Page 32 of Bad Boy Husband

JAMESON

I hated LA. It had never been the kind of place where I would be able to live. The air smelled like hot, sweaty concrete and something manufactured. It was too shiny around the edges for me.

Because of that, I would never buy a house here.

I supposed we could’ve stayed at Sterling’s place in Malibu, but a hotel had always served me fine when I was here because I never stayed any longer than I had to.

Although I had to admit, as I watched Sadie lean against the balcony railing of a rooftop restaurant, loose strands of her hair catching in the breeze, LA didn’t seem so bad just then.

Early this morning, we’d dropped Hooch and Winkle off at a doggy boarding facility that probably cost as much per day as the stupidly expensive, fancy high school we’d all attended, but it was worth it to have her here with me.

She hadn’t even argued when I’d offered to pay for their lodging, which I considered a victory.

Maybe Sterling’s onto something with the whole spending your money on a woman thing.

If that was true, I would sure as hell be okay with it. I may even just have unlocked a new kink. Awesome .

I smiled as I looked out at the view, not just of Sadie but as a whole. The scent of grilling fish and briny sea spray hung heavy in the air. The Pacific stretched out endlessly from the bottom of the cliff our hotel was perched on top of.

It was the kind of view that would relax anyone, but not me. Not today. Not really. There was still a knot of discomfort in my stomach about what she was going to learn tomorrow.

“Are you seriously not going to tell me what we’re doing here?

” Sadie asked with playful curiosity shimmering in her eyes.

It was the umpteenth time she’d asked me that question today, but she didn’t seem to be getting bored of it.

“The least you could do is give me a hint. Like what should I wear, for example?”

“Whatever you want.”

She pursed her lips. “Bikini or ballgown. Which is more appropriate for whatever we’ve come to LA to do?”

“Jeans.”

“Really?” She swirled the wine in her glass and took the couple steps back to the table from the railing. “That doesn’t help me figure it out at all.”

“That’s the point. You promised you wouldn’t ask any questions. The scouts want their honor back.”

She laughed. “Well, they can’t have it. Just give me a clue before I lie awake all night. The speculation might kill me.”

“Speculation has never killed anyone.”

Her eyes narrowed, but the corners of her mouth were still tilted up. “Did you have a sudden, urgent desire to go on a tour of celebrity homes? Or are you looking for a home for yourself among them?”

I snorted softly. “No way. Never.”

“Never? You don’t want to live in Hollywood or wherever the richer people are living now?”

“Do you?” I shot back.

She shook her head immediately, her eyes widening. “God no, but I’m not a celebrity. Judging by the way our volunteers reacted to seeing you the other day, you are.”

“Only locally.” I picked up the menu and studied it for a moment. “Do you mind if I order for us?”

“Go for it.”

Something twinged deep in my chest at the easy way in which she’d said it. Sadie might not trust that I was capable of monogamy after what Trent had said, but evidently, she did still trust me in other areas. At least a little.

Meanwhile, I still wasn’t sure if I’d done the right thing, bringing her to LA with me, but I’d figured the best way of proving that I wasn’t up to no good was to invite her.

Allow her to see what I actually did while people thought I was spending my downtime getting wasted in night clubs or sailing with naked socialites.

The truth was far, far less scandalous and much less exciting, but I had allowed my reputation to spiral into what it had so that no one would find out how boring I’d become. This wasn’t something I wanted to share with the world. It was mine, and so far, it’d been mine alone.

Until now.

Sadie grinned at me from across the table. “Are we going antiquing? That’s it, isn’t it? We’re on the hunt for a new vintage vacuum.”

“We’re not going antiquing.” Not exactly. “Keep guessing, though. This is becoming entertaining.”

“Okay, fine.” She leaned forward, chin resting on her hands as she stared deep into my eyes. “It has to be something we can’t do back home. Is it the Hollywood Walk of Fame? Are you getting your own star?”

I barked out a laugh, her playfulness and banter softening the sharp edges of my nerves about sharing this with her. “I’d keep guessing if I was you.”

“Is it a movie premiere?”

