Smokey (Hell's Bastards MC 2)

Once outside, Smokey held her hand as they walked toward the car. He opened the door and he settled her inside. Smokey surprised her when he took the seatbelt out of her hand and slid it into place.

“I can do that.”

“I know. I don’t want you to.”

She smiled. She loved how attentive he’d become.

Ava truly believed she could become addicted to his touches.

He drove them back to her house, the radio filling the silence between them. It didn’t feel awkward though. Ava relaxed, staring out of the window. Her bakery was closed for the first time in weeks. Ever since she hired Harlow, she’d been opening it more and more. The young woman fascinated her.

The way she talked all the time and shared her views on recipes. They talked nonstop about cooking. She loved her.

For the first time, she’d found a similar like-minded soul.

Back at her home, she glanced at Smokey. “Do you want to come in?” she asked. “I can show you what I’ve done with the bedroom.”

Smokey was already unbuckling his seatbelt.

After climbing out of the car, she followed him into the house. He didn’t have a key. He’d mailed it back through her letterbox after he let himself out and locked the house.

He was like an entirely different person. Sometimes, she wasn’t entirely sure which part of him was real or not.

Smokey closed the door behind him. She slipped off her shoes, put her jacket and bag on the hook by the door, and went to the stairs.

He’d done the same and started to follow her up.

Opening the bedroom door, she stepped inside.

She’d stopped painting several days ago and there was no lingering smell because she’d kept the window open the entire time. Even as the weather had gotten cold, she’d simply donned a sweater.

“What do you think?” she asked.

She’d gone for neutral colors. A sunshine yellow that made her think of lemons. She’d found some little heart glow-in-the-dark stars that she’d put on the ceiling. The walls were plain as she couldn’t draw at all.

“I’d love to have some pictures on the wall, you know. I thought about a tree, but I think plain works for now.” She had a small chest of drawers that she’d struggled to assemble but she’d got it working. Abriana had asked Ugly Beast to come, and he’d tightened up the screws and attached it to the wall so it didn’t move.

She could bake and cook, but decorating or assembling wasn’t in her repertoire.

Clasping her hands together, she turned to look at Smokey and waited.

He touched the walls, saying nothing.

Did he hate it?

It was her house. She could decorate however she wanted to, but it was really important to her that he like it.

“You hate it?”

“No.”

“What?” she asked.

“It looks amazing. I wish you’d let me do this for you. I don’t like the thought of you decorating anything without me here.”

She went to him, touching his arm. “It’s fine. I don’t mind doing some painting. It gave me something to do.” She’d been thinking about him, wondering what he was doing, imagining all the women who wanted him.

There were plenty of women at the club who would love to be with him.

“What don’t you like about it?” she asked.

If he really didn’t like it, she’d change it for him. They were both having a baby after all. They weren’t together, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t compromise.

She knew how to do it all.

“It just hit me. We’re going to have a baby.”

Ava frowned. “It has only just hit you?”

“You know what I mean. Sure, I saw the ultrasound image and everything, but this is real. There is no backing out of this. We’ve made a baby, and one day soon, we’re going to be able to hold it.”

He put his hand on her stomach and she covered his with hers. “I know what you mean. Some days, I find it all a little surreal, but I love it. I really do. I want this baby so much.”

Smokey cupped her cheek and brought her in close. Her heart started to race and heat flooded her pussy. Need consumed her. She glanced down at his lips.

Would it hurt to have one little kiss?

Ava watched him.

Kiss him.

Sucking the corner of her lip into her mouth, she resisted the temptation.

Each second that passed, she convinced herself to step back and create some distance. She did neither.

She took a step close to him. Her body flush against his.

“Ava?”

She covered his mouth with the tips of her fingers. “Don’t.”

Gripping the back of his neck, she pulled him close, pressing her lips against his. Smokey let go of her stomach and he sank his fingers into her hair. With the other hand, he grasped her back, drawing her close.

The evidence of his arousal pressed against her swollen stomach.

In the back of her mind, she kept screaming at herself to stop. It wasn’t fair.