Dragon Star (A Shifter Football League Novel) (32 page)
Read Dragon Star (A Shifter Football League Novel) Online
Authors: Aurora Reid
There would be enough lumber to carve a few hundred million dollar homes each year. They were opening up to branding and producing different products, keeping the green, handmade aspect of the bear’s work, which had proved quite popular in the marketplace. The future looked very bright indeed.
“How’s he doing?” her father’s secretary, now under Mia’s wing, asked her. She sipped on a fruity margarita off to the side of the pool, far away so she wouldn’t get splashed.
She was talking about her father, in prison now. Mia had just visited him. It wasn’t much fun.
“Better,” Mia said honestly.
Her eyebrows rose. “Better?”
“Yes, actually, at least now he’s kicking that bad habit. I wish it didn’t have to happen the way it did, but he’s less arrogant now.”
She nodded. “That
is
a good thing. I might be skeptical though, I hope you understand. I didn’t think it was possible for your father to be less arrogant.”
“You’ll see in…” Her gut dropped when she thought about the ten years or more it would take for her father to get out.
Perhaps he would make amends, somehow, and get out sooner.
As long as he stayed away from her big bear after too. Jax was having a hard time forgiving him for allowing those bullets to fly.
Her solemness turned to exhilaration when Jax announced the food was ready. Everyone started lining up. Kids charged out of the pool like a stampede of water buffalo. Mia opened her arms and hugged her bear, missing doing that since he’d been so busy for long hours preparing the meal.
“It smells delicious.”
“How did it go?”
“Fine, he actually seems to be doing better.”
Jax didn’t look so sure. “At least, he can’t drink there. Right?”
“They can cook up some hooch, I bet, but it doesn’t look like he’s touched any of it.”
“That’s good,” he said, staring off blankly. His muscles tensed.
“At least you’ll be protective of our baby,” she mused, placing a hand on his chest to calm him.
Jax placed a hand on her stomach. His eyes closed and he smiled broadly as he thought about their cub. It was crazy how time had flown since the day she had gotten the positive result.
They were expecting their cub in another two months.
Jax opened his eyes. Now he was smirking, a mischievous smile that Mia knew well. “I wanted to wait until later, but while there’s a long line, I have a surprise for you.”
Everyone sat around in the grass as they ate quietly. They were too into the food to talk now. They were also too distracted to even notice Jax or Mia leaving, so they took their time to get to their cabin.
As they headed upstairs, to the new baby’s room, Mia thought back to how their life had been a year ago.
Mia had been lost. Trying to fight for a good cause, but using terrible tactics. She had tricked herself into believing she didn’t need love. That the best plan for her would be to focus on business.
It scared her to think of what her life would be like if she never met Jax.
She began to cry tears of joy when he showed her the surprise. A stunning, hand crafted crib waited inside. She stood over it, tears flowing down her cheeks, so much, that she didn’t see the bigger surprise above her head.
Jax flicked the mobile and she squealed in delight. Mia attempted to reach it to observe it more closely, but she wasn’t tall enough.
“Don’t make me shift to grab it. Let me see!” she said to Jax while he chuckled to himself as she was on her toes.
He did her a favor and placed it in her hands. Warmth spread through her, like a blanket tossed over her shoulders, a warm feeling of being loved.
Mia wiped her eyes to control herself. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay.” Jax rubbed her lower back to calm her. “I guess that means I did a good job on it.”
“It’s lovely. It’s so lovely.”
The mobile had been carved by hand too, out of the finest pieces of lumber she’d ever seen. There was a moon, a fish, a cloud, a mountain, and then a bear. Each one was cut from a different color of wood.
“How did you find time to do this?”
“I’ve been working on it for a while.”
She checked out the rest of the room now, how everything looked. The crib was sturdy, and it too, looked like it had taken a lot of time and energy.
“You’re already a great father,” she said and hugged her big bear.
His fingers brushed her hair. She picked her head up and kissed him.
Mia didn’t want to stop.
“We should stop,” she said, thinking about the party.
“We should have as much fun as we can before the baby arrives. We’re going to have a lot of nights with little sleep.”
“Maybe you’re right,” she said softly, her heart beating faster.
Her frigidness told Jax that she was still worried about the party.
“They’ll be fine. Keith is serving the food. They’re having a good time.” He kissed her neck. Her breath escaped her, and arousal shot through her. “Why shouldn’t we?”
“Take me to bed,” she said.
Mia hopped into her bear’s arms.
Legs wrapped around him, Jax kissed her and carried her off to their bedroom.
She had a lot to live for now.
Every day with Jax was magic.
* * *
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