Chapter 24
Danica
I looked up as Smokehouse walked into the apartment. Sighing, I straightened from where I’d just set down my suitcase. We needed to have a talk.
He froze after shutting the door, eyeing my bag. “Going somewhere, Wildcat?”
My brows drew together because he looked like he was bracing for something. Looking between him and my bag, where he was staring, I shook my head. “No. Keely dropped that off. It’s the last of the stuff I wanted to get from her house. Are you…okay?”
He let out a heavy breath and seemed to shake himself out of the trance he’d been in while waiting for my explanation. “I’m fine. Other than owing you an apology. What I said today didn’t come out like I meant it to.”
“It’s okay,” I insisted, walking over to him. “I was the one who asked for us to take things slow, then tried to change the rules.”
He reached out and cupped my cheek and I smiled. He didn’t seem to be a touchy-feely kind of man, but he went out of his way to do so with me.
“As much as I want what you offered today, I want to see where this can go more.” His tone was firm, as though he’d made some kind of decision, though I wasn’t sure what about.
“I want that, too,” I assured him.
“Good. Then let’s keep getting to know one another. When we’re ready for the next step we’ll take it.”
I nodded in agreement. “That sounds good to me, Smoke.” A smile edged over my face. “The girls are taking me to a pregnancy convention this weekend. I’m really looking forward to it.”
“They do conventions for things like that?” he asked. Then horror filled his face. “Someone needs to go with you.”
Laughing, I shook my head. “No. No one does. It’s going to be a girl’s day. It’s an all things baby convention, from pregnancy to newborns. None of you guys will have fun with that.”
“We don’t know what Eli is up to. Until we do, someone’s going with you. I’ll go. I’d go even if he wasn’t in the picture, if you wanted me to.”
The fact that he’d offer was what mattered.
That support from him was just a cherry on top of the reasons I was falling in love with him.
“Okay. Well, I appreciate it.” To be honest I’d managed to put Eli out of my mind.
Living here, having Smokehouse watching over me, has made me start to relax.
I didn’t realize until it was gone how tense I always was living with Eli.
What amazed me was it had only taken a couple of weeks of being here to chase the worry away.
Even living with Keely, I’d been nervous that Eli would show up and harass us.
I tucked those thoughts away deep in my mind, not wanting to ruin the night with the emotions they’d dredge up.
“Want to have a movie marathon tonight?” I offered. “I’ll make popcorn, and we can eat as much junk as we want.”
His brows shot up. “Think you can keep it down?”
“Oh!” I dug into the pocket of my slacks and held out some of the pregnancy drops Seek had given me. “These are a lifesaver. It’s cut my vomiting down by at least half.”
“Good,” he said, studying them. “What are they?”
“Ginger and something. I don’t know, but they help.”
He plucked one wrapped candy out of my hand and stuffed it into his pocket. “I’m glad. I don’t like that you’re puking so much.”
I laughed again. “Trust me, I don't want to be doing it.”
“Seems like a weird evolutionary flaw to me,” he said with a shake of his head. “You’re eating for two, and growing a human, but everything you put into your mouth comes back up.”
Grinning, I shrugged my shoulders. “It doesn’t make sense to me either. Oh, um…I have a doctor’s appointment coming up soon. Would…you like to go with me?”
“Yes. I want to go to them all, if you’re okay with it.”
Okay with it? I was ecstatic. If I had gotten pregnant with Eli’s baby he would be complaining that he had to take time off work to go, if he bothered to at all.
I could clearly imagine how he’d handle my morning sickness.
It made me appreciate Smokehouse that much more.
I felt appreciated and supported and we weren’t even married to one another.
“I’d really like that. Thank you.”
“What were you wanting to watch?” he asked, suspicion edging into his voice as he went over to the couch.
He’d come home with a second TV yesterday so that we could keep the one in my bedroom for the days I wasn’t feeling well and didn’t want to get out of bed.
