“Or you could just take her to the zoo,” I suggest.
He shrugs, and I can’t help but laugh.
“Did you have a nice shower?” His gaze trails down to where my T-shirt sticks to my breasts.
“Yes, but I probably should have grabbed a bra.”
“Nah, you look good like this.”
“Of course you’d say that.” My eyeroll makes him laugh. “I could have stayed under the warm water all night. After cleaning up baby puke all day, it felt so good to be clean for five seconds. I almost fell asleep standing up.”
“If you need to take a nap, I’ve got Charlie.” Hayes kisses her cheek, and she smooshes her face against his.
“If I nap this late, I’ll never sleep tonight,” I say, circling to the couch and sitting. “But I hope you don’t mind eating leftovers for dinner because I don’t have it in me to cook anything.”
“Before you, I lived on pizza and whatever someone at the clubhouse was cooking. I’ll survive on your leftovers just fine, freckles.” He sinks into the opposite end of the couch, laying Charlie over his chest.
When I begin curling my legs under me, he reaches for my feet, pulling them into his lap, as if he needs a hand on both of us at all times. One hand holds Charlie’s back while the other massages my arches.
“You’re really good at that.” I tip my head to the side, resting it against the back of the couch, watching him rub Charlie’s back at the same time. “You’re quite the multitasker, husband.”
His grin widens. “You’d be surprised at how much I can get done at once, wife.”
I laugh, having no doubt about that. From the look in his eyes, he plans to prove that to me later.
“Those were some big plans for the backyard,” I say, glancing to the window. “Do you want to stay in this house? Assuming things don’t go south because of my uncle.”
“You let me worry about your uncle.” He looks down at Charlie, whose eyes are fluttering closed. “I never wanted to be at this house, but then again, I never thought it could feel like home being here.”
“Home is about more than walls and a roof.”
“I’m beginning to see that.” His gaze moves from Charlie to the new painting hanging over the mantle. “I like that one. It reminds me of Montana.”
“You’ve been to Montana?”
“I’ve been just about everywhere from here to Maine,” he says.
“I didn’t realize the club required so much traveling.”
He glances at me. “Not so much anymore. Prospects and new members take on the long trips now because Steel needs his ranked crew in Vegas. But back when I was younger, I rode all over the country with the club.”
“That must have been eye-opening. Seeing so many places. Exploring the country.”
“I’m guessing you didn’t travel much with your uncle?” His eyebrows furrow.
“Not as far as Maine,” I admit. “My uncle has houses in Seattle and Lake Tahoe, so if he took me anywhere, it was usually one of those two places. I can’t complain; the water was nice.”
“Sounds like I owe you a trip to the East Coast.” He rubs Charlie’s back when she stirs. “Then you two can stick your feet in both oceans.”
“That would be nice,” I say, hoping that someday that might be possible.
Hayes squeezes the arch of my foot, glancing back up at the painting. “In church, we’ve got an entire wall of pictures of the open road. On your first ride as a ranked member, you’re supposed to take one and hang it up there to mark your new journey with the club.”
“I like that.” I smile. “Where did you take yours?”
“The Grand Canyon. Chaos gave me shit about it because usually guys just snap one of whatever street they happen to remember to do it, but I picked a national landmark.”
“Go big or go home?”
