Total pages in book: 29
Estimated words: 26277 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 131(@200wpm)___ 105(@250wpm)___ 88(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26277 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 131(@200wpm)___ 105(@250wpm)___ 88(@300wpm)
“You said she’d know when she’s older, babe,” Tessa explained.
“Yeah…so?”
“She has to date for that to happen.”
“What the fuck?” How had she…? I frowned and spun on my heel, ready to storm after my daughter.
“Kian,” she said softly, “Let it go, honey. You’ll have to get used to the idea of your daughter dating. It might as well be now.”
I sighed and glared at the doorway but remained where I was knowing my wife was right. And fucking hating it.
Finally, I slowly turned back around and scowled at Tessa. “Okay. Let’s talk about the fact that you didn’t take my side in forbidding my precious baby girl to be around handsy teenage punks.”
She rolled her eyes and pushed to her feet. “You’ve met Grady. He’s not stupid enough to be handsy with our girl. No boy in this town would risk your wrath. I was worried no one would ask her to a dance until she was in college.”
“And the problem with that is…?”
Tessa patted my chest before walking away. “You’ve lost this round, babe,” she tossed over her shoulder.
Her swaying hips, which had only gotten sexier after having our five kids, stole my attention. Even after seventeen years, my need for her hadn’t diminished. It had only grown.
“We’ll continue this discussion tonight when the kids are with Rom and Layla,” I grunted.
When Tessa winced sitting at the breakfast table the next morning, I was confident I’d made my point.
EPILOGUE
MAVERICK
Birthday party at Silver Saints Clubhouse
I strolled out the back door of the Silver Saints clubhouse into a huge, open space that was hopping with activity since it was a combined birthday party for…who even knew how many kids.
But one of them was my sweet niece, Britta. The second I walked outside, she screamed and came barreling toward me at full speed. I quickly shut the door and crouched down, preparing to catch her. “Hey, button!” I greeted with a laugh when she flung herself into my arms, nearly knocking me over. “Happy birthday!”
She grabbed my hand, and I let her drag me over to my sister, Kansas, who stood next to Grey’s old lady, Lorelei. I greeted them with a nod and a smile, then said hello to my sister and kissed her cheek.
Britta tugged on my hand again. “Come play tag, Uncle Mav! Pleeeeeease!”
Callum, another munchkin around Britta’s age, ran up and grabbed my other hand. “Yeah, play with us, Uncle Mav!!”
I laughed and shot my sister an amused smile before shrugging. “Lead the way. But don’t come crying to your mommas when I kick your butts.”
The kids giggled and took off. I waited half a minute to give them a good head start, then took off after them.
“Tag! You’re it!” Grayson yelled as he tackled a young woman with long flaming-red hair, who fell to the ground in a heap of laughter.
When she didn’t get up right away, I frowned and jogged over to make sure she was okay. I offered her my hand, and when she took it, we locked eyes as I helped her up.
Holy fuck.
She was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen in my life. Pale creamy skin with a cute sprinkling of freckles, gorgeous emerald eyes, and a body made for sin. Sparks flew from our joined hands, and every nerve in my body lit up like the Fourth of July. Once she was on her feet, we stared at each other, barely aware of the chaos around us.
Suddenly, she poked me in the chest and yelled, “Tag! You’re it!” Then she sprinted toward a copse of trees where many of the kids had found hiding spots.
She’d taken me by surprise with her action, but I was still frozen, stunned by my body’s reaction. Then Britta tapped my arm, shaking me out of my stupor. “You have to catch her, Uncle Mav.”
Catch her? Yes, that was exactly what I needed to do. A wicked smile stole across my face, and I muttered, “I will definitely be fucking catching her.” Then I took off in the direction of where my girl had disappeared.
The sun was peeking through the trees enough for me to see the kids darting all around, trying to avoid being caught.
I scanned the area, looking for a sign of the red-headed goddess, but didn’t see anything. Then my ears picked up a giggle that was huskier than the others—the laugh of a woman rather than a child.
“Fair warning, baby,” I growled as I moved toward the sound. “When I catch you, I’m not going to let you go.”
“What makes you think you’ll be able to catch me?” she asked, her tone sassy and so fucking sexy it made me rock hard.
I’d spent enough years in the military to know how to be stealthy, so I went into silent mode, slowly stalking my prey.