Jack & Coke (The Uncertain Saints Book 2) (4 page)

“And you think it was Jennifer?” Annie asked.

“I know it was Jennifer. Went searching for her the next day and found her brother who informed me just how vindictive his sister really is. Took me to her room in the apartment they shared, saw the fuckin pill bottle that the roofies came in. Took it to have it tested, then came back to confront Jennifer a week later where she told me her plan. Apparently, her mother had helped her come up with a plan to bag herself a ‘heir’ as a husband,” I answered.

“You’re an heir?” She asked.

Casten slid the bottle of vodka he’d been sharing with Ridley for the last half hour across the table.

It came to a stop in front of Annie, and she was looking at it in confusion.

“My dad owns Konn Vodka,” I answered.

Her eyes widened.

“I think I have some of that in my cabinet right now,” she answered, turning the bottle around.

“I think everyone does,” Lenore answered, pulling the bottle to her and looking at the label.

“So what happened next?” Annie asked.

“Didn’t hear from her again for eight weeks. Then she shows up at my work and tells me that she’s pregnant,” I answered.

“And you fucking married her?” Annie screeched.

I snorted.

“After I had a DNA test to make sure the kid was mine, yes.”

Annie shook her head. “And I thought my ex-husband was bad.”

I snorted. “Maybe we could compare notes about the shittiness of our spouses.”

“He’s not my spouse anymore. You’re fucked, I’m not.”

Ain’t that the truth?

“We have a poll going to see when he breaks it off with her,” Casten said, getting up and walking to the board at the back of the room and pulling it to the table.

I rolled my eyes at the men’s guesses that were written down on the huge dry erase board that they’d bought specifically for my viewing pleasure.

Griffin’s guess of a month had already passed seeing as we’d been married for six now.

The rest of the guesses spanned from an eight-month time period to two years.

And the way I left it with Jennifer tonight, I doubted that I’d be seeing eight months.

I’d gotten home from work early for once, but only because I’d needed to change my clothes before I went to the clubhouse.

And I’d found Jennifer on the couch talking to someone.

She’d freaked when I’d shown up, immediately hanging up the phone and looking at me like she’d seen a ghost.

I had a feeling if I took her phone away from her, I’d have seen a man on the receiving end of Jennifer’s call.

Something I planned on researching tomorrow.

But that wasn’t even the biggest problem.

Once Jennifer realized I was going out without her, she’d threatened to leave.

When I’d left anyway, I’d seen her staring at me like I’d committed a sin right in front of God himself.

“Can I get in on that?” Annie asked, tossing me a wink over her shoulder.

I wanted to wrap her up in my arms.

Instead, I shook my head and stared at the board as Ridley wrote down Annie’s guess.

Seven months.

And for some reason, I had a feeling that she was about to pull out all the stops when it came to us.

And I was about to have a hell of a time resisting her.

Because when it came to Annie, I had no resistance.

The only thing keeping me from taking her as my own was Annie not pursuing
me
.

If she started to do that, then I’d be well and truly fucked.

Figuratively
and
literally.

The real test would be whether she acted like she was doing now when she didn’t have two beers in her…and I found that I rather liked thinking about her pursuing me.

But that didn’t negate the fact that I still had a wife.

It’s a proven fact that bearded men give better oral sex. Ten out of ten women agree.

-Annie’s secret thoughts

Mig

The next morning turned out to be an exercise in patience.

“I’m not going to be there today. I have some papers to file,” I told Griffin.

“Fine with me. But I’m not your boss. Why are you calling me?” Griffin asked. “And what kind of papers are you filing?”

I rolled my eyes.

“I’m calling you because I’m supposed to meet you in half an hour at the office to discuss the case. But I can’t make it there until after lunch, if at all. I have some digging to do…then I’m going to need to go to the courthouse,” I answered dryly.

“You’re divorcing her, aren’t you?
” Griffin asked
, relief evident in his voice. “Thank fuckin’ Christ.”

