“What’s the Tattoo Goo for?” he chuckled, holding the phone on his shoulder as he pried open the tin and immediately took a bite of one of the brownies, closing his eyes in delight, sighing happily.
“I just want your tattoo to stay nice,” Mary had said primly, causing him to hesitate and look around before he spoke quietly.
“Does that mean you like looking at it, Beautiful?”
“You know I do,” she hissed in embarrassment. “Don’t even start…”
“Nah,” Jax laughed softly. “I think you should tell me how much you like looking at my tattoo on my abdomen, because you would have thought you were reading Braille the way you kept…”
“Jax!”
“Okay,” he chuckled. “I’m done.”
“Thank you,” she replied pertly, causing him to laugh again, knowing he’d embarrassed her. He adored his sweet, shy wife, and couldn’t wait to hear her reaction when she opened the package – and knew the second she had.
That instant sound of her drawing in her breath, followed by that throaty laugh that made his knees weak… oh yeah, he wished he could r,ecord that sound and play it repeatedly.
“At least you picked a good thread count,” she said shyly. “I can work with this and they’ll be on the bed when you come home.”
“The rest of the house is yours to do with as you please, but that is the one corner I want to have a say in… because I can’t wait to see all that creamy skin against those satin sheets,” he breathed – only to flinch as a hand touched his shoulder.
“You’re not my type, bro, ” Sparky chuckled openly, leaning into the phone to yell his greeting loudly. “Heyyyy Mrs. Cunningham! Your man’s got some big puppy dog eyes when it comes to you, ya know...”
“Go away, Sparky – please?” Jax said bluntly, not even trying to be polite.
“Gonna talk dirty to the old lady?”
“No…” Jax uttered as Mary laughed easily in the earpiece, knowing he’d been busted by his coworker. “Sheesh, honey, I’ve got to go. He’s taking a seat right beside me and won’t stop laughing at me. I love you.”
“I love you too,” she replied, and he could practically see her smile.
“Awww, y’all are too cute – do continue. Let’s hear about this ‘creamy skin’ you want to see… please?” Sparky taunted, lacing his fingers behind his head. “Let me live vicariously through you two…”
“I’ll call you next weekend – I promise,” Jax said quietly, realizing his timer was going off anyhow on the calling card.
“Call my cell phone on Saturday – I’m flying out to your parents’ on Friday.”
“Thank you for the reminder – I will. They will love you, Mary.”
“I can’t wait to meet them.”
… And now, Mary was there in Montana.
His beloved wife was at his childhood home, being surrounded by his parents, and he knew they would be on cloud nine just meeting her.
His mother was embarrassingly affectionate when he was a teenage boy and had asked a girl to a school dance. His Dad was overly protective, always pulling him aside and giving him pep talks about how ‘real men’act.
He couldn’t imagine what they were saying to Mary – and knew he would be blushing to his core at the stories they were probably telling her. How he chipped a tooth, and how he once slipped and fell in sheep poop. The first time he caught a baby lamb that was being born – and had wept.
His parents probably pulled out the photo albums, too.
Jax groaned painfully, knowing what that would mean.
The photos of him as a toddler in the bathtub, running around naked as a jaybird in the yard with only galoshes on, going to the bathroom off the wood porch when his mother was potty training him…
Oh yeah, they were so proud of him, and took all sorts of photos of him growing up. Blue teeth from the frosting of a birthday cake, running towards first base in little league, photos of him on a snowmobile with that accursed orange pompom on his beanie…
Jax grinned, adjusting his arm behind his head again before trying to roll over to get comfortable. He was positive his mother would have the camera, waiting to get all sorts of photographs of Mary, too.