Chapter Three
“Please tell me that you know what you’re doing,” McKenna’s concern was evident even though she was trying to disguise it with a strangled laugh.
Cole couldn’t resist the urge to roll his eyes. Luckily, he was looking away from her so she didn’t see his frustration. Seriously? It was a baby crib. How hard could it possibly be to put together? And who appointed his stepbrother’s fiancé as his watchdog?
“Again, why didn’t you ask your man to put this together?” Cole still wasn’t sure how he got nominated for the job, but he’d been told – twice already – that he needed to get it put together quickly because the baby shower was supposed to commence in just a couple of hours and he had to be out of sight by that time. Someone dropped the ball, obviously, and if it weren’t for the fact that this was for Sierra – well, technically this was for him as well – he’d have said no thanks.
“He was supposed to,” McKenna clarified as she paced the floor behind him. “Something came up, and he had to go to a meeting. If I remember correctly, it was your lover who called that meeting.”
Cole grinned. Yes, it was true. Luke did have Tag jumping through plenty of hoops these days. Every time he turned around, Luke was coming up with another idea on what he wanted to do with the club, but changing his mind just as quickly. He wasn’t sure at the moment what the last one had even been.
“I really wish you’d sit down,” he told her, not bothering to look up from what he was doing. “You’re going to wear a hole in the damn carpet.”
“You don’t have carpet,” she retorted, laughing.
At least she was smiling again. It was almost funny how out of sorts McKenna, Ashleigh and Sam were as they ran back and forth through the house trying to get everything ready. Somehow they’d managed to score his house as the location for the baby shower, but it’d been a little tricky. Luckily, Sierra’s mother was just as much a part of this as the others, only her job was to keep Sierra busy today. Cole had offered to be the one to keep her busy, but he’d been told to stop thinking with his dick. He smiled at the thought.
As soon as McKenna’s heels clicked out of the room, Cole busied himself with finishing up. As much as he loved Sierra, and as eager as he was for the baby to be born, he did not want to be involved in this little estrogen-fest.
For the next fifteen minutes, Cole worked diligently while the women busied themselves in the other room. He was grateful for the reprieve. At least he had managed to steer clear of Sam for most of the day. The woman was a nervous wreck. He couldn’t imagine how the others were managing to deal with her at the moment. Maybe he’d be lucky and he’d get to finish his little project in peace and then disappear before anyone noticed.
“Where does this go?”
The sweet voice from the doorway told him that he was not so lucky.
Turning around, Cole saw Ashleigh staring back at him, holding a bolt in one hand and a confused expression on her face.
“It’s an extra piece,” he assured her.
“Are you sure?”
No, he certainly was not. Cole couldn’t help but laugh. It was either that or storm out of the house and tell these high maintenance women to put it together themselves. Not that he actually would do the latter, but it sounded good.
“I’m sure, Ash. Now, get back in there and help Sam.”
Ashleigh nodded her head, but he could tell she still didn’t believe him.
Picking up the bolt, Cole turned to stare back at the crib he’d just put together. Scratching his head, he tried to figure out just where he could’ve possibly gone wrong.
Ten minutes later, Cole was tightening the last bolt – again. He’d just pushed back to his feet when he felt the presence of someone behind him. Turning slowly, he noticed Alex McDermott standing there with a huge grin on his face.
“What the hell are you smiling at?” Cole asked, an answering smile splitting his face.
“Nothing,” Alex said with a chuckle that belied his answer. “I was just called over to supervise, but now that I see you’re finished, I think this calls for a beer.”
Supervise? Cole would’ve laughed if the underhanded scheme was even remotely funny. “I’m thinking more like a six pack. Have you heard from Tag and Luke?”
Cole followed Alex out of the small room that Sierra had set up as the nursery and down the main hall to the living room. When he walked in, he stopped abruptly, staring at the mess of shit hanging from every possible place they could reach.
Lord, he was so glad that Luke would be responsible for the cleanup and not him. That was the deal. He put the crib together, Luke signed on for cleanup. Even if he didn’t know it yet.
“They’re going to meet us at the club in forty five minutes. Logan’s on his way now.”
Thank God they had managed to get out of having to attend the baby shower. At one point, Sam tried to convince them that this was a couple’s baby shower and that he and Luke needed to be there for Sierra. For once, the men managed to win that argument when they practically boycotted going. Needless to say, Sam probably wasn’t all that happy with them, but, if Cole had to guess, Logan more than made it up to her later that night.
“Mind if I catch a ride with you?” Cole asked as he continued staring around the overly decorated living room, streams of pink and white ribbons everywhere.
Yep, he was definitely not going to clean this mess up.
~~*~~
“Put your damn phone down,” Luke growled. “Leave that woman alone and let her enjoy the damned baby shower.”
Cole glanced over at Logan and grinned. The man had been glued to his cell phone for the last twenty minutes, and by the look on his face, it was clear he was texting Sam. Or knowing them, sexting.
“Screw you,” Logan laughed. “You’re just jealous because yours is too busy opening presents to want to have anything to do with you. Or him.” Logan grinned, glancing over at Cole.
