Chapter 20
CASSANDRA
“If that bitch keeps staring at you . . .” I fisted my hands.
Leo and Emmett both burst out laughing.
“I’m serious.” I elbowed Leo in the ribs.
“We’re right behind you.” Presley raised her glass, clinking the edge of it with mine.
“While you take care of her, I’ll be dealing with the blonde who keeps eye fucking. My. Husband.” Bryce shouted that last word at the woman who had the intelligence to shift her gaze toward the wall and pretend like the neon Miller Lite sign was the most exciting thing she’d seen since Dash’s ass.
“Easy.” Dash threw his arm around Bryce’s shoulders, pulling her close.
“That is blatant.” She glared at the blonde. “I’m standing right here. If she keeps it up, I’m clawing out her eyes.”
“You remember that I’m the chief of police, right?” Luke asked. “And standing right here.”
Bryce waved him off. “I’ll just antagonize her until she throws the first punch. Then it’s self-defense.”
“Doesn’t exactly work like that, baby.” Dash chuckled.
“What is with these women?” Bryce scoffed. “Seriously. Why is it always like this?”
Because our men were the hottest in town. It was hard not to stare. Though they really needed to try harder.
“As the only single man here, I feel like it’s my duty to defuse the situation.” Emmett drained the last of his whiskey ditch, then winked at me and strode across the bar, taking the blonde under one arm and the brunette—who’d been drooling over Leo—under the other.
Both women seemed perfectly content to have won Emmett’s attention as he steered them toward the door.
“What do you ladies want next?” Shaw asked.
“Lemon drops?” Presley asked Scarlett, Bryce and me, getting nods all around.
“Four lemon drops.” Shaw signaled for the bartender—Paul, who I’d met when we’d come in earlier—that we needed another round of drinks.
The women were drinking tonight. The men had lost the coin toss.
Heads, the women drove the men home from The Betsy.
Tails, the men drove the women.
Except for Emmett, the guys were all nursing waters.
“You’re going to be miserable tomorrow, babe.” Leo pulled me into his side, kissing my temple.
“She’s got age on her side,” Dash said. “Remember how fast we’d bounce back after a bender at twenty-five? Now we’re old and drinking too much actually hurts. For days.”
“This has to be my last one,” Scarlett said. “I don’t want to be too late getting home.”
Luke’s dad was babysitting Mary tonight and, though the baby was likely sound asleep in her crib, I knew exactly how Scarlett felt. I was having withdrawals. And guilt.
Tonight was the first time we’d left Seraphina with my parents and it was beginning to gnaw at me. I’d called to check in twice and if I didn’t think it would hurt Mom’s feelings, I would insist that after we left the bar, we’d go pick her up and take her home.
“She’s fine,” Leo said quietly, reading my mind.
“I miss her.”
“I miss her too.” He pulled me close, trailing a hand down my spine. His fingers dove into a back pocket of my jeans. “But think of how much fun we can have at home.”
“We have fun every night.”
“Tonight I’m going to make you scream my name.”
A thrill raced through my body, settling in my core with a low, dull throb. “One more shot, then we’re out of here.”
He chuckled and dropped his lips to mine in a kiss that was anything but decent. Good thing we weren’t in a decent place. The Betsy was packed, like I suspected it was most Saturday nights.
In the two weeks since I’d opened up about the kidnapping, Leo and I had been closer than ever. He was there to hold me if I needed a strong embrace. He was there to make me smile or kiss a worried look off my face.
He was my safety net. One day, I hoped to be his.
He had secrets of his own. He had stories from life with the club that he hadn’t shared with me. Maybe he never would. But if that day came, I’d be there to listen.
And if all I could do was be the example, then that was what I’d do. I’d made a silent promise to never keep a secret from him. Leo would always know my truths, no matter how ugly or insignificant.
“Okay, ladies.” Shaw passed around lemon drops and when we each had one in hand, we raised our glasses.
“To Genevieve,” Bryce said. Our friend was home with Isaiah and their two babies. Since Asher was so little, they’d declined the invite to the bar. “She can’t be here tonight, so we’ll take this one for her.”
“Cheers!” I lifted the glass to my lips and let the cold, sour-sweet cocktail slide down my throat with a slight burn. My smile was wide and my laughter easy as I said, “We should do this more often.”
“Totally agree,” Presley said.
“Hell, yes.” Bryce nodded. “And more spa days like the one we had after your birthday.”
“And barbeques,” Scarlett said. “I need everyone to come over again so I can justify the new deck furniture I just ordered.”
