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With a yawn of his own, Thunder rested his head on the back of the chair and closed his eyes. He should be panicking at all these unfamiliar feelings of domesticity.
And he would.
Later.
CHAPTER NINE
RETURNING TO THE dining room would take every ounce of strength Makenna possessed. Bizarre didn’t come close to describing the past forty minutes of her life. Why the hell hadn’t she politely told Thunder dinner was a family affair and sent him on his way?
He couldn’t have more than a few years on her, yet based on their lifestyle discrepancies, they might as well reside on different planets. He was gorgeous, fun, and…free. He spent his time ripping off his clothes for money in clubs and at parties before going on to party even more with his MC brothers. She helped homeschool, wiped dirty butts, dried tears, and managed the mounting bills, all while working as many hours a day as possible.
The poor guy probably regretted his decision to stay the moment his very fine behind hit her shabby chair.
“Mak, I took it. Why are we still standing here?” Kara asked, holding the partly finished cup of water.
With a shake of her head to get her brain in gear, she gently pushed the glass back toward her most serious sister. “You know the drill, Kara, drink the whole thing.”
She grumbled as any seven-year-old would, but did as asked. “Ugh,” she said when she finished. “Water is so boring.”
Mak laughed and kissed the top of her sister’s head. “You need any help with schoolwork?” She stowed the empty cup and medication on the top shelf in the bathroom medicine cabinet.
“Nope,” she said as she set the glass down on the vanity counter. “All I have is one more page of math. It’s an easy one.” All the kids were homeschooled using an official online curriculum. Sharing two older than dirt computers made it a mega challenge, but they managed. Amy kept their schedules running smoothly with her beyond-her-fifteen-years sense of responsibility, thank God. Maybe by the time Emmie was ready for Kindergarten, Mak would feel comfortable enough enrolling them in a brick and mortar school, but she’d always been too afraid her father would find her and snatch the kids from a schoolyard.
“All right. I need to head back in and check if Emmie is torturing Thunder. Holler if you need me.”
Kara tilted her head. “He’s nice.”
“He is.” Nice to look at. Nice to talk to. Nice to kiss…
“He’s different than we are. I think we scared him. Did you see his face when we said what we were thankful for? It was kinda like this.” She widened her eyes until they nearly popped from their sockets.
Makenna barked out a laugh. Truer words had never been spoken.
“And did you see all the tattoos on his arms?” Her eyes grew wide and curious. “I like them. I think I’ll do that when I’m a grown up too.”
Lord, save her from this one. Mak rolled her eyes. “How about we concentrate on the math homework right now, and we can plan your first tattoo sleeve later.”
“Okay.” As Kara scampered off, Mak sagged against the bathroom counter. As long as she kept moving, her energy level wouldn’t peter out. It was times like this when she had a few seconds to slow down and rest against a solid surface, that fatigue overtook, and the weight resting on her shoulders felt heavier than she could bear.
For five seconds, she allowed herself a quick pity party in which she embraced a sliver of jealousy she felt for Thunder’s life. For the lives of the women she worked with and their ol’ men. They all seemed to not only have their shit together but came across so content. Then the guilt hit as it always did when those thoughts invaded her mind. She loved her siblings and wouldn’t trade them for the world. But it sure would be nice to have someone to carry a portion of her load some days.
As incredible as the man was to fantasize about, Thunder wouldn’t be looking to take on the role of partner to an overworked, underpaid, stressed-out woman whose only experiences with sex included pleasureless romps with her sixty-something-year-old husband. Add to it the fact she had technically kidnapped five minors, fled across multiple state lines, and assumed new identities… Yeah, it was time for her to hike up those big-girl panties and face facts. Thunder wouldn’t be the only man to run screaming from her mess.
Any sane man would.
Not that his feelings about her situation mattered. Even if Thunder wanted in her life in a romantic way, she couldn’t allow it. Not while her father and husband were out there searching for her. They’d murder him without blinking an eye.
With a hollowness in her chest Mak refused to acknowledge as loneliness, she shuffled her way out of the small bathroom. What right did she have to feel lonely? With five siblings around all the time, she was lucky to have ten minutes of alone time all day. So many people would kill for the family she had, well, the family she lived with, anyway. She was lucky, blessed to have such wonderful siblings in her life. This increasingly frequent battle with feelings of emptiness needed to stop. Since the emotions came entirely from within her, she was the one with the power to stop them.
