“It will be okay, honey,” she says softly as I get up from my chair and lean over, kissing her cheek.

“I know,” I agree then mutter, “Later,” to my sister, and look at my dad as he kisses my mom’s cheek then follows me out of the house to my truck.

“I never thought that I’d ever give this advice to anyone. You know I think your uncles are idiots half the time, but your uncle, Trevor, told me something when I started seeing your mom again,” he says, and I raise a brow.

“He told me to push your mom into a corner, not to give her a chance to retreat. At the time, I thought he was nuts, but I think he was right. I know Ellie has had a hard time with everything that’s happened, but if she’s your Boom, she’s your forever. Nothing will change that.”

“Thanks, Dad,” I mutter as he pats my back.

“I love you, bud,”

“Love you too,” I tell him, opening my truck door. “Can you do me a favor and not let Hope eat too much junk food tonight? She had a candy bar already.”

“Sure.” He nods, but I know he’s lying. Shaking my head, I slam my door and lift my chin to him as he steps back so I can pull away from the house.

I’m going to follow his advice. Maybe taking it slow was the wrong move.

*

Getting out of my truck, I slam the door, head across the sidewalk, and spot Ellie through the glass of the salon door. I feel my body get tight as I take her in while she stands in the waiting area, talking to some blonde. Her hair is down in messy waves with new red chunky highlights that cascade over her breast. The navy blue dress she has on is molded tightly to every curve of her body, leaving her shoulders bare and hitting her mid-thigh. Moving my eyes down her legs, which seem to go on for miles, I swallow, seeing the cream high heels that wrap around her feet with a million straps ending up around her ankles. Seeing how high they lift her, I know they will put her ass at the perfect height for me to fuck her from behind while she’s bent over.

“How the fuck can I go slow when she looks like that?” I mutter to myself, tapping on the glass to get her attention.

When her eyes meet mine, I watch her take a deep breath before moving to the door.

“Hi,” she whispers, opening the door.

“You look beautiful.”

“I… Thanks,” she whispers shyly then looks over her shoulder at the blonde. “Jax, this is Kimberly. Kim this is Jax; I don’t know if you’ve met.”

“Nice to meet you,” I mutter, giving her a chin lift as I take Ellie’s hand in mine and tug her closer to me.

“You too,” Kim says, and I hear her laugh, but I can’t take my eyes off Ellie and how amazing she looks. Not that she doesn’t always look good, but right now, she looks good enough to eat, which is going to make it difficult to share her with anyone tonight.

“Are you going to be okay locking up by yourself?” Ellie asks Kim, picking up her bag from the couch near the door.

“Yep, go have fun and I’ll see you on Sunday.”

“See you Sunday,” Ellie replies quietly then looks up at me and bites her bottom lip, causing my chest to vibrate with a growl. Opening the door for her, I let her walk out before me, just so I can watch her ass, then take her hand again and lead her to my truck, opening the passenger side door for her.

“Thanks,” she murmurs, ducking her head again.

Spinning her around to face me, I press her against the side of my truck and dip my head to the side, covering her mouth with mine, fisting one hand into her hair, and pulling her closer to me with the other. Nipping her bottom lip, her gasp of surprise allows me to lick into her mouth, tasting her and mint.

The moment my tongue touches hers, her hands fist into my shirt and her breasts press hard against my chest. As my hat falls to the ground, she pulls my lip between hers and bites hard enough to sting. Moving my hand down over her ass, I rock her into my erection, needing her to feel what she does to me.

“Jax,” she whimpers into my mouth as her hands travel up, wrapping around the back of my neck. Tearing my mouth from hers, I rest my forehead against hers, willing myself to stop, when all I want to do is pick her up, place her on the seat of my truck, rip her dress up around her waist and swing her legs over my shoulders so I can feast.

Lifting her mouth closer to mine once more, I shake my head, giving her a squeeze when I see hurt enter her gaze.

“We’re going to dinner, and if we keep going, the only thing I’ll be eating is you.”

“Jax,” she moans my name.

“Fuck,” I grunt, picking her up, placing her on the seat, and giving her one last kiss before pulling from her grasp and shutting the door.

Picking my hat up off the ground, I shake it out and place it back on my head then take my time walking around the truck, so I can will my erection down enough that I can drive.

Opening the door, I get behind the wheel shutting the door and Ellie’s soft voice breaks through the silence, causing my chest to ache. “My brother’s name was Edward. You would have liked him,” she says with a sad smile. “He was always doing crazy stuff. He was the guy everyone wanted to be friends with, the guy all the girls wished would take a second look at them.”

She pauses, and her voice is barely above a whisper as she says, “He was my best friend.” Hating seeing her look so alone, I reach over and unhook her belt then drag her into my lap. Settling herself against me, her eyes search my face then drop to her lap before she continues, “When he met Bonnie and I saw how in love he was with her, I remember thinking everything was going to change. I was going to lose him. He was all I had for so long that I was scared and jealous. I wanted to hate her.”