Page 64 of The Dom with a Safeword

At least she and Sabrina were decent. Earlier on, upstairs, Sabrina had been prancing around naked while brushing her teeth with a borrowed toothbrush.

Tuesday…Tuesday morning. He remembered who was coming and leaned back on the stool to shout more effectively down the hallway. “Hey Q, it's probably Cross delivering that wood. Tell him I’ll be out in a minute to help unload it in the front yard.”

Cross was a godsend with his truck. It seemed like almost everyone he knew here he’d met through the club.

He’d bought the timber at auction. Salvaged from an old house, the oak planks should be a close match for the treads on the staircase.

Q came through the doorway followed by Cross. A big man with bristly black hair and multiple tats, Cross looked like he was used to working out, and like he could swallow Q and spit out her bones.

“Brought your lumber.” Cross nodded at Sabrina where she’d perched herself on a stool before a plate stacked with pancakes. Then he cocked his head. “Aren’t you Q’s friend, from the shop?”

She sucked maple syrup off her finger and waved vaguely. Red washed over her cheeks. “Umm. Yeah, I am. Hi.”

“Did you wear the outfit Q got you?”

She nodded and said quietly, “To a concert.”

He glanced at Q then winked.

All Sabrina’s energy seemed to have drained away to be replaced by a quiet embarrassment while her face grew ever redder. Jude studied her. Of course – she’d said she didn’t want this relationship known in public, and here she was sitting in his kitchen in PJs. He looked at Q and she looked back, a small frown of anxiety marring her forehead. Guess she hadn’t thought Sabrina would count Cross as public.

“Cross. Let’s get that wood off your truck. I really appreciate your help.” After swallowing the last chunk of toast and some coffee, he slipped from his stool. “The girls are staying with me for a couple of days.” Inspired, he thought of a distraction, “Sabrina is a bit of a ghost hunter so she’s investigating a ghost I might have.”

“Here?” Cross’s eyebrows arched upward.

“Yes. Here.” Maybe ghosts weren’t his thing?

“I got a picture.” She grinned like a Cheshire cat on crack. “I can’t wait to do it again. But not alone. And with a better camera.”

All of them stared at her.

Looking bemused, Cross headed for the door. “Finish your coffee, Jude. I’ll go back the truck in. Let me know if you need a hand with anything else, while I’m here.”

“I will. Thanks.” When he got up to put his mug in the sink, something smacked against his backside. He swung around, expecting to find Sabrina smiling with her hands behind her back. It surprised him when Q smirked then leaned against the opposite counter.

With a head shake and a chuckle, he told her, “I’ll take care of you later.”

Cross looked back and forth between the two then rumbled as he passed, “You’d better keep a firm hand, man. They’ve got you outnumbered.” They’d had this discussion at the club awhile back. Cross hadn’t been sure what he thought about bratty subs.

Luckily, Jude liked them just fine.

Chapter 11

Q

The girls giggled as they slid out of the backseat of Jude’s car and straightened their clothes. Q tugged surreptitiously at her short skirt, wishing he’d let her wear jeans. She felt more naked than naked. Fortunately, he had parked on the side of the building away from the door and windows, and no one was in view.

“You really never wear dresses, do you, Q?” Jude asked. “If you stopped pulling at it, it would be much prettier.”

“No, she doesn’t wear them anymore.” Sabrina laughed. “She used to wear skirts and dresses all the time when I first met her.”

“Nico forced me to wear dresses. I hated it. I gave them all away not long after I moved in with Sabrina.”

“Well, they look beautiful on you.” Jude smiled. “You shouldn’t stop wearing them out of spite.” He adjusted his jeans. “It’s a good thing you two decided to wear the same shade of lipstick,” he grumbled. “It would have been less distracting if you had put it on directly, instead of Sabrina putting it on you, Q, and you kissing it back onto her.”

“We had to touch it up anyway,” Sabrina smiled slyly. “Besides, you shouldn’t have been spying on us in the rear view mirror. And don’t even think of complaining about us switching shirts.”

“I wouldn’t dream of complaining about that, Sabrina girl.”