Chapter 6
Priest
“You look fine.”
Caitlyn glared at me in outraged indignation—in the way only a girl could—and crossed her arms over her chest. She went back to the closet in her room and grabbed a different dress.
“Fine. Put it on, but hurry up or we’re going to be late,” I told her, shaking my head. Amazing how decidedly… female she was. Even though she wasn’t talking yet, between the glares and eye rolls I was in familiar territory, and knew exactly what she was telling me.
It took another twenty minutes to get her out the door.
I borrowed one of the cage rides, buckling a booster seat in the back.
She was still too small to let her ride loose.
I kept extra of all my kids’ stuff here at the clubhouse for when they came to visit, so Caitlyn was all set up with everything she could need.
Eventually I would get her her own things, especially clothes.
I knew it was important to a kid to not be perpetually borrowing from others.
But compared to our other problems, that was further down on the list and she wasn’t complaining.
I knew from my other girls that Caitlyn didn’t need to be speaking to protest about something like that.
Getting her situated, I climbed into the front of the pickup and drove across town to the CPS office where Jenny was working.
As soon as we stepped into the building I spotted the riotous curls inside an office across the way.
I suppressed a smile; much like Jenny’s personality, there was no containing those curls. “Come on, Cait.”
I couldn’t wait for today to be over. Then I’d be able to focus on Jenny at our dinner tonight. She deserved my attention and my explanations. Kit was all set to watch over Caitlyn while I was out on my date.
My eyes were locked on Jenny, my heart giving a heavy thud as I approached.
She looked beautiful, sitting there, frowning down at something on her desk.
She’d texted me this morning to bring Caitlyn in at nine.
I was appreciative that she was making this a priority and getting things done so quickly.
Her head popped up as soon as we got to the door.
It didn’t surprise me. One thing I’d learned about Jenny as soon as I met her was that she didn’t sit still well.
She was always racing from one thing to the next, and if she was forced to sit her leg would bounce hard enough to shake anything near her.
“Hi.” Her tone was completely detached and professional, beautiful chocolate eyes wary as she looked at me. Irritation threaded through me at her brush off. She softened it then and smiled at Caitlyn. “Hi there, Sweetie.”
Caitlyn gave her a small smile and stepped into the office when I urged her forward. Her small hand was clutching mine in a death grip, but otherwise she didn’t show her fear. I was proud of the way she was handling all this. She was being incredibly courageous.
It was the reason I’d decided to fight for this adoption.
I would gladly watch over any orphaned kid in her position.
Some of our brothers had kids and would also take an orphan in without hesitation, but I wanted to be the one to care for her.
Caitlyn, despite her silence, was a fighter.
I’d known it from the moment we rescued her.
That much trauma would make most adults go catatonic.
Yet here she was, with the loudest silent personality you could imagine.
I’d be damned if I let anyone else take her.
I’d die before I allowed anyone to harm her.
This girl would grow up to shine right alongside my other kids. I was going to make sure of it.
I got her settled before taking the chair next to her. “Morning, Jenny.”
It was impossible to miss the light flush that rose on Jenny’s neck. I purposely lowered my voice a bit. “What do you need from me?”
Her plump lips parted in surprise and I had to fight off the wicked smile that wanted to emerge at her shock.
I’d worded it that way on purpose. She thought she was going to give me the cold shoulder and keep her professionalism.
She was wrong. I didn’t have her address here in town—though I could get it—and it wasn’t time to take things that far.
Especially not since she’d agreed to dinner.
“Can you please fill out this form?” she asked, voice a little breathless. She hitched in a breath when our fingers brushed as I took the paper from her.
This wasn’t necessarily going to be easy, but I was grateful that I could read the interest in her body language.
It was a good thing, because she was sure as shit trying to keep me at arm’s length any time her mind cleared enough to realize what I was doing.
I’d been surprised she’d agreed to go out with me tonight.
Happy about it, but I knew she was fighting the attraction between us.
