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But half of the guys discreetly disappeared in the middle of the day.

“Work,” Coast answered when I asked where they’d gone.

And then he informed me that when they got back, the club was going to have “church.” Which was, apparently, what a biker club called a mandatory meeting.

About, it seemed, my situation and presence in the club.

Coast had suggested I hang out upstairs or take a dip in the pool with Lainey while they went through with it.

I’d been the one to say I was going to go and get a few jobs done, so they didn’t have to worry about being overheard.

I felt squirrely at the idea of them all discussing me and my baby while we were in the house. Besides, I needed to not get caught up in the vacation of it all. I needed to work, to save, to have a nest egg to fall back on.

“You don’t need to do this,” Coast said, standing next to my car as I slipped Lainey into her seat.

“I might as well get a little work done while you guys are busy,” I said, shrugging it off. “Oh, who taped up my window?” I asked when I noticed.

“Eddie. He said he is gonna replace it for you, but he wanted it to have a temporary fix just in case you needed to drive it in the meantime.”

“That was really sweet of him. But he doesn’t have to fix it. I can—”

“He’s not gonna let you take it anywhere else. He loves working on cars. He wants to do it. Let him.”

“Okay,” I agreed, opening my door.

“Don’t work too late,” Coast said, following me and giving me a quick, hard kiss.

“I won’t,” I assured him. “Text me when church is done, so if I want to head back then, I know I can.”

“Will do. Got my phone on me if you need me,” he said, waiting for me to climb in the car, then slamming the door for me.

There was a strange flip in my stomach as I drove away, like something in me wanted to go back.

“But we really can’t be that needy, can we, Lainey?” I asked as she played with her feet and cooed at her reflection in the mirror hanging from the headrest. “No matter how much we like him.”

I did, too.

Like him.

Maybe it was even more than merelylikinghim. Ilikedhim that night in the alley. Ilikedhim that night when I delivered to the clubhouse.

It had slowly been growing into something else entirely after the night at the clinic, then the following days of him taking care of us.

I was just too afraid to call it what it was.

Especially when we were so dependent on not only him and the protection he was providing, but the club itself too.

I had two quick deliveries right away.

But as the sun fully set, I got a big order with the kind of projected income to make me double-check to ensure it wasn’t Coast luring me back to the clubhouse.

It was taking me out toward the other end of Golden Glades, though.

So after I picked up a surprisingly light order, I hit the GPS and headed in that direction.

“Wonder why they are tipping so much,” I murmured to Lainey as she let out a big yawn. “Tired, huh? You can take a nap. It looks like this is a house. You can stay in the car.”

As if agreeing, her little eyes got heavy.