Page 43 of Stopping Short

“I’ll take full responsibility for this gorgeous mama,” Peck murmurs as he enters the kitchen. He sweeps Sophia into his arms and kisses her neck.

“Where did that door come from?” I motion to where there wasn’t a door a few moments ago and now there is.

“Oh, Peck needed to install a secret door between Bennett Bradley Security and Mulberry Lane Bakery. It was too much work for him to exit the building to see his obsession every hour on the hour.” Emma folds her arms over her chest and arches a brow at the happy couple, daring them to argue.

“She’s definitely my obsession,” Peck murmurs as he kisses her neck again, making her giggle.

“Ok, stop. You’re going to make me throw up all over this kitchen and we just finished cleaning up.” Emma pretends to gag, making Bella and me laugh.

“You’re so dramatic. You know we sign your paychecks, right?” Peck arches a brow.

“Yup. I still said what I said.”

“The truck is around back and ready to be loaded up.” Peck ignores Emma’s comment. I'm sure she gives him a lot of sass. It’s who she is.

“Well, then you better get started, boss man! I need to go make myself presentable for the game tonight. I hear there will be some cuties there.” She wiggles her brows.

“You better stay away from my security guys,” he groans.

The private suite is amazing. There’s a retractable wall between the Powell suite and the Mulberry Lane suite. Owen opened it up so we’d have even more room tonight. Even with the extra space, it’s jammed packed.

Jax and Cody are here and they’re chatting with a bunch of the Mulberry Lane kids, Kyler Bennett, and my little brother, Declan. Kyler’s little sister, Elliott, is staring up at Declan like he’s the most important person in the world to her. They’d be adorable together.

“Harper Bradley! I haven’t seen you since before you ran off for college!” Jax grins and waves for me to come over. As soon as I'm close, he tugs me into a tight hug. “How are you doing?”

“I’m hanging in there. I just need to get through this week and then I'm finished with school.”

“Unless you go to law school?” He arches a brow. They all know I’ve always thought about law school.

After what happened to my mom, I always wanted to help hold people accountable for their actions. Being a cop never really appealed to me, plus you can only do so much. I felt like being a lawyer or judge would give me the ability to do more.

“Yeah… I'm not sure what I'm doing yet.” I scrunch up my nose.

“That’s ok. I still don’t know what I'm doing.” He flashes me a grin. His grin quickly fades as he stares at someone over my shoulder. “Isabella Brooks!”

I chuckle at his use of Bella’s full name, laughing even harder when she glares at him.

“Jax Robinson! Oh, look, we can both use full names.” She rolls her eyes. I love when her sassy side comes out. It doesn’t happen as often as it does with Emma, but it’s always entertaining when it does.

“Come here.” He motions for her to come closer.

She huffs out an annoyed breath, but doesn’t hesitate to come right to Jax. She stares up at him with big blue eyes and I swear his expression softens.

“Why are you wearing this?” He tugs on the side of her jersey.

“Umm, because we’re at a Pit Bulls game so I'm wearing a Pit Bulls jersey?”

“I don’t like you wearing some guy’s name on your back,” he murmurs softly.

“It’s Wyatt’s jersey.” She rolls her eyes again. “He’s not just some guy.”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“So? Whose name is supposed to be on my back?” She arches a brow.

“Only mine.”

“Fine. I’ll make sure to get Cody’s jersey.” She smirks as she walks away from him without another word.