How About No (Bear Bottom Guardians MC 3)

“This was the first name she messaged me from.” Landry pointed to a name.

I crossed back to my phone and shot a quick text to a buddy who was good with finding shit on people and then touched the top of Landry’s ear. “Let’s go eat, baby. We’ll worry about this later, okay?”

She sighed and stood up. “Sure. I hope you got me extra sauce. You know I like it hot.”

The look I gave her caused her cheeks to flush.

I bared my teeth. “I know you like it hot, darlin’.”

She pinched my ass as we walked out of the front door but stopped to talk to the lady manning the counter. She was new, and I’d never met her before.

“We’ll be back, Tammy.”

We were halfway through lunch when I got my first hit on the name that Landry had given me.

Unfortunately, since my phone was still charging in Landry’s office, I didn’t realize that I had something until I was already halfway home because a second call came through.

What I learned from that phone call had been very, very disturbing.Chapter 14Why are iPhone chargers not called ‘Apple Juice?’

-Landry’s secret thoughts

Landry

I glared at the man who was currently sitting his ass in my car as I was on the verge of leaving for work.

“Wade, get out!” I growled in frustration.

“I’m going with you,” he replied stubbornly. “There’s no argument here. I still own half the daycare, so there’s no reason in hell that I can’t be there with you. And I get bored. Seriously, please take pity on me.”

Then he rolled his lip over and gave me those sad, pouty-faced eyes, and I melted.

“Fine,” I growled. “But you have to do the same thing there that you would have to do at home. No walking around. No heavy lifting. No nothing. You sit in the chair and be good.”

Wade rolled his eyes but nonetheless agreed with a sigh.

“You promise?” I pushed.

He held up three fingers and said, “Scout’s Honor.”

We were halfway to the daycare—at five-thirty-five in the morning to allow me to open by six—when I took a detour for a bag of donut holes.

“You want something?” I asked, getting out of the car before he could say a word.

He opened the door and got out, too, and I frowned.

“Wade, what the hell is going on?” I asked. “I’ve done this a million times before. I don’t need you to—”

He cut me off with a kiss.

“Wade,” I said when he finally pulled back. “Tell me what the hell is going on.”

He looked down into my eyes and sighed. “Get your donuts, baby. Make sure you get me a kolache with sausage.”

He watched me walk away, and honestly, I was surprised he’d even done that.

I hadn’t been able to walk through the house without him following me over the last twelve hours.

Yesterday, before he’d left, he’d been acting normal. When he came back half an hour later with Capo in his cage and sat in his truck in the parking lot for the next three hours, I realized that something was wrong.

I didn’t realize how wrong until he followed me to his home that I supposed I could call my own home now. Then he followed me through the house and had acted so freakin’ weird that I’d almost snapped.

Luckily, we’d gone to bed early, and I let it go thinking he was just having an off day.

It wasn’t until I was inside the donut shop and waiting for the kolache to heat up that I realized the reason he hadn’t come into the donut store. There was no way that anybody would be hiding in here. It was all one big open room. You could see the donuts being made, fried and glazed. There were three employees total standing in various spots around the large room.

It was lit up like the Fourth of July, and the large plate glass windows made light spill out into the parking lot.

There wasn’t a single freakin’ thing that he couldn’t see.

Sighing, I smiled at Jamal who gave me my donuts. “Have a good day, Landry. I packed an extra sausage kolache in there for the ex. I’m glad to see him with you again.”

I blushed. “Thank you, Jamal. Have a wonderful day, too.”

When we were back out in the car and I was pulling out of the parking lot, I turned my head slightly and regarded Wade.

“Tell me what’s going on,” I ordered again.

Wade remained silent for a little too long, and I turned my head facing forward.

“You’re a mule-headed, stubborn ass who drives me insane,” I growled. “I swear to God, this is one thing that I don’t miss from us being married—your need to protect me from something while not sharing whatever that something was with me. Do you remember what happened when you tried to do that last time?”