Page 49 of The MC’s Surprise (Bikers and Babies #4)

Sierra

W hile it gave me a little anxiety to be away from my baby for the first time, Circus’s show was a blast. He did things I didn't think were possible on a bike. At one point, he pulled the bike onto one wheel and spun it in a pirouette before landing back on two wheels without breaking himself or his bike. I heard Mel next to me let out a sigh of relief when he landed safely. I hadn’t realized I’d also been holding my breath until he drove past with a big smile and my shoulders relaxed.

Justin cupped his hands around his mouth, cheering for his friend.

I smiled up at him, enjoying not just the show, but watching Justin support his friend with such gusto, I was surprised he could speak afterward.

All the crew was doing the same thing and the kids were lined up at the fence, waving and calling out his name.

As I looked around, I saw more than just our crew.

There were the visiting crews, a few of which had guys taking part in this show later on, but there were also people I recognized from around town.

They all looked excited, taking pictures and cheering.

Honestly this was the event I worried about the most. It embodied the loud and bad influence ideas.

But Circus came up with a work around for that.

There were signs posted everywhere saying the stunts were done by professionals and should not be done at home, and the emcee for the event reminded the crowd often that these tricks were risky and shouldn’t be done by anyone who wasn’t a professional.

I hoped it helped with the more uptight crowds.

After Circus was done, Justin took my hand, tugging it lightly. “Come on. Let’s go for a ride.”

There were more people there doing stunts, but I’d always intended to head back to meet my mom after Circus was finished. I didn't mind leaving early. I let Justin lead me to his bike, hand in hand, and when we stopped in front of it, I felt a bubble of excitement in my gut.

The prospect watching the bikes was Riggs. He was the quiet and intimidating one, which made him good security. Not that we expected any trouble, but there was still that crew causing issues in town and the cops hanging around. It made sense to have someone watching over their stuff.

Vegas greeted him with an upnod, but didn’t stop to chat. He grabbed his helmet, then offered me a spare that he stole from Butch’s saddlebags. When I raised an eyebrow at him, he grinned.

“Don’t worry, I asked permission. It’s Skylar’s helmet. She drove in with the kids, so she won’t be riding back with him. She said it was fine for you to borrow it.”

“Okay, good. Because I don't want to be involved in any prank that includs Butch. He’ll hurt you and I don’t want to watch that.”

I in no way worried about him hurting me, Butch wasn’t that kind of guy, but I’d heard the stories of how he handled club pranks in the past. I didn’t want any part of that. And if he knew what was good for him, Justin wouldn’t cause any trouble either.

After putting on our helmets, Justin shrugged out of his leather jacket, putting it on me instead. He grinned when he stepped back to admire the results.

“Damn. I like you in my colors, gorgeous. I might make you put that on for me later.”

It thrilled me down to my toes that he still found me attractive after having Melanie.

I had a lot of insecurities about it, especially after listening to Charlotte’s vitorile the day prior.

But Justin wasn’t shy about giving me compliments and letting me know what he thought about me.

I winked at him, doing a little shimmy as I moved closer to his bike.

“I won’t say no to that.”

He groaned, wrapping his arms around me and kissing my neck. “I almost want to ditch this date idea and bring you back home so I can have my wicked way with you.”

“Date?”

I thought it was just a drive. I didn’t realize it was a date.

He hummed, releasing me so he could climb onto his bike. “Yep. I’ve got something special planned. Now hop on, beautiful. We’ve got places to be and a daughter to get back to when we’re done.”

Laughing, I climbed onto the back of his bike, hugging his middle tightly when he started the engine. Whatever he had planned, I was okay with.

He was careful as he edged his way out of the rally.

It was even more crowded today than it was the day before, which made me so unbelievably happy, but also made it a little harder to get somewhere safe enough to not risk hitting someone.

Once we were free of the crowds, he revved the engine, shooting me a grin over his shoulder before driving away.

