I might be mad at him, but I still love the man. And right now, he looks like he needs some love.
While I wait for the eggs to finish cooking I head upstairs to get ready to head over to the bar. I want to open tonight, but I had so much left to do yesterday I don’t know if it’ll happen.
Movement in our bedroom catches my eye. It’s Cal. Ass naked.
I’m stopped in my tracks by the sight of all his hard muscles.Stay. Fucking. Strong.
“Sorry. I didn’t have any more sweatpants in the guest room.” He digs around in a drawer, finding what he was looking for. Slipping the tight gray sweatpants that don’t leave anything to the imagination and really are no better than him naked, he turns to look at me. “I’ll just get out of your way.”
He quietly slips past me, careful not to touch any part of his body to mine. The door to his bedroom clicks shut and it’s the loudest damn thing I’ve ever heard.
Swallowing hard, I need to get back to my life. I have adult responsibilities to get to today and throwing all my boundaries to the wind because I saw my husband naked isn’t one of them.
Rummaging in the laundry basket I pull out a pair of leggings and an old tee to get dirty in. Throwing them on, I run downstairs to grab the eggs before they burn.
I burn my fingers pulling the eggs out to get them put up in the refrigerator before I leave. I don’t know when he’ll come back down to eat next.
Me:There’s egg and steak bites in the fridge for you. Xo
I stare at my phone, waiting for anything, even those dreaded three dots. But I get nothing.
Get your shit straight, Jules. Figure it out.
Sighing I grab my purse and head out to the bar. I’m on my own today since Dakota needs to relax with Jaycob feeling better.
Luckily most of the cowboys have already started their day hours ago so I don’t encounter anyone downtown when I park and head to The Hidden Hollow. My second home, my baby, and now my headache.
The door is locked, but when I pull my security system up on my phone, the system isn’t armed. I know damn well I armed it yesterday.
I hesitantly turn the lock with my key, pushing the door open slowly. “Hello?”
Oh right, Jules. Good. Whoever is here to kill you will absolutely respond with a polite greeting.
I reach into my bag, pulling out my concealed carry weapon. You can’t live in Montana and be married to a cowboy without one.
Holding it out with shaky hands, I walk into the dining room. But instead of being greeted by someone lying in wait to kill me, I’m met with a dining room that looks like nothing ever happened. All the chairs are put together. All the tables are righted. All the blood is cleaned up. And every inch of wood gleams as if it’d been polished.
What the fuck?
Pulling up the security feed I go to the video from last night when the system was disarmed.
My breath hitches when I see Cal. He enters the bar at eleven. And doesn’t leave again until six this morning.
Another fucking wave of tears hits me. That man spent all night long cleaning up so I could open today. And brought me breakfast. And most important, he swept up his dirt pile in the middle of the kitchen.
Goddamn it.
Me:> Thank you for cleaning the bar last night. And cleaning up this morning. I’m sorry I’m such a mess lately.
Hubs:I can’t lose you, Jules. I need you. I’ll do whatever you need. I even left the fire squad.
Me:What? Why?
Hubs:You.
Me:Cal.
Hubs:I’ll do anything. I know I keep saying it, and I know I keep fucking up. God, I’m fucking it up so bad left and right. But I want to do whatever it takes. I promise I do.
