprised me,” I said softly.
“I did?”
“Yeah. Thought you’d yell. Stomp around. Show your anger.”
“That’s not how I am.”
Nodding, I brushed another kiss across his skin.
“I’m not soft,” he said quietly. “Don’t mistake my ability to keep a lid on my emotions as a sign of being weak.”
“On the contrary, keeping a reign on your emotions is a very hard thing. It’s easier to let them explode.”
He continued to stroke my spine and I was lulled into peace and safety.
“I used to be that way. Let my emotions rule over me and affect the lives of everyone around me. You feel better in the moment, but there’s this embarrassment that goes along with it. After a while you figure out that if you let your feelings get the better of you then you’re no better than a toddler, and then you’re left feeling like shit after the storm has passed.”
The lamp on the bedside was on and when I lifted my face from his chest, I could see his eyes, his expression.
“You’re constantly surprising me.”
“Good. It means I’ll stay interesting.” He stroked his hand up my back. “If you want, next time I’m concerned I can yell and punch walls.”
“Nah, I don’t think we need to bring that kind of drama into our lives.”
“Good. Like I said, I like to remain in control.”
“Though, make-up sex after fighting sounds like something I’d be into.”
He rolled me over onto my back. “All I heard was sex…”
The alarm on my phone blared and I shot out of bed like a bullet from a gun.
“What the fuck?” Slash muttered into his pillow. “What time is it?”
“Five.”
He moaned.
“I have to get over to the bakery, empty everything from the refrigerators into the van and then drive to The Rex Hotel so I can start working on a very simple yet elegant cake. Did I mention it was a three-day wedding weekend for five hundred people?”
“Christ, woman, you don’t have to sound so damn chipper.” He roused himself and sat up.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Getting up. Do I have time for a cup of coffee before we hit the road?”
I blinked stupidly. “Well, yeah, but you don’t have to come. I was going to text Duke.”
“That poor bastard has been your living shadow for the past few weeks. I’m back. I’m your shadow now. And your brawn. You need shit carried—I’m your man.”
“But you just got back,” I protested. “Don’t you want to rest?”
“What is rest, Brooklyn? Are you resting? Are you taking care of yourself?”
“Of course I’m taking care of myself,” I said.
“This week is gonna be a lot for you. I want to make sure you’re sleeping well and eating right.”
“I’ve been busy,” I admitted. “But I haven’t been burning the candle at both ends. I promise. I’ve been putting Jazz and Brielle to work, and they’ve proven they’ll be able to handle everything while I’m away. Eddie and Connie are excellent patisserie chefs and will fill the void when I leave.”
He frowned. “What do you mean when you’re away?”
“Maternity leave, Slash. When I take maternity leave.”
“Woman,” he sighed.
“Don’t woman me. It makes me all gooey when you say it like that. And I don’t have time to be gooey. I have to get going.”
Slash launched himself across the bed and grasped my arm. Before I knew it, I was under him.
He slid his hand between us and into my panties. “I’ll forgo the coffee if I can have this.”
I sucked in a breath as his fingers danced across my flesh. “We better make this fast.”
Slash grinned. “Is that a challenge?”
“Yep. Think you can rise to the occasion?”
He nudged his erection against me.
“Oh, yeah.” I smiled. “You rose.”
The kitchen at The Rex Hotel was similar to the one I’d worked at in Manhattan. The layout was a little different, but the appliances that had been installed during the renovation were all the same and I was grateful for the familiarity.
We were a few hours into baking, and Slash was sitting on a stool in the corner, watching us. He was silent, but I felt the weight of his stare. So much so that it grew to be too much, and I felt like I couldn’t do what I needed to do without his ever-watchful gaze.
“Okay, I love you,” I said as I approached him. “But you’re making me nervous.”
“Nervous? Me?”
“This is my domain. I need to be able to do what I do here without interruption.”
“You can’t do that while I’m here?”
“No. And it’s a waste of your time to be sitting here,” I said. “Besides, don’t you have some things to take care of?”
“What things?” He raised his brows.
“You know. Bakery things,” I urged.
“I’ve already made a call.”
It was my turn to raise my brows. “When?”
“Last night. You were asleep.”
“Are you going to tell me about it?” I asked.
“Now is not really the time. You’ve got a wedding cake to bake.”
Connie blew into the kitchen, her brown purse slung across her shoulder and her black hair tied back. “Sorry I’m late, guys. Traffic was a bitch.”
“No worries,” I said. I turned back to Slash who had a thoughtful expression crossing his face.
“What?”
“Have you thought about how much time you all are going to lose this week if you have to keep commuting back and forth from Waco?”
“Yeah, I’ve thought about it,” I stated. “But there’s not really a better option.”
“Isn’t there?”
“What are you getting at?” I asked pointedly.
“You’re in a hotel.”
“One that costs a truck payment a night to stay at,” I replied.