“I’ll catch up with you later in the afternoon,” I said, hanging up without giving an answer.

I was at my house, sans my wife.

My wife had woken up at six in the morning and had left before I’d gotten back from my morning run.

Granted, I didn’t much care when she left.

But today I’d intended to follow her to see if she was actually going to work.

It was Sunday, after all.

Most people didn’t go to the office, where they were a receptionist, on Sundays.

And even if they did, perchance, have to go into work on a Sunday, it wouldn’t be at a little past six thirty in the morning.

I usually ran for an hour, and I’d left the house at five twenty.

I arrived home at six twenty to an empty house, pissed off that I’d decided to run early instead of later in the day like I’d told myself to do just because of this very reason.

So now I had to find her.

But first I had to find a car that wasn’t so noticeable.

Lucky for me, I had a neighbor that had one.

I didn’t even care that it was so early. She’d open the door for me no matter what time it was.

I just slipped a t-shirt on over my still wet chest, grabbed my cut from the chair that designated me as a member of the Uncertain Saints MC, and threw it on over my shirt as I walked out my front door.

I paused to lock the door to the house, thinking I’d need to find Jennifer an apartment this afternoon as well and hire some movers that could come out either today or tomorrow to box and move her shit out of the house.

As I made the mental list of things I needed to finish today, I walked across the space that separated my house from Annie’s and went right up her front steps.

I knocked loudly, then bent over to pick a piece of paper off the front porch.

I want you back.

Four simple
,
little words that had the power to send rage coursing through my veins.

Here I was, fucking married, and I was getting pissed off that Annie’s ex wanted her back.

What a head case I was.

“Ohh,” a voice said from behind me.

I slowly stood up and handed her the note.

But her eyes were still focused on where my ass had been ten seconds before, which meant she got a good look at the erection that was starting to fill out the front of my pants simply from hearing the husky sound of her ‘just woke up’ voice.

Her face flushed, and I finally got my first good look at her without being ‘all done up.’

Her hair was a mess of curls, all piled into a bun on top of her head.

Her face, free of makeup, had me wanting to see it every morning across the pillow from me.

She was wearing tight black shorts that barely covered her ass and a pink tank top that only accentuated the fact that she wasn’t wearing a bra.

The sight of her unbound breasts had my mouth watering with the urge to suck them.

They were perky and luscious, even with their larger size.

I could make out the outline of her nipples through the thin fabric, and I had to clench my hands to keep from reaching out and tracing the pattern with my fingers.

To cover up the problem I was having with gathering the ability to speak, I thrust the note in her direction.

“I’m guessing this is from
your husband?” I asked.

She glanced down at the paper like it was a snake ready to strike.

“You can toss it into the trash,” she offered, opening the door wider for me to come in.

I passed by her, accidentally brushing my right arm against her breasts as I moved.

I swallowed, trying to get into her kitchen without making a complete fool of myself.

“Where’d you find it?” Annie asked as she moved into the kitchen behind me.

“Your front porch,” I answered, letting the trash fall into the can before I turned around and pinned her to the spot with my gaze. “I want to borrow your car.”

She lifted her brows at me.

“Why?” She asked in confusion. “Is there something wrong with your bike?”

I shook my head, surveying her kitchen.

She had a huge pile of mail along the back of the counter next to the back sliding door.

The other surfaces in the kitchen were spick and span.

“Nothing wrong with my bike,” I answered. “I just need to borrow yours for a couple hours.”

She crossed her arms and gave me the glare.

You know the one.

Every woman had it perfected before they even hit the age of eighteen.

The one that was supposed to make a man tremble in his boots.

With Jennifer, that move didn’t work at all.

With Annie, though, it only made my primal instincts flare to life.

The urge to fuck the attitude right out of her was instinctive and nearly overwhelming.

