Faking it with the Bad Boy Bikers (Southern Heat Reverse Harems #2)

CHAPTER 2

Woodrow

I was attempting to extract myself from a conversation about how many people I’d shot when a scream jerked me out of my discomfort and shoved me into work mode. I reached for my gun before remembering I’d left it at home since I was attending a fucking baby shower. As soon as I heard more of the scream, though, my shoulders relaxed and I couldn’t help walking towards the sound.

“You’re a pain in the you-know-what, Papa Jack! Get back here! You’re supposed to be in the car, and I was going to make you listen to country western music since you farted on me!” A feisty little redhead chased a giant black cat past me, her eyes narrowed in concentration and rage. “I’m going to cut all your hair off when you’re asleep tonight!”

“Waylan!” I glanced over my shoulder and nearly bit my tongue in half at the woman running past me. Same copper ringlets as the kid, same narrow-eyed concentration, the woman was definitely the kid’s mother. She also happened to be running with a very inefficient bra and I got an eyeful of the best rack I’d ever seen bouncing past me.

“No! Papa Jack!” I tore my eyes away from the mom in time to see the cat spot Bobby, Dean’s pajama-wearing dog. I stepped forward, fully expecting Bobby to charge at the cat and possibly eat it, but Bobby let out a frantic scream and took off running. The cat gave chase and the kid continued her chase, still screaming. “You’re a bully, Papa Jack! I’m going to tell Mom to put those nails on you again. In pink glitter!”

Bobby did a fancy spin move and ran as fast as he could, toward me. I could see Dean joining the chase, calling after Bobby, and when I glanced around, it didn’t look like anyone else was going to step in, so I sacrificed life and limb by waiting until the last minute to scoop the giant cat into my arms. He was even heavier than he looked and I only managed to keep my balance by catching the girl in my other arm when she got closer and started to fall.

“Thanks, mister! Papa Jack hates dogs. He beat up a Great Dane once and now we’re not allowed back at Petco.” The kid wasn’t fazed in the slightest at dangling in my arms like her cat. She grinned up at me. “Want to know a secret? He’s a bully but he’s secretly terrified of pickles. Not cucumbers, either. Just pickles. I’m going to get Mom to buy a jar and then I’m going to sneak one in his bed while he’s sleeping.”

“Waylan Danielle Hellstone.” The mom was red and out of breath when she got to us but it did nothing to take away from the overall effect she was having on me and probably every other red-blooded man at the party. Her chest was still heaving and when she bent over to rest her hands on her knees, I got a clear view down the top of her loose t-shirt.

The kid tapped my nose and wagged her finger in my face. I’d just been busted by a child for ogling her mother and I would’ve felt bad if the mother wasn’t such a walking temptation.

When she stood up again, the mom wiped her forehead and forced a smile. Her bright blue eyes barely took me in as she scanned her kid. “Are you okay, baby?”

I wasn’t okay. She wasn’t talking to me but I still wanted to answer to make her look at me. I wanted that husky voice turned on me, calling me baby.

“What the hell is going on here?” Mills Hellstone came stomping down the front steps of his house, his eyes narrowed on the back of my new favorite mom’s head. It took me that long to realize the entire party had gone silent and was just watching the woman in front of me.

I watched her wince before turning around to face Mills. I watched as his face dropped in shock. My blood boiled with a bizarre sense of possessiveness over the temptress slowly inching her way closer to Mills. Was she a long-lost girlfriend? If she was, I was going to have to murder Mills to make room for myself.

“Nellie.” West and Tate joined Mills and they both looked as stunned as their brother. West’s voice was quiet but it carried across the silent party. “You’re here.”

“Why are you here?” Mills wasn’t quiet. He was loud and angry. His eyes narrowed on the woman as he crossed his arms over his chest. “What do you want?”

I stepped forward without thought.

“It was time to come home. Are Mom and Dad here?” Her voice was strong as she spoke, but I could see her nerves in the way her hands were clenched behind her back, gripping and releasing over and over.

Mills let out a bark of laughter. “Are you serious? They’ve been dead for a long time now. You would’ve known that if you hadn’t run off or if you’d ever bothered calling.”

