NATHAN
“Is everything okay?” I say into my phone after answering my driver’s call.
I hear him take a deep breath. “I’m not sure, sir. Mrs. James just left her mother’s house, and she seemed quite upset.”
“Did she say what happened?”
“She said she was fine, but then she … She needed a hug, sir.”
I roll my neck and clench my free hand into a fist. I can guarantee her reaction had something to do with her asshole brother. “Bring her to me.”
“She said she wants to go home, sir.”
“You can get her here faster than I can get home to her. Bring her to me.”
“Of course, sir.”
I end the call and look up to find my dad and brothers staring at me. “Mel just left her mother’s house upset. I told Teddy to bring her here.”
My dad offers me a reassuring nod. “I’ll set another place for dinner.”
Elijah frowns. “Did he say what happened? Is she okay?”
I shake my head. “Teddy didn’t know. She didn’t say, and I know better than to push her on it. There’s some weird dynamic there that I need to get to the bottom of.”
Mason shivers. “Her brother gives me the fucking creeps.”
“He’s a dick,” Elijah adds.
“Well, she’ll be okay here with her new family,” Dad adds, his gray eyes shining. “Maybe you should both stay over?” I don’t miss the plea in his tone. He must be really lonely in this big old house without my mom and us kids. I get now why he’s so desperate for grandchildren, and my heart aches for everything he lost when our mom died.
Stepping away, I dial Mel’s number, and she answers after a few rings. “Hey, corazón, my dad and brothers are giving me shit for not bringing you here today. They miss you. We haven’t eaten yet, so I asked Teddy to bring you here.”
“Oh. I was gonna go home and have a nice long bath. I’m kind of beat.”
“You can soak in the tub here. We’ll stay over and watch one of those cheesy movies you like in bed. I’ll make sure you’re back in time for work tomorrow morning.”
“Okay. That sounds nice.” I can almost hear the smile on her face, and after I hang up, I spend a long moment thinking about how nice it will be to have a family dinner with my wife by my side.
“Wow!” Mel gasps when she walks into the bathroom. “That is a huge tub.”
“Seems like a shame for one person to sit in it alone.”
She folds her arms over her chest and smirks. “Aren’t you supposed to be helping your dad with dinner?”
“Nah.” I dismiss that with a wave. Elijah and Mason can handle it. “Tonight I’m only here to serve you, milady.” I check the temperature of the water. Satisfied that it’s exactly right, I shake the bubbles from my hand and turn off the faucet. “Your bath is ready.”
“It looks incredible.” A smile spreads across her beautiful face. She pulls off her sweater and tosses it onto the floor, and her bra quickly follows. After shimmying out of her jeans and panties, she adds them to the pile.
“Yeah, fucking incredible,” I agree, my eyes roaming over every perfect inch of her naked body.
Her cheeks flush pink. She presses her lips together and shakes her head.
“You can’t give me a sexy striptease and then shake your head at me for admiring the end result, corazón.”
She laughs. “That was not a striptease.”
“Looked like one to me. Now get your sexy ass in this tub.”
She sashays over to me, kisses me on the lips, then climbs into the hot bubbly water. Lying back, she rests her head on the edge and closes her eyes. “Oh, this is so good.”
After pulling off my own clothes and tossing them into the pile with hers, I climb in with her. She scoots forward without me asking, allowing me to slide in behind her. I wrap my arms around her and pull her back against my chest.
“Oh, now this feels even better,” she says with a contented sigh.
I gather her hair in my fist and drape it over her shoulder before pressing a kiss on her temple. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” She sinks deeper into the water. “Did Tedward call you when I left my mom’s house today?”
“He did.”
“Traitor.”
I dip my head and kiss her neck. “Part of his job is to take care of you, Mrs. James. What happened?”
“Just my brother being an asshole. I don’t think I’ll be going back there for a while.”
