Page 17 of Bad Boy Husband

JAMESON

I t turned out that Hooch was not the yapping, purse-sized companion I’d been expecting after Sadie had mentioned having dog. Where she had even kept that thing while living in her crummy little apartment, God only knew.

It was the size of a small horse and easily as wide as my refrigerator.

I watched her through the glass doors, the top of the line, power mop I’d purchased at the last vacuum convention I’d been to humming under my hands.

It was my favorite new toy and at least this gave me an opportunity to use it, even if I could’ve done without the muddy paw prints Hooch had left behind like some four-legged Jackson Pollock.

Sadie was still out on the deck, dutifully towel-drying the horse. Her red hair was damp and curling around her face. Her eyes crinkled as she muttered to him. I hoped they were talking about him behaving himself, but I doubted he would listen.

He seemed boisterous. Like a puppy. A puppy the size of a dragon, but still.

Strangely I caught myself smiling as I watched them together, the dog turning his house-sized head into the crook of her neck like he was trying to apologize. Damn it.

When she finally let Hooch back in, she looked about as remorseful as a brick and I shot her a glare. “Do not let that beast back into my house.”

She tilted her head, her eyes glittering with laughter. “ Your house?”

Right. Right. Marriage. I swiped a palm over my face and corrected myself. “Technically, I suppose it’ll be our house soon.”

“Exactly, and where I go, Hooch goes, which technically makes him our dog now.” She lifted her chin, one of her hands on her head as she paused in the doorway with him by her side. “If he’s not welcome in your house, then I’ll accept that I’m not either. We’re a package deal, Jamie.”

Although she’d said it lightly, I could tell by the look in her eyes that this was a dealbreaker for her. I either allowed him into my life and into my house, or I found someone else to marry.

“Fine, but we’re going to need some rules. For here and the townhouse.” I set my mop aside and nodded for them to come in.

Sadie grinned triumphantly and lifted her hand, which must’ve been a quiet command for him to go ahead since he thudded along the freshly steamed floor and sprawled out. Right across the perfect lines I’d just made with the mop.

I nearly groaned out loud, lifting my gaze back to hers in the hopes that she would help me contain him, but she’d noticed all the supplies I’d laid out on the kitchen island after I’d run upstairs to change.

Her eyes skimmed across my gloves, the color-coded microfiber cloths, and the fancy European all-purpose cleaner that smelled faintly of lemon, and she burst out laughing.

“Oh my God, are those cleaning gloves?” she choked out. “Why?”

“They keep my skin from drying out.” I didn’t understand why she thought it was so funny. Proper hand protection was important. “What’s wrong with them?”

“They’re pink.”

“So? Every other color was out of stock in my size.”

She turned her gaze back to mine, laughter still shimmering in the clear blue depths. “You know, you might have a touch of undiagnosed OCD.”

“It’s likely,” I admitted, somehow feeling oddly vulnerable to say it out loud. “As a dog person though, shouldn’t you be used to cleaning?”

She laughed again. “My entire life is dog hair and slobber. If you can’t handle that about me, I should probably just leave right now.”

Something about the way she said it with her chin tilted up like she was daring me to flinch made my chest ache in the strangest way. I didn’t want her to leave.

For some fucking reason I honestly couldn’t comprehend, I liked this. The banter, the way she pushed me just enough, and the fact that she didn’t apologize for who she was.

It felt like old times. Just like it used to be before life got complicated. Before I became the kind of guy who needed contracts and cleaning gloves just to breathe comfortably around another person in my space.

“I can handle it.”

Her lips twitched, like she wanted to smile but wasn’t sure if she should. “Well, I guess then you’d better get used to dog hair and slobber, Westwood.”

“Fine,” I muttered, grabbing the mop again. “He stays off my bed, though.”

She chuckled. “He snores anyway.”

“Why weren’t you like this in Texas?” I asked, the question slipping out before I could weigh how much it might sting.

She froze, the teasing spark in her eyes instantly snuffed out and replaced by something guarded and brittle. “Why wasn’t I like what?”

“Like this.” I shrugged, gesturing between us. “Pushy. Demanding. Unapologetically you. Why did you let Trent and your parents and, hell, even Carson walk all over you?”

She folded her arms over her chest, her gaze hardening.

