“Lucky brat,” she mutters.
“Where are you right now?” My eyes widen as it hits me. “What’s the date?”
“You missed my birthday. It was three days ago.”
Happy tears turn into bad ones. “Does that mean—”
“I’m no longer at Knight Salvation. Two super sexy guys came and grabbed me from school.”
“Grabbed you?” My blood runs cold, but if she’s going through what I went through, why is she smiling?
“They said they knew you. I’m glad they showed up. You know it was supposed to be my wedding night. I honestly never knew bikers could be hot, but wow, Cara. How many are you dating?”
Javier growls from the other side of the room as he struggles to pull on a pair of combat boots.
“Was that Javier? Sounds a little territorial. So just him then?”
I roll my lips, clamping them between my teeth to keep from laughing. “He’s all I need.”
I keep my eyes on him as I say this to my sister.
“Where are you?”
“I’m in South Carolina, but I don’t know that I’ll be staying very long.”
“With the Holmans?”
She nods, her nose scrunching up. “I hate it here, and it’s only been two days.”
“I’m going to head to the kitchen and get something to eat,” Javier whispers as he crosses the room to me.
“April, hold on.” I press the phone to the front of my shirt and lift my mouth to his.
The kiss is long and slow, and it’s clear he has more strength than me because he’s able to actually pull away.
“Hello?” April says, her voice filling the room as I watch Javier walk out of the room. “You guys better not be messing around. He’s hot but I don’t need to listen to my sister getting it on.”
“He left the room,” I tell her as I settle on the bed with my back against the headboard. “If you leave South Carolina, where will you go?”
Her eyes sparkle as she shrugs. “Who knows? Maybe I’ll end up there with you.”
Chapter 38
Thumper
I’m surprised my face isn’t hurting from smiling so damn much, but I don’t think there’s anything that can upset me.
Cara is mine, and I’m hers. She wants to stay. She’s happy here, and I can’t imagine being around a better group of people.
“Hey there, little guy. Where’s your dad?”
Jamie looks up at me, his eyes big and full of happiness.
Does Cara want kids? Fuck, I’d love to put my baby in my woman.
Jamie points before squealing and running away.
I nod at Hound as he scurries across the room, running after his son.
“Know where Kincaid is?” I ask.
“Kitchen,” he says with a grunt as he lifts a kicking and laughing Jamie up. The toddler’s foot hits him right in the nuts.
I cringe in solidarity. Maybe having kids right now isn’t the best plan.
“You’re looking for me?” Kincaid asks as he’s closing the refrigerator door.
“I want to stay,” I blurt because I’m just too ecstatic with the direction my life is going to hold it in. “I still have to contact the FBI, and that may take a while for a full release, but I want to stay.”
“That’s great news, Thumper.” He slaps me on the shoulder, and I feel that same pride swell in my chest with him using my club name that I felt the day I signed my contract with the Bureau, only I know these guys won’t fuck me over. “Take your time. You’re still several weeks out from being medically cleared. That wrist is going to have to heal completely before we get you back in the field.”
“I seriously appreciate you letting me stay.”
“Like I said before, you’re an excellent part of the team.”
Emmalyn is standing near the stove when Kincaid walks away, and I approach her. She’s always been the mother hen of the club.
“Can I ask you a favor?”
“Anything, sweetheart,” she says with a wide smile. “How are you feeling?”
“Better every day, thanks for asking. I can’t cook.”
“Not many of the guys can, but I promise not to hold it against you.”
“You know that baked mac and cheese you made for the party a few months ago? Cara loves baked mac and cheese.”
“Say no more.”
“Really?”
She nods. “I’ll have to go to the store because we used the last of the good cheese last night in the dip, but how does tomorrow night sound?”
“That would be amazing.”
She pats my back before heading across the room to sit on Kincaid’s lap, and I watch as she presses her face into his neck. I want that. I want a woman that crawls into my arms even after decades of being together, and if I’m as lucky as I’m feeling this morning, I know I can have that with Cara.
I’ll work diligently every single day for the rest of our lives together to show her how much I care for her; how much I appreciate her taking a chance on me when she could’ve easily spit on me and walked away. No one would’ve batted an eye had she slapped me in the face when I returned to the clubhouse. I deserved much more anger from her than that.