His Best Man's Baby (12 page)

Tae had already been feeling a bit queasy with the hospital smell of disinfectant and latex. Daniel’s talk of blood did not help. “I got it. Let’s go.”

They reached Jax’s room at last, and seeing that it wasn’t located in the ICU gave her some relief. Jax lay in the bed with his eyes closed and his hands resting on his lap. A bandage stretched across his shoulder and down his right arm. His skin, usually tanned, glimmered pale under the LED lights.

Tae sat gingerly on the side of the bed and took Jax’s hand in hers. “What happened?” she whispered.

Jax’s eyes opened and captured her. He stared at her, and she looked back, silent and overcome with myriad emotions. After a few moments of him holding her prisoner, he released her and let his gaze lower to her chest. “Your shirt is on the wrong side.”

Tae looked down and frowned. He was right. That’s why Daniel had asked why she was dressed that way. “I’m not here for a beauty pageant. I’m here to see why you would go and get yourself shot! How are you? What happened?”

Jax smiled and shifted his position a little. His wince of pain made her do the same and squeeze his fingers. He rubbed her hand with his thumb as if to comfort her. “The guy I was looking for didn’t want to be found.”

Tae trembled.

“Shh, it’s fine. I got him before he got me.”

“He did get you,” she blurted.

“Only my shoulder. I’ll be good as new before you know it.”

She tugged her hand free of his and turned away. “Stop being flip, Jax. You’re not invincible. This proves it, and your job is too dangerous. I don’t know what I would have done if you…”

Daniel made a noise nearby. Tae looked up in time to see him disappearing through the doorway. “Going to find…” he said, pulling the door closed. She didn’t catch the last part he’d said. Jax touched her clenched fingers on her lap.

“Tae, look at me.”

A tear slid down her cheek. She sniffed and wiped it away. “You keep trying to be there for me, but how will you do that if you’re gone?” She couldn’t bring herself to say dead. Just the thought was too much, and realizing she cared about him threw her for a loop. She couldn’t call it love exactly, but Jax was a good man. He was special and important to her, more so to his son or daughter.

“I said look at me.” The stern tone brought her chin up, but she met his slight smile. “I’m not going anywhere. I promise.”

“You didn’t keep your promise last night.”

“Ouch, you’re harder on me than the bullet.”

“So not funny.”

“Sorry.” He touched her cheek. “Are you going to forgive me, or do I have to use my charms?”

She rolled her eyes, looking him up and down, dressed in the hospital gown. “You think you can pull off a statement like that dressed the way you are? That gown won’t get you on the cover of
GQ
magazine.”

“The nurses aren’t complaining.”

She stood up.

“Tae, marry me.”

Her mouth fell open, but she lost the ability to move.

“Give me a chance. I know I can make you happy, and I’ll be there to take care of you.”

She rounded on him. “I don’t need to be taken care of, Jax. I’m a grown woman. Besides, you’re only here because I’m pregnant.”

“Is that so wrong?”

“No.”

“The baby will have an easier time if he or she has both a mom and dad present.”

She didn’t want or expect declarations of love from Jax, but damn, couldn’t he have pretended for a moment? Despite what she’d said about the hospital gown, he was sexy as hell. She just bet the nurses were falling all over themselves for him, just as that one nurse had done with Daniel downstairs. Jax would eat it up and flirt without reservation. Daniel hadn’t exactly denied flirting while he waited to know his friend was okay. “I’m not marrying anyone for that reason.”

To her surprise, Jax frowned. “If Daniel asked you, you would say yes.”

“Excuse me?” She put her hands on her hips. “Maybe you forgot he asked me three years ago, and I turned him down then.”

“Things change.” He glanced at her swollen belly, and her heart sank. “Daniel still loves you. He’s proven that chasing after you. Maybe it’s time you give in.”

“I’ll thank you not to make decisions for my life. Feel better.”

She left the room and kept walking until she reached her car outside and drove back home. Let them comfort each other. She needed a break and sleep. When she’d called in to work to tell her boss she had a family emergency and should be in by ten, then was lying in bed drifting off to sleep, did the full impact of Jax’s proposal hit her. He had asked her to marry him, and she’d blown it off like she received offers every day of the week!

