CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER TEN

“I’ve never seen JJ acting so . . . weird,” Carlise said as she took a sip of her orange juice.

April nodded. “I know, it’s ridiculous.” But she smiled as she said it. She and the other women were at Marlowe and Bob’s house, having a girls’ night in. A week and a half had passed since she and Jack had slept together, and it had been an amazing ten days.

Every night, they made dinner together . . . laughed, talked, sometimes watched TV. Then he made love to her. Often fast and hard, other times slow, with Jack teasing her mercilessly before letting her come. She’d finally convinced him to let her go down on him just a few days ago, and they’d both been turned inside out by the time they fell asleep.

And the overprotectiveness had officially begun. The women had originally planned on going to the Sunday River Brewing Company, which was about ten miles south of Newton, for their girl time. And even though Cal had offered to drive them there and pick them up, Jack vetoed the idea. He’d said it was too far away, the women were too pregnant, and there could be “nefarious sorts of people” there.

It was ridiculous, and Jack was being way too over the top, but since April didn’t really care where she spent time with her friends, she let herself be persuaded to hang out at Marlowe’s house. But she’d put her foot down when Jack told her that he and the rest of the guys would be there too.

“I told him it wasn’t a girls’ night if the guys were here,” April said to her friends.

“It’s kind of cute, though,” June replied with a shrug.

“Right? I mean, we all knew you and JJ liked each other, but I don’t think any of us expected him to be so . . .” Marlowe’s voice trailed off as she tried to think of an appropriate word.

“Concerned?” Carlise offered.

“Protective?” June said.

“Pussy-whipped,” Marlowe said with a grin.

Everyone laughed.

“I mean, Cal’s been over-the-top watchful, especially the further I get into my pregnancy, but JJ makes him seem like the most neglectful husband in the world in comparison,” June said with a grin.

“Does it bother you?” Carlise asked. “I mean, the other day, when you left the office to get lunch at Granny’s Burgers, he came back while you were gone and freaked out because he didn’t know where you were.”

April shrugged. “Honestly? No. I figure things are still new between us, he’ll calm down before too long.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” Marlowe warned. “He’s the most intense of all the guys. And I think he feels responsible for all of us. Which makes sense; he was the team leader when they were in the Army, and I have a feeling he blames himself for their capture and everyone’s subsequent torture. But he loves you, so it’s only natural that he’s extra cautious.”

“I still can’t believe you guys are finally together,” June said with a sigh. “We were beginning to think it wasn’t going to happen.”

“Yeah. Carlise was totally ready to lock you guys in a room and force you to share a bed . . . you know, because all of us basically did that and ended up married,” Marlowe said with a grin.

“There was no forcing involved,” April informed her friends as she sipped her glass of wine. She was the only one drinking alcohol, for obvious reasons. “And I was in his bed when we came home from the hospital. That has to count. Kind of.”

Everyone chuckled.

“Well, I’m happy for you,” Marlowe said. “I haven’t known you and JJ for as long as everyone else, but it’s obvious you love each other, and you’re perfect for one another as well. You take his protectiveness in stride, and when he’s being ridiculous, you have no problem calling him on it. I think you guys are going to be just fine. Besides, there’s something to be said for having a protective guy at your side.”

“Agreed,” Carlise said.

“Same,” June added.

“Speaking of protective,” Carlise said, “did I tell you guys what happened two days ago?”

“Oh Lord, what now?” June asked with a laugh.

“I was coming back from Rumford after stocking up on some stuff from the discount bulk store. I was minding my own business, singing Cyndi Lauper’s ‘Girls Just Want to Have Fun’ at the top of my lungs, when I felt something brush against my arm. I nonchalantly looked down—and there was a freaking tarantula crawling on me!”

“What?”

“Holy shit!”

“Are you kidding!?”

All three of the other women spoke at once.

“No! I’m not kidding! I literally freaked out. I was lucky there wasn’t anyone coming in the other lane. I swerved all the way across the yellow line before getting back to my side. I swear my Jeep went up on two wheels, with the erratic way I was driving. I stopped in the middle of the freaking highway and leaped out of the car, shrieking like a loon. I couldn’t get rid of the feeling of that thing crawling on me.”

“Holy crap, how’d it get there? Wait, does Maine even have tarantulas? I thought there weren’t any venomous spiders in the state at all,” Marlowe said.

“No, that’s snakes,” Carlise told her. “Although tarantulas are usually found in the desert, and we all know that Maine is not the desert.”

“So what happened? And how the heck did one get in your car?” April asked with a frown.