Those morning sickness candies helped, but they only did so much.
I sat on the couch next to him and flicked through the streaming platform until I found what I was looking for. Biting my lip, I waited to see what he’d say about the historical romance series I’d been wanting to watch.
His eyes showed genuine terror, but he relented. “Sounds good. We could order pizza. Get the ice cream out. Make it a party.”
Laughing, I turned and studied his face. “You really want to watch this with me?”
“Sure. Whatever you want.” No way he was telling the truth. I wanted to jump in the air and squeal with excitement because I’d been wanting to watch this show for so long. It made it easy to overlook the obvious fact that he didn’t really want to watch it.
This gruff, dangerous man was willing to watch romance shows with me, cuddle, and eat junk food, all because it would make me happy.
I sat back against the couch, floored. I’d spent the last six years watching what Eli had wanted, eating the foods he demanded we have, and pretty much living life by his rules. Never again.
“We can watch one or two episodes, then watch one of your shows,” I offered.
He grinned over at me. “We’ll see. Let’s start with this, then go from there.”
We binged the entire first season. The pizza had shown up by episode two.
By number four I was lying comfortably atop Smokehouse as he stretched out on the couch.
A fluffy blanket covered us and his powerful arms were wrapped around me.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d gotten so much human contact.
No wait. I could. It was that night with this man.
By the time the last episode ended my eyes were drifting shut. I tried to fight it, because I was enjoying being held so much I never wanted it to end, but sleep pulled me under.
“Shhhh, it’s okay, Wildcat.”
I jerked awake, panting, confused, and afraid. The nightmare was fading now that I was awake, but it had been a bad one. Not that I remembered it.
A large hand smoothed the hair away from my face and I realized we were still on the couch. I must have woken Smokehouse with my thrashing. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. We should get to bed anyway, it’s after two.”
The last episode had finished up around midnight, so we’d been here a while. I untangled my limbs from his and watched as he stood up. Before I had a chance, he reached down and scooped me up into his arms.
My first instinct was to squirm and insist I could walk, but I smothered it.
I’d never had a man carry me to bed before.
Resting my head on his chest, I let my eyes close.
I loved the way he smelled. Leather and Old Spice.
I wanted to bury my face against him and inhale.
I didn’t because that would be weird, but I wanted to.
He set me down on the bed and hesitated at the door before leaving. I patted the spot next to me. “Would you stay with me?”
“Of course.” He crossed the room and began shucking his clothes as he did.
I rolled my teeth between my lips and watched as he stripped, revealing tanned muscle and gorgeous tattoos as he went. He kept his boxer briefs on, but shot me a smoldering smile as he caught me ogling him.
Tilting my head down, I focused on turning back the covers. Around episode eight we paused the show and I climbed into my PJs and we both brushed our teeth and got ready for bed. Then we decided to do one more episode. After that there had only been one left and we figured why not.
I climbed into bed and sighed with happiness as he tugged me back against his body. One of his huge legs shoved between mine and his heavy arm dropped over my hips. We didn’t speak as I turned out the light, just laid in the dark, wrapped up in one another.
One thought nagged my mind as I drifted off to sleep again. If he decides he doesn’t want me to be his, it’s going to destroy me.
* * *
The rest of the week flew by and before I knew it Friday had come and almost gone.
There was only one week of school left and the kids were buzzing with excitement.
This and the beginning of school were my favorite times.
The kids were so thrilled it was hard not to get caught up in their exhilaration.
By the time I got back to the clubhouse I was ready to get some dinner and relax. The last few days had been wonderful. Smokehouse and I were spending as much time together as we could, and as an added bonus, I hadn’t thrown up once. Who knew you’d enjoy the lack of queasiness so much?
I parked my car in the parking lot and frowned when I saw Smoke walking toward me.
Mom and Dad had headed home after the court hearing, though it had taken some convincing on Mom’s part to get him to go.
