I go to reply, but she doesn’t let me. “And you should know better! I don’t care if you have three dicks or thirty-three dicks. It’s just not like you to risk being caught in public.”
She’s not wrong. Prior to the kidnapping, I never would have risked something like that. It just shows how much I’ve changed. Whether it’s me or the drugs, I’m not entirely sure, but there was something about getting fucked by Cole in public that made it that much hotter. Even while faking it in the closet with Ash, there was a small part of me that wished it wasn’t fake.
“If you give me a moment, I’ll get dressed and come explain it to all of you. Then I don’t have to tell the story more than once.”
She looks at me carefully, and I almost flinch. It’s like she’s looking into my soul, like she can see how freaking messed up I am inside. But it’s only then that I realize she’s looking a little pale. “Hey, are you okay? How is our baby? She treating you well?” A rueful smile twists her lips as she stands up, rubbing her flat tummy.
“Baby Jax is definitely making themself known at random times of the day. Thankfully, it’s over quite quickly. I’ve been reading that some women are queasy and constantly sick through their whole pregnancy. I hope I’m not one of them, because I don’t have time for it at the moment. At least there are lots of plants that I can emergency puke into at the zoo.”
I look at her stomach with awe. Leaning over, I place a little kiss on it and whisper, “Hey you, this is Aunty Jazzy. How about we give your mama a break? Wait until you get out and you can have fun with all your daddies.” God, all of these pregnancies are making me feel my own biological clock ticking. Little snippets of golden blonde girls with green eyes or icy blond boys with mismatched eyes pop into my thoughts. Shane taking those children to the park or the zoo. Fuck, I am hungover if I’m having those kinds of delusions.
I sit back and grin up at my sister. “Okay, things are good now. We’ve come to an understanding.” She giggles and leans down to give me a kiss on the cheek.
“Get dressed and get moving. Stop trying to distract me.”
“Yes, ma’am.” I salute her with my spare hand and quickly drain the rest of my coffee. Putting the cup on the bedside table, I throw back the covers and stretch. Everything aches, so first things first, I need something from my handbag.
I hop up and go over to where I left my basic black bag that goes with everything and search around for some Tylenol. Tucked into a zippered pocket are the few little baggies of cocaine I brought with me. The good thing about a private jet is that we don’t have to go through a security checkpoint.
I pop out a couple of pills and grab some water from the attached bathroom. Once the Tylenol has been swallowed, my hair is in a messy bun, and I’m back in my sweats, I can’t dawdle anymore, so I take myself out to the lounge area. When I open the door to the bedroom, Jilly must hear because she pokes her head out of the galley.
“Hey, there you are! Are you feeling any better?” she asks me. Jilly is gorgeous, and if I swung that way, I might have made the same kind of mistakes as my brother and slept with one of the flight attendants. But as it is, we’ve become good friends over the years. I love to hear tales of her various partners and her adventures in other countries.
“Yeah, a little. Another cup of caramel coffee wouldn’t go astray though.” I lean against the galley as she makes easy work of the small cappuccino machine that’s there. “Did we put you and the guys up at the new hotel?” I ask her, and Jilly grins cheekily.
“You sure did, and Icannotwait. I haven’t spent any time with the guys recently, and I miss them. So, if you don’t see us at the grand opening dinner, don’t come looking for us.”
“Just stick a Do Not Disturb sign on the door. No one will bother you.” I chuckle. “I’m so freaking envious.”
She gives me the side-eye. “Oh, from the look of the tabloids, you’ve been having your fair share of excitement.”
“Despite how it appeared, I really wasn’t,” I mumble as she passes over the cup of coffee.
“Oh, so you just tripped and ended up in a closet with the gorgeous Lord Ashton Lavington?” She wiggles her eyebrows, and we both laugh.
“Yeah, something like that. Thanks for this. I better go face the music.”
“They love you, babe. They will forgive any mistakes.” She gives me a squeeze on the arm and starts to clean up the mess.
As I walk down the passage to the lounge area, I hear the low-key hum of voices over the engines. But when I step out into view, everyone stops dead.
“Wow, way to make a girl feel comfortable.” I flop down on the sofa next to Hope, who’s shifted over so there’s room between her and Harlow. When I look around, I realize that Cole and my brothers are missing.
“Where are the boys?” I ask.
“They’re watching a movie. How are you feeling?” Dad asks. He has Molly and Emma on either side of him, and they look like they might have been doing a crossword puzzle together if the book in Dad’s hand is any indication.
“That must have been a mighty hangover.” Poppy has a novel in his hand, and Nana, who is next to him, has her knitting out. It looks like she’s working on the quilt she’s making for Kai’s baby. She’s the one who passed on her love of knitting to me, but I haven’t had a lot of time for it lately.
I groan and slide down a little more, taking a larger sip of my coffee. “I may have made a few mistakes last night.”
Hope snorts. “A few?” Harlow smacks her on the back of the head.
“Can you message the guys and get them down here? I’ve already explained what happened to Hope and Cole, so I only want to explain one more time.”
Harlow does as I asked, and within a few quiet moments, the guys all make their way into the lounge area, finding places to sit or stand. Oliver leans in, giving me a kiss on the cheek.
“You dirty lucky wench. Ashton is delicious.” Of course, he has no indoor voice, so Harlow hears, delivering him a smack to the back of the head. “Aw, babe. I’m allowed to look! I mean, we probably should vet who our sister is having sex with. You know that my heart lies with you and Den.”
