Page 16 of Bad Boy Husband

SADIE

A s I packed up my apartment, I felt like my brain had skydived out of the Westwoods’ fancy jet somewhere over the Rockies. I stood in the middle of my bedroom, as uncertain as I’d ever been, but also strangely excited.

My lumpy mattress was bare, my dresser half-open and empty.

It hadn’t taken me long to gather my things.

Frankly, there just wasn’t much to pack.

I had a few boxes of clothes on the bed, some dog toys that looked like they’d been through a war, and a dented tin of coffee I’d bought at a clearance store a few months ago.

Walking across the apartment to my bathroom, I double-checked the cabinets before I glanced at my watch. Early this morning, Jameson had sent me a message asking if I would be ready by noon and I’d agreed, but my phone had since died.

I’d forgotten to plug it in last night and now my charger was somewhere between my clothes in the boxes. With ten minutes to go before he should be here, I did one last walkthrough to make sure I had everything. An unexpected sense of nostalgia crept up on me.

The grimy windows with the view of the brick building next door, the tiny kitchen, and the living area with the threadbare couch had grown on me. As small and shitty as this studio was, it had also been mine and I’d been thankful for it.

At precisely noon, a single knock sounded at my door and my heart leaped. I rolled my fingers into fists in an attempt to steady my slightly shaking hands, then went over to open up for him.

Except the him I found myself facing wasn’t Jameson, but Steve, Sterling’s longtime driver. I frowned. So much for him coming to get me himself.

I was a little more disappointed than I cared to admit, but I slapped a bright smile on my lips anyway. “Hey, Steve. I didn’t know you took orders from Jamie too.”

He chuckled. “Ms. Shepard. He apologizes, but he got caught up at the office. Mr. Sterling is currently in Japan and there were a few fires for Jameson to put out.”

“Aren’t there always.” I grabbed a duffel and hiked it up on my shoulder. “I’m sorry you got stuck helping me move, but thanks for being here.”

“Anytime, Ms. Shepard. Let me take that for you.” He reached for the duffel and motioned toward the hall. “You’re welcome to wait in the car. I’ll bring your things.”

“I’ll help?—”

“I’ve got it.”

I sighed but nodded, skirting around him like a useless damsel and wondering if this was what my life would look like from now on. Having big, strong men do everything for me because my weak, feminine hands just couldn’t manage.

Shaking off the thought before it could make me bitter, I decided that Steve was just trying to help.

He was a nice guy. Sterling had him driving Laney around whenever she would allow it, so I’d met him a few times.

He hadn’t offered because I couldn’t do it myself.

It was merely a matter of him doing his job.

It only took him a few trips, and before I even knew it, we were on our way to Lisa’s to collect Hooch. She wasn’t home, but her neighbor handed over my horse and his leash, and Steve waited patiently as I dropped to my haunches and tossed my arms around Hooch’s wide shoulders.

“Oh, I missed you,” I whispered, tears prickling the backs of my eyes. He smelled like shampoo and clean dog, his breath hot against my cheek as I hugged him. “Let’s go see your new home, boy. Are you excited? I am. Sort of.”

His tongue lolled out of his mouth and I returned his smile. Then I motioned him into the back of the fancy town car and hopped in after him. He barely fit on the back seat, his bulk taking up most of the space. He turned once, twice, and then decided to try climbing onto my lap.

In the process, he smeared slobber all over the tinted windows and I winced, but Steve didn’t even flinch. He just glanced at me in the rear view before he pulled away from the curb, his voice perfectly polite. “Mr. Jameson asked me to bring you to his main house first.”

“Oh.” I nodded around Hooch’s giant head, trying to dislodge it from my shoulder. “You’re talking about his place at the Westwood Estate, right?”

“That’s the one.”

I sighed. I would have preferred to go directly to the townhouse where I would be staying, but there was no sense in telling Steve that. Jameson had told him to take me to the Westwood Estate, so that was where we would be going.

Turning to face the window, I draped an arm around Hooch’s back. He got comfortable and I absently stroked him as we left the city. On the drive over to the estate, I realized I’d never been to Jameson’s house there.

