Page 26 of Bad Boy Husband

JAMESON

Dinner was about as comfortable as I imagined it might be to wear wet jeans to a job interview that was taking place in an ex’s living room. No one seemed to know how to act, what to say, or where to look, but at least there hadn’t been any open hostility yet either.

Earlier today, Dad had accepted the terms of the prenup Sadie and I had agreed to and he’d essentially signed off on the wedding. It had been a relief, knowing that he trusted me to keep her questionable spending habits —as he’d put it—in line.

The background check he’d run on her hadn’t revealed anything untoward, and since money wasn’t exactly in short supply for us, he didn’t seem too worried about her rumored frivolity with it.

He sat at the head of the table now, making small talk with Troy about the cattle market and how last summer’s drought had impacted every rancher and farmer in Texas.

I’d always liked Troy and Claira. They’d welcomed me as one of their own back in the day. Even though I knew my last name had played a big part in that at first, they had never made me feel like they were treating me any differently than anybody else.

Troy had sent me out into the fields with Trent early every weekend when I’d stayed over there and Claira had always been kind.

I didn’t love the way they’d been treating their daughter, though.

The Shepards I’d thought I knew would never have alienated her for her passions, nor would they have cut her off.

All of which had made me decide to keep them at arm’s length. No fond memories or past kindness trumped Sadie’s best interests. She was my priority, and if they couldn’t love her for exactly who she was, they had no place in my life anymore.

She sat beside me at the table, tension practically radiating off her as she watched Mom and Claira try to find common ground. Mom was being more cautious about our upcoming nuptials than Dad. She simply wasn’t sure if she was accepting of our marriage just yet, but I knew she would come around.

When it came to the women in our lives, Mom had always been protective of us. She was an heiress herself and she had always been aware that the gold-diggers and the social climbers would come hard for the Westwood boys.

She hadn’t been wrong either. There had never been a shortage of prospects making a play for us, but Mom was a good judge of character. No woman had ever been good enough for any of us until Laney had come around.

I’d been surprised by how much Mom had liked and trusted her from the very beginning, but Laney wasn’t from our world. She also hadn’t exactly jumped at the chance to marry into it.

Sadie was a different story. She was half-Astor, half-Shepard, as pedigree as they came and yet she’d lost the faith of her own family.

Mom wouldn’t ignore that, but so far, she seemed to be having a good time.

Troy and Claira just seemed happy to be connected to our family, which brought me to Trent.

Sitting beside his parents across the table from Sadie and me, he hadn’t said a single word so far. He just kept sipping his bourbon like he was considering taking up drinking as a career. It felt weird to be right across from him but not talking to each other at all.

Sterling, Laney, and Callum rounded out our group for the evening. Our youngest brother, Harrison, had flown back to Europe for either a meeting or a music festival. It was difficult to keep track of what the kid was up to these days.

My attention was drawn back to the conversation when Mom tried—again—to include Sadie in her chat with Claira. “That’s a beautiful dress, darling. So colorful and bright. Who’s the designer?”

“I’m not sure, actually,” Sadie said quietly. “It’s on loan from Laney.”

Claira’s eyebrows shot up, disapproval written all over the tightness of her features. I happened to agree with my mom. Sadie looked fucking stunning, but her mother seemed to have a problem with either the dress or the fact that she’d borrowed it, or maybe all of the above.

Mom, however, chuckled and then smiled at Laney. “I suppose you don’t know who the designer is either, do you?”

Laney winked at her, her easy relationship with my mother a stark contrast to what was happening between Sadie and her own mom. “You know I don’t have a clue. We’ll have to ask Sterling.”

My brother smirked at Mom. “I’ll have to speak to my personal shopper, but I’ll get back to you on that.”

She rolled her eyes, laughing quietly before she took another sip of her wine. “Never mind, you’re all useless. I’m sure I can find out myself. I just love the purples and the yellows.”

“It’s a pretty dress for a daytime function,” Claira said, smiling at Mom, but there was a sharp admonishment in her eyes when she glanced back at Sadie, the word emphasized clearly. “Don’t you think, CC?”

Mom smiled gracefully at Sadie. “Oh, I think it works for any time of day. Certainly for a family dinner. We don’t really dress up for these.”

My eyebrows quirked. She says, with diamonds in her ears and expensive skyscrapers on her feet.

