Page 26

HARLEY

“ T here you are! Jeez! Girl, you’ve even been blowing off my texts.”

I tucked my phone between my ear and shoulder and leaned back against the side of the bed. I was sitting on the floor of my bedroom, still in my pajamas. Cassidy was on her long, traffic-filled commute to work, so it was the best time to catch her on the phone.

“Sorry, sorry,” I said. “Let’s just say, things have been interesting .”

“Interesting? You better tell me what’s going on. I can’t believe I haven’t been getting live updates.”

I chuckled. “Something happened last night.”

“What kind of something?”

I lowered my voice. Stephan was probably downstairs, but I didn’t want to risk him overhearing. “Stephan said he wants to try again.”

Cassidy shrieked into the phone so loud I had to pull it away from my ear. “I knew it. He’s still obsessed with you. Oh my god, what did you say?”

“Well, his businesses are still less than legit.”

“Illegal stuff?” She sucked her teeth. “That’s a disappointment. You don’t want Dylan around any of that mess.”

“Right. But, he claims to be getting out of all of it. Going clean.”

Cassidy paused. “And if he goes clean…”

“I don’t know,” I said. “I told him we need to go slow.”

“Hang on. Need to go slow? As in, present tense? As in, you’re going for it now?”

“I think so,” I whispered. “He kissed me last night.”

Cassidy let out another tea-kettle shriek. “Just a kiss?”

“It’s not just a kiss!”

“You were always comparing your exes to him. Don’t you think you deserve to have a good lay for once?”

“Cass!” I laughed. “I’m not twenty anymore. This is about more than the sex, you know.”

“Duh. But you talked about how good the sex was a lot .”

Heat crept into my cheeks. “I mean, I know, but now… He’s different now, Cass. He’s so good with Dylan. And he’s really straightforward and honest. It seems like…”

“Like this could be for real,” Cassidy finished for me.

“Yeah. It does.”

“You deserve that, Harley,” Cassidy said, suddenly serious.

“You always thought Stephan was a giant tool.”

“Yeah, but that was before you told me about Blakely lying. I’m sure Ace isn’t perfect , especially with the whole prison thing, but if he seems like he’s different now…” She sighed. “I don’t know. You’ve been hung up on him for so long , Harley. I want you to be happy.”

“I don’t want Dylan to get hurt along the way,” I said. “The prison thing is a big deal.”

“So take it slow,” Cassidy said. “Like you said. There’s been something between you two this whole time. You deserve to find out what it is.”

“You make it sound easy.”

Cassidy barked a laugh. “Yeah, I wish it was. Listen, I’m pulling into work now, but don’t leave me hanging anymore, okay? I want updates. And I’m coming up there at some point.”

“Okay, okay, talk soon,” I said. We hung up, both laughing. I stood up and stretched my arms over my head. Maybe Cassidy was right. Maybe I did deserve to give this a real shot. Even if it went badly, at least then I’d know, right? And as long as we took it slow, it wouldn’t affect Dylan too much.

It was a lot to juggle, but I could do it. Being a single mom had taught me to spin a lot of plates at once.

Plus, I’d dreamed about that kiss all night.

The way he’d pushed me against the counter, grabbed my waist like he owned me, kissed me like he’d also been thinking about it for the past decade…

My heart knew we had to go slow, but my body wanted to seriously pick up the pace.

I had to make sure I kept my head on straight.

I couldn’t let my desire make all the decisions. There was far too much at stake.

I braced myself to deal with Stephan’s dangerous flirting. After last night, I was certain he was planning on making my life really hard. He was probably downstairs, cooking breakfast, shirtless, waiting for me to stumble over my own feet.

But when I got downstairs, I saw the house was empty.

There was hot coffee in the pot, but no sign of Stephan.

Odd. I opened the fridge—not a lot in there.

Not a lot in the pantry, either. What had Stephan said?

People usually stocked the house for him?

I supposed that wasn’t happening as much these days, since he didn’t seem keen on people bursting into the house when Dylan and I were here.

“What’s for breakfast?” Dylan asked as he shuffled into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes sleepily.

“Cereal,” I said. “We’re out of eggs, kiddo. Wanna hit the grocery store after we eat?”

“Can I pick out snacks?”

I nodded. “Sure you can. But I get the final veto.”

“Heck yeah.” Dylan punched the air in excitement. He was a lot more awake after the promise of snacks.

After breakfast, we got dressed for the day. There was still no sign of Stephan. As far as I could tell, no clan members lurked around the premises, which made me think he was still nearby. Stephan didn’t really like leaving us alone, so it was strange that he hadn’t texted or left a note.