* * * *

“Crud, I forgot the dressing,” Tae said as she set the huge bowl of tossed salad on the dining room table next to the platter of pulled beef.

Daniel pushed his chair back and stood. “I’ll get it.”

Jax made a gagging noise, and Daniel glared at him. Jax raised his eyebrows. “Is there a problem?”

“Yeah, you,” Daniel snapped. “Why are you here?”

Jax surged to his feet. “Why are
you
here? Don’t you have a wife?”

Daniel didn’t even redden this time around. Tae guessed he was done being shamed. “The only reason you’re hanging around her is because you’ve always wanted what’s mine.”

“When the fuck did she become yours?” Jax growled back.

“Boys!” Tae had gone to get the dressing herself and slammed it down on the table. “Both of you are going to be outside hungry in a minute. Try me.”

They lowered their gazes to the table in unison and muttered their apologies. Tae stroked her belly. She hadn’t meant for this to happen, her seeing both of them almost nightly, both running errands for her, shopping with her. Jax even rubbed her feet, but neither of the men were willing to give an inch. At least they hadn’t come to blows again, but she had to break up arguments too often.

Jax pulled out a chair for her. “Here. Sit down. Let me finish whatever else you need done.”

She took him up on the offer of a seat. Her feet ached. “I’m done. We have everything we need. I just don’t want you two fighting anymore tonight.” Tears filled her eyes, and she blinked them away, annoyed. They appeared too often lately. “Can you do that for me?”

“Of course, baby,” Jax said. Before she realized what he would do, he kissed her lips. He drew back, a look of surprise on his face and glanced at Daniel. She did as well, but her ex-boyfriend’s face held no expression.

“No more fighting tonight,” Daniel said.

Tae rubbed a twinge in her side and then began serving the three of them. Daniel reached across the table and relieved her of the serving spoon. While he piled their plates with food, Jax poured himself and Daniel a glass of wine and her a glass of grape juice. She raised her glass to take a sip, watching them over the rim. Things had begun to change. She still loved Daniel without a doubt, but as she turned her gaze to Jax, she couldn’t deny wanting to keep him a part of her life. What did it mean? Was it just because of their connection with the baby?

She dismissed thoughts of the two men and tucked into her food. When they were done, Daniel sent her to the living room to relax, and the two men cleared the table and stacked dishes into the dishwasher. Tae strained her ears to catch whether they fought in the kitchen, but she couldn’t hear anything. A short while later, Jax walked into the living room and sat at the foot of the couch and pulled her feet into his lap. He removed her thick socks from her feet since she tended to walk around the apartment in them rather than shoes. Daniel joined them sitting at the head of the couch, and he drew her head onto his lap. Jax glared at him, but he didn’t say anything.

“Mm, that feels good,” she murmured as Jax began massaging her feet. Both men shifted on the chair, and Tae’s heel brushed something hard. She raised an eyebrow at Jax, and he winked, not sorry in the least. Deciding to ignore his physical response to her moan, she turned her attention to the TV and flipped channels, but nothing distracted her from the tingles Jax’s strong hands sent to her nether regions.

When she landed on the health channel, she was reminded of Jax’s injury. He was mostly better now with time passed, but sometimes she saw how stiff his shoulder seemed. She drew her feet away from him. “That’s enough.”

He looked up. “Did I hurt you?”

“No.” She sat up, and both men moved closer to her while she sat in the middle of the couch. Sighing, she shook her head. Jax took her hand in his and held it. With Jax around, Daniel never tried to touch her intimately, but she often felt his gaze on her, and she’d noticed as much as with Jax the tent in his pants. The worse part of all of this was her own horniness. Being pregnant seemed to have made her desires skyrocket, but so far she hadn’t given into either man. She used her own fingers to get herself off. That did not do much when two hard, male thighs bumped hers on both sides. Longing made her panties damp. Jax escalated the problem by caressing the inside of her wrist with his thumb. The bastard played dirty.

Tae drew her feet beneath her and rubbed her belly. She yawned, her eyelids drooping. Next week, she would be twenty weeks, and she had a doctor appointment to see what the sex of her baby was. She bit her lip.

“My appointment next week…”

“I’m going.”

“I’m going.”

She tensed. Both men had spoken at the same time. She groaned and rubbed her forehead. Somehow up until now she’d avoided having them both at the appointments at the same time. Jax attended more often than not because his schedule was flexible, and Daniel hadn’t pushed.