Luke, who’d been talking with Dash, caught that and his face darted to hers. “What furniture? We just bought deck furniture.”
“But not enough. When everyone comes over, it’s already crowded. Think of how it will be once all the kids get older. We need more seats.”
He looked to Dash and deadpanned, “We need more seats.”
I giggled again and wrapped my arms around Leo’s waist as the conversation drifted around us. Our friends loved to talk and laugh. Being a part of this group had become such an important part of my life.
These women would raise their children alongside mine.
The men would be there to help us move furniture or work on a project at the house or cheer on the sidelines of football or basketball games.
If this was just a fraction of how it had been with the Tin King club, I saw now why Leo had felt lost after they’d shut it down.
“What are you thinking?” he asked, bending to whisper the question in my ear.
“How lucky we are to have such good friends and family.”
He kissed my hair. “I’m lucky to have you.”
“Promise?”
“On my life.” He let me go, his hand sliding down mine until he laced his fingers with mine. “We’re out.”
“Same here.” Scarlett took Luke’s hand.
After a few quick hugs and waves goodbye, we waded through the crowd for the door.
Leo and Luke shook hands. I hugged Scarlett once more, then as they walked to their truck, I climbed on the back of Leo’s motorcycle. There wasn’t much of a seat for me, but since I was small and had no problem snuggling close, it worked.
“Ready?” he asked with his hands on the handlebars. “Hold tight, okay?”
“Okay.” I did as he ordered, my arms banded around his waist as he raced out of the parking lot and onto the street, earning a squeal.
My hair whipped behind me as we flew beneath the streetlamps. The summer air filled my lungs, and I closed my eyes and flew.
The machine glided across the pavement like a boat in the water, bounding between waves. When we turned, I leaned with Leo, fitting my body to his. One of his hands came to my thigh, stroking up and down the denim of my jeans.
I rested my cheek against his shoulder, savoring this. Us.
“Don’t fall asleep back there.”
I smiled and pressed a kiss to his spine, then held on and closed my eyes again.
I loved his bike. I loved riding. It was intimate. Exhilarating. Outside the bedroom, I’d never felt this connected to him.
The trip home was too short and when we pulled into the driveway behind his truck, I groaned.
“You like my bike, Firecracker?” he asked as he shut it off, turning to meet my gaze.
I leaned up and took his bottom lip between my teeth. “I do.”
“We’ll take it out again. Soon.” He slammed his mouth on mine, his tongue diving in as he stood, lifting me off the Harley.
My legs wrapped around his waist and I clung to him as he carried me inside, kicking and locking the door behind us.
Leo carried me to the living room and stripped me to nothing, then dropped on his knees while I sagged against the back of the couch as he devoured me whole.
Then he made good on his promise at the bar. He made me scream his name.
After the first orgasm, thanks to his wickedly talented tongue, I returned the favor, stripping him bare and shoving him to the floor, where I wrapped my lips around his cock. He never came in my mouth and tonight was no exception.
He let me have my way for a while until it was time for him to take charge again.
It took hours for us to reach the bedroom and when we did, I collapsed onto my pillow, sated and blissfully happy.
He curled into me, nuzzling my hair. “You know I love you.”
“I know you love me.”
“Are you going to pass out?” He lifted my hand and brought it to his lips.
“That’s the plan.” My drunken buzz had faded after hours exploring Leo’s body and licking his tattoos.
“Let me ask you a question first.”
I cracked my eyes open. “Okay.”
“Will you marry me?”
I’d been seconds away from sleep, but that one question had my eyes snapping open wide. “Huh?”
The magician that he was rolled a ring between his fingers. Where had that come from? When? “Marry me.”
I scrambled to sit up, taking in the diamond as it caught the moonlight drifting in from the window. “Leo,” I gasped.
“I choose you.”
My eyes flooded. “I choose you.”
He surged, crushing his lips to mine as his hand found my fingers and the ring glided over my knuckles.
I pulled away from him, taking in the princess-cut jewel and the smaller diamonds decorating the platinum band. “Am I dreaming?”
He wrapped his arms around me, holding me close. “If you are, don’t wake up.”
I closed my eyes and let him take us beneath the sheets, and I didn’t let him go. Not until we’d exhausted each other once more and I knew that when I woke up, the dream was just beginning.
“I’m going to go rescue our daughter.” I kissed Leo’s head as the sun streamed through the bedroom window.
He cracked his eyes open. “I’ll come with you.”
“I’ll be fine. You should sleep.”
He shoved up on an elbow, the sheet falling down his naked, inked chest as he glanced at the clock. “How are you not tired? We only slept for an hour.”