I scoff. “I didn’t ask you for permission, old man.”
His mouth opens in shock. “You did not just call me old.”
I bite my lip and nod.
He lightly pats my ass and says, “Oh, sweet summer child. Your ass is going to be feeling that betrayal later.” He laughs as he lets me go into the bedroom.
As I am searching for clothes to put on, he calls from the bathroom. “Don’t forget, I’ll be going on the ride today. We won’t be back for a couple of days if all works out perfectly.”
I groan. I had forgotten all about it. I’ve been too caught up in our little happy bubble to remember that he will be leaving me for the next few days with these women who don’t even like me. At least I will have Sam to hang out with.
When I don’t answer, he peeps his head out of the door and says, “Did you hear me?”
“Yes, I heard you.” I laugh, pulling on my pants. “I need to go find Charlie and make sure she is okay this morning.”
“Wait for me, and we will go out there together,” he says, walking back around the corner.
So that is exactly what I do.
Ten minutes later, we are both freshly dressed, with our hair brushed and our teeth cleaned. We walk hand in hand toward the living room. As we turn the corner, Candace spots us first and gives me a grim look. Then Charlie rushes me from the other side of the kitchen, “Mommy!”
She wraps her arms around me, and I do the same to her. Then she leans back and looks between me and Hunter. She bites her lip and then goes in for a hug around Hunter’s waist as well.
Instead of just wrapping his arms around her and hugging her back, he lifts her into his arms and gives her a big squeeze, making her squeal with excitement.
We are all laughing when Sam and Xavier emerge from their room down the hall. “What’s all the yelling about this early in the morning?” Xavier grumbles. He spots the cause, his grim look turns to a huge smile, and then he tickles Charlie on his way past.
“Is coffee made yet?” Sam groans as she walks past us.
I shrug. “We just got in here ourselves.”
She sighs and walks into the kitchen. Thankfully, though, someone has already made a pot, and she pours herself a cup. She then pours another one and hands it in my direction. “Here, you’re gonna need this.”
I take a long sip of the delicious coffee and hold out some for Hunter, who takes it from my grasp. “Better go make yourself another, sweetheart. Cause it will be a cold day in hell before you get this back.” He laughs.
I stomp my foot like a child and go to the kitchen to make myself another cup. By the time I get in there, the pot is empty. “It’s just not meant to be.” I grumble and turn to walk back to the crowd.
Sam calls my name just as I’m about to walk around the corner and says, “I saved you one.” She hands it to me.
I raise my brow. “How did you know?”
She laughs. “I know Hunter loves his coffee. You didn’t stand a chance keeping your first mug.”
I smile and take a sip of my coffee.
When we join the guys back out in the living room, most of them are putting on their boots and throwing on their cuts. Hunter still holds Charlie in his arms and talks to her just like he would an adult. It kind of warms my heart.
Craig never showed Charlie that kind of attention. Not even when she was a baby. He was always too annoyed with her, me, or himself.
I look down at Hunter’s feet, and he doesn’t even have his boots on yet.
I raise my brow as I get closer to him. “Don’t you have to get ready like the rest of these guys?” I nod toward the other men.
He chuckles and puts Charlie on her feet. “I’ll have you know that we were having a very important conversation before you interrupted us.”
I put my hand on my hip. “Oh yeah? What was it about?”
Charlie is the one to answer. “We were arguing about how unicorns are like motorcycles, and Mr. Hunter said that couldn’t be possible because unicorns are not real.” She glares at him. “I told him he was wrong, Mommy.”
