With Me In Seattle: Bundle Two (82 page)

“Sounds good. I’ll make my nerdy husband poke his head out of the lab long enough to interact with real people.”

“Tell him I said hi, and thanks for sharing his nerdy but gorgeous wife with me today.” I give her a quick hug and kiss her cheek, then watch to make sure she gets into her car safely and pulls away.

Just as I sit in the driver’s seat of the Jeep, my phone rings.

“Hey.”

“Who the fuck are you having dinner with?” Meredith demands. She’s panting and I can hear Jax in the background say, “Not cool, KitKat.”

“I’m sorry, is this my loving girlfriend?” I raise a brow and push the key in the ignition but sit and wait for her reaction. I don’t think I should drive and have this conversation at the same time.

“Oh, you remember you
have
a girlfriend? Great. Answer my question.”

“I was having dinner with Lena.”

“Why haven’t I ever heard her name before? I don’t believe this, Mark. I leave for a few days and you can’t keep it in your pants?”

“That’s enough,” I bark and clench my fist around the steering wheel. She goes quiet but I can hear her breathing hard and I know it’s not from dancing. She’s fucking pissed.

And so am I.

“I don’t remember being on a leash, but I was having dinner with a very old friend, Meredith.”

“Have you ever fucked her?” Her voice is small and quivering. I lean my head against my headrest and clench my eyes closed.

“No. And the fact that those words would even come out of your mouth hurts, Mer. She’s a college friend. I worked in the same lab as her and
her husband.
Well, he was her boyfriend in college, but now they’re married.”

She doesn’t reply but I can imagine her cheeks darkening in embarrassment, and I’d be lying if I said that her little fit of jealousy wasn’t a balm to my ego. I’ve done my best to keep myself busy since she’s been gone and remind myself that I trust her and she’ll be home soon.

But apparently she doesn’t trust me.

“I’ve made lots of friends over the years, most of whom you don’t know. Just like I don’t know all of your friends. Am I to assume that you’ve fucked every man you’ve met in the past ten years?”

“Of course not,” she replies. “Is this where I say I’m sorry?”

“Yes.”

“I’m sorry. Jax told me not to jump to conclusions, but when he said he heard a woman’s voice in the background it pissed me off.”

“Maybe it was my sister. Or one of the many Montgomery girls. Are you going to always be this jealous, M?”

“No, it was just a knee-jerk reaction because I miss you and
I
want to be the one there with you. Also, the thought of her with her hands on you made me want to commit murder. The bloody, violent kind, not the poison your food kind.”

“She did talk about her vagina,” I say and laugh when Mer growls. “Do you honestly think that I’d screw up what we have the second you leave town for a quick lay?”

“No.”

“I love you so much it hurts to breathe, Meredith. You know me better than that.”

“I know. Like I said, it was a knee-jerk reaction.”

“I think we need to talk when you get home, sweetheart.”

“I’m really sorry,” she says. “Why haven’t you ever talked about her before?”

“Because I don’t see her often. She and her husband are workaholics.”

“Oh.”

“How was work?” I start the Jeep and pull into traffic now that the jealousy storm has passed.

“Long day.” She sighs. “I miss you.”

“I miss you too. I’ll pick you up tomorrow. You land at two, right?”

“Yes, but you don’t have to pick us up. We can grab a cab.”

“I’ll be there.” I sigh and push my hand through my hair wishing I could hug her and reassure her that everything is okay. “No more jumping to conclusions, okay?”

“I’ll work on that,” she says. “Who knew I was this jealous?”

“Not me. You never even got like this in high school.”

“Weird,” she whispers.

“The video Jax sent me was amazing.”

“Thanks.”

“Mer?”

“Yeah?”

“You okay?”

“No. I feel like an idiot.”

“You’re a pretty idiot.” She finally laughs and I smile in response. “Call me later when you’re ready for bed.”

“What if I call you naked again?”

“Will you send me pictures?”

“No.”

“I’ll talk you into it.”

“Sure you will. I owe you big when I see you tomorrow.”

“You don’t owe me anything, but we’ll be having that talk.” I pull into my driveway, surprised to see my sister sitting on my front porch. “Sam’s here. I’m gonna go see what she’s up to. Love you, baby.”

“I love you too.”

I slam my door and pull my sunglasses off as Sam types furiously on her phone.

