AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Skid assures me that his friend is paying him to get the place up together and that the furniture he’s bought was all part of the renovation plan he had for the place, anyway. I know I can’t keep this in mind as a permanent option though. Soon, whoever the owner is will want to find tenants that can actually pay rent. But for now, staying here is giving me a real head start.
“How’s the job searching goin’?” Skid asks, helping himself to a bottle of water from the refrigerator and placing one in front of me.
“Sucky, especially now it’s so obvious that I’m pregnant. People take one look at me and they’ve already made up their minds.”
“Don’t worry, somethin’ will come up,” he promises.
“Idohave to worry, I can’t expect you to keep buying groceries, I’m not a charity case.”
“No one said you were. I like helpin’ out. If anythin’, it works in my favor.”
“How does this work in your favor?” I laugh at him.
“Because I promised myself I’d do somethin’ decent, and I hated workin’ in that fuckin’ soup kitchen.” He smiles but things quickly turn serious again when he decides to remind me that I’m still at the center of a real-life problem.
“You should hit up the father of your child, he should be takin’ care of you,” Skid points out, and I get up from the chair and quickly try to change the subject.
“You want me to make us a sandwich for lunch?” I pick up the chopping board.
“I just need a name and an address. I’ll go talk to him.” Skid refuses to take the hint. “Addison.” He moves up behind me, pressing his hand over the knife I’m using to slice the bread. His body is pressed firm against mine, and I can feel his breath in my ear. It’s soft, it’s warm, and I like the way it feels on my skin.
“I told you, I’m doing this without him,” I whisper.
“But you’re not doin' it alone.” I feel the fingers of his other hand slide around my middle, his rough palm gently resting on the ridge of my stomach. “I need ya to let me help you,” he whispers, sounding like he’s the helpless one in this situation.
I quickly drop the knife from my hand and spin around so I’m facing him, realizing there’s no space between us. I look up at him and seeing the way his lips rub together makes it impossible not to think about kissing them.
I follow that instinct, stretching up on my toes a little, and when the soft look in his eyes turns to shock and he quickly pulls away I feel all kinds of stupid.
What the hell am I thinking? A man as handsome as Skid could have any woman he wants. What the hell would he see in a knocked-up failure like me? I’ve been taking his kindness in the wrong way, and now I want the ground to open up and swallow me.
“I’m gonna go get started on paintin' your room. You make sure to sleep down here tonight, those paint fumes ain’t good for you or the baby.” He clears his throat awkwardly as he heads out the room leaving me full of regret, but most of all… disappointed.
“Glad to see ya managed to drag yourself outta your cabin.” Squealer winks at me as he takes his seat at the table. He’s the last man to arrive and now that everyone’s here, Prez looks to me to explain why I gathered everyone together.
“Addison and her son are gonna be stayin’ here,” I speak up.
“Most brothers just make their claim in the barroom, Skid. We don’t need a big speech and a club meetin’ over it.” Squealer tries getting smart.
“I ain’t claimin’ her. But I am gonna be takin’ care of her. She’s in trouble and she needs my help.”
“What kinda trouble?” Prez scowls at me. Everyone in this room knows that the club is already stretched. Prez is planning a takedown of the President of the Long Beach Charter, and the Bastards are back and rebuilding nearby. They may have offered us a truce, but you can’t ever trust those fuckers. Add that to the fact we still have no idea where my cunt of a brother is, I can understand his concern about having another situation to make our business.
“She’s runnin’ from the father of her kid,” I explain.
“So, find the fucker and beat the hell outta him,” Hayden suggests.
It’s exactly the kinda thing his father would have told me to do, and although what he says ain’t an option, I can’t help smiling at the vision of him sitting in the chair that used to be Tac’s.
“It ain’t that simple.” I scrub my hand over my face before I look back to Prez.
“You remember a few years ago when the Russians had some of their weapons stolen from that storage container in Denver?”
“Yeah.” He nods back.
“You remember how they paid us to get it back at any cost?”
“How could we forget? Those wannabe gangsters had no idea what was comin’ for ‘em.” Jessie leans across Nyx so he can touch knuckles with Brax.
