Page 37 of Astrid
“Wasn’t she working?” Lucas asked. When everyone turned to him, he shrugged and opened his cola. “I’m just saying, I’ve overheard Aunt Morgan telling Uncle Wyatt some things that the Boswell Group does, and I think she was working. Who was your client? Did Astrid get all pissed off when she saw you there with him?”
“Her,” Josh said. “His client was a woman. When I found John in the downstairs bedroom not ten minutes ago, he was on the phone with some woman, telling her that he wouldn’t be dating her, because he was already in a relationship.”
“You ass,” Chuck said adamantly as he leaned forward and glared at John across the other side of the firepit. “You treated Astrid like a pariah last night at dinner, then somehow tonight you were all touchy feely with her, when she was trying to make dinner for everyone, then you sat next to her again. What the fuck is your problem, man? Because, I can tell you right now, if I had a woman like that, I’d be not only jumping for joy, but also doing everything in my power to keep her in my life.”
No one said a word for several minutes, until Justin sighed, and after taking a long sip of his beer, he looked at his triplet, and shook his head slowly. “John, you have to realize that Astrid and the other women aren’t like what we’re used to.”
“What does that mean?” DJ asked in confusion. He looked around at his father, uncle, and all the other men sitting around the fire with a frown on his face. “Aren’t all women the same?” He frowned harder when nine men snorted a laugh, and answered with a resounding, “No.”
Justin only looked at Dillon with a raised brow, and received a nod from the other man. He took that as an invitation to explain things to DJ. “Back home, the seven of us were members of a motorcycle club. Our father is the President of the club, I was the VP, and they had other functions in the club. It’s not important right now what they were, but what is important is to know that we carried a lot of weight in the club. Women would fight each other to see which one could be with one of us. I’ll admit, at first I thought it was great, but then it got old fast.”
“Why?” Lucas asked with a frown of confusion on his face.
“Because, they only wanted to wear the woman’s rocker on their back. Classic example, a couple of years ago, it was the spring before Morgan came out this way, and ended up losing her memory, but that spring I dated a woman that was hot, I mean very sexy. She bent over backward to wait on me hand and foot. I guess I let it go to my head, because I took advantage of it. I thought she kept putting off having sex with me until we were more serious. I found out the hard way that she was holding out for something else.”
“What’s that?” Wyatt was the one to ask that time.
“She refused to have sex with me, saying she was saving herself. I thought for a more serious commitment from me. Boy, was I ever wrong! One night we were all at the clubhouse, I walked out back for something, and there she was, on her knees before one of the other members. I didn’t say or do anything until they were done, and when she stood she saw me, and it didn’t seem to faze her. When I demanded why she wouldn’t take care of me that way, she said it was because I hadn’t allowed her to wear the club rocker, stating that she was my property. That opened my eyes to what type of woman she was.” He paused long enough to sigh, and looked at each man around the circle, then he turned to his brother and shook his head.
“John, the women Morgan has working for her are at least fifty times classier than what we hung out with back home. When I first started a relationship with Ava, I treated her like I did that woman back home. Hell, I can’t even remember her name, but that’s not important. What is important is that all the women so far, and I’m talking Morgan, Ava, Joyce, and Astrid, and I’m sure any other woman that’s on their way here, can kick all our asses into next year with one finger. They are honest, hard-working, dedicated to not only their job, but to their friends, and their families. They’ll also give you the shirt off their back, and won’t ask questions as to why you want or need it. They’ll stick up for you, and fight the good fight, not only for what they believe in, but also what they’re doing for their job. The only advice I can give you, is don’t fuck it up with Astrid. She’s a great woman, and I can’t see the two of you missing out on a wonderful relationship, because you treat her like you did your women from back home. They arenotthe same. If you can remember that, and get your head out of your ass, then maybe you can have what Ava and I have.”
“What exactly is that?” John frowned as he asked.