I knew it was on the property and a distance away from the big house, but when we finally pulled past the ornate metal gates and Steve took a turn in the opposite direction from what I was used to, the house rose from the trees like something out of a magazine.

I leaned forward a little, my gaze sweeping across the house that, if I went through with the wedding, would be one of mine one of these days.

It was modern but not cold. Graceful lines of wood and stone between panes of glass that caught the afternoon light. Set between a grove of trees and a lake, it might’ve looked like a cottage in the woods if it hadn’t been so big.

Given its size and the greenery snaking up some of the exterior walls, it kind of reminded me of an old-timey mansion in the British countryside. I liked it, even if it was expensive in that way only quiet, old-money things could be.

It was private, too. Probably about a mile away from the big house and separated by all those trees as well as the glittery water of the lake that was currently reflecting the clouds overhead. A tremor passed through me as Steve pulled up in front of it and came around the car to open my door.

This is it. Here goes nothing.

Hooch bounded out, immediately making himself at home by sniffing the manicured grass and drooling on the paved walkway. I stood there, staring up at Jameson’s front door, about to enter a house I’d never been inside of to start figuring out if I could be his wife. So freaking surreal.

“All right, big guy,” I whispered when Hooch came back to my side. “Let’s see what our new life looks like.”

“Mr. Jameson isn’t home yet,” Steve said. “He had a meeting downtown, but he’ll meet you there and I’ll go drop your things off at the townhouse in advance to save you the hassle.”

I looked at him over my shoulder and managed a tight, watery smile. “Thanks, Steve. I’ll see you around.”

He gave me a polite nod and got back in the car. I watched the sedan glide back down the long driveway and disappear around the bend, and then it was just me and my drooling dog, slowly proceeding up the steps like tourists at Versailles.

When we reached the top, I remembered that I didn’t have a key to get in, but when I tried the door, it opened smoothly, unlocked and ready to grant access to anyone.

Although on an estate like this, I supposed it wasn’t necessary to keep everything shut tight.

We rarely locked doors on the ranch either.

It had just been a while since I’d lived anywhere personally where locking up wasn’t a matter of life and death.

I exhaled a deep, measured breath as I walked in, honestly not sure if I could ever get used to living like this again.

More importantly, I wasn’t sure I wanted to.

Inside, the ceilings soared and the floors gleamed.

One room flowed seamlessly to the next, open-concept enough to give the idea of space and freedom, but still warm and cozy.

The scent of clean linen, lemon, and something earthier, like cedar, wafted through the space.

I meandered from the foyer into the depths of his home, my head moving from one side to the other as I tried to take it all in.

Art that probably cost more per piece than I would ever earn in my entire life adorned the walls.

Every item of furniture looked like it had been custom made for exactly the spot where it had been placed.

Meanwhile, I was in well-worn, faded jeans and a messy ponytail, feeling like I needed to take a decontamination shower before I went any further.

Naturally, Hooch didn’t have the same concerns.

He trotted over to the enormous sectional, sniffed it once, and then jumped up to test out how dog friendly it was.

“Boy, no,” I groaned, shaking my head as he laid his down on the cushion. He was generally well behaved, just bigger than he realized and slobbery, but if we were supposed to be making ourselves at home, then I figured he could have a little nap on the couch.

As for me, I hadn’t really given much thought to this moment. Now that I was here, I had absolutely no idea what to do. Was I supposed to be his roommate? Act like a business partner? Was I his girlfriend or his fiancée?

We’d been physical before. Heck, once upon a time, we’d been in love, but that had been a long, long time ago and he wasn’t the same man I used to know. I wasn’t the same girl either.

Back then, I hadn’t given a crap about family expectations, trust funds, or strategic weddings. He hadn’t cared about his father’s retirement, engagement contracts, or having to stand in for Sterling when he was out of town.

He’d just been a boy who would sneak me out of the house to kiss me under the summer stars. I wasn’t even sure who he was now.

I left Hooch on the couch and explored a little bit, wandering around and trying not to look like I was snooping even though I absolutely was. When I pulled my phone out of my pocket to check for messages from him, I finally remembered it was still dead and went on the hunt for a charger.

Finding one plugged in at the marble kitchen island, I bent to pick it up when I heard the low rumble of an engine outside. I looked up, my gaze zeroing in on Hooch slowly lumbering toward me, and suddenly panicked.

