I lift a brow. “Anything else you want to add to that list?”
“I’m just teasing. I don’t expect you to do any of that.”
“Too bad. I’m already on it. When’s your next day off?”
“Tomorrow. Wait… I mean today. I don’t work again until Friday night.”
“Then I’ll come over after we both get some sleep and take a look at the sink, and we’ll go from there.”
“You’d really do that?”
“Babe, I told you I was layin’ my cards on the table. I don’t know if you’re ready for a relationship, but if you are, I’m in this for the long haul. All I’m askin’ for is a shot. Think you can give me that?”
“I have a son to worry about. I don’t bring men around him because I don’t want him to get attached to men who are only in it for sex—who don’t see a future.”
“That’s not what I’m offering. I’m not those guys, Heather.”
“I’ve been burned before.”
“I get that.”
“It’s hard for me to trust.”
“I get that, too.”
“I’m kind of a package deal. That doesn’t scare you off?”
I chuckle. “Babe, I’m a package deal, too. I come with an MC full of brothers who are not afraid to barge in on each other at all hours of the day, grab a beer from the fridge, and ask what’s for dinner. And they’ve all got ol’ ladies who’ll get up in your business… but in a good way. It’s like having this really big family. They’re crazy, but they’re family. That’s the baggage I come with, so a five-year-old boy doesn’t even compare.”
By the time I finish, she’s grinning, looking happier than I could hope.
“You like big families, Heather?”
“Yeah, Cody. That sounds like heaven.”
“Good. Glad we got that out of the way.”
“Oh, look how pretty it is,” she says, pointing at the sunrise.
“It’s almost as beautiful as the woman sitting next to me.”
She lays her head on my shoulder, and I kiss the top of her head.
I feel like this is the start of us.
Ryan, I hope you’re good with this, brother.
After I drop Heather at her car, I follow her to her apartment building. It’s a luxury complex, and I’m glad it’s not some sketchy dump. She deserves a nice place. I suppose that’s why she does what she does, so she can provide a life like this for her son.
I walk her to her door and kiss her goodbye. Just a chaste kiss on the lips. Before I let her go, I grab her phone and punch my number in.
“Now you’ve got my number. Call me when you wake up.”
She smiles and presses her mouth to mine again. “I will. Goodnight, Cody.”
“Good morning, Heather,” I say as I walk backward toward my bike.
She blows me a kiss, and I snag it from the air.
