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“What?”
“You heard me.” She notched her chin high in the air, daring me to contradict her. “I don’t know what she was doing, but I do know that I’ve been taking care of Leo all this time and he calls me Mom.”
Dammit if her fearlessness wasn’t sexy as fuck. My cock was eager to join the conversation, which was a welcome change to the boredom he and I had both been feeling lately. Not even a quick blowjob from the club whores was enough to get me excited lately. Not my typical one-nighters either. But now, this woman with a complicated relationship to my son, she was the one who brought us back to life. Which was a bit fucking inappropriate given the exact current circumstances, but a cock’s a cock. Not much can be done to control that kind of reaction.
The universe had a really fucking weird sense of humor.
“Thank you,” I answered gently. “Thank you for taking care of him and keeping him safe, Ellie. And I’m sorry I wasn’t there to help all this time.”
Her cheeks blushed prettily as she nodded and turned away. “Of course. I love him.” She pushed off the counter, refilled my glass, and opened the back door. I followed, getting the first glimpse of my kid.
My son. He was playing in the dirt like a typical boy, having a good time all on his own. My chest squeezed tight as I looked at him, trying to take in the details to see if I could see myself in his features.
“Momma,” he called out, and pushed to his feet, rushing across the yard at full speed. “His name is Sal.”
“Sal?” Ellie laughed prettily. “That’s a big name for such a little guy.”
He laughed that sweet child laughter and the feeling that worked its way deep in my chest was unrecognizable, the ferocity of it, the depth of what I felt for this kid who I hadn’t technically met yet.
“Hey, mister, want to meet my friend Sal?”
I blinked and my smile widened. “Sure, I do.”
His smile brightened and then he took off like lightning back across the yard.
“Who is Sal?” I asked, my gaze was still fixed on the spot where Leo had been. Leo, with his shaggy, sandy blond hair and blue eyes that were far too big for his small face.
“His caterpillar.” The affection in Ellie’s voice was clear and I knew I would have to tread carefully.
“No wonder you knew who I was.”
She nodded without looking my way. “Stacy told me what she knew about you, but the minute I saw you, it was clear.”
“You should see my baby pictures.” The kid was a miniature version of me in every sense of the word. It was now my job, my responsibility, to take care of him.
Chapter Four
Ellie
He’s going to take my son away from me. That thought tore through me with the force of a stick of dynamite. The look on Diesel’s face as he watched Leo, mimicked exactly how I felt whenever I looked at him. His blue gaze was full of wonder and excitement, and love. Yeah, there was no way in hell this man didn’t want his son, a mini replica of the giant beside me. I still couldn’t figure out why he’d leave those messages in my mailbox, but the truck for Leo? It was clear he’d done it as a misguided way of getting close—and now he was going to take Leo away.
Over my dead body.
I shoved that thought down and took a sip of my homemade strawberry lemonade.
“So, your biker gang had a clothing drive?” I said by way of distracting myself, failing failed at keeping the incredulity out of my tone.
Diesel laughed, not seeming at all offended. “Motorcycle club,” he corrected me again with a smile that could only be described as sexy. I surprised myself with that thought, and when he turned back to look at Leo, I couldn’t help but study his masculine profile, and the way his thick blonde hair drifted around his brow and strong jaw enticingly. “Yeah. It’s important to give back to the community.”
“Give back?”
He nodded. “Some of the people in town have fallen on hard times with this shit economy and a lack of jobs. We employ a few, but our businesses can only do so much.”
I swallowed the lump of fear in my throat. “Businesses?”
“Yes, Ellie,” he said in a teasing tone that pulled a reluctant grin across my face. “In addition to whatever thoughts are swirling around your pretty little head, we own tons of legitimate businesses.”
Shit. If that was true, then it would be easy for him to take Leo from me, he wouldn’t even need to use force—the courts would grant him custody, businessman versus barely-getting-by author? No contest. “Oh.”
