"I wouldn't worry about it."

"I'm not." But she was. He could feel it. Her shoulders were tense.

"Hey," he whispered near her ear. "How do you feel about French toast?"

"I think that might hit the spot."

Jack got to his feet and pulled her up, but when she winced, he froze.

"My foot," she mumbled.

Jack glanced down at her ankle which was purple and still swollen, though not as bad as the night before. s.h.i.t. He'd forgotten all about it.

"I think you need to see a doctor."

"No," Donovan said, shaking her head. "I don't...I'm fine."

Something in her voice made him uneasy. "A trip to the doctor isn't going to hurt you."

"No, but that would be the best way for the media to find out I'm up here, and that's the last thing that I want."

She glanced up at him. "You just said you don't want the outside world finding its way into ours. At least not yet. Can't we just have a little more time to deal with everything before that happens?"

Everything. Like that d.a.m.n pregnancy test. And all the other s.h.i.t. Thing was? It was the other s.h.i.t that he was concerned about.

"At least let me ask Sabrina for a quick look. She used to be a nurse before the kids came along."

Donovan nodded. "Okay."

The two of them were in the kitchen-Donovan propped on the counter as Jack busied himself making French toast-when the door banged open and two bundles of energy ran inside.

"Hey," Harry shouted. "You're alive! You're alive!"

Jack tossed him a strawberry and the little guy caught it.

"Of course I'm alive, silly," Donovan said.

"But Harry tolded me that you might have got eaten by a big bear," Morgan said, her eyes huge as she stared up at Donovan.

"Nope," Donovan replied. "I'm all good."

"Yay!" Morgan shouted. "Uncle Jack said a lot of bad words when you were gone."

"He did," Harry piped in. "He said that one that starts with an F so many times that Mommy says we might be able to fly to Mexico once he pays the swear jar."

"Did he now?" Donovan asked.

Jack shot the kids a look. The little traitors.

"I told you guys to wait for me." Sabrina walked into the house and didn't stop until she had Donovan in a fierce hug. "You scared c.r.a.p out of me."

"Is c.r.a.p a bad word?" Morgan asked, twirling a long lock of hair between her fingers as she looked at her brother.

"I don't think so," Harry replied. "It means poo."

Morgan giggled and Jack grinned at the two of them. "Just don't say the S-word," Jack said.

"What's the S word?" Morgan asked.

"It starts with sh-"

"Harrison Campbell. That's enough." Sabrina shot them a stern look before settling onto Jack. "You might want to put some clothes on while I take a look at Donovan's ankle."

Jack glanced down at his boxers. Not exactly appropriate for company.

He turned the heat low, pressed a kiss to Donovan's cheek (to another round of giggles from Morgan and a big fat 'eeewww' from Harry) before heading up the stairs to his room.

He'd just pulled on a T-shirt when his cell went off again. Jack almost ignored it, but when another text came through, he strode over to the chair where he'd dumped his cargoes the day before and rifled through his front pocket to retrieve the d.a.m.n phone.

One glance down told him all h.e.l.l had broken loose, and just like that, the ease and peace of his morning vanished.

There were several from Maverick, but he ignored those. His cousin was probably just giving him the gears again, and while Jack knew he deserved it, he didn't need to be reminded over and over again.

He scrolled through a few missed calls from his mother. Okay those he'd have to return, but again, it could wait. He saw that Tucker had called and so had his sister Grace. h.e.l.l, there was even two texts from his brother Teague, and Teague was somewhere in South America.

What the h.e.l.l? He didn't read any of them, he just scrolled through until he got to the last one. It set his teeth on edge, and he frowned. From Derek, it was simple and to the point. The guy had never been one for subtlety.

Are you f.u.c.king crazy? Donovan James? We need to talk.

Jack's finger scrolled over Derek's text, and the anger that settled in his gut was something fierce. It was time he and Derek had a meeting.

He tossed his cell back onto the bed and exhaled, running a hand over the several days worth of growth on his chin. How the h.e.l.l did Derek know about Donovan?

"Whatever," he muttered. He was going to have these few days with his woman, and then he'd face whatever s.h.i.t storm was coming his way.

Jack took two steps out of his bedroom before he knew that wasn't going to happen. Coco was barking crazily. It was the kind of crazy that signaled company. He wasn't exactly sure if the s.h.i.t storm had already found its way inside his house, but something sure as h.e.l.l was happening.

He glanced over the railing and swore.

Maverick was looking up at him, and if he was reading his cousin right, the guy wanted to kill Jack. Whatever. Maverick he could handle. It was the other two who concerned him more. Especially the small, pet.i.te thing.

His mother.

She was like a barracuda when it came to her kids and when Donovan and Jack's relationship had busted wide open, she'd been in his corner 100%. Jack was pretty sure that his mother would have gone toe to toe with Donovan if given the chance.

He sure as h.e.l.l didn't need her poking around in his business, because right now, he wasn't exactly sure what his business was all about.

