Spark

I must doze off at some point. I wake up with a jerk. My eyes dart around as I scramble out of bed. I can still smell him. It couldn’t have been a dream. Disappointment fills me when I see my place is empty. Before I can wrap my head around why I’m really upset about this my door opens and Bear comes running in. I smile when he jumps up, knocking me over. I laugh as he licks my face.

“Bear!” Jax barks at the dog.

“It’s fine,” I tell him. My place is really too small for a dog as big as Bear but now I want one. I’m in love with the dog. He follows me around everywhere. It’s how I know Jax is always near. Sometimes Jax will disappear out of sight but Bear always remains at my side.

“It’s not.” Bear does as he’s told. I can tell when Jax’s voice changes with him. It goes from his normal laid-back one to a stern, almost dad-like one. That really should not be making my nipples harden but it does.

Bear comes to sit down beside Jax at attention. “What if you had something in your hands or we were pregnant?”

“Pregnant?” I whisper to myself. What the hell? I’ve never in my life thought of myself as one day being pregnant. Probably cause I’ve never had sex so it wasn’t even in my frame of mind. I don’t know much but I learned a thing or two in health class. Getting pregnant by sitting on a toilet seat is not a reality. So there is no way I’m pregnant. Just to clear that up.

Jax walks over to my small kitchen and drops a bag down as he starts to pull things out. Bear walks over to where there is a bowl of food and water. He gets a drink before going over to my sofa and jumping back up on it.

“Come eat.” Jax points to my chair while he sets down a plate of food. It’s then I realize my kitchen has been cleaned to make room. He’s clearly been up and around as I slept through it all.

“What time is it?” I ask. I should protest this all but the food smells too good. I walk over, dropping down into the chair. For the first time in a long time I don’t feel tired.

“It’s time to relax.” I take a bite of the burger, wondering where he got it. I don’t need to relax. I already slept too much.

“I have to protest,” I remind him with a mouth full of food.

“Your signs are out front with your flyers.” He pulls out the other chair, sitting down with me. “I’m who you’re protesting. You have all my attention.” He leans back in his chair, looking so relaxed. God, why does he have to be handsome? I want to smile at him. So that I don’t, I take another giant bite of my burger to hide it. He doesn’t hide his though.

Come to think of it, he’s a thousand percent correct. He is the one I’m protesting. Could I talk him out of putting in his coffee shop? I don’t know why I haven’t thought of that until now. Then I remember he’s blackmailing me. Still, I have to try.

“Don’t open your coffee shop here,” I say. That smile of his grows bigger. “Please,” I add in for good measure.

“Okay.”

10

Jax

“Okay?” She parrots my response. Then she rolls her eyes, not believing me. “I’m serious.” She pushes the plate I’ve put in front of her away, folding her arms over her chest. I push it back. The need to take care of her rides me hard. I want to pluck her from her chair and put her in my lap. I’d feed her from my hand to make sure she ate enough.

“I am too.” I could give two shits about the coffee shop. I have thousands of them. “You know, if we get married all my shops could be half yours.” I wink at her. Her eyes widen for a moment. The same way they did when I flippantly mentioned her being pregnant. It was what had popped into my head when Bear jumped up on her. He was excited to see her after I had to drag him from here for his walk. He’s never done that before and I wanted him to not do it ever again. I like how much he seems to love her but he has to be careful. She’s so small and he has to be mindful of that. I do too.

“See, you’re not being serious.” Still, she picks up her burger and takes another bite.

“You want to go to the courthouse now?” I bait her. The burger pauses at her mouth as if she might be debating it. I have to stop myself from reaching down and adjusting my cock, which has been hard since I came up her stairs and could smell her. Now with talk of pregnancy and marriage I’m harder than ever. Isn’t that supposed to send me running?