“Of course, and if at any time either of us decides this isn’t working any longer, we’ll call it quits.No hard feelings.”
The thought of only fucking Sadie wasn’t nearly as scary as he thought it might be as long as she was only fucking him, too.And he liked the idea that if things didn’t work out or if someone got too clingy, they could just walk away and still be friends.“Okay.That works for me.”He pulled her deeper into his arms.“Just so you know, there hasn’t been anyone since I started hanging out at Big Dick’s every night.”
8
Sadie
It was Tuesday night, and she’d just spent the last several hours Christmas shopping with Calliope and Bellamy, and those two women couldshop.After the first couple of hours, Sadie was ready to go home and take a nap.They’d picked her up at ten, and Sadie was surprised to see Jackson behind the wheel instead of a prospect.She climbed into the back with Bellamy and headed for the shopping mall.
“I was surprised to hear that Jed was picking Oliver up after school.”Bellamy sat with her hands folded on top of her baby belly.
“Oh, yeah.He volunteered last night when I told him I was going shopping with you guys and that you would have Race or someone do it.”
Calliope smiled back at Bellamy, and she could have sworn, despite the black shades he was wearing, Jackson was looking at her in the rearview mirror.
Jackson started off as a trooper, following the women around from store to store, even going so far as to carry several bags for Bellamy.By the fourth store, he was starting to get grumpy, and he kept commenting that Bellamy was going to walk herself into labor.
“Works for me.I’m ready for this little bundle of joy to get here.”
She followed Bellamy and Calliope into another women's store.This one seemed fancier than the ones they'd been in before, but not as high-quality as the things she'd seen in Bling.She absently sifted through the clothes as the other two women chatted and shuffled through the racks.That's how she discovered that they were friends from when they both lived in Boulder.
Shifting the bags to her other hand, she mentally checked off things she was able to find for Oliver.If she wasn't forgetting something, the only things left to buy were the gifts they wanted to get for Cathy's boys.
Jackson sighed heavily for like the tenth time in thirty minutes since they’d been there.Sadie would have laughed if it wouldn't have pissed him off.She was sure he didn't care that Bellamy refused to buy any clothes for herself until after she had the baby, or God-willing, she lost her baby weight.He definitely didn't enjoy listening to her compare the store's inventory against hers, or that some of the things gave her ideas for new items she might be interested in selling.
Calliope stood with her back to Jackson and grinned widely as he sighed yet again.She leaned over and whispered something to Bellamy, then pulled out a sexy little silver dress that she declared she wanted to try on.Jackson waved all of them to head to the dressing room, where he could keep an eye on everyone at the same time.He leaned with a booted foot against the wall and his arms crossed over his chest as he waited for Calliope to try on the dress.
Sadie and Bellamy found a couple of chairs and took a seat as they waited.She leaned over to ask Bellamy what Calliope had said.
“She said she was going to take one for the team.”
“What does that mean?”Sadie frowned.
About that time, the dressing room door opened and out stepped Calliope in a stunning silver satin and lace dress.It dipped low in the front, giving anyone an eye-popping view of cleavage.The middle section was lace and ran at an angle from under her left boob to her right hip.Spaghetti straps held it up, and as she spun around, it dipped low enough that it almost showed the dimples in her back.
Jackson growled, shoved off the wall, and planted a hand in her chest as he backed her into the dressing room, slamming the door behind him.
“That’s what she meant.”
“Don’t you two leave this store!”he shouted through the door.
“That’s our cue to find somewhere else to be.”She hefted herself up and started to go.“Unless you’re into that sort of thing?”
She remembered the expressions on some of the faces of women who went to try things on while Calliope and Jackson were still going at it.Some came out with flushed cheeks and a look of horror on their faces, and others came out with huge smiles, looking back over their shoulders like they would love to trade places with the lucky woman behind door number three.
Ten minutes later, Jackson came out of the dressing room first, a satisfied smile on his face, followed by Calliope.She had an equally satisfied look on her face, but her hair was a little mussed, and her shirt was inside out.When Bellamy pointed it out to her, she flushed bright red, swatted at Jackson, and went back to the dressing room to fix it.His smile only got bigger.
The last store they entered before they found something to eat sold handmade leather goods.They had beautifully crafted leather belts, vests, and wallets, just to name a few things.What caught her eye was a one-inch wide leather bracelet that had two thin braided bands on each side, coming together at a magnetic clasp at the bottom.On impulse, she bought it for Jed.She told herself it was her way of saying thank you, but if she were honest, she just wanted to do something nice for him.They boxed and wrapped it for her at the counter.It was currently in the trunk of her car along with Oliver’s gifts.She’d have to sneak them all in while he was sleeping and hide them at the top of her closet.
A couple of hours into her shift, she got a text from Jed that he was running late and would be there at closing.She assured him that she was fine and he didn’t need to come if he was busy.His reply was quick.“I’ll be there at closing.Period.”
Her shift flew by surprisingly quickly as she spent her time chatting with the customers and Lenny.When she made a run back to the storeroom for more gin, she couldn't keep the smile from spreading across her face as she remembered what she and Jed had done back there.
Ugh.It was so damn hard not to get sucked into everything that was Jed.He was hotter than hell; that was a given.He also had a funny sense of humor and a way to make her feel as if she were the only woman in the world when his attention was focused solely on her.He never paid any attention to any of the women trying to draw his attention or their attempts at flirting with him when he'd taken them out to eat or when he was sitting at the bar watching her work.She tried not to read too much into that, but she was afraid she was doomed to fall head over heels for the guy.
At closing time, she couldn't wait to lock the door as the last customer left.She threw the lock and hurried through her cleanup routine.Dick had said that if she could gather up all the dirty glasses and put them in the sink, he'd deal with it and the trash tomorrow.He said he would get Tony to come in early to clean the floors.
She checked her messages and didn’t see anything else from Jed, then checked the time.It was 2:30, and she was tired.She wanted to go home and climb into bed.She shot him a quick text saying she was finished and locking up.She was headed home.She shoved her phone in the pocket of her coat, set the alarm, and stepped out into the cold night.