“Well, you better enjoy this while you can, that’s all I can say. Before long, you’ll be pulling diaper duty, and there’ll be no running out of the house for a beer with the guys,” Alex said before downing the rest of his beer.
“And what the hell do you know about diaper duty? Aren’t you supposed to be planning a wedding?” Cole countered.
“I think Ashleigh’s got that one covered. She asks my opinion, I nod, and she goes on about her business. It’s not like she’d care if I disagreed with her anyway.”
“I’m still trying to convince McKenna to run off to Vegas,” Tag chimed in.
“Bullshit.” Luke didn’t even bother to hide his opinion behind a cough the way Logan did which incited a round of laughter at the table. “That’s not how I heard it. I was told McKenna wanted to run off to Vegas, but you insist on a real wedding.”
Cole wanted to see his stepbrother get out of that one. There was no way Tag could deny that he was the one who insisted they have a normal wedding. Whatever the hell normal meant.
Cole happened to know that Tag was getting a little antsy about when they were going to get married. They had yet to set a date, and even though Tag said he hassled McKenna about it – good naturedly of course – she hadn’t committed to anything. Cole was pretty sure they didn’t have a valid reason for the delay, aside from Tag being so busy.
“I noticed you two were hanging at the club last Tuesday,” Logan commented, his eyes intensely focused on Tag.
That caught Cole’s attention, and he turned to stare at Tag, fighting the urge to smile. He lost. That was a fascinating tidbit of information if he did say so himself. Considering Tag was as possessive toward McKenna as a man possibly could be, hearing that he was hanging out at the club made Cole wonder whether he might be reconsidering some of his rigid rules.
“Does that mean y’all are looking for something more?” Luke asked, suddenly looking somewhat interested in the direction the conversation was headed.
“We’re always looking for something more,” Tag replied snidely, and Cole sensed a wealth of hidden meaning behind that statement.
Over the last few months, the five men had managed to meet up at least once a week. It seemed as though they all had the relationship thing in common, which somehow equated to some sort of bond – or so Sam and Sierra tried to tell them.
Cole would admit, they’d become pretty close during that time, and they liked to razz each other about their relationships. Tag wasn’t any different, with the exception that he seemed to be in denial these days.
Logan had a point though, Tag and McKenna did seem to be venturing out more these days, and into other areas that Tag hadn’t been keen on previously when it came to her.
“Are you looking for a third?” Luke asked, ever the inquisitive one.
“Let’s just say we’re experimenting. At the moment, I’m not sure where it’ll lead, but we’re not ruling anything out right now.”
The few conversations that Cole and Tag had shared over the last few months went beyond their regular casualty, which was a little surprising. In fact, they’d become closer in a sense, more like brothers should be, and Cole certainly wasn’t complaining. He found it easy to talk to Tag, and it appeared that the feeling was mutual.
During one of their more open discussions, Tag mentioned that McKenna had convinced him that he was being too restrictive on their sex life, although he didn’t agree for the most part. Cole figured it had something to do with the fact that Tag had been a third in several relationships, including Logan’s in the past, yet he’d closed himself off to the possibility once he met McKenna. As it turned out, McKenna was questioning his logic. According to Tag, McKenna had talked him into going to the club on the infamous Tuesday nights just to see where things led.
“What about you? You going to cross over to the dark side one of these days?” Luke asked Alex and Cole noticed the look of utter relief on Tag’s face. Apparently the man was happy to have the conversation redirected.
“Not on your life.” Alex’s response came out easily and based on the expression on his face, he didn’t intend to share his woman with anyone.
Cole knew Ashleigh felt the same, although he’d been privy to a few bedtime stories that Sierra had forced him and Luke to listen to, and holy fucking hell, the woman could write a sex scene that would blow your fucking mind.
“How is she going to keep coming up with material if you’re not experimenting?” Cole asked, grinning. These days, he lived to get Alex riled up, mainly because it seemed Alex had it in for him.
“Who says we’re not experimenting?” Alex sipped his whiskey and stared back at Cole shooting him a look that said “don’t push me”.
The table erupted in laughter, everyone joining in, including Alex.
A deep voice from behind them echoed through the empty bar, and Cole immediately recognized the significant drawl of one of the Walker brothers. “Whatever it is, I’m just glad we didn’t have to hang out for long,”
Cole glanced over his shoulder in time to see Kaleb and Zane Walker heading their way.
“Kaleb. Zane,” Luke turned slightly in his chair. “So glad you boys could join us.”
“Yeah, well, I thought for a minute we weren’t going to get out of there in time. Zoey threatened to make us hide out until it was over,” Kaleb said as the two men took a seat at the table.
“Can I get you guys a beer while I’m up?” Tag asked, standing from his chair and grabbing his empty beer bottle.
“Might want to make that two,” Zane said, sounding defeated. “The only thing I know, I’m just damn happy that ain’t my house. Whoever has to clean that up is gonna to be hatin’ life later.”
Another round of laughter.
“So, what the hell do they do at a baby shower anyway?” Cole asked, Zane’s comment reminding him of the condition the house was in when he left. “Oh, and I’m not cleaning that shit up, man. It’s all on you,” he told Luke, grinning as he said it.
He meant every word.