“Good to see you finally showed up,” she says as she tucks her phone in her jeans and stands to hug me.

“Did we have plans?”

“No, I surprised you.”

“You’re weird. You can’t be mad at me for not being here if you came over without calling.” I pull her hair and dodge a punch to the shoulder then lead her inside and back toward the kitchen. “What can I do for you?”

“I just came over to see your adorable wittle face.” She pinches my cheek then laughs when I chase her with a damp sponge out of the sink.

“Seriously, what’s up?”

“I have issues.”

“This is not a newsflash, sis.”

“Bite me.”

“Ew.”

She crosses to the fridge and opens it wide, surveying the contents. “I’m hungry.”

“There’s some left over pizza in there,” I reply and lean back on the counter, waiting for her to get to the point. “Where’s Leo?”

“At the studio,” she says and sniffs at the loaded pizza. “Why do you eat mushrooms?”

“Why is everyone questioning my choice of condiments today?”

“Because you eat gross things.”

“What is going on, Sam?”

She takes a bite of the pizza, chews for a few seconds, then spits it out in the garbage. “How long have you had that in there?”

“About a week,” I say with a smug grin.

“Ew. You’re trying to kill me.” She glares at me as she guzzles some water and then opens a bag of Fritos and shoves a handful of the salty corn chips into her mouth as she hops up onto a stool at the breakfast bar.

“Make yourself at home.” Sam has always cracked me up. She can be such a hard ass, but she can be a mother hen too, especially to Luke and me.

“Talk about Meredith.”

“What would you like to know?”

“What’s going on with her?”

“She’s my girlfriend, Sam. I think that was pretty obvious when you saw us at Will’s house.”

She nods and chews on more chips. “She looks good.”

“Yeah, she does.”

“She has balls.”

I nod and grin at my sister. “She stood up to you.”

“Like I said, she has balls.” She shrugs and sips some water. “I have trust issues, though.”

“You have trust issues with everyone.”

“That’s not true. I trust you. Leo. The family, even the crazy Montgomerys.”

“Look, I know that you have your reservations, but I’m a grown man, Sam. I got this.”

“She hurt you,” she whispers and stares down at her bag of chips. “You were a mess for
years
.”

“I’m not a mess now.”

“I don’t want that to happen again, Mark.”

“I don’t want you to get hurt by your rock star boyfriend either, you know. What are we supposed to do? Stay single forever so no one gets hurt? Maybe it’ll work out.”

She nods and then shrugs. “I wasn’t a bitch to her.”

“I appreciate that. I’d also appreciate it if you continued not being a bitch to her, especially this weekend in Vegas.”

“You’re bringing her?”

“Yes.”

She nods again and blinks, thinking it over. “Okay. It could be fun.”

“You’ll probably like her.”

“Let’s not go crazy now.”

I laugh and snatch my bag of chips out of her hands before she eats the whole damn bag. “You talk a big game, but you’re just a big softie.”

“I am not!” She gasps and glares at me. “How dare you call me that?”

“Because you are. You just want us all to think you’re badass.”

“I don’t have to sit here and take this from you.”

“Blah blah blah…” I roll my eyes and pull her off the stool. “Come on, let’s watch a movie.”

“Only if you order pizza.” Her phone rings and she answers. “Hi, Mom. Yep, I’m actually with him right now. Okay.”

She hands the phone to me and cackles like a witch as she passes me in the hallway and drops into my recliner.

“Hi, Mom.” I’ve been on the phone more today than I have been in the last ten years combined.

“Hi, darling. I’m having dinner here tomorrow and I want you to bring Meredith.”

“On a Wednesday?”

“You’re all going on your little adventure in Vegas this weekend,” she reminds me. “I want to see Meredith. Bring her over. Luke, Nat and the babies are coming along with Sam and Leo too.”

“She gets home from LA tomorrow afternoon, so I’ll ask her when I pick her up from the airport.” Sam chooses a cheesy ’80s movie on the on-demand menu, making me roll my eyes.

“Don’t ask. Just bring her. I mean it. I always loved that girl.”

“Okay. Do you want to harass Sam now?”

“Sure. Love you, sweet boy.”

“Love you too, Mom.”

I pass Sam her phone and steal the remote from her hands.

“Mom! Mark just stole the remote and I had it first!”

“Seriously? You’re
tattling
?”

