Quinn II (Undaunted Men #2) (32 page)

I heard her whisper under her breath last night just before she fell asleep, admitting she loved me. In that moment in time, I swear I’d never felt more full and complete as I did when those three words left her lips. She tried hard to push me away at first, I’ll give her that, and I couldn’t believe by the end of the day she was mine. I know she’s apprehensive, but I’ll make sure she’ll never regret her decision to be with me.

Waking up together in each other’s arms felt just like old times, minus the bugs and hard ground, of course. The baby only got up once in the middle of the night to feed. As soon as Angel stirred, I was there, picking her up to console her. I’m probably starting all kinds of bad habits, but I don’t give a shit. I’ve waited forever for this baby and to have my own loving family. I plan to spoil them both rotten.

Because we had all day together in the confines of the small hospital room, I used that time wisely, busting my ass to convince her that being with me from this day forward was the best choice for all of us.
 

By the afternoon, she had quit fighting me, and actually started pondering the possibilities of having a future with me. She gave me an inch and I took a mile. I didn’t hesitate to push full steam ahead. She wouldn’t have gotten rid of me so easily anyway. I would’ve camped out on her damn doorstep in Virginia until she gave in. I know she needs time to work through her anger and all the shit I put her through. I'll give her the space she needs to do that, but she can do it under my roof.
 

My mother was so damn old fashioned, she wouldn’t have approved of us living together while having a baby and not being married. Hell, I don’t approve of it. If I had it my way, I would’ve half considered stopping at the JP on the way home, but that’s not the kind of wedding I want to give her. I love her, dammit. I’ve never stopped loving her, and that is why I’ve been a wreck all these months. No one could compare to her when the guys tried to coax me back out on the dating scene. No one even came close to her persona, and it would piss me off every time I found myself sizing up other women against Lexi. I couldn’t get her out from under my skin, no matter what I tried.

I had given Stryker the keys to Lexi’s car last night and asked him if he and Hunter could work the vehicle out of the ditch today, and then move her car into my driveway.

Stryker had a very busy morning today. He showed up here at the hospital midmorning, dropping off some clothes he’d pulled from Lexi’s suitcase. He was able to get her car parked in front of my house, thank goodness. He also brought along a new car seat for the baby, a sleeper, and a blanket that Jules had picked out. Damn, I have some awesome ass friends.

I couldn’t wait to get them both home, but the hospital didn’t release my girls until after dinnertime. They had some new rule about keeping the baby for a certain amount of hours before they’d be able to discharge Angel.
 

In a way, I’m glad my girls stayed here at the hospital the entire day, because it gave Travis and Jules time to buy all the baby paraphernalia they could get their hands on. It also gave me plenty of one-on-one time with my girls. Travis called late in the afternoon to tell me everything they’d purchased, and that they were already at my house, setting things up.

It’s been a good day, but a long one. I pull into my drive and cut the truck’s engine. I turn around and look back at the baby, who is sleeping peacefully in the back seat. Lexi is sitting back there with her, tending to her every need, and my heart swells. They’d make a perfect picture right about now. I pull out my phone and open up the camera app.

“Quinn, no!” Lexi admonishes, and holds up her hand to hide her face.

“What? Why not?”

“I’m a wreck. I look horrible, and I need a shower,” she grumbles.

“You had a shower in the hospital this afternoon,” I argue. She says nothing, but the look on her face tells me not to push my luck. “Fine,” I grumble, reluctantly giving in. I put away the phone and add, “But we are getting pictures, and lots of them.”

She rolls her eyes at me, and I grin. “Stay there,” I warn. I jump out of the truck and jog around to the passenger side to open the backdoor. I unbuckle the car seat and shake my head at all the damn safety buckles they have. This seat is so complex it took me damn near a half-hour to figure it out. Working with mechanisms is what I do best, and this one had me stumped. There are so many straps on this seat this kid would be safe to fly to the moon in it. I don’t think they even made car seats when I was a baby. They simply didn’t exist.
     