“My parents have never worried about what I actually care about. They raised me to smile and be agreeable, but I found my footing here. I built something, even if it fell apart, and if you’re planning on trying to squash that out of me, I’ll walk away right now and just marry the next dickhead in line. ”

I raised my hands, mop still in one of them, its bristles dripping onto my perfect floor. “Hey. No squashing. I swear.”

Sadie held my gaze for a beat before she nodded and turned away. I went back to mopping around Hooch, who seemed to have taken a liking to the warm tiles. He kept plodding after me, big paws smearing fresh trails of slobber every few feet.

It was like mopping a sinking ship, but I kept going, determined to keep at least some measure of order around here. After making my way from the kitchen to the living room, I found Sadie curled up on the sofa, phone plugged into a charger she must have dug out from somewhere.

Her brows were drawn together, thumb frozen over the screen, and her eyes wide. My heartbeat tripped over itself. “What is it? What happened?”

I instantly regretted how sharp my voice had come out, but that seemed to be the least of her worries as she looked up at me with horror contorting her features. “I thought we were taking a month to see if this was really what we wanted. To figure out if we could even live together.”

She turned the screen so I could see it, showing me that she had dozens of notifications. Texts and missed calls. Mom, Dad, and Trent.

“My parents found out somehow. They’re thrilled,” she said, her voice soft with disbelief. “They actually think this is fantastic, but Trent? He’s livid.”

A pit opened up in my stomach. Last I’d checked, Trent hadn’t called me at all. Not yet.

Hooch lumbered over and leaned his massive head against my hip, nearly knocking me off balance. I reached out to steady myself, my hand sinking into his drool-damp fur. My shirt was going to smell like him forever now.

“Is this really what you want, Jameson?” she asked, her voice cracking with panic. “Really?”

I looked down at Hooch, at the strings of drool trailing from his jowls, to the freshly cleaned floor, and back to Sadie. She looked terrified and defiant all at once.

“Yeah,” I said slowly, my voice low and serious. “Yeah, it is.”

Hooch shook violently, sending fresh arcs of slobber across the tile. I winced, grabbing the mop again. “I’ll handle Trent. I promise, Sades. Just let me sort it all out, okay?”

She exhaled, and for the first time since I’d walked in, she looked almost relieved. “Yeah. Okay.”

Hooch thumped his tail against the cupboards, apparently thrilled about whatever the hell we’d just decided. A smudge was left in every place where he’d thwacked and I finally gave up on cleaning, firing off a quick text to Wanda instead.

Cleaning up after a dog like him was going to be a much more labor intensive endeavor than I’d realized. After setting the mop aside, I glanced at Sadie again. She stared down at her phone like she was afraid it would bite her.

I had no idea how her family had found out, but right now, that hardly mattered. Since I’d told my folks this morning that she’d already signed the contract, the pressure had been on already. Now, it had taken on a whole different dimension of urgency.

“I’ll be right back,” I murmured, not really wanting to interrupt her but also not wanting her to think I was having second thoughts or storming off. “I just need to grab something from my car real quick.”

Sadie nodded absently, but she still hadn’t looked at me again. Her eyes were skimming across her screen as she scrolled, her head shaking every so often at whatever she was reading.

I sighed but headed out to get my laptop bag. In a crisp fresh envelope inside was a copy of the engagement contract I’d shown her back in the barn in Texas.

When I got back to the living room, I handed it over and sat down beside her. “So, are we doing this or what?”

She glanced up at me, those blue eyes shimmering with indecision before she looked back down at her phone. Her knuckles turned white as she clutched it, and it wasn’t particularly difficult to guess the source of her sudden uncertainty.

“Don’t worry about Trent,” I said gently. “Don’t even think about him. I’ll handle it. This is about you and what you want.”

She sighed. Our gazes connected again and I suddenly felt like this was all going to work out just fine. We had some obstacles ahead of us, sure, but who didn’t?

As long as she and I were on the same page, we could deal with anything that came our way. All she had to do was take the pen I slid out of my pocket and held out toward her. If she just did that, I wouldn’t let Trent, my parents, or anyone else get in our way.

Not this time. Not again. Not unless or until I’d done anything and everything in my power to give us the shot I wished we’d taken in the first place.