Page 20

Joelle

Joelle was going to smack her baby’s daddy.

The man had no filter. Whatever he thought came right out of his mouth seconds later, and he was making her head spin like the exorcist.

The news bomb changed his life, and he took it all in his stride.

Joelle was sure he was not human.

“Come on, tell me, Joelle. Co-parents don’t have secrets.” He coaxed, repeating his earlier question, smirking. Knowing he’d made her cheeks flame when he’d casually asked if being pregnant had made her hornier.

“Don’t be cheeky. I’m trying to have a meltdown. Would you care to join?”

“I’m not freaking out.”

“I know. It’s weird! You can’t stay cool when a woman says she’s pregnant. You didn’t even ask if it’s yours! That’s insane, Diamond.”

“Of course, it’s mine.”

“How can you be so certain?” she squinted, convinced of his madness. In his situation, Joelle would have doubts.

“Because it’s you.”

What did he mean by that?

“Because I have so few options, and you’re the only man I’ve touched recently?” she snapped, jumping to conclusions because did she mention she was mid freak out? “Charming! I could snap my fingers and have several men in my bed within the hour. You don’t know.”

He moved like an apparition. One second he was across the room, then the next, he was crowding into Joelle’s space, sucking all the air out of her lungs with his proximity. And he made it worse by grasping her chin.

“You listen to me, Joelle. One: shut your little mouth because you’re freaking out and projecting your fears. Two: I said because it’s you, because it’s you . You’re not someone who would pin a kid on any guy. So yeah, if you say it’s my baby, it’s my baby, I trust that. And Three.”

“How many are there?”

His eyes flared. “Three: who the fuck are these guys who you’d snap your fingers to? I want names. I want addresses.”

He was so deadly serious, with his thunderous eyes and flat lips, that it loosened some tension in Joelle’s shoulders.

Yay . Although it took Diamond a while to arrive, thankfully, he was also irrational about two separate things. Yet a girl still enjoyed having company in her time of misery.

“I can’t tell you that.”

“Why not?” he growled, giving her chin a little shake, which made her smile for some obscure reason.

“I don’t take the names of my booty calls. I get serviced, then kick them out once I’m done with them.”

“ Joelle .” He growled a warning again, and she outright laughed as he paced away and then turned. The darkened hue had drifted from his features. “You’re fucking with me.”

“Duh. Of course I am. You wounded my female pride.”

“How? You’re fucking stunning. Why wouldn’t I think you have men lining up to climb into your bed? I was there within seconds, if you remember.”

Oh. Wow. If she had feathers, they’d be fluttering now.

However, during her panic, she couldn’t feel flattered.

“Can we focus on this crisis, please?”

His eyebrow angled high. “Is it a crisis? Or is it a surprise?”

“Both? It’s certainly a surprise.”

“It’s nothing we can’t deal with.”

Had he been huffing bath bombs? She couldn’t be the only one panicking about how this would turn out. She didn’t know the first thing about taking care of a baby. And as for keeping it alive for eighteen years, she was not a wizard.

“I’ve been fertilized, Diamond! Don’t you get that? It’s a big deal for a woman when it happens unexpectedly.”

She didn’t expect him to laugh and not to laugh as hard as he did. For a full minute, she scowled and waited for the raucous good time he was having to come to a stop.

“Are you done? I need to go home to paint. It’s the only time I can think clearly, and I need to think when I’m not looking at you.”

“Thank you, Bluebell.” The biker smirked, and she rolled her eyes.

“I wasn’t complimenting you.”

“Yes, you were.”

Dammit .

“Walk me to the door, Diamond.”

They were connected forever now; she’d have to get used to his cheeky humor, or she’d end up digging a grave, and he was a big man. She’d be digging forever.

She wondered how proficient Kenneth was with a shovel. Something to consider at a later date if needed.

He followed her out to the car.

“I guess I’ll call you?” she was uncertain how they proceeded from here. After all, she hadn’t thought this far ahead. And then, when she’d told him the news, she hadn’t expected Diamond to jump on the daddy train as fast as he had.

“You’ll have to unblock me,” he smirked knowingly.

“You know I didn’t block you. But I should have.”

An arm touch focused her eyes on his serious face. “I know you’re scared, but you’re not alone in this, Joelle. I won’t leave you to deal with anything by yourself.”

Her heart thudded hard.

As much as she longed to believe what he said, nothing had changed. Diamond hadn’t suddenly pursued her. Without this hiccup, he would still be living his carefree biker life, free from her.

As positive as he was today, their conversation only happened because of an oopsie baby they’d made together. Otherwise, he’d still be ghosting her. She had to remember that before her heart took over.

She couldn’t become hysterical because of his presence. She had to keep reminding herself if he’d wanted to be with her, he would have made it happen before this.

Joelle unlocked the car door, and Diamond pulled it open for her. She slid behind the wheel and glanced up, feeling vulnerable under his piercing gaze.

“Thanks for being so positive today, Diamond. I never expected it.”

“We’re in this together, babe. Drive safe. We’ll talk soon.”

Diamond seemed genuine in what he told her, but she didn’t wholly expect to hear from him so soon. People said things they didn’t mean. So her heart thudded as she saw his name illuminate her phone screen later that night while she was relaxing in the tub.

“Hey, Diamond. Is something wrong?”

“No, babe. I said I’d talk to you soon.” There was a hint of amusement in his voice.

