Page 31 of Bad Boy Husband

SADIE

The fluorescent lights flickered every so often overhead. The metallic tang of antiseptic and a bit of blood hung in the air. I sat cross-legged on the concrete floor, gently stroking the exhausted mother’s head as she nuzzled her new litter of mutt puppies.

Five wiggling, damp little miracles whined softly. Tiny squeaks came from them as they adjusted to the big cold world they’d just come into. Outside of our makeshift birthing suite, the shelter was quiet at this time of night.

It was much later than I’d meant to stay, but leaving had felt impossible when the new mommy had just gone into labor as I’d started locking up.

Afraid that something might go wrong and not wanting her to go through it alone, I’d planted my ass on the floor and hadn’t even considered going home until she was all taken care of.

Hooch was sprawled out on the other side of the room, his massive head resting on his paws, tractor-like snores escaping him. Winkle was curled up against my hip, occasionally sniffing at the puppies but mostly content just to be near me.

I took another minute to watch the puppies as they drank, but they seemed fine. Besides, the night tech was in the office. She’d been busy earlier, but I knew she would keep an eye on them from here on out, now that the main event was over.

Finally standing up, I brushed fur off my jeans and started collecting all the discarded towels and puppy pads. As I dropped them into the trash, the door creaked open. I looked over, smiling until I realized it wasn’t Diana coming to check on our latest arrivals.

My heart jumped into my throat, suddenly racing. I found myself staring into concerned hazel eyes from across the room. “Jameson? What are you doing here?”

He looked slightly out of place in this space with the paint peeling off the walls and the cracks in the floor. Wearing a navy sweater and jeans that fit like they’d been custom made, he looked too expensive for a place like this.

“I was worried when I got home and you weren’t there.” He pushed the door open a little farther and stepped inside, glancing at the squirming, tiny bodies in the pen before a half-smile appeared on his lips. “I had a feeling you might still be here, so I came over to check that you were okay.”

My throat tightened a bit. He knew me well. Better than he probably realized. “What if I’d gone out to dinner or something?”

He shrugged, that half-smile widening a little. “Then I would have been wrong, but to be fair, this wasn’t a difficult guess.”

Jameson took a few more steps into the room. His features softened as he turned his gaze back to the puppies, their teensy paws kneading their mama or the air as they nursed. “Busy night?”

“Busier than I thought it would be,” I admitted. “I was actually on my way out when this started happening. I couldn’t just leave. Diana is here, but she was working and I knew she’d be in and out. So I stayed.”

“Yeah. I get that.” He lifted his eyes back to mine. All the things we’d left unsaid swirled behind them.

Silence stretched between us for a long minute. It wasn’t uncomfortable at first, but the longer we stood there, quietly staring at each other, the heavier it became. “Do you really think marrying me is wise, Jamie?”

The question had burst out of me before I could stop it. I hadn’t meant to just blurt it out, but I’d been holding it back for days, and obviously, I had stretched myself to my breaking point.

He frowned. “What do you mean? If I didn’t think it was wise, I never would have asked.”

“Fine. Yeah. No. I understand that part, but you’ve had some time to think about it now and let’s face it, my family and yours think I’m bad with money. That I’m irresponsible and that this is just a phase, but it’s not. I’m not going to wake up one morning and just be over it.”

He was quiet for a moment, looking at me suddenly the way he used to when we’d been young and in love. When he’d thought I could do no wrong and I’d felt like he was the only person who truly understood me.

“I wouldn’t call this being bad with money.

” He took a slow, pointed look around the room.

“You’re generous, not irresponsible. Your heart is in the right place and I know it’s not a phase, Sadie.

When you see something that needs to be done, you do it.

You give your money and your time freely without expecting anything in return.

That’s a rare trait in our world and it happens to be one I admire. ”

My breath caught. It kind of felt like something in me was stitching itself back together, healing under the quiet weight of his words and the sincerity in his eyes.

“I would rather build something real with someone generous than go through life with a wife who doesn’t give a shit about anything other than herself or money.

” He moved a little closer. The faint scent of his cologne wafted to me through the antiseptic in the air.

“I don’t care if my family or yours think you’re not the wise choice. You’re my choice.”

