Smolder (13 page)

I
reached over to her and stroked her cheek with my fingers.

“Every
night for the rest of your life, princess,” I said and she grinned at me. She
kissed my fingertips and told me she loved me before we finished eating our
huge breakfast in front of a warm, crackling fire.

We
spent the next two days making love, taking in our favorite sites in New York
City, and putting a huge dent in our bank account (I always smiled every time I
thought about everything being ours now) spoiling my new wife. Sadie had two
huge walk-in closets at the house and even though Lord knew she didn’t need any
more clothes, I still bought her anything her heart desired.

We
also visited Cartier after I insisted that she deserved the biggest and most
beautiful diamond ring in the world, even though she was a little worried to
wear it. After some convincing (which mainly consisted of her trying to argue
and me kissing and touching her in all the right places until she caved) she
ended up deciding on a six carat diamond ring that she promised to wear when
the time was right.

We’d
successfully been able to keep the reason for this trip under wraps when our
phones started blowing up with calls and messages from the family wanting to
know why we suddenly up and left for New York. The story we’d stuck to was the
one Sadie suggested after the wedding that Jake and Olivia were going to get
married and needed witnesses but backed out at the last minute. Luckily
everyone bought the story and it seemed to make them back off for now. As happy
I was being in our own world for now, keeping this secret was going to be hell
and hopefully we wouldn’t have to keep it for long.

On
the third day it was time to go home and back to our reality but it also
happened to be Thanksgiving Day. Unfortunately we had an early morning flight
so we had to be awake at the ass crack of dawn if we wanted to make it home in
time for the big dinner Everleigh was hosting at her and Ryder’s house. Just as
the hotel attendants were taking the rest of our bags and Sadie was doing a
quick sweep of our suite to make sure we weren’t forgetting anything, my cell
phone rang. I looked at the display and saw that Everleigh was calling me so I
swiped my screen and held the phone to my ear.

“Hey
sis, what’s going on?” I answered.

“Jude,
good, I was hoping to catch you before you boarded the plane,” Everleigh
exclaimed and sounded like she was out of breath.

“Everything
okay?” I asked her.

“Yeah,
everything’s great. I just wanted to make sure that you and Sadie will be back
for dinner tonight.”

“Why
are you out of breath?”

“Because
I’m running around this kitchen like a chicken with my head cut off trying to
get this food ready.”

“Everleigh,
it’s like seven in the morning, calm down. Isn’t there going to be someone
there to help you with all of that stuff?” I asked her as Sadie walked back
into the room with her coat on. She had the tickets in her hand and mouthed,
“Let’s go,” and I nodded at her.

“It’s
Thanksgiving, Jude,” she said, like that was supposed to explain why she was
awake at an ungodly hour. “Danni and Jessie will be here in about an hour and
thankfully Shona came over early to help but it’s just us until they get here.
Dan and Brenda should be here around noon and John is picking up Jagger, Cash,
Logan, and Zayne at the airport and then they’re going to watch the football
game with Ryder, Kris, and Beau. I guess Jake and Olivia are spending the
holiday with her family, at least that’s what Jagger told Ryder.”

Great.
Jagger was coming. I wasn’t thrilled to see him, especially since he’d been
frequently hitting on my wife for the last year, but I guess I could take
comfort in the knowledge that he wouldn’t try to mess with Sadie around Beau.

“Well
don’t worry, sis, we’ll be back on time. The flight won’t be long and as soon
as we drop our stuff off at the house we’ll be right over,” I replied as we
left the suite.

“Who’s
that?” Sadie asked.

“It’s
Everleigh, she just wanted to make sure we’d be back in time for Thanksgiving
dinner,” I replied.

Sadie
grinned and loudly said, “Hi Ev! Don’t worry, I’ll make sure we make it even if
I have to fly the plane myself!”

Everleigh
giggled and said, “Tell her hi for me. Did you two have fun while you were
there?”

“Oh
yeah, we had a great time,” I grinned as we walked onto the elevator.

“That’s
good to hear. You sound happy,” she replied.

“I
am, Ev.”

“I
can’t believe Jake and Olivia almost got married. That’s crazy right?” she
asked me.

“Uh
yeah, crazy,” answered, looking pointedly at Sadie. “They didn’t do it though.”

“That’s
good. I mean, if they love each other nothing should stop them, but I think
they’d be cheating their friends and family out of seeing them getting married,
don’t you think?”

I
felt a strong pang of guilt stab me right in the heart. I knew eventually we’d
hear something like this but I didn’t expect it so soon. I needed to change the
subject because if I stopped to think about it I was going to freak out and end
up blurting out our secret once we got back home.