“Come on, Dyl,” I said. “Let’s head out to the store.”

“Where’s Dad?”

“I’m not sure,” I said.

Dylan rubbed his chest. “Maybe he’s at the clubhouse?”

“Is that what your dragon thinks?”

He nodded.

“Well, let’s swing by. We can ask if he wants anything for dinner tonight.”

“Yay!” Dylan ran out the door and jumped into our rental car.

I smiled and followed after him. I loved how much time Dylan wanted to spend with his dad—him and his dragon both. I only hoped Stephan wouldn’t let either of us down.

I parked outside the clubhouse. My white SUV looked a little out of place amid the rows of vintage cars and sleek motorcycles.

I climbed out of the car and saw Stephan on the front porch of the clubhouse, deep in conversation with another clan member.

I was about to call out to him, but then the front door to the clubhouse opened behind him.

A young woman, maybe in her early twenties, with long hair and very short shorts, stepped out onto the porch.

She was lithe and gorgeous, and if she was at the clubhouse this early in the morning, then she must have been there all night.

I paused.

Stephan had spent the night at home, hadn’t he?

I’d fallen asleep early, after… taking care of myself. If he had slipped out of the house late at night, I wouldn’t have heard it.

But he wouldn’t do that. Not when he was so intent on making sure we were safe and cared for in his house. Not after he’d told me he was putting his playboy days behind him, that he wasn’t that man, that he only wanted me...

Right?

I didn’t look like this pretty young woman anymore. Hell, I’d never been tall and lean like that, but especially not now that motherhood had accentuated my curves. Come to think of it, this girl had the same build as Blakely.

Stephan shook hands with the clan member on the porch. Then, the guy wrapped his arm around the girl’s shoulders and led her down the stairs to his motorcycle. Laughing, she hopped onto the back of the bike and wrapped her arms around the guy.

I grimaced. Good thing I hadn’t walked up there and made a scene.

“Hi, Dad,” Dylan called as he jumped out of the passenger side. Then there was a familiar yip, and Hawk’s puppy Zoey tore out of the clubhouse toward Dylan. “Zoey! Hi, puppy.” He and the dog bounded through the yard, looking for a stick to throw.

Stephan’s hazel eyes caught mine immediately, and his lips curved into a smirk. Heat raced from the center of my chest down into my hips. That look was like a rope tied around me, drawing me toward him.

I wanted him so badly. If he was going to screw around, or change his mind, or get thrown in prison again… I needed it to happen before I got too attached.

I didn’t know if I could bear losing him again.

He stepped off the porch and wrapped one strong arm around my waist, pulling me flush against his body. “Hey, gorgeous,” he said in a low voice. “What are you up to?”

My whole face heated up. God, I’d forgotten how intensely flustered he could make me.

“We’re, uh, we’re heading to the grocery store,” I said. “Do you want anything particular for dinner?”

“Get whatever you want.” Smiling, he let go of me, and I immediately missed the warm weight of his arm around my waist. He reached into his back pocket, pulled out his wallet, then handed me a metal credit card. “Here, use this.”

“You don’t—” I shook my head. “I can pay for it. That’s not why I came here.”

“I know that. Never doubted it. You’ve got a good job, your own life, and you take good care of Dylan. Let me take care of you a little bit. I want to.”

“Stephan…”

“It’s what family does.” He waved the card at me.

I relented and took the card from him with a small smile. “Okay. Just this once.”

His hands found my waist again, like they had last night in the kitchen. His gaze dropped to my lips as his fingers dug into my hips. The memory of last night’s kiss hummed through me, and for a moment I thought he was going to kiss me again, in the open, in front of his clan and Dylan.

He leaned down and brushed his lips across my forehead. “Drive safe.”

“I always do,” I murmured. The swoop of disappointment in my gut shocked me. I’d had one kiss, and now my body was begging for more.

Stephan stepped away and climbed the porch stairs. He stuck his head inside. “Hey, Striker, got time for a quick drive?”

“Sure,” a voice shouted from inside.

“I’ll have Striker follow you,” Stephan said. “Just to be safe.”

My nerves prickled the same way they had when he’d showed me the panic room. “I need an escort, now?”

“I like to be overcautious,” Stephan said. “He won’t bother you. Hell, he won’t even go into the grocery store.”

I sighed. “Fine. But just this once.” Then I turned toward the side yard. “Dylan, time to go.”

“Aw, already?” Dylan jogged around the house with Zoey hot on his heels. The dog’s tongue lolled out of her mouth, and she panted.