“Down the road, but it’s going to be a short road, but down the road I’m going to ask her to marry me, and in a few years, I’m hoping the kids will start coming.” He looked at each of his brothers and nodded with a firm shake of his head. “I love her,” he said with finality, then upended his beer to finish the last couple of swallows left in the bottle. He settled down and looked around the circle of men. “We probably won’t be staying here in the future,” he grinned and laughed as he asked, “Can you imagine if all of us were to have a set of triplets with our first pregnancy, that would be eighteen kids running around.”
“Oh god,” Wyatt said as he stared at them in shock. “I keep forgetting that the six of you come from two different sets of triplets. Do you think Morgan will have triplets whenever we decide to have kids?”
“Bite your tongue,” Morgan said as she entered with a full glass of wine and walked around the circle until she got close to Wyatt, then settled down on his lap when he patted a leg. Ava did the same thing with Justin, April with Dillon, and Joyce grabbed another chair and sat next to Alex, but made sure she held onto his good hand. As much as she wanted to lean against him and snuggle against his chest, she didn’t want to put any pressure on his injury.
“You don’t want to have triplets?” Wyatt frowned at her.
“It’s not that I don’t want them, it’s that I don’t know if I carry the gene. That’s down the road when we decided to have kids. Right now, I want to get through the wedding, and get these preppers, or mob people, or cartel asshats out of the way.”
“Where’s Astrid?” John frowned at the women as they snuggled up to their men. Never in his wildest dreams would he ever think he’d be jealous of his brothers for finding the perfect woman for them.
“She opted to stay upstairs, and was going to call it a night,” Morgan said, then glared at her brother. “You fucked up.”
“I know.” He sighed heavily, and made a face when he looked at his beer. Not wanting any more, he reached out and dumped it in the dirt to the side of his, then placed the empty bottle back in the carrier. “Maybe I should go talk to her.”
“No,” April said, speaking for the first time. “Let her have tonight, then if you’re truly sorry for what happened, then go after her with a vengeance tomorrow. Can I give you a word of advice?”
“What’s that?”
“It’s a couple of things. First, apologize for the way you treated her last night. Second, know that no matter what happens, she will put her job before anything. If you can’t accept what she does for a living, you have no right to be with her, let alone treat her like shit when you get your panties in a twist, because she talks to other men while doing said job.”
“What she said.” Lucas grinned as he reached over and gave April a high five. April’s statement left them all pondering on their relationships, and it was a long time before anyone made a move to call it a night. The first one to do so was Wyatt, when he said, “Five o’clock comes early. I’m going to say goodnight.”
After Morgan rose from his lap, he rose, and within ten minutes everyone had picked up all their things, banked the fire, and at the last minute, John called out, “I’ll stay here to make sure the fire burns down.”
No one said anything, but they all exchanged looks. Shaking their heads, they went back into the house, and the Erwins left, while the Stuarts went to their respective rooms.
CHAPTER17
John saw Astridcoming from the office, and quickly hurried out to call to her. “Hey,” he called out, and held his breath when she paused, then slowly turned to look at him. He sighed at the wary look on her face. Walking up to her, he said, “I fucked up, and I’m sorry. I know you have a job to do, but I’d like to put it out there that I’d like for the two of us to sit down and talk when you’re done with work for the day.”
Astrid looked at him with a frown, then sighed. “Thank you for apologizing, and yes, I’d like that. Barring anything going wrong, I should be home by six.”
“Okay, I’ll see you then.” John leaned in, and instead of kissing her on the lips, because he didn’t know how she would react, he kissed her cheek, then quickly stepped back. He grinned at the smile on her face, then watched as she turned on her heel and left. He stayed right where he was until the black Jeep pulled out ten minutes later. It was to the point that he didn’t even frown when the blue Jeep, and the red pick-up truck left right behind her. Whistling, he went back in to do the last little things to complete the office job. Later today, the inspector was coming out for the final walk through, and if they passed, they’d receive their certificate of occupancy, and Morgan could start moving her things back in.
