“Fuck, I love you,” I whispered. “My girl, my baby.”
Later that night, when she was tucked against me in bed, her body boneless and wrapped naked in my arms, my phone buzzed on the nightstand.
I reached for it and was surprised to see a text from Tomcat.
Tomcat
Why the fuck didn’t you tell me how damn hard she’d hit me?
Tomcat
Never mind. Don’t answer. I’m so fucked.
I stared at the message, then looked over at Maren and laughed.
She arched a brow.
“Tomcat.” A grin tugged at my mouth. “Sounds like the flyboy met a woman.”
Her brows lifted. “Thewoman?”
“Maybe.”
She snorted. “Can’t wait to watch the pilot crash into love.”
“Yeah,” I said, smiling as I held her closer. “He’s about to go down hard.”
EPILOGUE
MAREN
It was only an hour after the sun came up, and motorcycles were already rumbling down my driveway. My kids were both morning people, so the club knew it was safe to come over so early. And today, I could use all the help I could get, so I put another pot of coffee on and raced into our bedroom so I wouldn’t be greeting everyone in my robe with my hair a mess.
Not that any of the guys would give me more than a glance if I wasn’t fully dressed. Lucas’s club brothers were all tough as heck, but nobody wanted to risk his wrath over me. And most of them had wives of their own that they were just as obsessed with, so they got where my husband was coming from.
But I needed to get moving because we were about to host a bunch of kids who wanted to try out the ramp that Lucas and a couple of the guys installed in our backyard last night. After getting a skateboard for his last birthday, Lorne had begged for a half-pipe. Our seven-year-old was as fearless as his father, but I wasn’t ready to see him fling his body around like that. The wave ramp was a compromise—exciting enough to keep my son happy for now while I adjusted to the fact that my baby was growing up faster than I wanted.
I pulled on jeans and a tank, brushed my hair, and made it back downstairs just in time to find Stella, Courtney, and Violet setting trays of food on the kitchen counter.
“Morning!” Stella called, already going for the mug cabinet.
I laughed, handing her the fresh pot of coffee. “Please save me.”
“Sorry, no can do.” She arched a brow. “You’re the one who got us in this mess to start with. I’m just hoping Cadell doesn’t break his leg today since we all know he’s going to insist he should go first as the eldest of the crew.”
“I’m sure Arlen won’t be far behind him.” Courtney shook her head with a grin. “But Pax told Flint to bring some medical supplies, just in case.”
That made me feel better because I knew the guys listened to the VP. “Great, now we just need to try to keep Maisie off the darn thing.”
My daughter idolized her older brother. She trailed Lorne all the time, and even though he was three years older, he was incredibly patient with his sister. But she was way too clumsy to skateboard on the driveway, let alone a ramp.
“I’ve got you covered there.” Violet beamed a smile at me. “Brodie brought some special walkie-talkies to distract the younger kids. He didn’t tell me what makes them so unique, but I’m sure it’ll work.”
I had no doubt she was right. Echo was a whiz at audio technology and great with the kids. Plus, he didn't want Poppy anywhere near that ramp, so he was highly motivated to keep the little ones busy. “Fantastic.”
“And we brought plenty of food, so you aren’t stuck cooking breakfast for the entire crew,” Stella added as she snagged a blueberry muffin from one of the trays.
I grinned at her. “Even better.”
