Page 16 of Property of Stone (Kings of Anarchy MC: Pennsylvania #1)

Chapter Nine

As Taryn eyed the mountain of dishes in the sink, she knew the mess had been worth it.

Sunny had scarfed down two big Belgian waffles drowning in syrup, along with two breakfast sausages.

Stone had eaten four waffles, six sausages, and chugged two mugs of java.

Wren barely made it through one waffle but managed to shovel in two sausages.

They were now out of maple syrup so she added it to her shopping list.

She needed to take Wren to school and start prepping for tonight’s dinner. Both theirs and her client’s.

Tonight might have to be another crockpot meal or a casserole that could be easily popped in the oven since she’d be working elsewhere at dinner time.

Stone never said what time dinner needed to be ready, but Taryn knew what hour Wren started asking what was for dinner. Or bombarding her with suggestions .

Like hot dog slices in baked beans. Or mac and cheese. Or a sugary cereal.

Normally, she tried to make him healthier options and only serve those “junk food” meals on an occasion.

Tonight might be one of those occasions. Without being too obvious, she tried to figure out some of Sunny’s favorite foods, but Stone’s daughter was too tightlipped. She ate, dumped her dish in the sink, then disappeared upstairs without even a thank you. Taryn assumed to get ready for school.

After Sunny left the table, Taryn and Stone continued their conversation about Sunny’s morning routine so she could be on top of it. Since both kids were in elementary school, their schedules aligned, luckily. The only difference was where they attended school.

Boot steps behind her had her turning to see Stone striding into the room fully dressed for the day. Whatever that entailed.

Of course, his outfit was a carbon copy of how he dressed yesterday and the previous days. Worn jeans hugged his long legs, heavy black boots covered his feet, and he wore his MC cut.

The only change she noticed day to day was what he wore under that cut. Today it was a T-shirt that had seen better days, advertising a local Harley-Davidson dealership.

His black hair was pulled up high into a man-bun, most likely because he’d be hopping on his bike when he left. His beard looked a little neater this morning, as if he’d made an effort to tame it.

His dark espresso eyes were focused on her, doing the exact same thing: taking her in from head to toe, even though she hadn’t showered or changed yet. She looked exactly the same as when she sat across from him at breakfast .

Still…his eyes taking a slow stroll over her from the top of her head, over her face, pausing on her pink ribbed tank top—where her nipples decided to stand up and shout “hello!”—and then racing quickly down her PJ-covered legs, finishing at her bare feet, made her feel some kind of way.

While neither disgust nor a feeling of being visually violated, it was still one she needed to ignore. Just like earlier when he pulled her down on top of him.

If she ignored the warmth pooling between her legs, maybe it would go away.

When their gazes locked, she did not like the grin he wore.

Or maybe she liked it too much.

Stop it! He’s not for you. You are not for him. Stop making horrible decisions that affect not only you, but Wren.

To try to get past this weird, unexplainable attraction she had to this biker, she flipped a hand toward the sink. “I’ll clean up the kitchen after I get back from dropping Wren off at school.”

“Don’t gotta do that.”

“The food will dry on the?—”

“Droppin’ him off at school. Gotta take Sunny, so will drop him off, too. Will take my truck.”

That would save her so much time but… “His school is across the river.”

“Yep. And best if you switch him over to Sunny’s school this week. Don’t wanna go pick him up one afternoon to find your ex got him first. That would suck.”

That certainly would suck. “I have to head over to a new client’s house this afternoon and I won’t be back until after dinner. I can still have something simple ready for you, though.”

“Gonna grab pizza. ”

“I thought you wanted me to cook for?—”

“Gonna grab pizza,” he repeated in a tone that brooked no argument.

Okay, then.

“Who’s watchin’ Baby Bird when you’re gone?”

Shit. She assumed he would. “Who’s watching Sunny?”

Please don’t say a sweet butt.

A muscle in his jaw jumped and he scraped a hand down his thick beard. “Guess I am.”

She really wondered if him watching the kids was any better than a sweet butt. At least he had a personal stake in keeping one of them alive.

“I won’t be home late.” Why did that feel strange to say? “I don’t leave until they finish dessert and the table’s cleared.”

“When’s he done with school?”

“About 3:10, why?”

“Gonna get him from school, too.”

“I can have my mo?—”

“Gonna get him from school,” Stone repeated more firmly.