The words, quiet but so confident, made that healing part inside me stitch itself up a little faster. I looked back at him, my heart suddenly pounding in my chest. “You’re serious?”

“Serious enough to marry you right now if you’re in the mood for a quick trip to Vegas.

” He flashed me a smile, small and crooked, but real.

“If that doesn’t sound like what you had planned for tonight, are you hungry?

We could go grab something to eat. What are you in the mood for? A wedding or a cheeseburger? Or both?”

My mouth had gone dry, but I was nodding before I’d even remembered how awkward things had been between us over the last few days. “I’m starving, actually.”

He smiled. “Burger it is.”

After checking on the new mom and her litter one last time, I followed him out, quietly calling Hooch and Winkle with me. They jumped into the back of Jameson’s car and Hooch immediately fell asleep again. Winkle curled into a ball at his side.

A few minutes later, we were pulling into the drive-thru of a burger place. I loved it but wouldn’t have thought Jameson knew about the place. They didn’t exactly sell billionaire fare. It was all cheap fries, over-salted milkshakes, and paper bags that leaked grease, but he didn’t complain once.

He eased into a parking space and killed the engine, looking as comfortable as if he did this all the time.

I happened to know he had standing reservations at places where one meal cost as much as the entire property this joint was on, though.

On the other hand, I liked that he didn’t mind being a normal person with me.

He even smirked a little as he lifted his burger. “Don’t tell CC about this. She’ll put us both on a diet before the wedding.”

“Don’t worry.” I laughed softly so I wouldn’t wake the snoring dogs in the back. “Your secret is safe with me.”

Jameson rolled down his window and unclipped his seatbelt with one hand, making it clear that he was planning on eating his whole meal right here, in the damp, dimly lit parking lot of a cheap, twenty-four-hour burger joint.

It felt weirdly intimate, sitting with him as the city noise hummed around us, just the two of us together in a comfortable silence that made it feel like we didn’t have a messy history and a complicated present.

I swallowed a fry and turned in my seat to look at him. “We should probably talk about the wedding,” I murmured.

A corner of his mouth twitched. “What wedding?”

“Exactly.” I rolled my eyes and chuckled. “Your poor mother has been left to plan the whole thing by herself and neither of us have even asked where it’ll be.”

“It’s going to be at the estate. She told me, and don’t worry. She’s happy to do it. We’ll be the first couple ever who are able to get married without ever seeing a single seating chart. That’s a definite win.”

“That might be true, but I still need a dress.” I glanced at the ratty T-shirt I had on. “Laney offered to help. I think I might take her up on it.”

He glanced at me. “You’ll look beautiful no matter what you wear.”

My stomach did a slow, traitorous flip. “Thanks, but you don’t have to say that. As for your mom, I’m sure she’d appreciate if we at least offered to help. It is our wedding, after all.”

“I didn’t say it because I had to. I said it because it’s true.” His voice was softer, his gaze on the burger in his hands before he flicked it up to mine. “I’ll speak to CC, but she’s a championship-level party planner. She’ll be fine.”

Quiet settled between us, but he kept looking at me. Then he blinked a few times and cleared his throat. “So, uh, about LA this weekend. I was wondering if you’d like to come with me.”

“Is it for work?” I asked, but I was relieved that he’d invited me of his own accord. At least it meant my immediate knee-jerk suspicion as to why he’d turned down Napa had definitely been wrong.

Strangely, Jameson averted his gaze. “You’re welcome to join me if you want, but you can’t ask questions and you definitely can’t give me shit for it.”

My eyebrows arched. “Telling someone they can’t give you shit for something is basically guaranteeing that they will.”

He sighed, giving me a mournful, puppy-eyed stare, but I could see the smile he was trying to hide. “Maybe I won’t take you with me, then.”

“Okay, fine,” I relented with a laugh. “I won’t say a word. Scout’s honor.”

“I’m pretty sure you were never a scout,” he murmured. “If you were, this is the first word I’m hearing about it, which means you can’t take their honor very seriously.”

I shrugged, trying to fight another smile of my own as I held his gaze. “I already know about your vacuums and I haven’t given you any shit for that. If this is about brooms or dustpans though, not even the scouts are going to be able to save you.”