“Yeah,
I guess. Listen we’re about to check out and we need to head to the airport. We
should be home in a couple of hours, okay?”

“Okay,
you both have a safe flight. See you soon!” she chirped into the phone.

“Yep,
see you sis.” I ended the call and rested my head on the wall of the elevator.
“Shit.”

“What
is it, big guy?” Sadie asked me, placing her hand on my arm.

“I
feel bad, babe. Ev just got to me.”

“What
did she say?” she asked, her eyes wide with concern.

“She
just told me she was glad that Jake and Olivia didn’t get married because if
they did they’d be cheating everyone out of being a part of it.” I hung my head
before I looked into her eyes. “I’m trying not to think too much about it,
Sadie, but we need to decide what and when we’re telling everyone and it needs
to happen soon.”

“I
know, just calm down. We’ll figure this out but for now, this is just about us
being in love, finally married, and extremely happy. Okay?” she asked, blinking
those damned beautiful eyes at me.

I
sighed and kissed her.

“Okay.
I guess we’ll play it your way for now. Just promise me it won’t be, like,
months until we tell everyone. Deal?”

“Deal.
Let’s go home, hubby,” she answered as she took my hand just before the
elevator doors opened. We checked out of the hotel and headed to JFK in our
rental car. Thankfully after we turned the car in, we got through security
fairly easily and boarded our plane without any issues.
If only everything
to come would be this easy
, I thought to myself as we settled into our
first class seats and I tried to relax as we flew home.

A
few hours later, we’d arrived back in Cincinnati on schedule without a hitch.
As soon as we dropped our luggage off at the house, we changed clothes and then
drove straight to Ryder and Everleigh’s house for Thanksgiving dinner and still
had about an hour to spare before it was supposed to start. We pulled into the
driveway and as soon as I shut the engine off, Sadie took my hand in hers.

“Just
relax, Jude. It’s going to be okay. Do you trust me?”

I
nodded and answered, “Yeah. I do. I know it’ll all work out. I’m just being a
pussy.”

She
giggled and replied, “Yeah you are. Well quit acting like a pussy for today and
I’ll make sure you can have all the real pussy you can handle when we get home
tonight, okay?”

I
laughed out loud and leaned over to kiss her, the last kiss I’d be able to
steal until we left tonight.

“God
you’re awesome. I love you so damn much, baby. Let’s go do this,” I said and
she kissed me quickly one last time before we got out of the car and walked up
the path to Ryder and Everleigh’s front door.

Sadie

I
couldn’t believe I was married to the man of my dreams, the only man I’ve ever
really loved. Despite the fact that we had to hide that love from everyone for
a minute, I’d never been happier in my entire life. I gave my husband’s hand
one more quick squeeze before the front door opened and an exasperated
Everleigh smiled at us.

“Sadie,
thank God! Come help me in the kitchen, it’s all hands on deck. Hey Jude,”
Everleigh said as he gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before taking my hand
and practically dragging me into the house.

“Okay
Ev, slow down. Just let me say hi to my niece and nephews and I’ll be right
there,” I stated and she nodded.

“All
right Sadie. Five minutes,” she commanded, looking frazzled as she practically
ran through the house and into the kitchen.

I
giggled as I walked through the living room on my way to Max’s play room and I
tossed a glance back at Jude, who was fist bumping his greetings to Kris and
Ryder, and he looked at me and winked. I smiled back at him and bit my lip to
contain my squeal as I entered the play room where Shona was sitting in a
rocking chair holding a sleeping Kallum while Harlowe and Max were asleep in
separate cribs.

Shona
smiled brightly at me, her blue eyes shining with warmth.

“Welcome
back, love. How was your trip?” she asked.

“Oh
it was great. I love New York City in the winter. The whole city is so
beautiful covered with snow.”

“I
bet it is. I’ve never been there before.”

“Really?”

“Not
yet. It’s on my list though,” she replied. “It took me years to save the money
just to make it to the States but with my income now I should be able to
hopefully make it soon.”

“Oh
you will, babe. Eternal Down is based out of New York so you will be going when
you accompany Jess on any business trips. You’ll love it.”

“I
know I will, it sounds exciting,” she answered. She grinned at me mischievously
and asked, “So, are you going to tell me how much fun you had being alone with
Jude for a few days?”

My
mouth fell open and I asked as innocently as I could, “What are you talking
about?”

“Oh
give me a break, lovey. I knew from the moment I saw you and that stallion
together for the first time that it was love.”

“Stallion,
huh? He’d love to hear you call him that,” I replied nervously.

“Seriously,
how long have you two been together? I hadn’t heard anyone mention anything
about you being a couple so it’s obviously a secret.”

