Page 27

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

The older woman laughed and put the vehicle in drive.

“Dr. Bardot is used to it and ignores him. However, most of her staff hide whenever he visits her office for one reason or another. I pray Peyton never breaks a bone or needs stitches. He’ll have doctors and nurses pissing in their pants, yelling that they’re treating her wrong and he can do it better.

As if he suddenly has a medical license.

” She snorted, then glanced at Jenn. “And it was no trouble to take you. It was my pleasure. Peyton is teething and slobbering all over the place. Ian can get his shirt sopping wet for a change.”

That mental image made Jenn laugh for the first time all morning.

As suspected, her radius and ulna were both broken above the left wrist. After inspecting the X-rays, the orthopedist declared the breaks were clean and didn’t require surgery, which was a huge relief.

It was bad enough she had to wear a cast for the next six weeks, so she was thankful that pins and screws weren’t necessary to help the bones heal.

When they landed at the private airport near Tampa, where the TS jet was kept yesterday, Uncle Ian and Uncle Jake were waiting for her.

Since the pilot and the rest of the passengers had all driven their own vehicles there several days earlier, she had no choice but to give Doug the same grateful yet platonic hug of thanks she gave the others.

No kiss goodbye. No longing looks of desire.

No secretive winks or smiles. No invites to sleep over each other’s apartments. Nothing.

She hated every minute of it and the hour that followed.

Once back at the TS compound, she was surrounded by a bunch of mother hens and father roosters.

One would think she was made of glass and could shatter at any moment by the way all her uncles and their spouses fussed over her.

She had to pretend she hadn’t slept well during the four-hour flight and faked yawning until they finally filed out of her apartment, telling her to call any of them if she needed something.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t say that the only thing—or rather person—she needed was Doug.

Once alone, she got comfortable in her bed with Beau by her side.

Evidently, he’d missed her as much as she missed him.

She’d debated between texting and calling Doug, but before she could make up her mind, her phone rang and his name appeared on the screen.

While he initially said he only wanted to check on her quickly before she went to sleep, they ended up talking for an hour after switching over to a video call.

Any drowsiness she’d experienced dissipated as soon as she heard his voice and then saw his face.

How she wished it was him in bed with her all night instead of her favorite fur-baby.

It was only when the Percocet she took kicked in that they said goodnight.

Thankfully, she didn’t have any nightmares while she slept.

Doug promised he would bring her lunch today after she got home from the doctor’s office.

However, they’d have to pretend that they were just friends because at least a few people might drop by unannounced to check on her.

It was the only downside to living at the TS compound, with everyone coming and going at all hours of the day.

Back in college, she developed the habit of sticking Post-it notes on her door, warning not to disturb her unless it was an emergency, whenever she was studying for an exam or working on a term paper.

Unfortunately, that probably wouldn’t work anymore since she’d graduated, which meant she couldn’t sneak Doug into her apartment for some sexy alone time.

Why had she insisted on keeping their new romance a secret again? Oh, yeah, because her uncles would flip out when they discovered she was dating their employee, who was eight years her senior. None of that made a difference to her, but she wanted to enjoy the peace and quiet for a while.

It was a hot, sunny day, so maybe they’d sit in the yard under an umbrella, with the water misters on to make it a little cooler and more bearable.

That wouldn’t appear suspicious to anyone, although there was a good chance more than one person would decide to join them.

Many of the TS employees and the compound’s residents enjoyed taking advantage of the beautiful yard during their downtime.

“So,” Angie started. “Are you going to spill the tea about what’s going on with you and your McDreamy?”

Jenn’s head whipped to the left so fast, she nearly gave herself whiplash. “Wh-what do you mean? My McDreamy? Who’s that?” Well, she knew who the original McDreamy was—Dr. Derek Shepherd from Grey’s Anatomy , but who was Angie talking about? Did she know about Doug?

“Oh, don’t play dumb, Jenn. You graduated magna cum laude and want to get your Master's degree in social work. Dumb doesn’t become you.

Before you left for Colombia, the sexual tension between you and Doug was off the charts—it has been for a long time.

