I wanted to see Abigail. I wanted to see her more than I wanted to fuck her thirty-six hours ago… well, almost. But it isn’t meant to be, so I buy bunches of pretty flowers instead, drop several hundred dollars on the counter, and watch the dude enter it into the register.
If I drop cash and leave, he could pocket it and not tell her, but if I wait for him to enter it into her system, I know it’ll go to her bank, because she’ll reconcile her accounts and find it if it’s missing.
Walking out again and climbing into the Hummer, I head over to Kane’s place and load my arms up with the scented posies like a total… posy.
Who the fuck am I?
I don’t head to Jay’s place, despite the fact he lives across the street. Instead, I go to Kane’s because that’s where everyone always goes. It’s the headquarters when we’re not at Checkmate or at the range.
I head up the steps and let myself inside, then I move toward the chatter in the kitchen, grinning when I find two Bishop boys holding a baby each, and a tiny bottle of milk pressed to the babies’ lips.
“You guys look like pussies.”
“Says the guy covered in flowers.” Snickering, Jess makes her way across the room holding a matching pair of red baby dresses with tiny dinosaur patterns on the skirts.
She’s slow to move, and still has a lot of the baby belly I thought would deflate the day she gave birth.
Guess not.
Her hair is messy, and she carries none of that polished perfection she had when we met. She’s a lawyer, a platinum blonde princess with a fetish for expensive shoes and a bad attitude. But today she’s just… mortal, like the rest of us.
I kind of like it.
“Hey, Jessie.” I lean forward and drop a kiss on her cheek. She blushes, which makes me smile, but then she stands taller and hides the way her stomach hurts her. “I got these for you.” I push a bouquet of what the gay dude called chrysanthemums toward her – pink, like her babies – and smile when her eyes turn misty.
“For me?”
“Of course. You deserve flowers.”
“Lies,” Jay mumbles. “He wanted to check Abigail out. You’re a convenient excuse for him to wander into her shop.”
“Shut your mouth, Bishop.” I step around Jess when I realize she won’t be able to carry her vase, but stop when I find the three-hundred-dollar bouquet I wanted to buy her the other day.
I set the new vase down beside it and turn back.
“Where’d these come from?”
Jess looks away from Kane and Chicken. Or Nugget. Fuck knows which one; the one with black hair.
“Hmm?”
“These flowers. Who brought them?”
Jess’ eyes narrow in thought. “Abby did. She brought them by the hospital the other day. Said they were from you and that you’d paid for delivery. Thank you, by the way.” Her face transforms into a smile. “They’re beautiful.”
“Mm. Welcome.”
I didn’t pay for those, but I got the credit for them.Interesting.
“I installed the system at Reynolds’ place today,” I tell the guys.
“All done?” Kane holds his baby against his chest. His tattooed hand holds a delicate little bottle, while the baby suckles like she’s starving.
I wonder how the hypocritical Mitchell feels about Bishop’s ink?
“Yeah, all done.”
When Sophia walks into the kitchen and grins at Jay, I pull her attention with her own bouquet.