"Jack, do you want to explain what's going on?" his mother said, eyebrow raised in that way that told him her hackles were up. She was preparing to fight, and Jesus, he was too d.a.m.ned tired to do it right now. Eden DuRocher-Simon had never had a problem voicing her opinion. And she would get into Donovan's face without a thought.

Thing was? Donovan was always up for a fight. She'd give as good as she got, but Jack wasn't having any of it.

This right here was no one's business but his and Donnie's.

"Not now, Mom," Jack said taking the stairs two at a time and not stopping until he stood at the counter beside Donovan. Sabrina was quiet. Donovan was quiet. h.e.l.l, the G.o.dd.a.m.n dog was quiet.

It was too quiet.

Morgan wrinkled her nose and pointed to Rick. "You look like a girl. Like the girl who works at Mommy's bank. She has a mustache. "

Jack tried to hide his smile, but he couldn't do it.

"Morgan!" Sabrina hissed.

"But Mommy he does," Morgan replied, as she turned to her mother. "His hair is longer than yours and his eyes are pretty."

The quiet was broken. Leave it to a kid.

Jack smiled and glanced around the room. "So who wants coffee?"

Chapter Twenty-four.

Donovan was mortified. To be caught practically naked by Jack's parents wasn't something she wanted to repeat. Like ever.

Sure most people would have found at least a little humor in the situation, but it was obvious that Jack's mother wasn't a fan. Not that Donnie blamed her, but still, the look on her face when she'd walked into the house had made Donovan's stomach turn.

It had been shock. Disbelief. And then something akin to dislike. It was there and gone just as quick, Donovan had seen it, and it had been enough.

Sabrina quickly bowed out with her kids, promising to call when Brett was up for a visit.

Jack stood in front of her, his back to his family, and for a few seconds, all Donovan could do was close her eyes and try to get her s.h.i.t together.

"Hey," Jack said softly, his hand sliding to her chin. "How's the foot?"

She exhaled and opened her eyes. "Sabrina says it's sprained. She left me this tenser bandage so..."

Jack scooped up the bandage and carefully, gently, wrapped her foot. She didn't know her breath was held until she let it out in a big whoosh when he set her leg back down. She was still perched on the counter, trapped between Jack and his family.

"What happened to your face?"

That was Rick. He was a few inches to Jack's left, and she saw the concern there.

"I'm fine, Maverick. It was stupid, really. I fell down this incline, and well, I'm lucky all I ended up with was a sprained ankle."

"Lucky," Rick muttered, his eyes on Jack. "Yeah, real lucky."

Jack turned to his cousin. "If you got something to say Maverick, why the h.e.l.l don't you say it?"

"Boys," Noah Simon said gruffly. "Enough."

Jack glanced back at his father and sighed. "It's been a tough couple of days."

Noah nodded. "I'm sure it has. Why don't I put a pot of coffee on and you can get...ah...Donovan can-"

"Dressed would be good," his mother said coolly, rummaging in the pantry for the coffee. "I'll make the coffee, Noah. Why don't you take our things upstairs. Maverick you, too. I don't like mess, and these suitcases are in the way."

Donovan slid off the counter, shaking her head when Jack would have taken her hand. "I don't need you to get dressed," she said softly.

"No, but I don't mind watching."

Devil.

Donovan attempted a smile but just couldn't quite get there. She avoided Maverick's piercing gaze and walked with as much dignity as she could toward the stairs. By the time she reached them, her cheeks burned red, and she was glad no one could see her. The stupid T-shirt barely covered her a.s.s and she tried to hold onto the railing, while tugging the shirt down as low as she could so that said a.s.s wasn't on display for Jack's parents.

Though the thought of mooning his mother did bring a smile to her face, even if it was only for a second.

She had just stepped inside her bedroom when Maverick slid in behind her and closed the door shut.

"Rick, not now," she said, walking across to her suitcase and rifling through it for something suitable. She hadn't bothered to unpack and most of the stuff was wrinkled. She grabbed up a pale pink dress, but it was too short. It was longer than the G.o.dd.a.m.n T-shirt she was wearing, but still. Next she reached for a pair of jean cut offs. They'd do.

"Why the h.e.l.l are you here, anyway?" she asked, scooping up a plain white T-shirt. She turned to Maverick, suddenly curious and on the heels of that thought, sort of nauseous.

Why were they all here?

"You went missing, Donnie. Did you forget that?"

"I...I was gone for a few hours." Her mind, raced but she had nothing. She was tired, hungry as h.e.l.l and pretty much sick of the drama that always seemed to attach itself to her life.

"It was a lot longer than a few hours. Jack called me yesterday. He was out of his mind, because no one could find you. He thought that maybe you'd called me. Maybe you'd flown home to LA."

Donovan sat on the edge of her bed, her legs buckling. "He called you?"

"d.a.m.n right he did, and I told him that I hadn't heard s.h.i.t from you and that if one hair on your head was damaged, I was going to kick his a.s.s from here to the moon and back."