The way you two bickered and couldn’t keep your eyes off each other had a bunch of us making bets on when that man would finally cave. Did he?”

Her eyes grew wider with every sentence that came from Angie’s mouth, until they almost burst from their sockets. “Wh-what? Oh, God. Don’t tell me my uncles know.”

“Ha! Those idiots?” She pointed a finger at Jenn.

“Don’t tell them that I called them idiots, but they are.

For men who are trained observers and can smell danger coming from a mile away, they’re oblivious to whatever’s going on between you and Doug.

Nick doesn’t know either, as far as I can tell.

Just us women were making bets. Now, spill, because last night, it looked like all he wanted to do was shove everyone out of your apartment, sweep you up into his arms, and carry you into the bedroom to ravish you. ”

Well, at least her new relationship was still under wraps as far as her uncles were concerned. She was kind of glad her aunts knew because she needed someone to talk to. Keeping a secret was difficult when you were so ecstatic about it.

She checked the time on the dashboard. It was almost eleven a.m., and Doug said he’d get them lunch at noon, so she still had an hour. “We’re almost home. Can we talk in the she-shed with Kristen?”

Angie smiled. “Of course. If you don’t mind Shelby being there. The boys are at summer camp for the day, and she’s helping Kristen with some social media posts for her upcoming indie book.”

She loved and trusted Shelby as much as she did her aunts and had no problem talking about Doug in front of her.

The woman had the bubbliest personality and had her friends’ backs no matter what.

She wouldn’t betray Jenn’s confidence. “Kristen isn’t going through her publisher for her next release? ”

“Nope. This is the new paranormal romance series she started writing last year in between her books for Red Rose. They wanted her to make too many changes to the first story that she disagreed with, so she decided to release the series herself instead.”

It wasn’t as if the now-famous author hadn’t self-published before.

She’d done that with her first few books before Red Rose Publishing took a chance on her debut BDSM romance novel, which readers went crazy for.

That was how she met Devon. She needed to do research for the second book in the series, and Shelby was one of her original beta readers.

At the time, they only knew each other online.

Since Shelby was a member of The Covenant, she offered to speak to the owners to find out if Kristen could tour the place when it was closed and ask some questions.

Devon showed up during her meeting with Mitch, and the rest, as they say, is history.

“Oh, cool. I didn’t know that. And it’s perfectly fine if Shelby is there.”

“Good. And you know, whatever you tell us in the she-shed stays in the she-shed.”

Ten minutes later, the four women relaxed in the eight-hundred-square-foot cottage’s comfortable seating area.

The setup included two matching loveseats and three cozy, oversized reading chairs arranged around an oval wooden coffee table, which had a protective rubber bumper in case a toddler tumbled into it.

Ian still had Peyton in his office, and little JD was down for a nap in a playpen in the children’s area.

Both Kristen and Angie had their own workspaces, and a kitchenette and a full bathroom completed the floor plan.

“Before you get started, Jenn,” Shelby said, “I have to tell you something. Now, don’t get upset...” Jenn was about to do just that because of the woman’s words, but then Shelby grinned. “But Franco has a girlfriend.”

“Awwww. But what about me?” Everyone laughed.

Shelby’s eight-year-old son had a crush on Jenn ever since he and his best friend, Victor, were adopted into her huge extended family.

She babysat them occasionally, and Franco always said he wanted to marry her someday.

Victor, however, had a crush on Shelby’s friend, Cassandra Myers, who was engaged to a TS employee, Stefan Lundquist.

Placing her hand on her chest, Jenn bowed her head. “I’m heartbroken. What’s the little trollop’s name?”

Shelby giggled. “Olivia, and she’s smart and cute as a button. I’m not surprised he’s smitten with her.”

“Oh, well.” She sighed dramatically and wiped away a non-existent tear. “I guess it’s for the best.”

“Absolutely,” Kristen agreed. “Because now you have Doug. I mean, you do have him, right? Angie and I weren’t imagining things last night?”

“Dish, girl,” Shelby added. “Now!”

She rolled her eyes, then shifted to sit cross-legged on her chair. “Okay. So, I’ve been in love with Doug for a few years now.”