“Well, some older guy who stopped when I was dancing in the middle of the road, screaming my head off, got me calmed down and actually found the thing in my car. He said it seemed pretty docile. The police showed up, which was embarrassing, and they said it had to be someone’s pet that had escaped. Probably crawled in my car because it was warm in there from the sun,” Carlise explained.

“What did Chappy do when he heard about what happened?” June asked.

“That’s where the protective bit comes in—he literally didn’t talk to me for five hours. Not because he was mad but because he was so freaked out and distraught that something could’ve happened to me. If there had been a car in the other lane, I could’ve hit them head on. Or I could’ve ended up in a ditch on the other side of the road.

“Anyway, he went outside and detailed my Jeep from top to bottom, even using some kind of foam crap to seal practically nonexistent holes so no more critters could get in. And as of now, he told me that if I want to go to Rumford—or anywhere else, for that matter—he’d drive me. It’s a tad annoying, but since I’m almost in my third trimester and don’t fit well behind the wheel anyway, I don’t really care.”

“Wow, you were lucky,” Marlowe said.

“Almost as lucky as you, when that box didn’t land on your head,” Carlise agreed.

“Almost as lucky as me that my memory returned,” April threw in.

“We’re a bunch of lucky bitches for sure,” Carlise said. “We have healthy babies on the way, except for you, April, but since you don’t want any, that’s cool, and we have men who would do anything for us.”

“I’ll drink to that,” Marlowe said, holding up her cup of apple juice.

April raised her glass to the others and smiled as they clinked.

They each took a swallow, and talk turned to business and pregnancy and plans for the guys taking time off from work when their children were born. April listened to the others chat and laugh, and couldn’t help but think how blessed she was. She had great friends and was soon going to be an honorary aunt, and she finally had the man she loved.

“April’s over there smiling like she’s plotting something evil,” Carlise commented after a while.

“No plotting, just grateful for all I have. You guys, a job I love, and a man who actually gives a crap about what I’m thinking and doing.”

“You don’t talk much about your ex,” June said tentatively. “Was your marriage awful?”

April thought about the question for a moment, then shrugged. She’d never really talked to anyone about James. Not because she was traumatized but more because she was embarrassed. Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was because of all the orgasms she’d had recently; whatever it was, she opened up for the first time.

“It wasn’t awful,” she said. “It was just kind of . . . there. We were simply coexisting. Going through the motions. James didn’t care what I was doing, where I was, how I was feeling. And honestly, by the end, I didn’t really care about him either. We saw each other in passing, and that was about it. I’m kind of ashamed that I let our relationship get to that point before ending it.”

Carlise held up a hand and shook her head. “No, you don’t get to think that way.”

April frowned. “What way?”

“Like it was your fault. There were two of you in that marriage, and your ex could’ve tried harder to connect with you.”

“Just as I could’ve tried harder to connect with him,” April countered.

“Maybe,” Carlise conceded. “But marriage is a lot of work. It’s not all sunshine, roses, and orgasms.”

For some reason, April blushed at that.

The other women all grinned.

“Okay, the orgasms are great, and I’m all for them,” Carlise backpedaled. “But seriously. There are disagreements, rough patches to get through, all that.”

“But that’s the thing. We didn’t disagree. We didn’t have any rough patches. We were just coasting along,” April insisted.

“Which was boring as hell,” Marlowe said gently. “Right?”

April nodded.

“And I’m thinking JJ is never going to be boring. I’ve only been around for a little bit, but I’ve heard you guys really go at it when you disagree.”

“Which isn’t a bad thing,” June interjected. “I mean, you guys disagree about stuff, but you’re always respectful when you argue, and you always seem to be able to come to an understanding.”

“That’s what a marriage should be like,” Carlise said with a nod. “Full of passion, and laughter, and truly caring about the other person. What would your ex have done if you came home and said you almost wrecked your car because there was a venomous duck inside that scared you?”

“Venomous duck?” April asked, laughing.

The others laughed as well, and Carlise said, “Whatever. Something unexpected that shouldn’t have been there that scared you.”

April shrugged. “He probably would’ve asked what was for dinner.”

Carlise looked smug. “And JJ? If that was you in the Jeep with the spider, what would he have done?”

“Sold the Jeep, forced me to go to the doctor to make sure I didn’t get bitten, and start a campaign to kill all tarantulas left in the world,” April said without hesitation.

“Exactly. You have no reason to feel embarrassed by your marriage. You got out. You did the right thing,” Carlise said firmly.

“And now you’re here with JJ,” June added.

