“Morning,” I rumble, and Hope giggles, but Ellie’s eyes go soft.

“Morning. I was going to get up to let you sleep,” Ellie says.

“It’s okay,” I tell her, leaning in and pressing a kiss to her forehead then raising my hand to run it over Hope’s hair.

“Can we have Skittle pancakes?” Hope asks, and I feel myself smile when her mom’s face pales at just the idea of Skittle pancakes.

“I don’t think so, sweetheart,” I tell her.

“Oh,” she pouts.

“How about we have eggs and toast?” Ellie suggests, rolling to her back.

“But I want pancakes.”

“We can’t have pancakes everyday, Sweetheart,” I tell her gently, putting my elbow in the bed and resting my head in my hand.

“Why not?”

“If we have them everyday, they won’t be special,” Ellie tells her, pulling her to lay against her chest, and I notice she now has on the shirt I wore yesterday, which is a good thing, since Hope came into the room.

“Oh,” Hope says then looks at me. “Is that why we can’t have birthday cake everyday?”

“Exactly,” Ellie confirms with a smile.

“Can I have a sister?”

“Lord,” Ellie whispers, and I chuckle then say, “Maybe one day.”

“Can I have a dog?” she asks after a few seconds.

“How about a time out?” Ellie asks her.

“I don’t want a time out.” She frowns.

“Go brush your teeth, sweetheart, then we’ll go and make breakfast,” I say.

“Okay,” she pouts, kissing her mom then me and standing up on the bed, jumping twice before landing on her bottom on the edge and sliding off the side, onto the floor, and running out of the room.

“She’s persistent,” Ellie murmurs, and I roll onto her, caging her in underneath me.

“I say we just give her what she wants,” I mutter into the skin of her neck, hearing her sharp intake of breath.

“It’s way to soon for a baby,” she whimpers as I slip my knees between hers and run my hand up her thigh, cupping her ass and pulling her core closer to my erection.

“Maybe,” I say, nuzzling against her ear then biting it, loving the moan that comes after.

“Jax,” she whispers, running her hands up my back while lifting her knee and wrapping her foot around the back of my thigh, bringing me even closer. Grinding against her, I cup her breast then lean forward so I can lick over her lips.

“I’m done!” Hope yells from somewhere down the hall, making me groan in frustration. Rolling to my back, I hear Ellie laugh and I lift my head to glare at her as she gets out of bed and walks to the door.

“I’ll see you downstairs.” She smiles then looks down at my lap and laughs.

“See you downstairs,” I agree, wrapping my hand around myself, trying to relieve the pressure before rolling out of bed and heading to the shower. I turn the water to cold and get in, killing my hard-on after a few painful minutes before turning the water to hot and washing up quickly.

When I get downstairs, Ellie is dressed and her hair is up on top of her head in a bun that fits the outfit she’s wearing. The black, form-fitting, long sleeve t-shirt dress goes down past her knees, where it’s met with black tights and black knee-high boots with a low heel.

“Where are we going?” I ask her, seeing she’s dressed for the day.

Turning to look at me over her shoulder, she replies, “Work. We talked about this yesterday. You said you’d watch Hope.”

“That was before last night,” I remind her quietly.

“I’m still going to work,” she responds then looks at Hope, who is sitting on the counter, watching us. “She won’t bother me there.” She goes to the fridge and gets out a carton of eggs.

“Ellie,” I say harshly, watching her eyes turn hard.

“Jax,” she retorts in the same harsh tone, walking over to the counter and telling Hope she can crack the eggs to scramble them.

Pulling in a deep breath, I let it out slowly, trying to calm myself. “Fine, I’ll have one of the guys there all day.”

“That’s ridiculous,” she grumbles as I help Hope break the eggs into a bowl then hand her a fork before kissing her nose when she smiles.

“Accept it or stay home,” I tell her, trying to keep the frustration out of my tone in front of Hope.

“Fine,” she huffs, slicing off a piece of butter into the pan on the stove.

“Fine,” I agree, reaching around her to get a coffee cup then dip my face close to her ear. “Are you still sore?” I ask, feeling her shiver against me.

“No,” she breathes after a few beats.

“Relish that feeling, baby, ’cause tomorrow, you wont feel the same,” I say, placing a kiss on her neck before pulling the skin there into my mouth, biting down until she gasps.

“Please don’t have Sage come to the salon,” Ellie says after we’ve eaten breakfast and are finishing up putting away the dishes that we just washed. “I don’t want to make it awkward for Kim.”

“I’ll send Tallon,” I tell her, but I know I’m going to have to talk to my cousin. Really, I’m surprised he hasn’t brought up what went down with him and Kim before. It’s not like him to keep something like that to himself.

“I still think it’s ridiculous to send anyone.”