Jenny spoke quietly with Caitlyn while I filled in the information—or to the girl since she still wouldn’t talk. It didn’t matter how much I assured her she was safe with our family, she wouldn’t speak. The therapist said she would in her own time and I’d have to be patient.
I’d been a sniper in the Army’s Ranger Battalion.
If there was one thing I knew, it was waiting patiently until I had the right shot.
I once waited three days on a rooftop, covered in linen to hide myself, just to shoot one asshole.
In retrospect, that was easy compared to this, but I had the patience.
I’d have to utilize that legendary control with both these females. I could handle that.
“You want to live with Priest and the others?”
I glanced over at Jenny’s question and watched as Caitlyn’s head bobbed up and down. Relief was quick and sharp. I didn’t want anything happening to her and I knew my brothers and I could protect her.
There were some who might think it was odd for a single man to want to adopt her, but I knew she’d fit in perfectly with my three girls.
Lockout had given me the largest apartment in preparation of what was to come.
I didn’t know when I’d have full custody of my children, but I had a feeling it would be soon.
In any other circumstance I’d be fucking thrilled at getting full custody. Right now, for their sake, I would push that off as long as possible.
Regret and sadness filled my chest. Wendy and I had been volatile together.
We’d lasted ten years, but they hadn’t always been good.
Despite all the arguments and fighting, she’d stood by me deployment after deployment.
She had always been faithful, and since the divorce she had asked nothing of me other than this, and I was honoring her wishes now.
That was all I could do. Our divorce was the best thing that happened to us—second only to our girls—and we’d managed to co-parent and end up friends somewhere along the way.
We’d managed that much for the girls’ sake.
I’d put them through enough with the deployments, the least I could do was be friendly with their mother.
I handed the paperwork back to Jenny, letting my eyes roam over her as she read through everything, making sure it was correct. She pulled the other documents I’d filled out yesterday out of the folder as well.
She hadn’t slicked her hair back into a ponytail today and it hung down past the edge of the desk.
I loved it like this, all wild and free.
The curls weren’t frizzy, but smooth ringlets, there were just so many of them it caused her hair to go everywhere.
If I didn’t know better I’d guess it was a perm, but it was natural.
Her inky black lashes were lowered as she looked down, contrasting against her silky smooth pale skin.
There was a smattering of freckles over the bridge of her nose and they feathered out onto her cheeks.
The urge to strip her bare and see where else she had freckles had a stranglehold on me.
I swallowed hard and tried to pull my mind away from what those delicious fucking thighs might look like bared.
Or, even better, of what her thick ass would look like in a pair of swimsuit bottoms. The kind that didn’t cover nearly enough cheek.
I licked my lips and shifted in my seat so I could subtly adjust my growing dick.
This wasn’t the time, place, or company for these thoughts. Didn’t mean I could stop them, though.
“Everything looks like it’s in order,” she said, looking up, then past me. She was speaking a little louder than she had before.
My lips twitched in amusement. The fact that she wasn’t shying away from helping me—helping the club—was amazing, but an actress she was not. I didn’t want her to get in trouble with her work, so I’d play along however I had to. As long as it didn’t include giving her up.
“You have every right to still be pissed at me. Thank you for agreeing to come to dinner tonight.”
Her eyes darted back to mine, then she glanced meaningfully at the little girl next to me.
“She’s going to be living in the clubhouse. She’ll hear a lot worse than that.”
Her lips turned down into a frown and I wanted to wipe it off her face with my lips.
Replace it with ecstasy. “That’s going to be the hard part,” she told me, lowering her voice again, and also effectively changing the subject.
“Getting my managers to sign off on a single dad—living in an MC clubhouse—adopting her.”
I sat back in my chair, thoughts of our naked bodies rubbing together leaving my head. “Maybe we could grease some palms.”
Her brows pinched together. “God, I hope that wouldn’t work.”
She was so adorably naive. I loved it. I never wanted her to change, but it would work. It always did.
The look on my face must have convinced her because she sighed in disappointment. “Let’s leave that as a last ditch option. I have another plan.”
“What?”