“You’re supposed to be on my side,” Clara grumbled.
Kathy laughed softly, reaching out to gently squeeze Clara’s arm. “Oh, honey, I am. You just haven’t accepted which side you’re on. I know exactly how it feels when the right man looks at a woman like Rebel looks at you.” Then she smirked. “You can complain all you want, but I’ve seen the way you blush when he pulls out the caveman attitude.”
Clara groaned quietly, dropping her face into her palm even as she fought a smile. Kathy shot me an approving glance, humor twinkling in her eyes as she moved away to greet another vendor arriving for setup.
I pulled Clara into my chest and pressed a kiss to the flushed skin of her forehead before murmuring, “Your mom is right, baby. You blush so fucking beautifully when I stake my claim.Makes it damn hard to stop myself from dragging you to the nearest dark corner and seeing how far I can get that pretty color to spread over your body.”
Clara dropped her head back to look up at me, her eyes narrowing as she fought to hide the heat in them. The deepening color sweeping over her face and down her neck gave her away, though.
“Don’t you have work to do?” she snipped, without any real ire.
I winked, then leaned down for a lingering kiss. “Tell me what you need, boss. I’m yours to command.” A slow, salacious smile spread across my face when I added, “Unless we’re in the bedroom…or anywhere else I decide to have my way with you. Then I’m the one in control.”
Clara rolled her eyes dramatically, but the way she bit her bottom lip and the shiver that raced through her body betrayed how much she liked my subtly dirty comments. I had a feeling that my filthy mouth was gonna drive her wild when I finally got her under me.
After one last kiss, which I had to force myself to keep relatively chaste, I stepped back and reluctantly let her go. We returned to the festival preparations, and I realized I had seen a future in which the Hounds no longer came first. When I patched with the club, I’d found the stability I hadn’t had in my past. The family I hadn’t even known I needed. My life with the Hounds would always be a part of me, and my work with them was fulfilling and important. But sometimes the darkest parts of life touched it, and leaving that behind when the job was over could be difficult.
But here on this land, with this incredible woman, I was beginning to imagine a life I’d hadn’t thought was possible for me. The idea of a future with Clara, living on the farm and working alongside her, offered a peace that I thought I’d neverfind. A place and people who would shine a light bright enough to chase away the shadows.
With my MC family and the one I was going to build with Clara, I’d found the place I belonged.
8
CLARA
Saturday morning dawned crisp and cool, perfect weather to kick off the fall festival. By ten, the parking lot was already filled with cars, families spilling out in search of cider donuts from the store before the festival started.
I’d been running around since sunrise, restocking and pitching in where needed. By late afternoon, my feet ached, and my ponytail was a frizzy mess, but I couldn’t stop smiling. The place looked perfect. And Ronan had been here since eleven, helping wherever I pointed without complaint. He’d even taken an hour-long shift driving the tractor for the hay rides, much to my father’s delight.
Mom found me near the photo-op cutouts next to the entrance of the corn maze.
“You’re done for the day, sweetheart.” She pressed a cold bottle of water into my hand. “Go enjoy yourself. You’ve earned it.”
“But the?—”
“Everything’s covered. Your dad’s got the hay rides, Harper and the twins are in the store, and I can handle the rest with Shawn’s help. He’s eleven, so he can take tickets here as wellas you can.” She made a shooing motion with her hands. “That handsome man of yours has put in a full day’s work, so we’re more organized and less frazzled than usual. Take him around and have some fun.”
I glanced over to where Ronan stood talking to Dad near the tractor. He looked up, caught my eye, and the corner of his mouth lifted in a smile that made my knees go weak.
“Okay.” I grinned. “But if anything goes wrong?—”
“It won’t. Go.”
I jogged over to Ronan, grabbed his hand without thinking, and tugged. “Come on. You’re off duty.”
He raised a brow but let me pull him along. “Bossy today.”
“I figured I’d take a page from your book so we can take full advantage of the last hour of the festival.”
He wasn’t as excited as I was, but I appreciated that he didn’t resist as I led him to the pumpkin painting area. There were long tables set up under the big oak, where kids were elbow-deep in orange and green paint.
I handed him a small pumpkin and a brush. “Show me what you got.”
He quirked a brow. “I don’t paint.”
“Everyone paints,” I insisted, not in the least put off by his skeptical look. “It’s a festival rule.”
He sighed and shook his head as he dipped the brush into black paint and made slow, deliberate strokes against the pumpkin. When he turned it around, he’d painted a simple skull with crossed bones. Rough, but kind of perfect.