“Obvious to us but not to your uncles,” Kristen said with a nod before taking a sip from her glass of flavored seltzer that each of them had.

“Thank God for that. Anyway, he told me that he didn’t want to admit his attraction to me for three reasons. One, the age gap.”

“What? Eight years? So, big deal. Devon is ten years older than me.”

Jenn nodded. “That’s what I said. And Uncle Jake is nine years older than Nick.”

“Okay, so what was reason number two?” Angie asked before sipping from her water tumbler.

“He thought I had hero-worship feelings toward him because he got shot when I was kidnapped with you.”

“Ah. Okay, I can see his point about that. It could’ve happened. Hey, Kristen, didn’t you write a hero-worship trope in one of your books?”

“Uh-huh.” She sheepishly glanced at Jenn. “I got the idea from you and Doug. I thought that’s what was going on with you, but in my defense, it was only a few months after the whole kidnapping thing.”

Jenn’s jaw dropped, and it took a moment to find her voice again. “Oh, my God! I’m Crystal in Denim & Diamonds ?”

“Yup.” She popped the P. “And Doug is Master Gideon.”

“How did I not figure that out before now? Well, at least Crystal didn’t have to wait four years for Gideon to get his head out of his ass.”

“That’s true. So, I take it Doug finally got his head out of his ass?”

She spent the next twenty minutes or so explaining everything, from when she kissed Doug last year and he ran away, to the earthquake, and how he, Lindsey, and Romeo showed up.

Then she filled them in about everyone going to the mountain village, followed by the landslide, and her and Doug being trapped on one side.

She told them about Margie dying, how she and Doug helped deliver the baby, and how they had to spend the night together in a borrowed cabin.

Finally, she reached the part where she had the nightmare, and how Doug's comforting her turned into something more. Something surprising and wonderful.

The women were silent for a few moments when she stopped talking, then Shelby sighed loudly. “Kristen, if you don’t write all of that into your next book, I’ll bug the shit out of you until you do.”

“Don’t worry. I’m already plotting it in my head.”

Satisfied with that response, Shelby turned back to Jenn. “Okay, so what am I missing? You sound happy that you and Doug are together, yet something is bothering you. Wait, didn’t you say there were three reasons why he was reluctant to be with you? What’s the third?”

“The Sexy Six-Pack,” Kristen proclaimed.

She had secretly dubbed Jenn’s uncles that when she saw them at Donovan’s pub before actually meeting them and getting involved with Devon.

The fun moniker had stuck with the women—well, all except Jenn, who couldn’t call her uncles sexy.

Ew . “Am I right? The six annoying grown-ass men who still think of you as the little girl they’ve protected all your life, and not as an adult who can make your own decisions.

A woman with wants, needs, and desires who finally has the man she’s been dreaming about for years.

Damn, I should be writing this down.” She jumped up.

“Let me get a pad and pen, but keep talking.”

Jenn nodded to the other women. “Yes, it’s my uncles, and the fact that he works for them. He thinks Uncle Ian is going to kill him and dump his body in the gulf.”

Reaching over, Angie patted her uninjured arm. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen.”

“Oh, I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen. I love my uncles, and not just the Six-Pack, but all the SEALs who worked with my dad and were there for me whenever I needed them.

But it’s time for them to realize I’m a grown woman, and if I have to stand up to them to be with Doug, then that’s what I’ll do.

” She glanced nervously at each of her confidants as Kristen retook her seat with a pad and pen in her hands.

“Just not yet. I think Doug still needs a little time to get used to us. I don’t want to lose him after everything we’ve been through.

He fought his feelings for me for so long, and I want us to grow more comfortable with each other without any outside interference.

And you know damn well my uncles will interfere as soon as they find out.

So, for now, will you please keep it quiet for me? ”

“Of course. Mum’s the word,” Shelby said. “Right, ladies?”

“Right!” Kristen and Angie agreed.

Shelby lifted her glass of seltzer and held it aloft, encouraging the others to do the same. “To Jenn, for finally claiming her man.”

She laughed as the other women chorused, “To Jenn!”