“Sure, I’ll bring your mom over in the morning, since I can tell she’s chomping at the bit to meet Hope, and we’ll head out from there.”

“Thanks,” I mumble, taking the two bags up the stairs and setting them in bedroom Ellie chose.

“Anytime. Get some rest and we’ll see you in the morning.”

“See you then,” I say, hanging up and heading back outside. My phone vibrates again, and I look at the screen and shake my head when I see Mellissa’s number pop up, with the emoji of a butcher knife that my sister Ashlyn put next to her name. Mellissa and I dated in high school, and hooked up over the summer one time. I thought maybe she had changed with age and college, but she was a bigger bitch now than she was back then. Pressing ignore on her call, I put my phone in my pocket and take the rest of the stuff into the house. Once I get everything upstairs, both girls are in Ellie’s room lying in bed.

“Thank you for bringing everything in,” Ellie says sleepily.

“No problem.” I shrug, watching as she gets out of bed, and that’s when I realize she’s only wearing a shirt that hangs down to the middle of her thighs. My eyes track her as she walks toward me. Taking in the creamy expanse of her legs and the way her hair looks down over her shoulders, I can picture her walking toward me naked, her hair brushing the tips of her breasts.

“Ax, I wuv your bafftub,” Hope says, bringing me out of my perusal of her mother.

Clearing my throat, I look around Ellie to Hope, who is now standing on the bed and bouncing.

“I’m glad, sweetheart,” I say, and she smiles then hops off the bed, luckily landing on her feet as I rush towards her, feeling my heart in my throat. Picking her up off the ground, I mutter, “Be careful.” Which only seems to make her laugh.

“No jumping on the bed, Angel,” Ellie says, and Hope grins then wiggles out of my hold, running out of the room, past her mom.

“She’s a handful,” Ellie mumbles, looking from the door to me again.

“She’s sweet.” Besides, I was already getting the feeling I was going to have my hands full with both her and her mother. “You look beat.”

“I am, but Hope wants to sleep in her bed, so I’m gonna go get it set up for her,” she says yawing turning towards the door.

“Already done,” I say to her back.

Stopping, she turns to look at me over her shoulder, and something works within her gaze, but her head dips before I’m able to decipher it.

“Thanks,” she mumbles, walking out of the room. Following her to Hope’s door, I stop behind her. “She’s already asleep,” she whispers, tilting her head back to look at me. Tipping my chin toward her, I place my hand on her shoulder then reach around her with my other hand to shut off the light. “You even found her a nightlight,” she whispers, almost like she’s in awe.

Roaming my hand down her arm, I rest it on her waist, giving her a squeeze. This time she doesn’t flinch, but shivers. “Go to bed, babe you need to rest.”

“Okay.” She swallows, and I notice a pinkness to her cheeks that wasn’t there before as she stops at her bedroom door.

“I’m right down the hall if you need me. Do you remember the code for the house?”

“Zero-four-zero-three,” she says, nodding.

“Good girl.” I smile, reaching up and running my finger down her cheek, watching her eyes slide half closed from my touch. “Mom and Dad will be here in the morning.”

“Oh.”

“Mom said she would take you to the salon if you want to go.”

“I do.” Her face brightens.

“I had a feeling you would want to.” I smile as she yawns again. “Get some sleep.”

“Goodnight, Jax,” she says quietly, walking into her room.

“Night, Ellie,” I murmur, watching her door close before heading down the hall to my room. The minute I’m inside, I kick off my boots and take off my jeans and tee then go into the bathroom. Something inside of me settles into place…something I didn’t even know I had been looking for all along.

I knew about the ‘Boom’; every man in my family knew about it from the time they were little. Most of us chalked it up to some old wives tale, but that doesn’t mean I hadn’t been hoping it would happen to me one day. I grew up watching the way the men in my family were with their wives, knew the strength of their relationships and the bonds they shared, how rare it actually was to have something run so deep, something that nothing could ever come between.

I know I now have that under my roof; I just need to convince Ellie of the same thing. I need to show her our future could be beautiful if she’d give it a chance. With that thought, I go to bed hoping that one day Ellie will be climbing into bed next to me while our kids sleep down the hall.

Chapter 2

Ellie

Opening my eyes, I close them again when I realize I haven’t been dreaming. I’m really at Jax’s house in Tennessee. Sitting up and putting my feet on the floor, I stretch before standing. I don’t want Hope to wake up Jax, and my daughter—though I love her more than anything in this world—is loud. I don’t think she has ever gotten the concept of her inside voice. Opening my door and looking down the hall towards Jax’s room, I see his door is open, but he’s not awake. At least, I don’t think so.

His chest is rising and falling steadily. His arm muscles are flexed, one over his head, the other draped across his bare abdomen. All I can see is beautiful golden skin over muscle…lots and lots of muscle. Pulling my eyes from him and tiptoeing down the hall, I make it to Hope’s room and go inside, shutting the door.

Seeing Hope asleep in her bed on her tummy with her hand pressed under her cheek, I walk to the only other piece of furniture in the room, an old rocking chair, and sit down. My life with Hope hasn’t always been easy, but we’ve always been happy. I have always made sure she has what she needs, and a little extra when I could afford it, but last night, when we pulled up in front of Jax’s house and she whispered to him that he lived in a castle, I knew I needed to do more. She deserves to live in a house, not a trailer park where drugs are dealt right outside her bedroom window. She deserves a backyard and a good school, with friends who are good kids. I’m not sure what is going to happen with us living in Tennessee, but I vow I will work harder to give Hope a life completely different than the one I had growing up.

“Mama?”

“Hey, Angel.” I smile, opening my arms to her as she walks sleepily toward me. “Did you sleep okay?” I ask, tucking her head under my chin and wrapping my arms around her, rocking her gently.

“Like a pwincess.” She smiles, tipping her head back to look at me. “I’m hungwy.”

I know Jax said to make ourselves at home, but I still feel awkward using his stuff when he isn’t around. It feels personal…way too personal. “Can I have pancakes?”

Crap. I’m not gonna starve my daughter, so I need to pull my big girl panties up and get over whatever reservations I have with being in Jax’s house, especially since this is our home for the time being, too.

“You have to be very quiet until we get downstairs. Can you do that?”

“Like a mouse,” she whispers, making me smile.

“Okay, little mouse, let’s go,” I tell her, standing up and taking her hand in mine.

“Jax is sweepin’,” she loudly whispers when we step into the hall.

“Remember, quiet as a mouse,” I say, and her nose scrunches up and down a few times like a mouse would do, and I grin.

Getting to the kitchen, I lift her up, set her on the counter, and then look around.

Jax’s house is nice, but you can tell he’s slowly trying to fix it up. Cans of paint and different tiles sit in the corner next to a backdoor I hadn’t noticed last night. The upper cabinets don’t match the lower ones, and the linoleum floors are peeling up, completely gone in some spots. The fridge is new, stainless steel, with some kind of computer on the front, but the other appliance are old and white. The one thing that’s completed is the countertops. They aren’t granite, but look like concrete that has specks of glass imbedded in them. Looking around, I can tell that one day, when he gets around to finishing everything, it will be amazing.