The pained gasp which escaped her carried across the entire party. The sudden curving of her shoulders and the way her head bowed made me want to drag her away from Mills and maybe go back to knock some sense into the man. Why the fuck was he being cruel to the woman I was guessing was his sister?

I realized the kid in my arm was struggling to get down and hesitated to let her go. I wasn’t sure her mom was in a good space to chase after her again. When the little fighter sank her teeth into my arm, I had no choice, though. I swore and looked down at the deep bite mark she’d left, wondering where the kid had been raised, if not in the fucking wild.

I’d been expecting the kid to run away, chasing Bobby again or whatever else kids did, but she ran straight for her mom. She put herself squarely in front of her and then pulled her leg back and kicked Mills in the shin with enough power to have him hobbling backwards.

“Don’t yell at my mom!”

The mom, Nellie, I’m guessing was her name, wrapped her arm around her and tugged her behind her. “Waylan. I’m okay, baby.”

“No, you’re sad! He made you sad. I’m going to kick him again!” The little spitfire only stopped struggling to get free when her mom shot her a stern look. “Fine. I won’t kick him again, but I think you should.”

“What the actual fuck, Nellie?!” Mills rubbed at his leg and scowled. “You’ve got a kid? A feral one, at that?”

That comment hardened Nellie’s resolve, it seemed. Her chin went up, her back straightened, and her voice was lower when she spoke again. “Say something like that again and I’ll do more than kick you, Mills Jonathan Hellstone. It’s been a decade but I still remember your weak spots.”

“You don’t know anything about any of us anymore. You’ve been gone for ten years, Nellie. You just want to show up again like you didn’t walk out on us?” Mills ran his hand over his face as he looked around and realized they had an audience. “Shit. Are you staying? If you’re staying, maybe you should come inside so we can talk without everyone hearing all of our sordid secrets.”

Nellie turned away and gripped Waylan’s shoulders. “Go on back to the car. Now.”

Waylan scowled at Mills one more time before stomping away. She had a face for war as she stalked past me.

Nellie straightened, facing her brother again. “I didn’t walk out on anyone. What you just did, though, showing your ass in front of your niece, was gross. Maybe think about it and find us when you’re ready to apologize.”

She turned and barely got a few feet away when Vera stepped out in front of her. Without saying anything, Vera wrapped her arms around Nellie and hugged her tight. I felt like I was invading a private moment when Nellie’s eyes slowly shut and she slowly brought her arms up around her sister. Vera said something that had Nellie nodding and then the women moved apart and Nellie hurried the rest of the way to her car.

The vintage Charger would’ve been enough to get my blood going without the sexy woman getting into it. Then she popped back out and marched straight up to me. I had a moment of stupidity, wondering if she wanted to get my number as much as I wanted to write mine down and shove it down the back of her pants.

“My cat?” Her voice shook and she looked like she was barely holding her shit together. There were tears brimming in her eyes which hadn’t fallen yet.

I cleared my throat and realized I was still holding her cat. I wanted to see the same fierceness on her face I’d seen on her kid’s face. Leaning into her, I lowered my voice. “Should’ve let the kid beat his ass. She could’ve taken him.”

She froze for a second and then her mouth tipped up in a smile as her eyes danced over my face. She licked her lips as she took in a deep breath and blew it out roughly. “Thank you.”

Her fingers brushed my chest as she took the cat from me and then she was gone, driving away with her soldier kid and her fat cat. I shook my head after I couldn’t see the car anymore and glanced around. The party was definitely over. Vera was quietly ripping into her brothers with Dean, Reed, and Lennon at her back. Everyone else looked more than uncomfortable at what they’d just witnessed.

Henry Aarons and Seth Millovich joined me and Henry whistled. “Damn.”

Both men had been undercover with me on the Michael Mays case and both men were working with me at the sheriff’s office to fill in the void the former dirty Sheriff and Deputies had left. I looked between the two of them and rubbed my chin. “Damn is right.”

“She really kicked the shit out of Mills.” Seth smirked. “With a little training, that kid’s going to be the next Chuck Norris.”

I looked down at my arm and swore again. “She bit the shit out of me.”

They looked down at my arm and laughed. Henry slapped my shoulder. “Seems that girl and her momma both like to leave an impression.”