“Nope. It doesn’t have anything to do with the entertainment industry, celebrities, or Hollywood. It doesn’t even have to do with this city. This just happens to be the location where this is happening this year.”

Her eyebrows swept up a little. “So it’s an event. A function, perhaps, but something that can happen anywhere.”

“Yep. Something completely normal.”

“You, normal?” She blinked like she was surprised, but then her smile turned gentle. “That’s hard to picture.”

“It happens sometimes,” I deadpanned, but somehow, it was relaxing me, being there with her. The teasing that didn’t have any sting to it. The laughter. “How about you? Do you actually like LA, or are you only here out of curiosity?”

She shrugged. “A little bit of both. I haven’t actually spent much time here, so it felt like as good an opportunity as any to see a little more of the place, but I also wanted to find out what your big secret is.”

“We’ll take a tour,” I offered. “If we don’t have time on this trip, we’ll make a vacation of it sometime. Sterling’s got a house in Malibu I’m sure he’ll let us use.”

“What, our five-star hotel isn’t good enough for you?”

“Not for an extended trip,” I said. “If we’re going to see all the sights, we’ll have to stay a while.”

“That doesn’t sound like something that’ll be able to happen anytime soon.” Her gaze drifted back to the ocean, the sunset reflecting warmth in her eyes. “I suppose we’ve got time, though.”

Do we? I wanted to ask, but I didn’t. She hadn’t answered me the other night when I’d asked if she wanted out of our arrangement and I didn’t want to put any pressure on her. Trial month. You promised her that, Jameson.

“Anything specific you’d like to see?” I cocked my head at her. “We might have to make a list. Prioritize the things you’d like to experience the most and take it from there.”

Our server came by to take our order, and while we ate, we spoke about LA and some of the things it had to offer, loosely putting together a tour of the sights she wanted to visit. After dinner, we walked to the poolside bar downstairs. The ocean breeze cooled the night as we sat down.

Fairy lights glowed around the columns that separated the bar from the massive swimming pool.

Classic piano music floated out from inside.

We grabbed drinks and made our way to a pair of deck chairs beside the water that overlooked the city in the distance, its lights twinkling against the dark of the night.

Sadie sat down and I settled beside her with a scotch in my hand. The tension that had been knotting my muscles all day finally eased. I felt her eyes on the side of my face, so I rolled my head to look at her.

“What?”

“Nothing,” she said. “You just look like you might actually be enjoying yourself, no matter how many times today I’ve caught you muttering under your breath about how much you hate this city.”

“Don’t ruin it,” I said, but my words were light and easy. I grinned at her. “Also, perhaps you should consider that it’s not the place I’m enjoying. Maybe it’s the company.”

“It could also be the top-shelf scotch.” She nudged my knee with her own, the movement simple and natural, like there had never been any turbulence between us.

That old want, the ache I always felt when I was with her, slowly rose to the surface again and I sighed. “It’s not the scotch, Sades. We don’t have to talk about that right now, though. How are things going at the shelter?”

Surprise flickered across her features for a beat before she shot me a small smile. “Do you really want to know?”

“Of course I want to know. It’s important to you, and if I’m being honest, the more I’m learning about it, the more important it’s becoming to me, too.”

Her smile faltered, morphing into something raw as she held my gaze. “For someone who actually cares as much as you do, you do an incredible job of pretending not to.”

“It’s a defense mechanism.” Not a truth I had ever admitted before, but this was her. She had probably known that anyway. “The shelter?”

“Right, uh, well, it’s not going as badly as it has at times in the past,” she said thoughtfully.

“Our adoption numbers are still way down and there are more animals coming in every day. The kennels are filling up fast and the clinic can’t keep up either, but at least we’ve been able to replenish our supplies and we’ve got the Baby Blossom fair coming up. ”

“The whole community is probably going to show up for that again.” I thought back to Laney’s block party and how many people it had attracted. “Maybe it’ll be good if you can get her to share the adoption drive on their socials? That girl who works for her is a wizard at drumming up engagement.”

“That’s a great idea, actually. I’ll ask.”

Silence fell between us as we both sipped our drinks and stared at the city in the distance, but it wasn’t an uncomfortable or uneasy quiet. It was peaceful. Settled.