He toed the edge of going over the speed limit, and I knew Prez would complain if he found out, but I couldn’t make myself discourage him. It was too much fun.

I was having so much fun, I didn’t recognize where we were headed until we pulled into the parking lot. I blinked in surprise, looking up at the brand new sign above the animal shelter. I frowned.

“You’re not surprising me with a pet, are you? Because we just had a baby and I don’t think I can handle both right now.”

He chuckled, helping me off the back of his bike before following me. We tucked the helmets under our arms and he took my hand, leading me inside. “Nope. But there’s someone here who wants to talk to you.”

Confused, I followed him inside and over to the reception desk. I didn’t recognize the person sitting behind it, but they seemed to know us because they lit up with a smile.

“You’re here right on time. I’ll let Jacob know you’ve arrived.”

I cocked my head at Justin, but he just smiled at me as he led me over to a row of chairs where we could sit.

I didn’t even have time to ask before Jacob came hurrying out of his office, a bright smile on his face.

When I’d first met him, he looked a little haggard, with big dark circles under his eyes.

He’d obviously gotten some much needed sleep since then, because he looked more put together now.

“Thank you for coming. I was hoping to talk with you again soon.”

Confused, I looked at Justin, but Jacob was looking at me. I pointed to myself. “Me?”

He nodded rapidly. “Absolutely. I know you did that adoption event to help your crew, but you did amazing things for the shelter as well. I was hoping to ask if you’d be willing to assist again.

Maybe a few times a year? Some of our longest residents at the shelter got adopted last time thanks to your event.

It did so much good. I don’t want it to be a one time thing. ”

My mind swung back to Rooster and the dog he’d snuck into the clubhouse. Rooster mentioned the poor thing was going to be put down. Was it really my event that saved him?

“I know the crew would be happy to work with you again, but I’m willing to bet Sierra can come up with more ideas to help you out,” Justin said with a smile.

I froze, gaping at him. I wanted to say I didn’t have time for that, I had a new baby and I would eventually be going back to work at the casino, plus I still had a lot of plans for restoring the crew’s reputation.

Adding the shelter onto that list was a little daunting.

But when I looked at Jacob, who looked so hopeful and nervous, I couldn’t make myself turn him down.

I wanted to help him. And I could handle a couple times of year.

“Sure. I can do that. I’m still on maternity leave, but I’ll use some of that time to work out some ideas and run them by you later. Does that sound alright?”

He beamed so brightly, it was almost blinding. “That sounds amazing. Here, I’ll give you my email. I’m looking forward to working with you. And seriously, thank you so much for what you’ve done already. You’ve made a huge difference here.”

I was still reeling when we headed back outside.

I couldn’t remember the last time someone was so happy to work with me.

Well before I came back home, that was for sure.

Once that asshole accountant got his claws into my business, people were too wary to work with me.

Even when I offered to do the jobs for free.

It’d been a really long time since someone asked for my help without me coming to them.

“Come on, sweetheart. Two more stops,” Justin murmured, helping me with the helmet because I was too shell shocked to do it myself.

When I blinked up at him, he smiled softly.

“I always found going for a ride really helpful when I was overwhelmed. Take your time. I’ll get us to where we need to go. ”

Grateful that he understood how I was feeling, I took his advice, using the drive to wrap my head around what had just happened.

When we pulled up alongside the park, I got off the bike automatically, assuming we were going to have another picnic or maybe just enjoy the quiet sunshine for a little while.

Instead, we were joined by two people who I’d spoken with over the phone but never met in person.

“Sierra Martin?” the woman asked with a kind smile.

She was dressed semi casually in jeans and a button up, her hair braided over one shoulder.

The man shook my hand next, dressed a little more formally in a suit and tie.

Both of them were look at me like I was someone special. I just couldn’t figure out why.

“I’m Summer Lindon and this is Jorge Diaz. We’re from the parks department. We wanted to thank you in person for what you’ve done here.”

