Well, yeah. I hoped the new dad would be happy to hand over his burden. I didn’t expect to find a devoted father.
I hang my head because what choice do I have.
“Can’t I just spend some time with her first? Tomorrow morning?”
Grant stares at me long and hard, and in that look I see a spark of the connection we shared earlier, before he knew who I was.
“I’ll think about it.”
It’s the best I’m going to get out of him. Bailey’s pulling at his beard and Danni’s looking between us, probably wondering what the hell is going on but too polite to ask.
I grab my backpack and the fairy outfit I picked up for Bailey earlier.
“Here.” I hand him the Babyland shopping bag. “It’s a gift for my niece. I hope she likes it.”
Bailey grabs for the handles of the bag, and Grant takes it from me.
“Thank you.” It’s hard for him to say the words, but he manages to choke them out. “I’ll call HQ, but if you have any problems you call me.”
“Will you pick up your phone?”
A ghost of a smile appears on his lips before he remembers to be cross with me. But that smile gives me hope.
Maybe Grant will be different from every other judgey person I’ve ever come across. Maybe if I told him the truth, he’d let me have access to my niece. To give me some connection to the only family I’ve got left.
5
GRANT
Bailey fusses as I rub the towel too harshly over her, wiping up water droplets from her bath.
“Sorry princess.”
I lay her down on the towel and blow a raspberry on her tunny. She lets out a halfhearted giggle.
My little girl senses something’s off. It has been ever since the revelation that her aunt was here in my house. The woman I’d been fantasizing about and was ready to share my heart with.
A pang of regret tugs at my chest.
I’ve never been attracted to anyone the way I was to April. It was more than attraction. The first time I laid eyes on her, my chest tightened with longing. When we stopped at the Wild Times bar and every man in the place cast his eyes on her, I was ready to punch every single one of them in the face for looking at her. A wave of possessiveness washed over me, and it hasn’t fully left.
I sent April away to the clubhouse because she needed a place to stay, but I’ve been brooding about who she might meet there.
I called the Prez and then Travis, who runs the bar and restaurant, to let him know she was coming and she had the club’s protection. He snickered at me until I told him who she was.
The entire club knows about my struggles with Bailey and the mysterious aunt who’s suddenly claiming custody.
But I asked him to be respectful, and he will. He’ll give her a free dinner and a room upstairs. Travis only has eyes for his new wife, Kendra, but I don’t know who else is in tonight. My fingers drum on the tiled bathroom floor as I imagine one of my MC brothers hitting on her.
Arlo’s hooked up with Maggie now, but Davis, the prospect who sometimes works the bar, is probably about the same age as April. Then there’s Quentin, the brooding manager of the brewery.
There’s a snapping noise, and I’m surprised to find one of Bailey’s plastic bath toys snapped in my fist.
She looks at the plastic crocodile with its head hanging askew and lets out a wail.
“Shhh. I’ll buy you a new one.”
I dump the broken crocodile in the trash, and her cries get louder.