Once we got back to our suite, Sadie kicked off her shoes and padded around barefoot. “I wonder what Hooch and Winkle are doing.”

“We can check on them if you want.” I pulled my phone out of my pocket and thumbed open the app I’d downloaded after she’d agreed to let them stay there. “The kennel has a livestream accessible through their app. There they are.”

I turned the screen toward her when two grainy feeds came up. Hooch was snoring belly up on a plush cot while Winkle was curled into a corner, but calm. “They look comfortable.”

“They really do.” She glanced at me and smiled. “You know, you’re going to make an extremely effectively helicopter parent one day. Are you going to have an app on your phone for their elementary school too?”

“Obviously.” My eyebrows shot up. “Just don’t tell anyone I admitted that.”

“As always, your secret is safe with me.” She chuckled. “Until then though, let me see the boys properly. I can’t actually believe how much I miss them after only one day. It’s crazy.”

She moved closer to get a better look at the screen, and for one stupid, reckless moment, I thought, She’s going to be a great mother one day.

I brushed it aside immediately, but it was still there, at the back of my mind, the realization that we might actually share that one day. The bummer was that even if we did, this was business first.

We had a contract. It was about inheritances and my seat on the board. Family expectations. Convenience. My old feelings had nothing to do with it. Fuck, at this point, I didn’t even know if there was going to be a wedding.

“Alright,” I said, maybe a little too gruffly, but I was more shaken than I’d realized. “It’s late. You should take the main bedroom. I’ll crash in the second.”

She turned, her expression unreadable before that same playfulness from earlier crept back into her eyes. There was something else there, too. I couldn’t quite place it, but it sure as hell looked a lot more meaningful than the playfulness masking it.

“Or,” she said quietly, her eyes locked on mine. “We could practice again.”

“Practice what?”

She rose slowly from the couch, taking a step closer to me. “Being husband and wife.”

The words hung in the space between us, the offer so loaded but so tempting. My pulse slammed in my chest. Her gaze never left mine. She didn’t smile or say she’d been kidding. She didn’t back down or back away.

Wait a second, she’s actually serious about this.

For at least half a minute, I just stood there, caught between disbelief and desire. Things had been so strained between us and now, out of the blue, she was offering… this. Whatever it was.

She turned away from me and slowly started sashaying toward the bedroom. I followed. Of course I did. I wasn’t an idiot. I am, however, confused, but not enough to throw this opportunity away.

She went in first, glancing at me over her shoulder. I paused in the doorway. “Are you coming or are you waiting for a formal invitation?”

“Embossed would be great.” I arched an eyebrow at her, a spark of our old rhythm slipping back into place as if it had never gone out.

“Do you still snore like a chainsaw? It’s just that if we’re actually going to be practicing sleeping in the same bed like an old married couple, I need to know so I can order ear plugs. ”

Her mouth dropped open in mock outrage. “I do not snore.”

“Sure,” I said, finally stepping into the room and shutting the door gently behind me. “By that logic, Hooch also doesn’t drool.”

She laughed and folded her arms as she looked up at me. “Are you still a cover hog?”

“Always.” I stepped closer to her without even really meaning to, like I was being drawn in by an invisible force. “Do you still like sticking your cold feet on people in the middle of the night?”

Her breath caught just slightly as she watched my slow advance. “Maybe. Is that a problem?”

“Not for me.” My voice had dropped without my permission, becoming rougher and just a little throatier. “It could be a problem for you if I decide to return the favor, though.”

She swallowed hard, the banter melting into heat once we were close enough to touch. Electricity moved between us, slow and undeniable, the air crackling with memories, want, and the inevitability of what was going to happen next.

When she reached up to tug lightly at the collar of my shirt, my heart thudded. I leaned in, every carefully built wall I’d constructed starting to crumble. This was supposed to be just practice. Sleeping in the same bed but without touching, I’d assumed.

It really didn’t just feel like practice, though. No matter what else was going on between us, what Sadie and I had was real. On some level, anyway. And that? That kind of felt like the foundation we were building on.