“That’s not true.” Gemma turned to him. “He’s come in the middle of the night. My mom told me he came that first night, but left before I woke up, and then I seem to remember having a little dream last night. It wasn’t a dream was it?”
She’d woken up, groggy and so tired she couldn’t stand it. He’d been sitting there watching her. He’d tucked her back in and cuddled her back to sleep. He was kind of glad she remembered. He’d had to leave early. He’d had to go all the way to Colorado Springs to do what he needed to do.
“Where the hell have you been?” Jesse didn’t seem impressed. He got to his feet with no trouble.
Cade hoped that was the case because he’d already talked to Doc Burke and Gemma was in the clear for some playtime. Turned out the doctor had kept her in the hospital more for Jesse’s sake than her own.
But Gemma still looked fragile. Maybe he should just take her home and put her in bed.
“Are you going to answer me?” Jesse asked.
“Stop.” Gemma got between the two of them but not the way Cade wanted her. “He’s here. Let’s just let him be.”
“I don’t know that’s going to work for me.” Jesse’s eyes were lasers threatening to take Cade out. “I wanted a partner, not someone who just shows up for sex every now and then.”
He deserved that so he didn’t put a fist through Jesse’s face. “I’ve been in Colorado Springs taking out a couple of loans. And you might have only wanted one partner, but now you have two.”
“What?”
This was the part that hopefully didn’t get him killed. He was making a lot of decisions that he probably shouldn’t be making, but he needed them to know he was in. “We’re buying into Long-Haired Roger’s shop. He’s agreed. It’s going to be Roger and Sons from now on. I know we’re not really his sons, but he says he thinks of us that way and he can’t leave the business to Princess Two. Though he tried. If he outlives that dog, you should know she becomes our legal property and there’s a whole list of crap that animal needs including something about expressing some sort of sac that sounds god awful. Let’s just keep Roger alive.”
“How did you do that?” Jesse stared at him, his mouth slightly open in shock.
“Well, first off, I sold the Camaro.”
Jesse gasped. “Your dad’s car? But you’ve kept that for years. You spent so much time rebuilding it. Why would you do that?”
“To pay off Gemma’s medical bills before I left town for good.”
They both started talking at once. Jesse promising a good ass kicking and Gemma trying to give him logic.
“Stop. I’m not leaving. I’m not going anywhere. But once I figured out Gemma’s bills had been paid, I thought I should put the money to better use. So I talked to Roger, and we’ll go full time and he’s going to start taking more jobs, including restoration jobs and custom bikes. We’re buying the new equipment we need. Roger gives up the space to work. And”—he took a deep breath—“I also bought Holly Lang’s old cabin. Doc Burke bought a big place on the mountain as an engagement present and they moved in yesterday. We still owe a lot on it, but it’s ours and it came fully furnished.”
They both just stared, and Cade sincerely hoped they weren’t just going to walk out on him. He talked as quickly as he could, praying they would listen. “Look, if you don’t like it we can always talk to Doc, and he’ll probably give us the down payment back, but I like the valley and I think it’s a great place. The cabin is small, but when we’re ready, we can add on. We have river access and the views are spectacular, and Gemma’s mom is right down the road and it’s normally fairly safe and it’s not far from work.”
“Shut up.” Gemma stared at him intently.
He closed his mouth, looking at Jesse, whose frown had been replaced with a big smile. But Gemma kept staring at him.
“You really bought us a cabin of our own?” she asked.
“Yeah. I know I should have talked about it, but someone else was interested and I had to move fast and…”
“Shut up.”
He stopped.
Gemma walked up to him, her lips curving in a smile. “Well, then, Cade Sinclair. I suspect you should take us home.”
One more damn confession. This was the worst of all. “I traded the bike for a car. A piece-of-crap, probably-will-break-down-in-a-heartbeat Jeep.”
“You traded your Harley?”
He shrugged. “Gemma, I bought that bike as a symbol. I was going to be free. But I don’t want to be free and you can’t put a baby seat on the back of a bike. And the three of us can’t ride together on a bike, so I traded it in. Got a horrible deal, really.”
Her smile nearly lit up his world. “Well, you’ll have to let me do the negotiating from now on. Won’t you?”
He would give it all up to her. “Damn straight.”
“Speaking of negotiations, so let me see, you come with a tiny cabin, a half-baked business idea, a shitty Jeep, and a ton of debt.”
Yeah, put that way he didn’t sound like a premier catch. Still. “Marry me.”
She tilted her head up. “You know I never turn down a good deal. Yes.”
He kissed her soundly as Jesse slapped him on the back and joined in.
Chapter Twenty
Gemma sighed as Cade carried her over the threshold of their brand-new, slightly ragged, and all-theirs cabin. This place was hers. A place to build on. A place to raise their family.
“I get to carry her next time,” Jesse groused as he followed behind, but there was a smile on his face that belied his words.
“I’m only carrying her this time because I’m not the one who got shot.”
“Fine, next time you get to be shot.”
God, she hoped there wasn’t a next time. “Stop talking about the very scary past and kiss me.”
Cade set her on her feet, and his lips brushed hers. “Love you, G.”
Just like that her world went dreamy and everything seemed more beautiful than it had been before. “Love you, too.”
Jesse rested his head against hers, his front cradling her back. “I love you so much. We both do.”
He and Cade exchanged a long look. It was a look between partners, one she couldn’t ever hope to fully understand, but she appreciated it. It meant they would love her and take care of her and share the burdens and joys that came with being a family.
She looked around, and Cade had been busy with more than just the bank. “You moved everything in here.” Her pictures were already up. She had no doubt all their clothes had been brought in and put away. Instant home from her side, but for Cade it had been hours and hours of work. For her. For them.
“I wanted us to be able to get to the good part.” Cade lifted her up again, cradling her in his arms.
“Damn straight, partner. I haven’t been inside her for days. I couldn’t get her to do it in the hospital.” Jesse followed behind as Cade made his way to the bedroom.
Jesse had tried. As soon as he could walk freely, he’d been in her bed, kissing and teasing and nearly tearing his tiny stitches. “You were shot a couple of days ago.”
“In the gut, baby. Not in the cock. The cock is perfectly fine and ready to go.” Jesse had the biggest grin on that handsome face. He hadn’t seen a razor in days, and it looked so hot on him.
“Gemma, are you in charge in the bedroom?” Cade asked, his voice harder than she could remember. His jaw was a gorgeous hard line.
She didn’t want to be in charge in the bedroom. Everywhere else, yeah. She was that kind of girl. But not here. Here she wanted her men to be in control. Both of them. “No, I’m not.”
Cade kicked open the door to their bedroom. He’d been hard at work here, too. She nearly cried at the sight of the bed. It was covered with a pretty quilt and strewn with wildflowers. Purple blossoms made a lovely pattern across the bed. She’d been given beautiful flowers before, but these had been picked by his hand especially for her. These were the loveliest thing she’d ever seen.