“And deliriously happy,” Marlowe said.

April smiled. “I am. But—”

“No buts!” Carlise exclaimed.

The others giggled.

“Except for our husbands’ butts. Can we talk about those?” June asked. “Cal’s got a butt to die for.”

“Sorry, I love ya, but it doesn’t compare to Riggs’s ass,” Carlise said smugly.

“Wait a minute, Kendric’s ass puts all your guys’ butts to shame,” Marlowe argued.

April listened to her friends argue about which of their husbands had the best ass and wasn’t prepared when Carlise turned to her. “Well?” she huffed.

“Well what?” April asked.

“Aren’t you going to pipe up and tell us that we’re all wrong? That JJ has the best butt?”

“Nope,” April said, doing her best to hide her smile as she took another sip of her wine.

“Wow, that’s surprising,” June said, a brow raised.

“No point in arguing something with someone who’s wrong,” April added, almost as an aside.

April wasn’t sure who threw the first pillow, but the next thing she knew, the four of them were having a huge pillow fight. No one hit very hard, very aware that there were three precious babies that had to be protected, and April wasn’t very coordinated since she had the handicap of being tipsy, but by the time they were done, all four were breathing hard, and their stomachs hurt from laughing so hard.

“Point for JJ for insisting we have our girls’ night here,” June said as she reclined in her chair. “We wouldn’t have been able to have a pillow fight at the bar.”

April grinned at everyone and blurted, “I love you guys.”

Everyone turned to her.

“I mean it. When my memory was gone, you guys were so nice to me. You took turns coming up to Bangor. You didn’t treat me any differently, even though I couldn’t remember you. And you had no doubt that my memory would return. You don’t know how much that means to me.”

“Well, honestly, you’re the glue that holds us all together,” Carlise told her. “When I first met you, when I was up at the cabin in the mountains, I was scared to death about what you’d think of me, considering JJ suspected I’d drugged Riggs or something. But you were kind and motherly, and it was obvious to me even then how much the guys respected you and looked to you for guidance.”

April winced. “Yeah, motherly, that’s what I want to be.”

“I didn’t mean that in a bad way. It’s just that it was obvious you’re kind and nurturing. Chappy told me later that you were the one who made Jack’s Lumber a success. That without you, he was sure they would’ve gone out of business within two years.”

“Cal says the same thing,” June agreed. “And you have no idea what you mean to us. I’m scared to death to have this baby. I don’t know anything about being a mom, but I know with you to help me, I’ll be able to muddle through.”

“And I was afraid all of you guys would think I’d done what I was accused of back in Thailand,” Marlowe admitted. “That you wouldn’t accept me. But April, you were the first person to welcome me and make me feel at home. It wasn’t a hardship to take turns visiting when you were in the hospital.”

“I’ll take it one step further and say this,” Carlise said, leaning forward and pinning April in place with her gaze. “If you didn’t regain your memory and never remembered us, or the good and bad times we’d had together in the past, it wouldn’t have mattered. You’d still be our friend and our mentor in a lot of ways, and we’d just have new memories to replace the ones you didn’t have anymore.”

April’s eyes filled with tears. She didn’t know what she’d done in her life to deserve these women. Or Jack. Or the other guys. “We’re going to raise some kick-ass girls and boys,” April managed to say.

“Hell yeah, we are,” Carlise agreed.

“Strong little girls who speak their minds and don’t take crap from anyone,” June said.

“Protective boys who respect girls and don’t think they’re any weaker than they are,” Marlowe added.

April smiled at everyone, then sighed and closed her eyes. The room was spinning, in a good way. It had been a long time since she’d let down her guard like she had tonight, and it felt great. She heard the others whispering, but she was feeling too mellow to open her eyes and join the conversation.

It wasn’t until she jerked at the sound of a door closing that she realized she’d actually dozed off.

Sitting up, April looked around. The girls weren’t in the room—but Jack was. He was leaning against a doorjamb, staring at her with a small smile.

He was as gorgeous as ever, and April once again had to pinch herself to remember that he was hers.

When he saw she was awake, he pushed off the door and came toward her. He knelt down in front of the sofa and put a hand on her knee. “Hey.”

“Hi,” she said with a small smile.

“Ready to go home?”

April frowned and looked around again. “What time is it? Where is everyone else?”

“When you fell asleep on them, Carlise called Chappy. Since he was with me and the other guys, we all came to collect our women.”

“I wasn’t done girl bonding,” April said with a pout.

