Savage was sitting with Viper out on the porch, smoking and talking. It was like he hadn’t been gone, and time had stood still. Last night had been everything I had needed from him; comfort and the feeling that nothing else could get me.
I knew the clubhouse was safe, but something about the way he came into my room and just held me as I slept had been overpowering. He hadn’t tried to talk to me yet, and I was thankful and a little put off by it.
“Have you spoken to him?”
I jumped at Maree’s voice beside me and turned to look at her. “What?”
“Savage - have you spoken to him yet?”
“About what?”
“You know, he’s a good boy,” she said, rinsing her coffee mug. “He may be big and tough around the boys and he knows how to handle himself when it comes to the bad kind of people, but he cares for you a lot. I’ve seen the way he doesn’t tear his eyes away from you, the way he watches you and protects you.”
“There’s nothing there, Maree,” I told her. “I already told you I wouldn’t be anyone else’s.”
“Darlin’, I know the guilt you hold, but Dog was not a good husband to you. Why do you think Ace kept you safe and asked for you to come here with them? He knew you were innocent of his crimes. You are our family, and we want to see you happy.”
“I just think it’s time I go out and travel, or do something with myself,” I told her. “I’ve been thinking about it a lot actually.”
Maree sighed. “Maybe it is best, you know. You get out, see the world and come back and settle down with the one you can’t stop looking at. How long has it been between you two?”
“We’ve never been official, Maree.”
“That’s not what I asked, is it?”
I sighed and turned my back on the door so I didn’t keep sneaking a look at him. He was my biggest temptation.
“Six years,” I sighed.
“Maybe it’s time to have the talk,” she offered. “Figure out where you both are.”
“Maree, it’s not what I want,” I lied to her. She knew I was lying too, I could see it in her eyes, but she didn’t say anything else. She merely shruggedher shoulders. “How are things coming along with you and Butch, and your retirement?”
She chuckled. “On hold indefinitely, well until we sort out what’s happening with Chains.”
I was so glad he was going to pull through. It had been quite a relief when I woke up this morning. Maree was still fairly young, but Butch couldn’t ride that much anymore, and I knew the two of them wanted to spend more time with her cousins over in Wales. She’d been priming me to take over as the clubhouse hen, but I think that should go to Sheridan. She was the prez’s wife after all.
“Shauna’s on her way home, but Chains will be in for a few more days.”
It had been so good to hear the news that Chains was going to make it. It had been a close call from what I’d been told, but relief all the same.
“I’m surprised she’s allowing them to take her home,” I chuckled. “That woman is as stubborn as a bull.”
“I agree,” Maree smiled affectionately. “Turns out there’s an even better reason for her to come home and rest. She’s pregnant.”
I gasped, my hand flying to my chest in surprise. “You’re kidding.”
Maree smiled at me warmly. Like a proud mother hen that we all knew her to be.
“I am so happy for the two of them,” I said with glee. “Does everyone know?”
Maree shook her head. “Just the wives and Ace. She hasn’t even told Chains yet, so keep it quiet. These boys are like gossiping nancies, so don’t tell them.”
I traced my fingers over my heart in a cross motion and Maree chuckled before she headed out onto the porch to round up the boys. I set the bar up for business, which would mean catering to the Nomads and the MC chapters coming in to help the club.The danger wasn’t over, so I would need to keep my mouth shut about leaving until things got a little normal again. The last thing I wanted to do would be to leave them all high and dry in their time of need.
I wiped the bar again, only pausing when I saw the familiar tatted hand pop up in my line of vision. The dark swirls of the shamrocks and celtic knots on theback of his hand always did things to me. Slowly, I looked up at Savage, that undeniably sexy smirk on his face.
“Do you have a minute?” he asked me.
