“Oh, I’ve got it,” she says with a wave of her hand.
“Are you sure? It’s really not a problem,” I tell her.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” She ruffles Asher’s hair. “You have a good rest of your summer, okay?”
He smiles up at her and nods. “Bye Ms. Kincaid!”
Asher pulls my arm as he goes further down the aisle searching for the cookies we came for. I can’t help but look over my shoulder as Everly walks away. My eyes lock on her round ass.That’s great, Ro, stare at the pregnant woman’s ass.
She exits the aisle and heads toward the checkout, and I help Asher find the cookies his mom sent us here for. Sophie is pregnant and my brother is going overboard. He’s decided that she’ll want for nothing during this pregnancy. I know he’s making up for what he missed while Sophie was pregnant with Asher, so I can’t even blame him. He wasn’t at the house when Sophie was craving Oreos, so I told Asher we would get them for her. Little did I know that we would run into Everly.
The trip to the store takes longer than I planned since Asher has to look at every little thing in the cookie and candy aisle. I can’t even complain, though, because I’ll take any time I can get with my nephew.
When I finally drag Asher to the checkout, we pay for the cookies, and he grabs the bag. I sigh and shake my head when we see Everly still loading her groceries into her SUV.She’s a stubborn woman.She could have just accepted my help, and she would have been home already.
My skin prickles as we get closer to my bike. I scan the parking lot and find a Devil’s Knights member watching Everly from around the corner of the store. He must feel me watching, because his head turns toward me and then he bolts from the lot.
I hear a door close behind me and turn around to find Everly in her vehicle and pulling away. I frown as I look back to where the Devil’s Knights member was standing and then hop on my bike in front of Asher.
“Let’s get these cookies to your mama,” I tell him. “I need to head back to the clubhouse for a bit.”
****
After dropping off Asher, I drive to the clubhouse and go in search of my brother and Axel. I find them in Grayson’s office, looking over camera footage.
“We’ve got a problem,” I say as I enter the room, making them both look up.
“What’s going on?” Grayson asks. “Are Sophie and Asher okay?”
“They’re fine. Sorry, I should have led with that,” I mutter as I swipe my hand over my face. “I was just at the grocery store with Asher, and we ran into Everly Kincaid. She didn’t want any help with her groceries, but when we came out of the store, she was still loading them into her vehicle. I felt like something was off, so I looked around and found one of the Devil’s Knights members watching her from around the corner of the store.”
“Fuck,” Axel mutters.
“We need to dig deeper into why they ran them off the road,” Grayson sighs. “There is a deeper reason there, and we can’t protect her properly until we find out what it is.”
“Agreed,” I murmur. “I’ll get Noah on it, now.”
Noah is one of our prospects, but he’s also amazing with technology. If there is something to figure out, Noah will, and Iwon’t rest until I know why the Devil’s Knights are going after Everly.
3
EVERLY
I was flustered the rest of the night after running into Rowan. No matter how much I tried to justify it as a response to being reminded of the accident, I knew it wasn’t that.The man unnerved me. Not in a scary way, though. Something about him intrigued me.
I spent the night tossing and turning, because every time I closed my eyes, I saw his hazel gaze appraising me. Needless to say, I didn’t sleep very well. Which won’t go over well today, since I have to meet my parents for lunch.
I pull on a black maxi dress and look at myself in the mirror. I run my hand over my belly and sigh. I know that my mother will make a comment about what I’m wearing, but it’s too hot to cover up today, no matter how miserable it’s going to make my time with my parents.
I slip on a pair of sandals and walk out of my closet, grabbing my purse and making my way through the house and to my garage. The heat of the day hits me when I open the garage door. The heat in the south tends to smack you in the face during the summer. I know I’ll be sweating in a minute, which is why I chose to wear black today. No sweat stains.
I climb into my vehicle and blast the air conditioner before pulling out of my garage and heading towards Charolette. My mom insisted that I come to them because she doesn’t like how small Silver Springs is. My mind wanders as I make the drive. I think about the last time I drove to Charolette and what happened when we came home, but I don’t let myself think about that for long because I can’t. I shake my head and stare ahead.
By the time I make it to the Italian restaurant, I’m actually a little cold from the air conditioner, but that stops the second I step out of my vehicle. The heat slaps me in the face, and I groan as I shut my door and walk toward the entrance. I was never a fan of the heat before, but being pregnant in it is a special kind of hell.
The metal door sticks as I pull it, making me sigh. I yank harder and the door finally opens. I walk inside and up to the hostess.
“Good afternoon, ma’am,” she greets me with a smile. “How can I help you?”
