Page 28 of Owning the Prez’s Ol' Lady

“Babe, I asked if you wanted water.” Joe’s voice broke through my thoughts, and a mysterious water bottle appeared before my eyes.

“Oh... um... sure...” I said awkwardly.

He sat on the couch next to me, his mouth setting into that familiar frown. “You okay?”

“Not really,” I said, debating on how to bring any of this up.

“What’s going on in that pretty little head of yours?”

I blew out a breath, knowing that this was one conversation that could go south very easily.

My mouth opened, but words got lodged in my throat.Fuck, why was this so hard?

“Babe, you’re scaring me. What’s wrong?”

Taking his hand, I gently placed my hand in his massive palm, almost losing it in the cracks and crevices that would be in any palm reader’s wet dreams.

“Joe, I hope you know that I really appreciate everything you’ve done for me and Ramona, and I know your feelings run deep for me, but I don’t think I can be the girl you want me to be. I’m not ready. I know you want to take this relationship and turn it into something more, but I’m just not able to do that right now...”

“That’s okay,” he said softly.

“It is?”

“Absolutely.” He smiled, and the entire thing lit up his face. Every white tooth, every twinkle in those mesmerizing bluish-white eyes, all of it made that chiseled face of his even harder to look at.

“I’m so broken,” I whispered, my voice coming out a hoarse croak.

“And I’m here to fix you,” he said, bending in for a kiss again.

But before his lips had a chance to touch down, Josie came blowing into the room, out of breath and smiling so big you’d think her face was about to split in two.

“Her water broke!” she shouted, right before doing a little dance. “Ramona’s about to have her baby.”

I didn’t even wait for Joe to get up with me. I was on my feet within seconds, racing towards the guest house where my best friend needed me.

Right now, my depressed state of mind would have to wait. My only focus was on Ramona, and the bouncing baby that would soon be part of our little made-up world.

Chapter Twenty-One

Snyder

Arriving at the address Priest provided, I was shocked to find both Axl and Wasp already there, sitting on the steps of a strange house I’d never seen before that was off the highway and sitting amongst the trees.

Priest rode up a few minutes later on his Harley, and the second he was off his bike, the three of us strode up to him, anxious to see what all the secrecy was about.

“Priest, what the fuck is this place?” Wasp asked, looking around the acres of woods that surrounded us.

“My home.”

“Home?” My look of astonishment said it all. “Is this where you’ve been hiding out?”

He nodded. “Amongst other places, but yes, this is where I usually go to collect my thoughts.”

“Why did you call us here?” Axl asked. His hands were shoved in his pockets, and he was kicking at the dirt with his toe.

“To give you something you’ve been looking for. Follow me.”

We followed him into the house, looking around at the modest dwelling and all the parts of him that none of us had ever seen.

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