Chapter Thirteen

Cullen

I looked around the fucking hellhole that had become my house and smiled.

My father, the old bastard, had moved in here when I was six or seven. The only toys he kept for me was a collection of Matchbox cars in a shoebox in the foyer closet, because he didn’t want any of my shit fucking up his sweet bachelor pad. He always had the doors to the house open to anyone looking for a party. The liquor was always flowing, with endless lines of coke spread out on the dining room table.

But one thing he didn’t want?

Kid stuff.

I finished putting together the toddler bed and arranged it by the window in the room we’d picked out for Ella, down the hall from my bedroom. “This good?” I asked Grace as I gave it a little shake for good measure to make sure it was sturdy.

She nodded. “Perfect. Thanks.”

She was sitting on the floor, still wearing my t-shirt and a pair of short-shorts, going through all the stuff for Ella. Her hair was loose and messy and I was hoping it was naptime soon, because that meant I could get Grace into bed with me. She pulled out the sheets and started to make the bed.

Ella was playing with the blocks I’d gotten her, looking pretty damn happy. I had no fucking clue what a baby girl would play with, but the saleslady at the department store had been a big help. I told her to just fill up my cart with some of everything a new parent would need for their kid. And she did.

“Some of this we can return,” Grace said, searching through the pile. “She’s really too big for an exersaucer.”

I looked at it. The picture on the side of the box showed a baby that I guessed was younger than Ella. “I have no fucking idea what that thing does.”

“But it’s nice,” she added. “Thank you. I never had a baby shower for Ella. This kind of feels like that.”

“Well, fuck,” I said. “You should’ve had one.”

“And invited who?” she asked, putting her hands on her hips and staring at me like I didn’t have a clue about baby showers. Which I didn’t.

“If you’d been with me, we could’ve invited a bunch of people.”

“Yeah. I would just love to see all the Cobras at a freaking baby shower,” she said with a grin. “We could’ve had finger sandwiches and played Guess the Baby’s Birthdate. Isn’t that what you normally do at church?”

I smirked. “Pretty much.”

Just then, Ella collapsed against the giant bear she was wrestling with and yawned.

“Don’t that mean she’s tired?” I asked, lifting her up and setting the bear against the bed.

Grace gave me a suspicious look and shrugged. “Well, I don’t know, what time is it?”

I checked my phone. “Three.”

She contemplated this. “I usually put her down around four.”

“Will the world end if you put her down early?” I cornered her against the wall, my hands on her bare arms, moving down and trying to cup her tits. No bra. Hell yes. I licked her earlobe. She pushed me away so fast I thought something was wrong. “What? I want to nail her mother.”

She gave me the eye. “Not in front of Ella.”

“Of course. But . . .” I looked over my shoulder at the kid, who was too busy babbling to the bear, trying to get it to talk to her. “I think we’re good.”

She stepped to the side. “She could turn around and see us in a heartbeat. My mother always had men all over her. I’m not doing that to Ella, understand?”

Letting out a breath, I pushed off the wall, just as my phone started to ring. I checked the screen. It was Hart. The king of bad timing.

I kissed Grace’s temple and held up a finger. Stepping out of the room, I answered. “This better be good.”

“When are you going to realize, man, it’s always good when you’re talking to me?” he said, pissing me off. Hart could really sling the bullshit. “You get in touch with the Fury yet?”

“For . . .” Shit. I’d been planning to get in touch with Slade and I hadn’t. “Not yet. Wrapped up in things. I’ll get to it tonight.”

“Cool, man.”

“That what you called me for? To be my warden?” I asked, peeking into the room. Grace was babbling baby talk to the kid, trying to get her to settle into her new bed. Fuck, yes. I’d obey the rules around Ella, but I couldn’t wait to get Grace into my bedroom.

“No. Actually, I’m at the clubhouse. And there’s a package over here for you, man,” he said. “Says on it that it’s urgent and needs to be opened right away.”

“Who from?”

“Doesn’t say.”

Great. “I’ll be over there after a while.” I hadn’t been planning on going anywhere tonight, but if it was Cobras business, it couldn’t wait. Fuck. I knew Grace would give me shit about it.

“Good. Because you know, Dash and Jet were getting riled. You know. Wondering what the fuck is going down because you’ve been mum lately. Anything wrong?”

Of course they were. I was supposed to be setting up that meeting with Slade and all I’ve been doing is playing house here. I needed to focus. This wasn’t how a president of a club behaved.

And if I let it go too long, the guys would try to take matters into their own hands. Especially Dash and Jet, hotheads that they were. They’d fuck everything up.

“Nothing’s wrong,” I ground out.

“Any truth to the rumor going around that you got a kid?”

Fuck. I didn’t want to get into this. I leaned into the phone and murmured, so Grace wouldn’t hear, “A girl I used to know and her kid are staying with me, that’s all. She was in trouble.”

“All right, man. Don’t get all fucked up about it.”

I wasn’t fucked up about it. Was I? Shit, my voice might have risen a notch. “Okay man, see you later.”

I ended the call. I had to play this cooler than I was playing it. The last thing I needed was the Cobras wondering if I’d gone MIA on them. A president didn’t do that. I could balance these things. I knew I could. I just needed Grace to understand that I had other things to deal with. Delicately, this time.

I went into the room as Grace was telling Ella a bedtime story, her eyes drooping closed. When she saw me her eyes popped opened and she smiled around her thumb. “New bed,” she said.

Grace gave her a little hug. “I think she likes her new digs.”

“Nice. Hey,” I said. “Sorry but I’ve got to go. Cobras business.”

She kissed Ella and stood up, following me out into the hallway. “Okay,” she said, her voice breezy, but I knew better than that.

I got the feeling if I hadn’t just bought out all of Target’s baby department, I would’ve been in some serious shit.

I groaned as I wrapped my arms around her. Shit, she made it almost impossible to leave. She reached up and kissed me, long and slow. “You’ll be home at a reasonable hour?”

“Girl, you and I both know that your reason and my reason ain’t the same thing,” I said with a grin. “But I’ll be an hour or so, tops.”

She gave me a doubtful look. “Cobras business? That means two.”

“I’ll bring home dinner. Okay?”

She nodded, satisfied. “Good. Don’t make me miss you.”