Saxon(51)

I look to the women. “Be good to my cousins or I will come after you.”

With that parting comment, I walk away grinning.





Chapter Thirty-Five

Saxon

“Saxon! Saxon! Can I have your signature?” a woman asks as I exit the studio.

“Sure,” I tell her, signing in a book and wishing her well. When I see a camera following me, I sigh and slide into my car, driving off and hoping not to be followed. I stop at Ryder’s house on the way home after he rang me this morning and asked me to stop in for a chat. Lexi opens the door and lets me in, and I find Ryder sitting in his living room strumming on his guitar.

“Hey,” I tell him, sitting opposite him. “Is everything okay?”

He puts down his guitar. “Everything is fine. Did you hear that Eliza and Bradley are both doing time for attempted murder and kidnapping?”

“Yeah, our lawyer rang us this morning. Was it already on the news?” I ask.

Ryder laughs. “It had to do with you, of course it was on the news. Make sure Tee is alright, because the story is being flashed all over the place.”

“She was okay this morning, but it wasn’t all over the media then,” I say. “I might go into her work and see how she’s holding up.”

“Yeah might be a good idea. So Trey will be practicing with us starting next week and writing songs for the new album.”

“Sounds good.”

“Do you want something to drink?” Lexi asks.

I shake my head. “No thanks I’m good.”

Ryder looks down at my knuckles then up at my face. “’Bout time you got those removed.”

I stifle the urge to roll my eyes at him. “I got rid of them on tour—where the hell were you? It wasn’t anything sentimental to me, trust me on that.”

“Good to hear,” Ryder replies, his lip twitching in amusement.

“If that’s all,” I say, playing with my eyebrow ring. “I’m going to go check on Tee.”

Ryder doesn’t remove his gaze from me. “She’s lucky to have you bro. You’re really good to her.”

“Is that the official Ryder seal of approval I hear?”

He laughs and stands up, crossing his arms over his chest. “She doesn’t need my approval, that woman is dynamite.”

Yeah, my dynamite.

“I’ve seen her make grown men cry,” Ryder continues, shaking his head with a grin.

“Yeah I get the point.”

And I’ve been kicked in the nuts enough times to prove it.

“I’ll see you next week.”

We say our byes and then I go and see how my woman is dealing with the news of her story out for the world to see.

*****

“So I see how it is! I agree to marry you and instantly the jam donuts stop,” Tee says, crossing her arms over her chest.

I fight the urge to laugh. “I brought you jam donuts three days ago.”

She bites her bottom lip and stares at my chest. “See something you like?”

“Yeah, my own name,” she replies, smirking at me. I rub my hand over my heart, where her name is inked, then pull her down on the bed next to me. “I think you need to get my name on you.”

She straddles my hips and lies down on my chest. “Maybe I’ll get it as a wedding present to you.”

I perk up. “Really?”

“Don’t sound so surprised,” she mumbles. “l do like the thought of it.”

“Good,” I reply, running my hands through her hair, down her neck, and onto her shoulders. I start to massage there gently, feeling how tense she is.

“You’re tense baby,” I whisper. “You should just quit your job and become a lady of leisure.”

“That comment doesn’t even justify a reply,” she says, then moans as I rub my thumb in a circle on her back.

“That feels so good,” she says on an exhale. I kiss her shoulder and continue my exploration.

“Tee,” I say.

“Hmmmm?”

“Thank you for giving me a chance,” I tell her, trying to explain how I feel. “I know you didn’t want to, but because you let me in and gave us a chance, I’m the happiest I’ve ever been in my life. I know you have high standards and rules you stick to, and dating me was going against them. And I know you never go against them, but for me, you bent your own rules so we could be together.”

She turns to look at my face. “Thank you for making me give you a chance.”

I laugh at that. “I would have just kept coming around until you gave in to me.”

“Trust me, I know,” she says. “And deep down I would have kept wanting you to, even though I thought I shouldn’t have.”

“I’m glad you weren’t as stubborn as you could have been,” I reply with a cheeky grin.

“Unfortunately, you’re kind of my weakness,” she admits. “Trust me, no one else would have gotten even close. I can be extremely stubborn and proud.”

“Well fortunately for me,” I add.

She laughs softly. “Yes very fortunately for you.”

“I know you can be stubborn, trust me,” I tell her. “You’re a strong woman, and you know what you want.”