I
sighed and took a seat in the glider next to her.

“About
four months and it’s only a secret from the other members of the band. Ev,
Jess, and Danni know.”

“Why
don’t the others know about it?” she asked as she tucked a lock of her
beautiful red hair behind her ear.

“Because
Beau is my big brother and he’s protective of me. Even though he has absolutely
nothing to worry about with Jude, he’s been pretty clear that he thinks the two
of us together wouldn’t be a good idea.”

Shona
rolled her eyes and replied, “Okay, please don’t take offense to this, Sadie,
but your brother is
lula
.”

“Lula?
What the hell does that mean?” I asked, laughing.

Giggling,
she answered, “Lula means crazy, it’s slang where I’m from.”

I
continued to laugh and said, “Well then yeah, I guess Beau is
lula
when
it comes to me and Jude. I know he’s trying to protect me and all but I don’t
get why he’s so against this. Jude’s like his brother and they’ve been best
friends since kindergarten. He should know that Jude would never, ever hurt
me.”

“I
know but brothers are different when it comes to their baby sisters,” she said,
and for a moment I saw sadness in her eyes. She blinked a few times and turned
her mouth up into a smile. “He just wants to make sure you’re happy.”

“I
am, Shona. I’ve never been happier in my whole life.”

“Well
then nothing else matters, love. Everything will fall into place,” Shona said
with a wink.

Just
then, Everleigh popped her head into the play room and said, “Sadie, I need
some help. I’ve got three dozen boiled eggs that need to be deviled as soon as
humanly possible.”

“All
right, I’m coming, Ev,” I said, standing up.

“Well
now that all the little ones are sleeping I can definitely pitch in to get
things ready,” Shona offered.

“Really?
That’d be great,” Everleigh replied. “Thank you Shona.”

“No
problem, let me just lay this precious one down and I’ll be there.”

“Great,
thanks! Come on, Sadie,” she said, taking hold of my arm and practically
dragging me out of the room. She quickly led me through the house and I called
out my hellos to the guys again as we entered the kitchen where Danni was at
the stove stirring something that looked like gravy, Jessie was chopping
vegetables, and Brenda was putting the finishing touches on some kind of pie.

“Ladies,
look who finally made it,” Everleigh said cheerfully (and slightly hyper). I
said a collective hello to everyone as she led me over to the other kitchen
island where all of the ingredients for deviled eggs were all set out. “Shona
is putting Kallum down and then she’ll be in to help. You know how to make
deviled eggs Sadie?”

“Yeah,
I think this is the one thing I do know how to make. Don’t worry, Ev, I’ve got
this. Go check on the turkey or something,” I answered, chuckling.

“So,
how was New York?” Danni asked me.

Everleigh
handed me an apron and I wrapped it around my waist as I replied, “Uh, it was
good.”

Jessie
laughed and asked, “Just good? Please, girl, you practically floated in here on
a cloud.”

I
smiled like a fool as I started cutting the eggs in half and placing the yolks
into a large mixing bowl.

“It
was
amazing
,” I said dreamily and everyone giggled.

“Oh
I don’t doubt that for one minute. I’d be acting the same way if I’d spent
three days alone with that beast of a man,” Brenda answered. “Hell, if he’s as
big
there
as he is everywhere else I’d need a wheelchair to get around.”

At
that point everyone busted out laughing and Danni said, “Mom, stop thinking of
my friends naked.”

“I’m
just saying,” Brenda answered, dropping a generous dollop of whipped cream on
the top of a pumpkin pie.

“Well,
quit it, it’s gross,” Danni said with a chuckle. “But, while we’re on the
subject, do the goods match up, Sadie? We all know you two have been doing it
for a while now but we’ve never heard details.”

I
was smiling so widely that my face was starting to hurt. Sighing, I replied,
“You have no idea. I’m surprised he doesn’t have trouble walking himself having
to carry that thing around. It should be classified as a weapon.”

Brenda
winked at me and said, “Lucky girl. You’d better nail that guy down, don’t want
him getting away.”

“Trust
me, he’s not going anywhere, Brenda. We love each other so he’s stuck with me.”

Jessie
gasped and asked, “He told you he loves you?”

Oh he did more than that
, I thought to myself.

“He
did,” I answered, grinning at her but deep down I was feeling a bit guilty. I
hated to look at my friends, my
sisters
, and lie to them but I needed
some time to figure out just how I was going to let everyone know that Jude and
I were married. For now, I’d have to just keep that to myself and just be happy
and in love, even if parts of that love had to remain a secret for now.

Jessie
looked like she was starting to tear up and I asked, “What’s wrong Jess?”

