Dangerous Exes (Page 41)

I snuggled next to him then answered. “What?”

“Are you still sleeping?”

“All the normal people are sleeping!”

“I’ve been up for hours!”

I rest my case.

“So, the delivery will be made in the next two hours, be ready and awake, I’ll be there as soon as I grab the food. And I know we did away with chickens years ago, but I still bought five for you to set free in your yard. We’ll have them pass beneath the bed, and if the rooster is first you will have a boy!”

I was already holding the phone away from my ear in horror.

“Goo-Poh!” I hissed. “Listen to me, do NOT bring chickens into Jessie’s home!”

“It is as much your home as it is his.”

I gritted my teeth. “This is a chicken-free zone, and no roosters! The bed is already a bit much, but I know you’ve done this for every girl in our family, so I’m allowing it.”

She sniffed.

“Are you crying?”

“I chose the most beautiful red sheets!”

I covered my mouth with my hands when I looked at Jessie’s stark white sheets, white duvet, gray walls. Yeah, he was going to shit a brick.

“Great, sheets are great, just no chickens!”

“But—”

“Goo-Poh! No chickens!”

“Fine,” she huffed. “Do you have any spare children that can jump around on the bed before the marriage?”

My mind immediately went to Blaire and Colin. “Yeah, I think I can rustle up a few children.”

They should be so lucky to have to stay out of this.

“Oh good, this will mean you will have many children.”

“Great, Goo-Poh, love you.”

She hung up.

Typical.

Jessie’s gravelly voice stirred me. “Chickens?”

I groaned. “Go back to sleep.”

“She’s not bringing chickens, right?”

I sighed.

“Your hesitation isn’t comforting me.” He groaned and flipped onto his back then pulled me to his side.

Like it was normal.

Like next week I was walking down the aisle for real.

Like this was our reality.

When both of us were just living without discussing the ramifications of our actions.

I was too afraid to be the first to say something.

Too afraid he’d agree with me.

Too afraid of my own logic—mixed with his.

I was petrified that he’d finally realize that this wasn’t him, that rushing into something like this was so out of character it was only a matter of time before he said the dreaded “We need to talk.” And it would break me.

I tried to straighten my spine, readying my heart for the initial break. Warning my chest it would hurt.

Badly.

“Stop thinking.” Jessie kissed my head. “Just . . . breathe, Isla.”

Funny, because I’d been holding my breath.

I exhaled.

“I’ll be here in the morning,” he whispered so lightly I almost missed it.

Tears welled in my eyes as I clutched him like a lifeline.

He’d gone from my greatest threat.

To my hero.

All within the span of a week.

The easy friendship we’d been trying for before all the drama with Vanessa was back.

With more feelings involved.

And I didn’t know what to do with them except keep breathing and know that when Jessie made a promise.

He kept it.

Chapter Forty-Three

JESSIE

I was on my third cup of coffee when the doorbell rang. I don’t know what exactly I was expecting, but it wasn’t a bed two times the size of the one I already owned.

Goo-Poh was firing off instructions to the poor men carrying it and, by the looks of it, doing a mental calculation of all the things she was going to change about my house.

I was going to break out in hives before the day was done.

“Where is my niece?” Goo-Poh leveled me with a glare. “We must prepare the foods.”

“Food?” I repeated dumbly as Colin and Blaire walked into the house, matching looks of horror on both their faces. Yeah, welcome to life with Goo-Poh.

She waved me off. “The foods, the foods! The ones that I present on a platter, you will both sit on the bed and eat the foods. I can’t believe she said no to the chickens.”

I was going to reward Isla for that later.

She walked out of the bedroom in a pair of skinny jeans and a white top, something that almost disappointed me, I was so used to seeing her in color.

Goo-Poh handed Isla two bags.

I walked over and peeked inside.

Red sheets.

Blood red.

I smirked.

Her pale skin against those sheets?

I could like the bridal bed very much.

“Is that a dragon?” Colin pointed to one of the bedposts the guys were bringing in. On each post was a gold dragon wrapped around a pole, creepily setting their eyes on the bed, on whatever happened on the surface. The headboard had the same ornate dragon design, one on each side, with their talons joined.

It belonged in a museum, that bed.

“For protection.” Goo-Poh beamed.

“Don’t you already have a dragon, Jessie?” Colin winked and then pointed at my dick.

I flipped him off before Goo-Poh turned back around.

“Oh, but these are larger dragons,” Goo-Poh said, not missing a beat.

“Wouldn’t bet on it,” Isla said sweetly while Goo-Poh muttered something under her breath.

It was just the comment I needed as I pulled her into my arms and pressed a kiss to her open mouth. She wrapped her arms around my neck only to be pulled away by Goo-Poh.

“Come, the women make the foods.” She eyed Blaire. “You too, you help us make the foods or you can’t eat.”

I’ve never seen Blaire move so fast.

Leaving me and Colin staring as the movers tried to assemble the bed in my second master suite.

“So.” Colin rocked back on his heels. “You’re sure selling it really well.”

I frowned in confusion and then cleared my throat. “Yeah.”

“Anything you want to tell me about the lines you keep crossing? The sex? The constant touching and kissing? You can’t keep your eyes off her, man.”

To prove his point, my gaze had already found hers from across the room.

I jerked my head away and stared at the floor. “I like her.”

“What was that?” Colin cupped his ear. “I didn’t quite hear you.”

I shoved him. “Don’t be an immature jackass. I like her. I care about her, I’m falling for her chaos . . . I’m . . . drowning in it.”

“Good drowning?”

I nodded.

“Man!” Colin slapped me on the back. “I’m happy for you, this is good. You should at least be smiling right now?”

I rolled my eyes. “I promised to ruin her life, Colin. Repeatedly. And then I went and . . . tried to do just that only to realize that she’s real, everything about her is legitimate, she even let me see her books. Who does that?”

“Someone who trusts you,” Colin said slowly. “So what’s the deal?”

“It’s not real.” I glanced over my shoulder to make sure she wasn’t back already. “There’s an expiration date.”

Colin crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. “So, get a Sharpie and cross that shit out. It’s your life, it’s time you took back control and started living it.”

“Took back control,” I repeated. “I think I’d rather just give it up.”