I place the blanket over the entire car seat, covering the baby up to keep her warm from the cold winter air. I lift her out and extend my hand to Lexi. She rests her petite hand in mine, giving me a shy smile. When she gets out, I pull her against me and claim her with a passionate kiss.
 

“Welcome home,” I whisper over her lips. “I bet Kimber is dying to see you guys again.” She coyly grins and nods.

I give her hand a little tug, and then we head into the house. Kimber greets us at the door, and Lexi melts. She bends down to love on her and coos, “Hi, honey.” Kimber goes nuts, wagging her tail like crazy, voicing her excitement with low whines. When Lexi stands up, she notices a big, gaping hole in the wall, and her eyes shift to mine in question. I look at her a little sheepishly and shrug. A day later, it somehow looks worse, almost like a cannon ball ripped through the drywall.

I hear Travis and Jules in the kitchen, arguing over how something is supposed to be assembled, and I'm saved from having to explain myself...for now.

We head into the kitchen as Kimber dances around us in a circle. Jules has been good for Travis. She gives as good as she gets, and she doesn’t take any flack from him. Stepping into the kitchen, I can see they’re trying to assemble a baby swing.

“Please tell me you didn’t max out my credit cards,” I tease.
 

Jules holds up her fingers, her thumb and forefinger almost touching as she squints, saying, “Maybe just a wee little bit, but oh man, it was fun. I love buying newborn stuff.” She’s smiling from ear to ear, and I can tell she truly enjoyed the task.

I give her a wink. “Visa appreciates you.” Both she and Travis laugh, and as if Jules just now realizes I’m holding the baby, she lets out a squeal.

“Let me hold the baby, please,” she begs. She steps forward, and then hesitates. “Oh, my gosh, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be rude, Alexis.” She wipes her hands on her jeans and holds out her hand for an introduction. “I’m Jules.” Alexis nervously smiles and takes her hand. “And this is Travis, my fiancé.” Travis steps forward and shakes her hand.
 

“Congratulations,” Travis says with a smile. “I’m glad everyone is healthy.”

“Can I, may I?” Jules interrupts Travis, wanting Lexi to give her permission to hold the baby.

“Sure,” Alexis replies, beaming.

Jules is like a little kid with candy as she takes the car seat from my hands and grabs Lexi by the elbow. They go into the living room, and as Jules talks a mile a minute about all the stuff she bought, she works those car seat buckles like a pro. I smile at the sight, happy Jules is in a good place now, because there was a time when she wasn’t. Travis comes up behind me and slaps me on the shoulder. “How’s she doing?”

“She’s good, I think.” I turn to look at Travis. “How’s Jules?”

“She’s good, I think,” he repeats. We both laugh at each other, because no man knows at any given moment what the hell women are thinking.

“Thanks, man, I couldn’t have done all this without you guys.”

Travis grins at me. “It wasn’t too long ago all of you were laying your life on the line for me.” I nod my head, agreeing. “This was the least I could do, but let me just say, shopping for a newborn was quite a task. Jules ran my ass into the ground, hopping from store to store.”

I laugh at Travis, because I still can’t envision him shopping for baby stuff. I tilt my head, wanting him to elaborate more on Jules, and ask, “Seriously, how is she?”

He shrugs and runs his fingers through his hair. “She has good days and bad days, just like all of us, but she’s making steady progress. I think having the wedding in Hawaii, a place she’s never been before, has been really good for her. People need something to set their sights on to move forward. I’m really glad all of us took a long break after busting up the Blyss ring.”

“Yeah, that shit was intense.”

“You can say that again. It took me three years to infiltrate that organization.” He shakes his head, and I know he’s thinking of all the craziness that went down over Operation Blyss.

“Well, the jobs we have coming up are far less dangerous.”

“Thank fuck.” He lets out a sigh of relief. “You know what just dawned on me?”

“What’s that?”