“You used to work at The Rex.”
“Yeah.”
“And the Blue Angels are friends with the owner.”
“I feel like I’m taking advantage by using their kitchen for a week. They’ve already gone above and beyond,” I protested.
He stood up and kissed me. “I’ll be back later.”
“Where are you going?” I demanded.
“You’re the one who kicked me out of the kitchen, remember?”
“Hey, not to be that person,” Brielle called out. “But can you do this later? We need Brooklyn focused like a laser beam if we have a shot in hell of pulling this off.”
“Yeah,” Jazz agreed. “I don’t know how to make custard and I don’t want to fuck it up.”
“I’ll help you make the custard,” Connie announced.
“Bye,” I said to Slash.
“What time will you be done?” he asked.
“I don’t know. Ten, probably.”
He pulled me into his arms, not caring about the watchful eyes. “Take care of yourself. I mean it.”
“Yes, sir.”
Slash leaned close and said, “I know you’re sassing me, but I like it when you call me sir.” He kissed me quickly and then pulled away. “Jazz, make sure she rests and eats and hydrates and stuff. She’s growing a baby, yeah?”
“You got it,” Jazz said.
I watched Slash walk out of the kitchen and then I sighed.
“Well, if our stove ever fails, I know where we can get some heat,” Eddie quipped. “You guys are fire.”
“Yeah, I was wondering if he was about throw you down across the counter and have his way with you.” Connie fanned herself. “I need some of that in my life.”
My cheeks flamed with embarrassment. “Who’s dipping the strawberries?”
By three in the afternoon, I was already dragging and apparently doing a shoddy job of hiding my exhaustion. Brielle marched me over to a stool and thrust a bottle of water into my hands. “You are in charge of the cake,” she commanded. “We’re doing everything else. You can inspect for quality control, but you can’t run around like you’ve been doing. Slash wasn’t wrong when he told you to take it easy.”
I reluctantly nodded. As I sipped on the bottle of water, I realized that as my pregnancy progressed, my schedule would need to ease long before I actually had the baby. Slowing down was hard for me. I wasn’t sure I knew how to do it. But it wasn’t just about me anymore. The truth was that I didn’t need to worry about the business the way I used to. Brielle and Jazz could handle administrative and organizational tasks, and the actual baking would now be done by Connie and Eddie.
“When is the insurance agent supposed to stop by to assess the damage?” Connie asked.
“Tomorrow,” I admitted. “But it’s going to be a while before I get a check and I’m able to hire a contractor to get the bakery all cleaned up.”
“And Kurt?” Brielle asked. “Have you figured out what you’re going to do about him?”
“Slash is handling it,” I said slowly.
“Handling it?” she repeated. “What does that mean?”
“It means it’s off my plate and I don’t have to worry about it anymore. And that’s all we should say about it,” I replied pointedly.
She nodded immediately. Brielle wasn’t slow on the uptake.
“I need a break,” Jazz announced. “If I have to dip one more strawberry into chocolate, I’ll turn them all into puree just for the hell of it.”
“Let’s all take a break, “I said. “Everyone take a few minutes, hydrate, get a snack.”
“Good plan,” Eddie said. “It’s too soon to turn on each other. We have six more days of this.”
“Not to mention the actual wedding weekend,” Connie pointed out.
“Killjoy,” Eddie said to her.
She grinned and stuck out her tongue at him.
“I’m going to get some fresh air. I’ll be back in a minute.” Jazz grabbed a protein bar and her phone from her bag and then she was out the door.
“Hey, what are we going to do about this commute thing to and from The Rex every day?” I asked. “We’ve got too much work to do, and the hours are going to be long.”
“My sister lives about twenty minutes from The Rex. I’ll crash with her for the week,” Eddie said.
I looked at Connie.
“My boyfriend lives a few blocks from here, actually. I’ll be staying with him.”
“Good,” I said. “I’m glad to hear that.” I looked at Brielle. “You?”
Before Brielle could answer, Jazz came back inside. Her face was pinched, and her skin was pale.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, getting up off the stool and going to her.
“It’s my mom,” she said tightly. “She’s in the hospital. She’s fine. She’s not the one who—” She sucked in a breath of air. “She didn’t recognize our neighbor… Mom went at her with a knife when she came over. Mom’s sedated and I—”
“You have to go.” I nodded. “Absolutely. But you can’t drive. Not in the state you’re in.”
“I’ll drive you,” Brielle said, reaching for her best friend’s hand.
Jazz nodded. “But what about this?”
“We’ve got this,” I assured her. “Both of you go. Drive safe.”
They quickly gathered their belongings and were out the door.
Connie and Eddie looked at me.
“We’re so fucked,” Connie said as soon as they were gone.
“Normally I would agree with you, but not this time,” I said as I reached for my cell phone. I pressed a button, and she answered on the first ring. “Mia? I need help.”