“Come here, boy,” I called softly. “You should go run around in the backyard for a minute. Give me some time to figure this out with him.”

I spun around and opened the back door, letting him out into what I was sure would become his little slice of paradise.

Just one look at Jameson’s garden made me wish we were staying here instead.

Hooch would love it, the perfect lawn stretching for at least the length of a football field before it became woodland.

A sparkling swimming pool and a hot tub sat on the deck attached to the house and I sighed, eager to go exploring out there myself but waiting in the kitchen for Jameson like a good little wife instead. From outside, I heard the engine cut off. A moment later, the heavy door swung open.

Jameson appeared with his suit jacket slung over his shoulder, his tie loosened, and a crease between his brows that made him look so much older than the boy I remembered—and a hell of a lot more tired.

For half a second, he just looked at me and I looked at him. My voice stuck in my throat when I tried for a casual greeting. “Hey.”

I cleared my throat, noticing his gaze cut to the sectional where Hooch had been lying. The slobber was obvious even from here and I saw him notice it, but he didn’t say anything as he strode in and set his jacket down while still on the move. “Hey.”

“Long day?” I asked.

He raked a hand through his rich brown hair and shrugged. “Aren’t they all?”

Before I could tell him that I honestly didn’t know, but would like to, he was moving again, on his way to the backyard. “I just need to take a quick picture of the jacuzzi for the contractor. He’s going to redo the pool area for us.”

He barely even looked at me, his voice calm, clipped, and professional as he strode around the kitchen island. “You’ll need to sign the contract as soon as possible. Tonight, if that’s okay. I brought a copy with me. It’s just boilerplate. Everything we discussed?—”

I wasn’t listening anymore as I followed him out the kitchen door and locked eyes on Hooch. He had discovered a stick, and not just any old stick, but a small tree branch dragged out of the wooded edge of the yard.

It was clamped proudly in his massive jowls and he was galloping toward Jameson like a cannonball of love and drool. Jameson was scrolling through something on his phone, distracted and oblivious as he kept talking.

“Uh, Jameson,” I tried, my heart starting to pound as I watched a mastiff-sized surprise barreling closer.

“I’ll send it to my attorney in the morning,” he was saying, obviously not hearing me. “We can ask him to send someone over tonight to read through it with you if you want, but we need to get it done?—”

“Jameson—” I tried again as Hooch thundered closer, wielding the stick like a medieval battering ram.

Jameson still wasn’t listening to me though, and before I could try again, it happened. In a glorious moment of dog-powered chaos, Hooch’s branch caught Jameson right in the back of the knees. Jameson was caught completely off guard, pitching forward in a perfect slow-motion arc.

His phone flew from his hand right before he landed in the pool with an enormous splash. My mouth dropped open.

Hooch, who had absolutely no idea what he’d just done, barked once and trotted to the pool’s edge, stick still in his mouth and tail wagging furiously. Jameson surfaced, his hair plastered to his forehead and his suit dripping.

He spun around in the water, eyes wide with absolute, primal panic. “Go inside! Sadie, get inside now. There’s a bear out here?—”

Hooch cut him off with a delighted bark. He bounded around the edge of the pool and dropped the stick triumphantly at my feet like it was the world’s most disgusting bouquet of roses.

“No.” Jameson’s jaw tightened. “Just… no.”

I couldn’t help the amusement rising from deep within. That had been the most awful introduction I possibly could’ve imagined and yet laughter burst out before I could stop it. “It’s fine. Don’t worry. It’s not a bear. This is my dog. Hooch. Like from Turner and Hooch?”

“Absolutely not,” Jameson muttered, hauling himself out of the pool, his suit clinging to every line of muscle in a way I absolutely did not need to notice right then. “We’re not?—”

Ever helpful, Hooch chose that moment to shake himself off. A wave of slobber and chlorinated water hit us both and suddenly I was dripping, trying to decide between crying, laughing, and apologizing.

Jameson wiped water from his face, eyes locked on mine with a look that was either murder or surrender.

I grimaced through another fit of laughter. “Welcome home, huh? At least you can’t possibly think that no one was happy to see you.”