Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 63967 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 320(@200wpm)___ 256(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63967 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 320(@200wpm)___ 256(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
I hate the implication of his words, but I understand them. I know the MC is important to him, and I nod. “I get it.” I don’t like it, but I get it. “How long until we have to leave?”
“As soon as the doctor says you’re good to go, we go. Olly is downstairs with the van for my precious cargo.” He brushes a soft kiss to my lips. “Thank you for understanding.”
“Thank you for being here with us.”
“Always.”
Four hours later, I’m sitting in the middle row of the van, with Hope strapped into her car seat beside me. “Does it feel weird for you when you’re not on your bike?”
Olly, sitting in the passenger seat, says, “I told him I’d drive.”
Tank scoffs. “Not with my baby and my woman in here.”
I hear from the back seat, “Told you, man. That’s his kid.” Stone.
Tank looks at me through the rearview mirror with a smile. “Of course not. It’s just freer on the bike.”
“You just seem a little stiff,” I say and reach forward, patting his broad shoulders. “You nervous?”
“That’s a fucking understatement.”
“Language. We have little ears listening now.” I hear Olly and Stone chuckle.
“Sorry. Just not used to driving around with someone so damn tiny.” He grunts, but his gaze softens when he takes a look at the car seat even though he can’t see our daughter.
“You’re a good daddy,” I assure him. “It’s very sweet. And sexy.” If Tanks keeps acting this way, it’s going to be a long six weeks—or more—until I get the all clear to get naked with him. To celebrate being in love and being a family.
“Sexy, huh?” He wiggles his eyebrows, a move that never fails to make me laugh. “I’ll remember that,” he laughs as he turns into the parking lot to the Reckless Souls MC headquarters. Again.
I frown at the sight of Josie’s car. “Why is Josie here?”
“She’s your friend, right?”
I nod, keeping it to myself that she hates his MC. “That’s not an answer.”
“Isn’t it?” He smiles again before slipping from the driver’s seat and jogging around the van to open the sliding door. With quick fingers, he frees the car seat from its anchor and grabs our baby.
“No,” I say. “It’s not,” I answer and accept the helping hand he offers.
“I thought it was,” he says, clasping our hands together as we make our way inside.
My heart is racing, and my stomach does anxious backflips. This is something I have to get over. Tank and I love each other, and we’re planning a future together, which means I can’t hate his family. I have to find a way to make this work.
“Good?”
I nod eagerly. “Yep. Just great.”
Tank steps inside first, holding the door open with his back and motioning me to come inside with a strange smile on his face.
The first thing I notice is that it looks like a party is going on. “I thought this was lockdown?”
“It is,” he responds, lips parted into a proud smile. “Look around.”
I do and see pastel streamers and bells, a banner that says Baby Shower and baby decorations everywhere. Then my gaze drops lower to the throne with the word Mama scrawled above it, the stack of gifts on a long table against the wall. Two long tables of food and my best friend wearing a huge grin. “What’s going on?”
“It’s a baby shower,” Josie says loudly. “Duh.”
My heart is so full that I can’t respond. “I don’t know what to say. Why?” Why would these women put together a baby shower for me and Hope? What happened in the past week? “I don’t get it.”
Kelsey and the girls come over to me. “We didn’t welcome you the way we should have, and we’re sorry for that,” she says, rubbing her pregnant belly. “That’s not who we are, I swear. So, with a little bit of help from Amazon Prime, we were able to put together a party to celebrate you and baby Hope.”
Tears slide down my cheeks. I’m overwhelmed by this level of apology. Josie steps up beside me and Tank is on the other side, Hope now resting in his arms. “Uhm, thank you, ladies. This is more than I could’ve asked for.”
“This is who we really are,” Kenna says to me with a baby boy on her hip. “You caught me on a bad day, and it’s no excuse. I’m sorry. We’re family and we have to look out for one another, and that family now includes you and Hope.”
It’s still totally unbelievable because they don’t know me, not really. But here they are, showing me an act of kindness and celebration. “Thank you. I mean it, this is just wonderful.”
Letty steps forward with an apologetic smile. “Congratulations on your beautiful baby girl. Can I see her?”
I nod, swiping the tears from my cheeks. “Of course. She’s perfect.” And that one small act seemed to shift something between me and the rest of the women.