“Oh, that wasn’t me. That was the crew,” I protested, but Summer cut me off before I could continue.

“They might’ve done the clean up, but you set everything into motion.

I always hated driving past this park, knowing how good it could be but not having the funds or manpower to do it justice.

Thanks to you, people can finally enjoy this space like it should be.

And we’re in talks with your club president about fixing up the playground as well.

That’s amazing. You should be proud of yourself. ”

I spluttered, unsure what to say. All I’d done was make some phone calls and maybe a little planning to make sure everything got done. It wasn’t that big a deal.

“This is my card. If you’re ever interested in doing more events like this, please let me know. We’d be happy to work with you in the future,” Jorge said while handing me his card. “And if you don’t mind, we’d like to dedicate this place to you. Without you, none of this would be possible.”

I stared at him, speechless. Justin had to step in to answer for me because I couldn’t think of what to say.

“That sounds great. If I know my girl like I think I do, I’m sure she already has plans in the future for more events like this. We’ll be in touch.”

They shook my hand and thanked me again before leaving. I was still frozen in shock when Justin took my helmet and moved to put it on me again. Catching his hand, I choked out, “What are you doing?”

He smiled softly. “Showing you just how amazing you are. We’ve got one more stop before we head back to the rally. Think you can handle it? Or do you need to be done?”

My heart was pounding in my chest, and I couldn’t for the life of me figure out where he was thinking of bringing me next, but I didn’t want to disappoint him by ending things early. I swallowed hard against the dry spot in my throat, releasing his hand so he could help me with the helmet.

“I can handle it. Hopefully.” I muttered the last part, but Justin’s shit eating grin said I wasn’t quiet enough. My belly fluttered a little as I climbed onto his bike again, and I tried to pay more attention this time to where we were going.

He brought me to the fire station, where the fire chief was waiting to praise me for an event I couldn’t even attend.

When I tried to point that out, both he and Justin argued that I did all the work to set things up and made it so everything went off without a hitch.

The fire chief asked to work with me again, and I collected another card with his information on it.

More obligations were piling up, and I wasn’t sure how I was going to balance all this with work and raising Melanie.

It scared me to think I’d miss out on raising her.

I didn’t want to admit that it scared me just as much to give up on helping all these people.

It wasn’t like I was inexperienced. I could set up events like that in my sleep. I just needed to find the time.

When we parked back at the rally, my head was spinning. I couldn’t make the same mistakes I did in the past. I couldn’t be impulsive. I needed to stick with a steady job so I could be there for Melanie. I refused to fail when it came to raising her.

“Come on, sweetheart. I texted your mom and she said to meet her at the main stage.”

I frowned. “Wait. What? Why?”

She said she’d stay at the cafe. The main stage was where most of the music was playing. It was too loud for Melanie.

Worried about my daughter, I hurried toward the main stage, dodging through the throngs of people. It took me a minute to realize there was no music playing and most of the rally was gathered around the stage as Prez spoke to the crowd.

“We couldn’t have done any of this without the help of a special someone.

Sierra Martin was seven months pregnant when she offered to help my crew.

She’d just gotten to town, was still dealing with the stress of the move, but she dropped everything to help us show you who we really are.

I couldn’t have asked for a better friend and ally to our crew. ”

For like the hundredth time that day, I froze, gaping at the stage. When Prez’s gaze locked on me, it was like the crowd parted and everyone was looking at me.

“Sierra? Can you join us for a minute?”

I squeaked, which was embarrassing, and I needed Justin’s support to step forward. This was even more intimidating than speaking in front of the entire crew.

Justin led me onto the stage, sticking by my side with a proud smile as Prez pulled me into a hug.

“What is this?” I whispered.

He stepped back, a smirk pulling at his lips as he spoke into the mic again.

“This is a thanks, Sierra. I know you left behind a big job in California, but I’m hoping we can continue to work with each other in the future.

And if you’re willing, I’d like to be the first to invest in you opening up shop here instead. ”