I didn’t call her out on it though, too grateful that she’d come to Sadie’s defense. Laney tried to help too, unaware of the extent of Sadie’s family issues and inadvertently stepping on the first landmine we’d had to face this evening.

“Have I told you guys that Sadie is going to be running an adoption fair at the Back to School block party?” she asked excitedly, sending a massive grin to her friend, but Sadie’s cheeks instantly paled and it was like I could see her shutting down.

Laney wasn’t looking at her anymore, though. She was looking at my mom now. “Don’t you think it’s a great idea? The shelter’s adoption numbers have declined dramatically in the last couple months. It’s awful, but I’m hopeful this will give them a boost.”

Mom glanced at me, and I could tell she knew that we were suddenly on very thin ice. “That’s a wonderful idea, Lane. Are you sure you’re up to organizing another block party right now, though?”

Despite her effort to pin the focus seamlessly on Laney’s pregnancy, Claira was stuck on the shelter thing.

She arched a manicured eyebrow at Sadie.

“Don’t you think your time would be better spent preparing for the wedding?

There’s a lot to do, and if the adoption numbers are declining anyway, perhaps you can take a break from that place for now. ”

My heart jerked at the pain that flickered across Sadie’s face, tightening the corners of her eyes. “I’m capable of multitasking.”

“Yes, darling, but you’re marrying into this extremely prominent family.” She sent CC a smile before focusing on her daughter again. “Soon, you’ll be too busy to be spending all your time at the shelter.”

I opened my mouth, but Trent beat me to it. “What she’s saying is that it might be time for this little phase to end, sis.”

Claira beamed at him. “Exactly. Start this new chapter off right. Enough money and time have been wasted.”

Yeah, okay. I’ve had enough of this. Neatly setting my knife and fork down, I leaned forward and looked Claira right in the eyes.

“This little phase of hers saves lives. Countless of them. How does that even begin to compare to your own hobbies and passions? What are they, even? Shopping and gossiping. Would that be a better use of Sadie’s time? ”

“Making minimum wage is hardly something noble or to be proud of, Jameson,” Claira argued politely, but I could see the hatred shimmering in her eyes.

She really didn’t like what Sadie had been doing.

“It’s sweet of you to defend her, but surely, you want your wife to be someone you can rely on.

Someone you’re proud to have at your side. ”

I scoffed, but Callum rushed to the rescue, knocking over an entire bottle of wine and giving me the opportunity to get Sadie out of the room when some of it spattered onto her dress. Shoving my chair back immediately, I extended a hand toward her.

“Come on, I’ll show you where you can go get cleaned up.”

She stood wordlessly while my brother offered a half-assed apology. Staff raced into the room to help with the cleanup as I took Sadie’s arm and led her to the library down the hall.

I shut the door behind us and strode over to Mom’s nook, grabbing a box of tissues and handing them over. “Are you okay? I’m sorry about the wine, but don’t worry about the dress. I’ll have it cleaned. It was worth it for Callum getting us out of there.”

Sadie blinked back tears, her head shaking.

She took a few tissues and dabbed at the dress.

“You know, I could lie and tell you that I’m okay, but I’m not.

The dress will be fine. It’s just a few drops, but my parents?

” She lifted her watery eyes back to mine.

“I’m never going to do anything on my own that they’ll be proud of and I know it.

The only thing I’ve ever done that they approve of is marrying rich, and even then, they’re only okay with it because it means they won’t have to bother with me anymore. ”

During her emotional tirade, I lost that tight grip I’d always had on my self-control. She was gorgeous and passionate. Kind, funny, smart, and a better person than anyone else I knew. Her parents might not see any of that, but I did, and I was damn proud that she was going to be my wife.

In a moment of utter abandon, I stepped into her, wrapped my hands around her hips, and kissed her. Fuck ‘em all.

Sadie froze against me, clearly caught off guard, but then she wrapped her arms around my neck and it was like I was finally coming in from the cold.

I held her tighter, so intoxicated by her soft lips against mine for the first time after so long that I lost all sense of where we were and what we were supposed to have been doing.

All that mattered was this. Her. Us. As our mouths crashed together, she leaned into me and the rest of the world was gone. Vanished without a trace.

Until I heard the door click behind us. Somewhere halfway between lust and delirium, I realized that we weren’t alone anymore, and somehow, I knew without looking that it was Trent. He was about to break his silence and whatever he was going to say, it sure as shit wasn’t going to be pretty.