“Can you hold on for a minute? I’m in the bathtub. I’ll get out so we can talk.”

He gruffed something inaudible. And it was the wrong time for her to remember how deep his voice sounded over the phone because the distraction made her crack her knee against the marble bathtub.

“Ow, goddammit.”

As she limped towards her robe, she could hear him calling her name. She slipped it on without bothering to dry off, knowing Diamond was waiting.

“Sorry about that.”

“What happened? Are you hurt?”

“I banged a knee on the climb out.”

He grunted on the other end, and she could hear him making noises.

“Are you at home? What are you doing?”

“I didn’t want to sleep yet, so I’m baking.”

Had Diamond told her he was giving a cat a manicure while wearing a pink leopard onesie, she couldn’t have been more stunned by his answer.

“You’re a baker!?”

“Yeah, babe.” He answered, a smile in his thick, rusty voice. “Is that a surprise?”

“Yes. You’re a roughened biker who grunts and scowls. I never expected to hear you bake.”

“I can knock people out with a punch and make chocolate eclairs.”

Joelle positively whimpered. “Oh, please, don’t say that. You’re talking to my weakness.”

Suddenly, his voice turned to pure smoke, and Joelle had to latch the belt tighter around her robe before she started groping herself like a pervert.

“Oh yeah? Do you have many weaknesses, Bluebell?”

“Mmhm, at least a thousand, but I shan’t be telling you any of them. Tell me why you called before I ask to lick the mixing beater.”

“Babe,” he laughed. “You can’t say that seductive shit to me and not expect me to react.”

She turned as red as the color on her toenails, curling them into the thick, plush carpeting. “I wouldn’t know how to be seductive, so you must be imagining things.”

“Babe,” he said again. That one word conveyed so much. “You asked me over the phone to talk dirty to you so you could get off. That’s about the most seductive shit ever.”

“Oh, please, don’t remind me of that,” she groaned. Mortification setting in like concrete.

“We’re always gonna have a reminder,” he said.

Yeah, he was right. And she placed her hand on her covered belly. Soon, there would be evidence of what she’d set in motion that night.

“Why did you call, Diamond? I’m sure it wasn’t to make me blush.”

“I enjoy seeing you blush.”

“River! Concentrate.”

He laughed on the other end, and for a few seconds, she listened to the sounds of him cooking, trying to picture him in his kitchen. Was he wearing a black apron around his waist? Was he bare chested with a little spatter of cake mixture right on his manly pecs?

Oh no, her thoughts were ready to spring forth and become filthy if she didn’t back them up.

Rule #4: Don’t think about the biker being half-naked. She was firm on that.

“You were all over the place earlier. I wanted to check you were doing alright now.”

“I’m fine. Thank you for asking. How are you feeling now?”

“So polite.” He chuckled.

It probably would feel awkward between them for a while. For Joelle, at least. Diamond seemed well-adjusted.

“It’s happened, babe, and now we deal with the things that need dealing with.”

“Did you tell anyone?”

“Not yet. You?”

“Perhaps we should keep this to ourselves for now.”

“Anything you need, babe.”

God, he was being nice.

“I need to make one thing clear, Joelle.”

“Oh?”

She caught the sound of mixing and inhaled in a slow stutter because she wanted to lick the beaters. Not sexually. She just liked cake batter.

“Your father is high up on the power ladder. I want you to know as powerful as he might be, so am I. Us having a baby is between you and me. He’s not gonna jump for joy and offer me a congratulatory cigar when he knows a biker knocked you up. But Joelle, his approval means jackshit to me. This is our baby. You and I make all the decisions. No one gets a say in our baby. If he tries anything...”

“He won’t.” She rushed out. Not knowing for sure, since this was the first time she’d been pregnant by a biker.

“If he tries anything, Joelle, I won’t fight cleanly. I need you to get right with that because nothing will come between me being that baby’s father.”

The passion in his voice leeched down the phone line and curled warmth in her lower belly.

He wasn’t finished.

“And that goes for you, too. If he comes at you with nasty shit, I won’t sit by and let that happen.”

“Stop.” She wheezed. “Diamond, stop being nice or...”

“Or what, babe? You’ll ask me to come over with my mixing beater?”

“You are rotten,” she half-laughed, “say goodnight so I can cream myself.”

His grunt was unmistakable. “Now, who’s being seductive again, Bluebell?”

“Put lotion on.” She corrected, so damn red she could have set fire to the carpet.

He only laughed. “Goodnight, Bluebell.”

“Goodnight, you big bear. Save me a cupcake.”

Once they’d hung up, she flung herself back on the mattress and sighed.

Whoa . The biker needed to come with a clit warning.

She knew, logically, she shouldn’t ever flirt with him. It would lead to places they shouldn’t go.

If she could have a life with Diamond, if they thought about it, how would it even work out?

He was a criminal, and she was the daughter of a Judge.

Could she trust him? And would he ever trust her?

That’s why she had to take flirting off the table, even if he made her smile more than anyone else.

The biker was the father of her unborn baby. He baked and had ink all over his body. He made sexy grunting sounds that shouldn’t be sexy but were. And he’d just declared to protect her and the baby from her father’s future wrath.

He wasn’t even trying, and he was already the perfect man.

Sighing and banishing crazy thoughts of throwing herself at him, Joelle didn’t think about Diamond while she creamed her legs.

And she didn’t imagine him half naked while he was baking when she attempted to sleep later that night.