“I want to follow Jennifer, but she knows my truck and bike. You drive that little hatchback, and about fifteen hundred people in the vicinity have that car,” I finally answered.

She snorted.

“Was that so hard?” She asked, handing me the keys to her car. “But it’s empty…like running on fumes empty, and I need to leave in about thirty minutes to meet someone.”

“Who are you meeting?” I asked.

She walked to a table where a pile of what looked to be garage sale items sat.

A pillow. A black leather bag. A vase. And a huge rock.

“I’m selling some of my old stuff. I need to have a garage sale, but I’m a lazy person, so I’m not gonna do that. I’ll just sell off a little but at a time,” she answered, pointing to the stuff.

“And you’re going to go meet where?” I asked.

“The mall parking lot,” she answered just as quickly, walking into the back bedroom.

“That’s not very safe,” I said, walking to the living room and looking at the pictures on her walls and mantle as she dressed.

In the first picture she was sitting with her sister, a woman I’d seen from afar since she’d moved in beside me.

The other two were, I guessed, her parents.

They were older versions of the girls, and they were smiling. The man with his arm around the sister. The woman with her arm around Annie.

A picture perfect family.

“I don’t think it’s unsafe. I’m meeting them all around eight this morning in the mall parking lot,” she said from the other room.

The mall wasn’t actually a ‘mall.’

It was a store on the Uncertain/Jefferson border that was sort of a mini dollar store.

It had a little bit of everything, which was why the owners called it the mall even though it wasn’t technically labeled as one.

It was also out in the middle of fuckin’ nowhere, Texas…and not somewhere I’d want Annie meeting someone by herself.

“The mall is not a good place for you to be meeting. And if you’re going to do it today, then I’m coming with you,” I said, booking no room for an argument.

She didn’t answer, which gave me more time to study her photos.

The other ones on the wall were of Annie and her friends, women I’d seen coming here to her house to visit quite a few times since she’d moved in as well.

The last photo my gaze caught on, however, was the one of Annie in a white dress that came all the way down to her ankles.

She was dressed all in white…her wedding dress…with her dad standing at her side looking down at her adoringly.

She was younger, of course, but she was still the same woman I saw every morning as I walked to my bike on the way to work.

The same woman who I’d dreamt about every night since she’d moved in next to me.

“I’m ready,” Annie said from behind me.

I turned, giving one last longing look at the picture before turning to her.

“Cool, let me have your keys,” I instructed.

She raised her head, but nonetheless dropped the keys into my palm.

“Be nice to my baby. She’s on her last legs,” Annie instructed.

I nodded. “Okay. I’ll try.”

In truth, I didn’t think I’d have a problem being gentle with her.

We were on our way, twenty minutes later, with Annie in the passenger seat next to me.

“This has got to be the smallest car I’ve ever had the experience of sitting in,” I grumbled, shifting the gears once again.

Annie laughed.

“Well, you’re six foot three; what’d you expect?” She teased.

I turned onto the road that would take us to the mall and looked over at her.

She was even more beautiful in the morning sun.

The light from the sun shone into her hair, making it have a shimmery, fiery look to it.

She’d changed into a pair of jeans and a plain black t-shirt.

She put black boots on that resembled the female version of my own, an expensive pair that I wore nearly every day because they were safe to ride in.

Her hair was in a ponytail up high on her head.

And her hair was still just as messy as the moment she’d answered the door, and I found that I quite liked the look on her.

“I don’t like that you’re meeting out here,” I muttered to myself.

However, Annie picked up on it the moment I spoke and started to look around with me.

“I really don’t see what’s wrong,” she grumbled.

She wouldn’t. She was a woman, after all.

“Shit,” Annie said suddenly. “Pull in there and let me get a bag. They asked me to wrap it.”

I thought that weird, but I didn’t say anything as I pulled into the Dollar Store and watched as she hurried into the store, bought the first thing she could find close to the register, and immediately went to the checkout.