She sticks her tongue out at me and talks to Mom about dinner tomorrow while I give in and settle back to watch a bunch of kids in detention on a Saturday. At least the music’s good.

“Molly Ringwald was kind of hot,” I say when Sam ends the call with Mom.

“Judd Nelson was hot,” she says and kicks her feet up.

“How late is Leo gonna be?”

She shrugs and doesn’t meet my eyes.

“Sam?”

“He’s been working late a lot,” she says. “I don’t know when he’ll be done.”

“Is everything okay there?”

“Sure.” She offers me a fake smile but it falls from her face when I simply sit and watch her. “I think so. He’s been quiet this week, and busy so I haven’t had a chance to ask him what’s going on.”

“He loves you.”

“I know. I’m just worried about him.”

“Keep me updated.”

“Okay. Now shush. This is the part where Judd Nelson pushes his face into Molly’s crotch. It’s hilarious.”

“I didn’t realize it was porn.”

“You’re gross.”

Chapter Twelve

“Hey, man.” Logan claps me on the shoulder and shakes my hand. We’re standing in the airport, at the baggage claim carousel that has Mer’s flight number listed for pick up. They landed five minutes ago, and I can’t wait for her to get her sexy ass down here.

“How’s it going?”

“Good, thanks.” Logan nods and pushes his glasses up his nose. “I thought I was going to be late. Traffic was horrible.”

“Came from work?” I gesture to his suit and tie.

“Yeah. I took off early today and I’m taking the rest of the week off.”

“Good for you. Do you have plans?”

“Jax has been gone for a few days, and he’s leaving again on Friday for Vegas, so I thought I’d take some vacation time to hang with him.” He smiles shyly and loosens the top button of his dress shirt.

“Actually, I was going to talk to you about this weekend. How do you feel about meeting us down there? Jax and the girls would love it.”

Logan smiles softly. “I was going to ask you if it would be inappropriate if I surprised him. I was thinking about coming down Saturday afternoon, if that’s okay with you and your family.”

I smile widely and shake my head. “If it were Mer, you couldn’t keep me away. Feel free to come down. I’ll give you my cell number and I’ll keep you updated on where we are on Saturday so you know where to find him.”

“Thank you. Isn’t the news of Starla asking Jax and Mer to go back on tour crazy?” He shakes his head and grins, but my heart stops. Meredith didn’t mention this to me. She’s going back on tour?

When? Is she planning to break things off again, or does she think we’ll do the long-distance thing while she’s gone for fucking months at a time?

“They’re here!” I turn at the sound of Mer’s voice just in time to catch her mid-air. “Oh my God, I missed you so much.”

She wraps herself around me and kisses me hard before burying her face in my neck, right where she needs to be. My hands are full of lush woman as her scent floats around me, and my nerves settle some.

“Hi, baby. How was your flight?”

“Too long.”

I glance over in time to see Jax and Logan with their foreheads together and a soft smile passing between them.

“I’m happy to see you,” I whisper and kiss her cheek just as the carousel begins to spin.

“Me too.” She kisses me again, her lips linger on mine for a long minute.

“Here’s your bag, lollypop,” Jax says as I lower Mer to the floor. “And we were only gone for three days. Not three months.”

But you’ll be gone for three months in the near future?

“Bite me,” Mer says with a big smile.

“It was a long three days,” Logan adds as he links his fingers with Jax’s and raises them to his lips. “Let’s go.”

“Don’t wait up,” Jax says with a grin. “Not that you’ll be at home anyway.”

“No,” I agree with a smile and take Mer’s bag, leading her toward the parking garage. “She won’t.”

 Jax winks at both of us and then the two of them set off in the other direction.

“It’s so nice that Logan came to pick Jax up,” Mer says.

“Mmm.” I don’t mention Logan surprising Jax in Vegas. It’ll be a surprise for both of them.

“It was nice of you to pick me up too,” she says and kisses my shoulder. “Thank you.”

“Anytime, baby.” I pay for our parking and toss her bag in the Jeep and soon we’re on the freeway, heading toward Mer’s apartment. “My mom is having dinner at her place tonight at around six. I believe she might have threatened to disown me if I didn’t bring you with me.”

“I’m a mess,” Mer says and looks down at her yoga pants and loose T-shirt. “I’m dressed for a flight, not dinner with my boyfriend’s family.”