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I smiled and shook my head. “Not anymore. When I partake, it’s strictly edibles because of Beau’s asthma. In fact, do you have some time right now?”
He frowned. “For what?”
We stood in front of my house and I climbed the steps. “Therapy and you won’t even have to talk about your feelings.” He grinned and climbed the steps, shaking his head.
“How can I pass up an offer like that?”
***
What on earth possessed me to invite Cross into my home? The man was hurting and he clearly couldn’t express any vulnerability to his club, or probably anyone else. If I could help him, I would. But I refused to get involved. “Come on in and take off your shoes and that vest.”
“Is that necessary?”
I turned to face him, hands on my hips the way I did when Beau decided to question my decisions. “Yes.”
And that was all it took to get him to oblige. He kicked off his heavy duty boots and hung the leather vest with the Reckless Bastards insignia on one of the hooks beside the door. “Happy?”
“No. Satisfied. Now come and have a seat.” The squeak of his much heavier frame easing into the cushion sounded as I went to retrieve what I needed to help him.
“I made these,” I told him and stopped when I returned and saw him stretched out on the sofa with his eyes half closed. He looked peaceful and I didn’t want to rouse him.
“I’m not asleep. Yet,” he said and sat up. “What the hell kind of air freshener do you use?” He sounded grumpy about it and that made me laugh.
“It varies from week to week. Different scents that instill calm and relaxation. Too much stress can be bad for Beau.”
He smiled. “Where is he?”
“Hanging out with Rocky. I don’t know if it’s her red hair or that slight hint of southern twang I hear in her voice, but Beau is absolutely taken with her.”
“He’s a cool kid. Very, ah, adult.”
I laughed and set down the two containers. “He’s mature for his age, I know.”
“I like it. I’m not really the baby talk kind of guy,” he said gruffly, seeming uncomfortable as I sat on the coffee table directly in front of him.
“No kidding. It would probably freak him out if you did.” I’d never treated Beau like a baby because he was too smart for me to get away with it and because I couldn’t afford to baby him during his early years. But when his asthma got out of control I did worse than baby him, I became a mother hen. “I have hemp oil and CBD cream. I made them both and I’m going to combine them. All you have to do is relax.”
Cross looked skeptical but he nodded and I took one of his big hands into both of mine and began massaging his hand and wrist. It took a few minutes, but as soon as he stopped resisting me, Cross began to relax. The weight of his big body sank deeper into the sofa just as I knew it would. Every inch of him was rock hard and not just his muscles, but the knots of tension. “Damn that feels good.”
I smiled and switched to his other hand, feeling a smug sense of satisfaction when his arm remained limp. His hands were big and calloused, like he worked with his hands, which made me curious. “What exactly do you do?”
He opened one eye and stared at me. “Seriously?”
I nodded, adding more pressure to his palm and pulling a groan from him. “Yes, seriously. If you don’t want to answer, don’t.” I never understood why people were so secretive, especially in this digital age. With a credit card and a wi-fi connection I could have his life story in under an hour.
“I’m the President of the Reckless Bastards which basically puts me as CEO of our business interests.”
“Interesting.” I’d never thought about the club like an actual, official organization or corporation but it made sense. The truth was I didn’t think all that much about the club because I didn’t want to know. But I wanted to know about Cross.
“Yeah? Why?”
I shrugged and stood in front of him, noticing the way he made a gentlemen’s effort to avoid looking at my chest. I urged him to stretch out again and stood behind him so I could get to work, my hands on the side of his head.
“Because I never thought of it like that. Jana’s mentioned casually about the dispensaries, the gun shop and even a brothel or two but I guess I just assumed…actually I don’t think I assumed anything. It’s pretty cool that you’re a CEO.”
I’d started working on a pressure point.
He grinned. “These days it doesn’t feel all that cool,” he said honestly and I knew he was feeling relaxed. “Oh, shit, Moon.”