Taryn threw up her palms in surrender. “Fine.” Truth be told, that was a relief. She didn’t want to put that burden on her mother if she could avoid it.

Sunny sauntered through the kitchen, not sparing her or Stone a glance since her head was tipped down as she did something on her cell phone.

Did a ten-year-old really need a cell phone? Taryn mentally sighed. She had no doubt Wren would be asking for one of those next.

The back door slammed as she went outside.

“Jesus fuck,” Stone muttered under his breath and shook his head.

Taryn agreed with his assessment. The girl hadn’t even hit the moody teen years yet. If she was like this now… “Give her some time. Her mom just went to jail?—”

“Nothin’ new.”

“And two strangers moved into her father’s house,” she finished. “Does Sunny need me to make her lunch?”

Stone shook his head. “She’s got scratch.”

Her brow pulled low. “Scratch?”

He rubbed the pads of his fingers together to indicate money.

If only there was a translation app dedicated to biker speak.

Smaller feet slapping on the floor came next and her little gremlin joined them in the kitchen. She grabbed his lunchbox off of the counter and held it out to him.

His little face turned up to her. “Mom, is the bus coming, or are you taking me to school?”

“The bus won’t pick you up here, buddy, so Stone will drop you off this morning.”

He squinted his eyes until they were almost slits and huffed. “Why won’t the bus pick me up?”

“Because this house is in another school district. For now, someone will have to drop you off and pick you up. Stone said he’ll come get you this afternoon, too, okay?”

His face lit up. “Yay!”

Great. She really didn’t need him to be worshipping a man who belonged to a motorcycle club, cursed, smoked, and drank. Possibly even did drugs.

Ugh. She should’ve asked him about the drugs prior to moving in. If he did anything more than pot…even if he only smoked pot, she didn’t want him to do it in front of her very impressionable son.

She would need to have that conversation with Stone but not in front of Wren. With his curious little mind, he’d be asking a boatload of questions she wouldn’t want to answer. Not when he was only six.

She’d hold off on the sex, booze, and drug discussion with him until her first grader was a little older.

Stone ruffled Wren’s hair. “Ready, Baby Bird?”

Taryn clenched her teeth in an effort not to scold the thirty-something-year-old biker.

“Tweet, tweet,” her son chirped and flapped his elbows. “ Tweeeeeeet .”

Oh, good lord.

“Let’s roll,” Stone urged with a cocky grin, heading outside.

Taryn followed him out but stopped at the top of the deck steps since she was still barefooted. “Grab the booster seat from my Honda and please drive carefully!” she called out to Stone.

He flicked a couple of fingers above his shoulder. At least that was some sort of acknowledgment that he heard her.

Her gaze dropped from the tall man to the much shorter boy.

Wren’s short legs were scrambling to keep up with Stone’s much longer ones. Once again, his lunchbox bounced wildly off his legs. She wouldn’t be surprised if it was leaving bruises behind.

Sunny waited for her father just inside the open garage door, still busy fussing with her phone.

“Have a good day at school, okay? Please be good for your teacher.” When she didn’t get a response from her son, she called out to him again. “Did you hear me, Wren?”

Without stopping, but sounding annoyed, Wren yelled up to the sky, “Okay, Mommy!”

Her lungs seized when he almost tripped over his own feet. He quickly caught himself and disappeared into the garage.

She blew out her held breath.

That could’ve been ugly. Him face-planting on the driveway might have ended up with them spending hours in the emergency room. Beyond her baby getting hurt, she couldn’t afford a hospital visit right now.

Stone stopped in front of his daughter and when she didn’t look up, he snagged the phone from her fingers as she was still typing. Sunny glared at him as he tucked the phone inside his cut and shook his head to whatever she was saying.

From the girl’s posture, she was clearly giving her father some attitude. In return, he simply shrugged and disappeared inside the garage.

She waited on the deck just in case Stone had any problems installing the booster seat in his truck. More importantly, she wanted to make sure he actually used it.

Not even five minutes later, he reversed his old truck—old in age, not in looks—out of the garage, did an impressively smooth K-turn, then headed down the driveway.

As the restored Ford passed her, she could see Sunny pouting in the middle and Wren with his nose pushed up and smashed against the passenger window so he looked like a piglet.

Smearing snot on Stone’s window wouldn’t be a very nice thank you for the favor he was doing her by taking Wren to school.

Slapping a hand onto her forehead, she whispered, “How is this my life?”

How did she get to the point she had an instant family with an outlaw biker?