Jax laid a hand on her thigh, and Daniel laid his on her other thigh. She shut her eyes. If she came right now, it was both their faults. A cramp in her side made her forget about sex, and she winced, rubbing it.

“What’s wrong, Tae?” Jax sat forward and pressed a hand over hers.

“Nothing. I’m fine. Just a little crampy.”

“You should go to bed,” Daniel suggested. “
Alone
.”

“Don’t start!” She moaned when the pain intensified.

Jax jumped from the couch and whipped her into his arms. He charged down the hall toward her bedroom and kicked the half-open door inward. Tae found herself dumped on the bed, not roughly but not gentle either. The knitted brows over Jax’s eyes told her he was worried. He walked over to the dresser as Daniel entered the room and rummaged through her drawers. When he pulled out a nightgown, Tae opened her mouth to protest. Jax had her blouse off in seconds, cutting across her protest.

“Get her some fresh socks,” Jax ordered.

Daniel moved to do as he asked without complaining. With Daniel bent over his task at the dresser, Jax pulled the nightgown over her head, and with deft fingers reached beneath it to unhook her bra. He tucked her between the sheets, and she squeaked, eyes widening when he nabbed her panties and slid them down her legs. By the time Daniel turned around frowning at them with socks in hand, Jax had her panties balled up in his palm.

“Maybe you need to go to the doctor,” Daniel said.

Tae clutched the sheet to her chin and lay on her pillows. “I just need rest.”

Both men stood over her bed watching her. She squirmed, feeling exposed.

“You can go. I’m all right.” The pains had eased, but her body was on fire for a whole other reason than her health. “T-Thanks for taking care of me.”

Daniel nodded. He flipped the bottom of the sheet up and slipped her socks onto her feet while Jax watched as if he were judging whether Daniel did it right.
Or making sure Daniel doesn’t feel me up.
Remembering the way Jax had removed her underwear had her squeezing her legs together. They needed to go.

“Good night.”

Jax chuckled. “Fine. I can take a hint. Come on, Daniel.”

Daniel glared at him, but he started for the door with Jax following.

“Jax,” she called.

He stopped and looked back at her.

“My hamper is over there in the closet, perv.”

Amusement lit his green eyes. “Oh, you don’t want me to leave your clothes on the floor. Got it.” He knew what she meant. She watched to make sure he dropped the panties he still held in his hand, along with her T-shirt, bra, and pants into the basket. Then he leaned over her and planted a soft kiss to her lips before leaving. “Good night, beautiful. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

Her breath hitched in her chest, and she nodded. They left, and she lay in bed lonelier than she ever remembered feeling in her life. She turned onto her side and let her body sink into the groove she’d made in the mattress. She missed lying on her stomach and hated the aches and pains that came with shifting of her hip bones to make room for the baby. When sleep didn’t come quickly as it usually did, she reached for her cell phone and sifted through the favorites list. Her mom picked up on the third ring.

“I can’t believe it. Is this my daughter Octavia calling me?”

“Dramatic much, Ma?” Tae smiled. “How are you and Dad?”

“We’re alive. Not in the grave yet.”

Tae rolled her eyes.

“Your sister called me and said she asked you for help, but you ignored her. I worry about Janita.” Tae heard the concern in her mother’s voice.

“But you don’t worry about me. She has a husband, Ma, and I’m not paying for a new phone for her.”

“I do worry about you, Tae, but you’ve always been strong. I know you are doing well for yourself.”

“Apparently, everybody thinks I’m well, asking me to shell out six hundred dollars.”

“Terrence is only working part-time. They have to take care of themselves and the babies.”

“You mean the teenagers.”

“Tae.”

“What?” Tae sighed and rubbed her belly. Why did she call now? She should have just waited until her mind settled down and she fell asleep. “I don’t want to argue about Janita. She can take care of herself, and if she would get a job, she wouldn’t be looking to everybody else in the family for money all the time. I’m sorry. I gave her all I’m giving. I’ve cut her off.”

“Well, you have to do what you think is best, sweetie.”

Tae thought her mother didn’t agree with her choice. Well they could all get over it. She needed to save for her own baby. Janita’s oldest was sixteen for goodness sake. She could get a job herself.