She’d told me she was happy for me and that I needed this time with my ‘young man’ and didn’t need them around, then promised to come visit once things settled down.
Keely wasn’t leaving until Sunday morning. She’d bumped her flight back so that she could go to the convention with us tomorrow. I was so excited to go and spend the day with all the women I was becoming friends with. I hadn’t realized just how lonely my life with Eli was until now.
Getting out of the car, I met Smokehouse halfway across the lot. “Is everything okay?”
“How are you feeling?” he asked.
Something about such caring words said in such a gruff voice made me shiver with delight. Was a man being attentive and supportive toward you a fetish? Because if it was, I think I had one. “Great!”
“No puking today?”
“No,” I said with a grimace. The amount of times he’d seen me tossing my cookies should have alleviated the embarrassment, but somehow it still crept up on me whenever he saw me like that, or we talked about it.
“Good. Want to come with me?”
“Where?” I searched his face. He smiled at me, his eyes crinkling at the corners.
“For a ride.”
I followed his stare as it landed on his bike. My eyes widened. “Really?”
“Sure. Why not? I’d never do anything to put you or our baby in danger.”
My heart constricted at those words. I knew he wouldn’t. “I’d love to!” Riding a motorcycle had always been on my bucket list, but I hadn’t known anyone with one before.
“Great. Let me go grab my extra helmet. I’ll be right back.”
My eyes dropped to his butt as he walked away and I knew it wasn’t going to be long before we were taking that next step he’d been talking about.
Another lovely side effect of my pregnancy was that my hormones were going wild.
Living with a sexy biker who didn’t like to keep his clothes on was making it very hard to control myself.
I’d never been an overly sexual person, or maybe that was just because Eli had rarely wanted sex with me, so it had been a surprise when these urges had started up.
The last few days they had been overpowering and it was all I could do not to jump Smokehouse.
“Whatcha looking at?”
I groaned as twin chuckles sounded from behind me. Turning, I pinned Butcher and Toxic with a stern look. “Nothing.”
“Doesn’t look like nothing,” Butcher commented.
“He has a world class ass,” Toxic admitted.
Raising my hand, I stifled a laugh. “I wasn’t looking at his butt.”
“Sure you weren’t,” Butcher said. They gave each other knowing looks.
“What are you doing standing out here? Did he say something to upset you?” Toxic’s expression darkened.
“No, no, he’s going to get me a helmet.”
“Wait. He’s taking you for a ride?” Butcher asked. I nodded.
“Is that allowed when you’re pregnant?” Toxic wondered aloud.
“Nothing I read said it was something that couldn’t be done,” I told them, smiling.
“Yeah, it’s probably one of those things that people figure is a given and doesn’t need to be said,” Butcher pointed out. “Like you shouldn’t swim with sharks while pregnant.”
“Or take a nap on a train track,” Toxic added.
My laughter filled the late afternoon air. “You two are really sweet, you know that?”
They wore matching looks of disgust. “Take that back,” Toxic demanded.
“Nope,” I replied. “I won’t and you can’t make me.” I stepped forward and kissed each of their cheeks.
Now they just looked stunned. Butcher sighed. “Dammit. Now we have to do something.”
“I have an idea,” Toxic said. “Don’t move. We’ll be right back.”
“Do what?” I called out after them, but I stayed right where I was. They’d asked so nicely, I had no other choice. My heart was so light I worried I might float away. Who would have thought that all I’d been missing in my life was a playboy biker and his family?
“You’re going to be the luckiest kid in the world,” I whispered, pressing my hands to my still flat belly. “Your dad is going to make sure you’re safe and cared for. And all your uncles and aunts are going to make life so much fun. And I’m going to love you more than anything.”
True to their word it only took a few minutes before Butcher and Toxic were on their way back out to me. My eyes widened at what they were holding.
“Uh, guys?”
They ignored me, looks of determination on their faces as they approached. My eyes darted to the clubhouse, wondering where Smokehouse was.