Page 8 of Property of Prowler (Kings of Anarchy MC: Nevada #1)

FOUR

TAYLOR

“No, Tay. Stay. You did all this work. Even ordered vegan stuff for me, when I know you’d rather eat the real thing, so please?” Cass’s sweet begging face was impossible to resist. When she glanced up, Prowler looked apologetic, even though neither one knew what was going on in her head.

Apparently, being given flowers was still a trigger she hadn’t realized was still a trigger.

Every time her dad had boundary issues, he’d apologize with flowers.

Then, the first time her brother followed his pattern, complete with apologies and flowers, she got the fuck out of that toxic environment, even though it had meant sleeping in her piece of shit car for months.

It was still a far sight better than staying at home.

Then it was from one bad situation to another until she finally got the courage to end it once and for all.

The trigger then had been, yep, flowers.

Hospital flowers were always worse than acute care flowers for some reason.

Maybe because it made her feel so much more stupid because of the severity of it all.

So, when Billy went to jail, it was the wilting flowers that whispered to her it was time to go.

However, there was no need to make Cass, or even Prowler, pay for someone else’s or multiple someone else’s sins. Taylor was a work in progress, so she decided to see the flowers as a step in that journey.

“Of course, sorry, I just let my mind go somewhere else for a hot minute. I’m gonna put these in water so they don’t wilt.” She plastered a smile on her face, one she knew she’d start to feel the longer she spent with Prowler and Cass.

After placing hers and Cass’s flowers in water, they all sat at the table. Prowler reached over and took the knife and serving fork from her with a smile.

When their eyes met, her stomach did a little flutter.

His denim-blue eyes stared at her with softness and questions.

It took her aback. Prowler had always reserved his softness for Cass.

Sometimes she envied it, if she were being honest. Being on the receiving end of it was dizzying.

Maybe it was just the emotional aftermath she was in that was doing it.

She put both her hands in her lap to resist the urge to reach up and stroke his soft blond beard. One she knew the feel of against almost every inch of her skin.

Just the thought had her pulse racing and core heating. “Jellybean, will you grab a soda for Taylor?”

She heard the scrape of the chair and Cass’s retreating steps but couldn’t look away. Prowler’s probing gaze held her captive. When he spoke, his voice seemed a little huskier than normal, like when they —

“Taylor.” He leaned into her, nipping her neck where it sloped into her shoulder, right where he knew turned her legs to pudding.

Nothing could hold back the moan that escaped her.

“If you keep looking at me like that, I’ll throw you over my shoulder and be balls deep inside you before we have dessert. ”

A whimper left her mouth as he stood back upright and began slicing the Wellington as Cassidy placed an unopened can of soda by her plate and sat down.

Without a thought, she reached for the can and rolled the cool exterior along her heated neck. A choked sound escaped Prowler as he sliced.

Instead of looking at him, Taylor turned to Cass to try to divert her attention. The kid was too perceptive by far.

“So, um, how’s your social studies project coming along?”

Cass had talked to her in depth about it, and Taylor thought it was a great idea. Cass’s big fear was that her dad might not agree, so Taylor decided to open the subject for them.

“Oh, you’ve decided what you’re doing it on then?” Prowler asked.

Taylor was a little proud of herself for that flawless segway.

Their plates were loaded down, and everyone had taken at least one bite before Cass spoke.

“Yeah. I’ve decided to explore the relationship impacts between family and friends when one person goes vegan.”

Prowler choked a little on his Wellington before furrowing his brow.

Taylor wanted to reach over and smooth the wrinkles away.

He was sexy even when he wasn’t doing anything remotely sexy, and that didn’t bode well for her chances of ending their arrangement, but she needed to.

She was in too deep already, and he wasn’t the settling down type.

Fuck, she wasn’t either, at least not until those thoughts started creeping in over the last week or so.

Hell, the no-strings part of their relationship was why she’d been so stoked about the whole proposal.

What is it they say about the best-laid plans? Yeah, that. The more intimate they were, the deeper she fell, and the deeper she fell, the more she wanted exclusivity, and that was just a hair’s breadth from all-out commitment in her mind.

Forcing herself to bring up the picture of his ex-wife’s lips on his did the trick. She ate in silence as they spoke about Cass’s idea.