“You won’t be able to make the wedding.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” I question. “I wouldn’t miss your wedding for anything, Trav. The baby will be two months old by then. All of us will be there,” I assure him. His shoulders relax, and I can tell he’s visibly relieved. I’m supposed to be his best man. “I’d still be there, even if I couldn’t take them.”

“Thanks, it means a lot.”

“Of course.” I can’t believe he’d even think I’d back out. It’s suddenly quiet, and I look over the kitchen bar and see the girls have left the living room. “Uh-oh, three girls conspiring,” Travis chuckles. “This could only mean trouble.” After Travis and I get the rest of the stuff out of my truck and unpack it, we begin looking for our women.

I find them all upstairs in my bedroom. I’ve got gobs of pink baby paraphernalia strewn all over the damn place. Well, there goes my bachelor pad. Jules turns to me and must see the look of shock on my face, and she’s quick to explain.

“Quinn, newborns have to sleep in the same room as you guys in the beginning. They’re up all hours of the night.”
 

“Yes, I know, Jules. I was there all in it last night,” I comment sarcastically. “I’m just not used to seeing all this pink in my room. It just took me off guard is all.” Really, what had hit me is Jules had made the bed, and if I know her, she changed the bed linens too. I left my room in a mess yesterday, and I’m sickened by the reminder.

I look over at Lexi, who’s holding my baby in her arms almost protectively. She’s being quiet and biting into her lower lip with extra force, and I ask myself why. She looks nervous, maybe? My brows come together as I give her a questioning stare and she shakes her head, ridding herself of whatever it was she was thinking about.

“It’s okay. I had planned on sleeping in the guest room with the baby anyway,” Lexi quietly states. My heart stops beating for a full second, and I go still. She can’t mean that. From the first night I met her in the mountains, I slept with her. I don’t know what the fuck she thinks she’s doing, but she’s not going to separate us, not now. She didn’t push me away last night as I held her in her sleep, so why now?

Travis clears his throat, suddenly feeling the tension in the room, and speaks up, “Jules, it’s late. We should let these guys settle in. We’ve all had a long day.”

Jules picks up on the hint, thank God, and nods her head. She smiles warmly at Lexi, and then gives her a goodbye hug.

“Thank you again for everything,” Lexi murmurs.

“No problem.” Jules smiles back. She kisses the baby’s head then makes her way to me, wrapping her arms around me for a hug. “Take baby steps with her, Quinn,” she whispers in my ear. “I know she's feeling overwhelmed, but she’ll come around.”

“We can see ourselves out,” Travis says as he turns to me and gives my shoulder a squeeze.
 

“All right, thanks again, guys.” Once they leave the room, I saunter over toward Lexi, who backs up a step. “What’s going on?” I tilt my head in question. All I want to do is raise my voice and curse, but I reign in my annoyance. We’ve made serious progress today, and now it feels as if it’s slipping away.

“Being here in your house, in your bedroom, it all looks so permanent. A large part of me is nervous. It's all so new to me.”

“I believe there's more to what you’re thinking than what you’re telling me.”

“I don’t want to keep you up, Quinn,” she explains, giving me an excuse. “You already lost enough sleep last night...”

“Bullshit,” I cut her off and step into her space, my patience wearing thin. My heart races, and not in a good way. I carefully place my hands on her shoulders and guide her to the side of my bed, willing for her to sit down and explain to me what’s going on in that mind of hers. “You need to stay open and honest with me,” I tell her as I try to gently guide her to sit down.
 

“I’m sorry,” she whispers, resisting my attempts for her to sit. She pulls away, wriggling out of my hold, but I don't let her. “I can’t…I can’t stay in here.”
 

“Lexi,” I warn, “spill it. Tell me what's going on here.” She looks away, and I guide her chin back, forcing her to meet my gaze.

“I can’t sleep in this bed, knowing you had someone in it only yesterday,” she shakily confesses, “and I’m sure your bed has been a revolving door every other day before that too.” Her eyes begin to glisten, and I clench my jaw, hating myself all over again. Fuck, I’ll burn the damn mattress if that’s what it takes.