She
shook her head and smiled, saying, “Oh nothing. It’s just…I’ve worried about
Jude finding someone for such a long time and now that you two are together…”
She paused before continuing, “This is so great. I’m happy that you are happy.”

“I
really am, Jess. I love him so much and he loves me too and I don’t think I’ve
ever been this happy in my life.”

“So,
does that mean you are finally going official and telling the guys you’re
together?” Everleigh asked.

“I
don’t know about that yet, Ev. We’re still figuring things out.”

“Well
you need to do it soon before you both get into this any deeper. Let Beau and
the guys in from the beginning. He’ll be upset but if he knows about it when
the relationship is in the first few months he might not be as mad when you
tell him,” Danni replied.

Shit.
Shit, shit, shit!
My brother was going to flip the fuck out when he
learned what we’d really been hiding. I didn’t want to think about this anymore
because if someone said one more thing I was afraid I’d end up running into the
living room and confessing everything.

“Maybe,”
I shrugged. Changing the conversation, I asked, “So when is everyone else
getting here?”

Danni
huffed out a laugh and continued stirring the gravy and Everleigh answered,
“John should be here with Jagger and the guys any minute. I’m actually excited
for them to come. I haven’t seen them in a while and they’ve not been here to our
house since before Max was born.”

As
happy as I was to see the members of Eternal Down, I was a bit nervous to see
Jagger especially now that Jude and I were married. He usually behaved himself
when everyone was together, but it still made me nervous, especially since I
still had to act like I was single for the whole night.

“Well
I hope they come hungry because I think there’s enough food here to feed a
small army,” I replied as I continued slicing the eggs and putting the yolks
into a mixing bowl. Shona came into the kitchen in that moment to help and she
got right to work as we all continued to chat and finish cooking. By the time
we were finished and dinner was ready, John had arrived with Cash, Logan,
Zayne, and Jagger and everyone was filing into Ryder and Everleigh’s dining
room to take their seats for dinner.

As
soon as everyone had taken their seats (luckily I was seated next to Jude and
Jagger was all the way on the other side of the table at the end) Ryder carved
the turkey and we all started to stuff our faces with some of the most
delicious Thanksgiving food I’ve ever had. Everyone seemed relaxed and happy to
be together and that made my nervousness subside tremendously.

Despite
the fact that Jude and I were harboring a pretty big secret, I was having a
good time eating, laughing, and genuinely enjoying the company of everyone in
the world that meant something to me.  I’d realized while we were chatting
during dinner that I hadn’t really gotten to spend much time catching up with
Cash, Logan, and Zayne during the recording process of their album. Since
Jagger was the lead singer I was used to just dealing with him and the rest of
the band recorded what they needed to and sent it to me to clean up. I kind of
wished I’d gotten more interaction with the rest of the band because of how
much Jagger had stressed me out.

I
loved working with them and making their music sound amazing, but even though
producing this album was a huge boost for me professionally I decided that I was
going to take my time picking my next band to produce. The offers had been
pouring in but I wasn’t ready to deal with another stressful lead singer just
yet. Besides, I was a new wife and wanted to enjoy the beginning of my marriage
with the man I’d always dreamed of marrying.

As
soon as everyone was finished eating, we all stayed sitting around the table
talking and catching up. It had been a great day and I’d even found a way to
sneak in a few feels on Jude under the table. I felt like I was in high school
and I was hiding my secret crush from my clique but I didn’t care. His reaction
when I ran my hand up his thigh and rubbed him right over his crotch had me
giggling so hard that I almost choked on my wine and almost made him spit his
out of his mouth. Luckily I played it off like I was getting tipsy and everyone
went back to their dinner but it was still funny to me.

“Well,
I have to say, this is the best Thanksgiving dinner I’ve had in a long time,”
Cash stated as he took a long drink of his beer. “Traveling musicians don’t get
to eat like this very often so it’s nice to be able to sit down and eat at a
table like a normal person. Seriously, Everleigh, thanks for having us over to
your house.”

“You’re
very welcome, and I’m glad you liked it, Cash,” Everleigh answered. “I just
wanted us all to get together this year as a group now that we’re all expanding
our families. All of you guys have always been so nice to me ever since Ryder
and I started dating and I’ve always thought of the four of you as my family
too. I’m so happy you all came.”

“We
were happy you invited us, Ev,” Logan answered. “Like Cash said, it’s not often
we get to do this so I’m glad we at least got to spend the holiday with
friends. With the exception of Jagger, most of us don’t have family back home
so this is definitely nice.” Zayne was sitting on my other side and I noticed
him stiffen at the mention of family.