“What relationship changes? I don’t think it’s a big deal. You’re vegan, I’m not, but we love each other all the same.”

Prowler spoke with such matter-of-fact authority, as if Cass wouldn’t be able to have a single thing to say to that. But Taylor knew better. Cass had laid it all out for her before, and she got exactly what Cass was putting down.

“I don’t mean it the way you think I mean it.

Well, not completely. Of course, everyone still loves everyone else.

I mean little things, like the fact that you hide your bacon double cheeseburger noshing from me when I visit, even though you know that I know you eat them.

Why? Is it because you feel judged by me? ”

The sincerity and worry in Cass’s voice was tugging at her heart. Cass had explained it all before, but knowing that she picked the project because she really was worried about her dad’s feelings was next level.

Especially since she thought he was … Oh, shit. It just hit her like a speeding locomotive. The sly little shit, it wasn’t all about veganism. It was also a metaphor for the possibility of her dad being a shifter and hiding that.

Fuck, Taylor was so dick drunk for Prowler that she’d totally forgotten that conversation from last night.

Fuck.

Fuck.

Fuck.

“No, Cass. Never. You have never made me feel anything but love.” He put his fork down and raked his fingers through his blond locks. “You give me more joy than anything in my life ever has or ever will. Period.”

“Then why do you hide it from me? Why not just do it right out in the open? Let me see you for who you are.” She crossed her arms over her chest, adopting the same haughty look Prowler did when he thought he had someone cornered. Those two were so much alike it was scary.

Taylor cut her eyes to Prowler’s, and where she normally saw denim blue, there was a flash of gold. It happened so fast, it had to be a trick of the light.

“Because I always want to make you proud. There are parts of me … I mean … my life that I know wouldn’t do that, so I just … eat that before I come home to you.”

Prowler seemed flustered. His speech halted as if tripping over his words. That was new. He was almost always composed.

Cass looked Taylor’s way and raised an eyebrow as if to say, see .

“That’s an impact. A small one, but still.

” Cass continued to eat as if this was the most casual conversation in the world.

And while she was obviously using it as a metaphor—at least it seemed obvious now—she was also passionate in a way only the young can be.

Taylor had to admire her. Cass thought she could save the world.

And fuck if her confidence didn’t make Taylor want to see her do it.

“Take my friends, well, friend, for example. If she is going out to eat, she never invites me along anymore, and we’ve grown apart.

She says it’s because she knows I won’t want to go, but that’s not true.

I’d go all the time and just have a salad.

The true reason is either she feels judged by me, even though I make it a point to say absolutely nothing, or she doesn’t want me around because she feels bad about eating animals when I’m there. So, see? Impacts.”

Cass sounded devastated about growing apart from her best friend Misha.

Taylor kept her thoughts to herself. This was their discussion, but she paid attention to the dynamic between them and the words exchanged.

Even with a topic that obviously made Prowler uncomfortable, it was clear he enjoyed talking to his kid. Not just going through the motions but engaging with her and truly listening.

It shouldn’t have been as big of a turn-on as it was since Taylor had zero desire to have her own children, but God help her, it was.

As their conversation hit a lull, Taylor excused herself to retrieve dessert.

After giving them each a plate with a vegan carob brownie, Taylor took a pass. Not because it didn’t look absolutely amazing, but because she was working hard to cut out sweets, her kryptonite.

“This looks great, Tay.” Cass’s compliment slid into her heart. “Don’t you think so too, Dad?”

She swallowed back a groan at the obvious matchmaking and gave Cass a look that said, knock it off.

“Umhm,” Prowler answered as he took a huge bite. No sooner did it go in than it was spewing out. Cass was a bit more subtle, but the end result was all the same. The brownie went in, and the brownie came immediately back out.

“Oh my god, what’s wrong?” Her first thought was a classic sitcom mix-up with salt and sugar, but the vegan recipe called for agave, so that wasn’t it.

“It’s um…” She waited for Prowler to finish, but he didn’t. Just guzzled soda like his throat was on fire.

“What?”

“It’s fucking awful,” Cass said.

Both turned to her and scolded, “Language.”

“Sorry, but it’s true,” she reiterated as she in turn gulped her drink.