Page 52 of The Biker’s Guilty Pleasur

“Hey,” Phoebe said.

Grace got to her feet and leaned over to hug Phoebe. “How are you feeling?”

Phoebe had been shot in the chest, similar to Reaper, but it missed her heart. She did end up staying in the hospital for two weeks as a bullet had punctured her lung. The club also made sure she was well protected, but it would seem with all the truth coming out about Cartright, the whole world and some of his allies had turned on him. No one wanted to help the judge now.

“I’m feeling so good. Honestly, but do you know what I think I’m going to do?” Phoebe asked.

Grace winced. “Do I even want to know?”

“I want to go into journalism. Helping to bring down Cartright, that meant something to me.”

She couldn’t help but be nervous. “You want to be part of the press?”

Phoebe stopped and she pursed her lips. “Shit, you’re right. They’re just as big a pain in the ass as judges.” She shrugged. “I’ll figure something out.”

Grace stayed at the coffee shop for another hour, talking with Phoebe. They had become good friends in the last three months. The only visitor Phoebe had was her. She had come to learn that Phoebe didn’t have any family. She was all alone in the world, and knowing that hurt her soul, so she made sure she took the time to get to know her.

“Where’s your hot biker boyfriend?” Phoebe asked as they stepped out of the coffee shop. As if mentioning his bike magically brought him into view.

“My ride awaits,” Grace said.

She hugged Phoebe, who then gave Reaper a wave as he pulled up outside of the coffee shop. Reaper nodded in her direction, but he was waiting for her and her alone.

Grace moved her bag to go across her body, and then she moved in close, and straddled the back of his bike. She couldn’t believe there was a time she was afraid to ride the back of his bike, whereas now, she absolutely loved it.

Wrapping her arms around his waist, she pressed her lips against his neck. “Hey, honey, did you miss me?” she asked.

He groaned and put his hand on top of hers. They did this often, teasing, touching, getting to know one another. “You drive me crazy,” he said.

She knew he hated her being out of his sight. It was why she no longer worked at the bubble tea shop, but he did accept her working at the shelter. They always arrived together. It felt good to be doing stuff with him.

“Good.” She smiled as he pulled away from the curb, and then they rode off, but she noticed they were not going toward the clubhouse.

Sometimes, he liked to take her for long rides, and over the last few months, they’d been going on many journeys where he showed her places he loved. It felt good. For a while, she truly believed she was going to lose Reaper, and in nearly losing him, she never wanted to be without him. It took that fear to make her realize just how important he was to her.

She loved him so much, and she still hadn’t told him. She wanted to, so many times, but she was also afraid it would make him pull away, and that was not something she wanted. Grace was used to people she loved disappearing, leaving her, like her parents. They were more interested in her sister than her. She never trusted anyone else.

They kept riding, coming toward a small park. There was no one around, as it was getting late and the sun was already starting to set. He brought the bike to a stop, and Grace climbed off first, and she no longer had weak legs, so she was able to climb off without nearly ending up on her ass. Reaper joined her, pulling her into his arms, and he surprised her by sinking his fingers into her hair and kissing her.

“I’ve missed you,” he said.

“Reaper, I was only gone for like an hour, two tops, and—” She didn’t get to finish what she was saying before his mouth was on hers, and it felt so good once again. Okay, so it might have only been an hour or two, but she had missed him as well.

He broke the kiss and Grace slowly opened her eyes. “Wow, that was some kiss.”

“There’s something I want to ask you,” Reaper said. “And I’ve been thinking long and hard how to ask you this, and in all honesty, I don’t know the best way.”

She’d never seen him nervous, and yet that was exactly how he looked. Grace was a little confused.

“What’s wrong?” For a split-second, Grace didn’t know if Reaper was about to tell her in a very polite way that they were going to end this relationship. She had no idea why her thoughts were suddenly swarming to the negative, just that they were, and there didn’t seem to be a way to stop it.

Grace had every intention of telling Reaper she loved him with all her heart, and there was no one else she wanted to spend the rest of her life with, yet what could she do now? If she told him how she felt, and he wanted to end it, it would look like desperation. No, there was no way she was going to do that.

She forced a smile to her lips. “Whatever it is, we’ll deal with it.” There, that sounded reasonable.

Reaper cleared his throat, and what was worse, he looked down at the ground, and Grace didn’t know what was going on. Is this the way a relationship ended?

And then, she couldn’t help but pause as Reaper lowered to the ground, but he didn’t sink to his knees, no, he literally put one knee down, looked up at her, and she was able to see what he’d been rifling through his pockets to find. In his hand, he held a velvet box. Her heart instantly started to pound, but she didn’t know if she should get her hopes up yet.