Jack chuckled. “Well, if it makes you feel better, the pregnant women were just as tired as you. Marlowe was already up in bed snoring when we got here, and Carlise and June were dozing themselves.”

“Oh, okay,” April said with a nod, as if falling asleep at the end of their girls’ night was perfectly normal.

Jack smiled again, then stood and held out a hand for her. April took it without hesitation and sighed happily when he pulled her against his side and wrapped an arm around her waist.

When she stumbled as they walked to the door, he asked, “How much did you have to drink?”

April shrugged. “A couple of glasses.”

“How big were the glasses?” Jack teased.

April grinned.

Bob appeared from the stairs and gave her a quick hug. “Thanks for coming over and keeping Marlowe company,” he told her.

April rolled her eyes. “You say that as if we had a choice. I mean, we wanted to go to a bar.”

“Uh-huh,” Bob said with a grin.

“You guys were all in on it, weren’t you?” she asked suspiciously. “You just let Jack be the bad guy, and once I said it was okay, you knew the other women would go along with the plan.”

“Always knew you were smart,” Bob said, still smiling.

“Whatever,” she said, although there was no heat to the word. Honestly, she enjoyed being able to wear elastic pants and a T-shirt instead of dressing up to go to a bar.

“Thanks, Bob. I’ll see you at the office tomorrow,” JJ said.

“Yeah, you guys have that job at the new housing development,” April said with a nod. “Lots of trees to take down.”

“Ma’am, yes, ma’am,” Bob said with a small salute.

“Shut up,” April told him.

“Come on, let’s get you home and get some aspirin in you so you don’t wake up with a headache tomorrow.”

Jack led her outside, and she turned and waved at Bob once more. Then called out for him to tell Marlowe thanks for the night and she’d see her later. She turned, was surprised to see the other two ladies still getting bundled into cars by their husbands, and yelled the same thing to Carlise and June. They each waved back at her, and seconds later, April was smiling at Jack as he got her snapped into the seat belt in the front of his Bronco.

When they were on the way to his house, she turned her head lazily and stared at him.

“What?” he asked after a moment.

“Nothing. I just think you’re really handsome.”

His lips twitched.

“And your ass is the best, no matter what the other girls say.”

He flat-out laughed at that. “You had a good time tonight, I take it.”

“Yup,” she said, popping the p sound.

“Good.”

“You were right.”

“About what?” he asked.

“About not going to the bar. It would’ve been loud, and the girls can’t drink anyway, and we wouldn’t have been able to have our pillow fight.”

“You had a pillow fight?” Jack asked, his brow raised.

“Uh-huh. Over whose man had the best ass.”

Jack shook his head with a grin. “I’ll never understand women.”

“Good. We like to have some secrets,” April told him.

Jack reached over and took her hand in his. She closed her eyes as they drove. After a minute, she opened her eyes again and asked, “What would you have done if I’d never regained my memory?”

“You did, so it’s a moot point.”

“But what if I didn’t?”

“April, you did.”

“Humor me, Jack. Would you have loved me?”

When he turned to look at her, April sucked in a breath at the emotion in his eyes. “I already loved you, April. I would’ve given you time to get to know me, and somehow, someway, made you love me back. I wasn’t going to lose you, not when I’d already been an idiot and screwed up my chance in the first place.”

April smiled and squeezed his hand. “Okay.”

“Okay?” he asked.

“Uh-huh. And for the record . . . you wouldn’t have had to work too hard to get me to love you back. My brain might’ve forgotten, but my heart didn’t. It’s always been yours.”

They didn’t speak again until Jack had parked the car, come around to her side, and taken her hand, then led her into the house. He escorted her straight to the bedroom, where he said, “You have three minutes to get ready for bed. I’m going to get you a glass of water and aspirin. Then I’m going to show you how much your words mean to me.”

April smiled. “I’ve always wanted to have drunk sex.”

Jack’s smile was downright dirty. “You’re about to get your wish, sweetheart.”

“Yay,” she whispered.

“Two and a half minutes,” he warned as he backed toward the door.

Then April was rushing, fumbling with her pants. She almost tripped over them as she shoved them down her hips as she entered the bathroom. She needed to pee, brush her teeth, and undress before he got back.

She didn’t quite make it in time, but Jack didn’t seem to mind being the one to strip her shirt off over her head and remove her lingerie. He waited until she’d taken the pills he’d brought before he pushed her back on the bed and proceeded to show her the perks of drunk sex.

As she lay boneless on top of him a good while later, with his cock still buried deep inside her body, April thought she heard him whisper “My heart’s always been yours too” before she fell into a deep, satisfied sleep.