Up In Flames (Club Chrome 3)

“Pyro made sure it was a nice neighborhood and a gated community so no one can just walk up to your apartment door without being buzzed in. He put a lot of thought into it.”

“I love it,” she murmured, though her heart ached. “Can he afford it?” she dared to ask.

“Pyro’s got it covered. The man has plenty socked away for a rainy day. I guess he figured it was raining now.”

Angel wandered the spacious apartment, marveling at the pristine carpet that smelled new, and the freshly painted cream walls. The appliances were state-of-the-art and there was even a washer and dryer unit in the hallway closet. No more laundry mats! With a toddler that was a Godsend. She walked into the master bedroom and gasped. A beautiful, four-poster California King bed with the most amazing goose-down duvet and bedding she’d ever seen anchored the room and all she could do was stare. “I don’t…that’s not mine,” she said, even though the words felt stuck in her mouth. To sleep one night in that gorgeous bed…she might be willing to give her undamaged kidney. “What is this?” she asked Bronx.

“It’s yours. Pyro went on a little shopping spree. My wife, Dee, helped pick out the bedding because, you know, straight guys suck at that, and the rest of the furniture should arrive tomorrow. We were hoping it would come today but at least the bed arrived so you don’t have to sleep on the floor. In fact, Pyro had a shit-fit when he found out that everything wasn’t going to be ready on time. Do you like it?”

“I love it,” she admitted, holding Mila as tears of joy slipped down her cheeks. “I just can’t believe it. I just don’t understand why he would do all of this for us. Is it guilt? It wasn’t his fault what happened to me. I don’t want him to feel he has to do this because of what I put into motion.”

“Guilt is in there but it’s not the driving force, even if he’s not ready to admit it,” Bronx said, confusing Angel. “You really don’t see what’s going on?” At the shake of her head, he chuckled. “He’s in love with you, sweetheart.”

Sadness replaced her joy as she shook her head. “That’s a sweet sentiment but I doubt it. Pyro doesn’t fall in love, not with anyone. If anyone could’ve won his heart, it was my sister and I don’t think he loved her, not the way she deserved to be loved.”

Bronx turned serious. “Pyro is a complex person. He wanted to love your sister but we were running around like idiots at the time. Our heads weren’t where they needed to be. I wish things had turned out differently but that doesn’t change the fact that Pyro has most definitely fallen for you.”

“Then why isn’t he here, telling me this himself?” she said, frustrated and confused.

“Because that’s where the guilt comes in. He didn’t protect you the way he said he would and he thinks turning you loose is the best way to keep you safe. I told him it was a bullshit move but he’s stubborn that way.”

Angel nodded with abject understanding. Pyro wouldn’t budge, no matter what anyone said. “Can you please tell him thank you from the bottom of my heart?” she asked Bronx. “He doesn’t realize what this means to Mila and me.”

“I will.”

Bronx put the keys in her hand and cupped Mila’s little jaw tenderly. “Take care of this little sweetie. She’s going to be a heartbreaker someday.”

Angel nodded and walked Bronx to the door, stopping him as he started to leave. “Can you tell Pyro one more thing?” He nodded and she removed one key from the keyring to return to Bronx. “Tell him, when he’s ready…he’s welcome to come home anytime.”

Bronx curved his palm around the key. “I’ll do that.”

Angel closed the door behind Bronx and set Mila down so she could explore and then she let the tears fall. Somewhere along the way she’d fallen hard for Pyro but she had no idea whether they had a future together.

The uncertainty cut at her heart but she was determined to make the most of her fresh start. No matter how much it hurt to move on without Pyro, she wouldn’t chase after a man who didn’t want to stay.

She’d done enough of that in her young life and it was time to set a better example for Mila.

-17-

Pyro had done the right thing — and it felt good — but it wasn’t enough to smother the bone-deep ache he suffered every day without Angel. He missed her touch, her smell, the way she laughed. He missed the way she gasped and growled, and moved against him with total abandon unlike any lover he’d ever had.

Just thinking of Angel made his cock hard but he didn’t care about that. Hell, he might as well restart his celibacy campaign because he only wanted Angel. He’d tried to visit Lexie again but he couldn’t go through with it. Somehow it’d felt like cheating and he’d left without even unbuckling his belt. He didn’t want sex with cheap whores. He didn’t want sex with expensive whores. He only wanted Angel.

But Angel was getting back on her feet and that was the way it was supposed to be. Besides, what was he supposed to offer her? He was a felon, president of the infamous Road Dogs motorcycle gang. He ran with thieves and liars most days. He did illegal things without blinking. And yet…he yearned for a life that was just out of reach. Now he knew what Bronx had gone through when he’d hooked up with Dee. He hadn’t begrudged his best friend his happiness but he hadn’t quite understood it either. They were street – not suburban dads. Maybe that’s why he’d been such a dick when Ashley had gotten pregnant. He hadn’t known how to handle the responsibility of going legit. What was out there for him? If he wasn’t running guns and playing a dangerous game, what was he good at?

And there was Mila to consider. Angel was a mother. He couldn’t just pop in when he felt like it, playing around as if it were no big deal to come and go without some sort of commitment.

A commitment. He opened his hand and held up the key. That’s what Angel was looking for. Something real. Something that meant more than late night hook ups and convenient good times.

He wanted something he’d never felt worthy of having — a woman he could trust.

He didn’t hold what Angel had done against her, contrary to what she might think. He actually respected her for making a tough choice to protect her kid. That’s what good mothers did.

Not that he’d had one but he knew that’s what they did. And Angel was a good mother.

Hell, he found that sexy, too.

Everything about Angel was sexy, to be honest.

Bronx had said he was worrying too much, that everything would fall into place. He couldn’t go messing around with Angel’s life with the hope that everything will work out. She didn’t deserve that.

He glanced around his shitty apartment, the place he’d crashed but never called home for the past six years and wondered if remaining in this place had been his sentence. It was worse than a rat-hole and Angel had never complained. She’d just been grateful for shelter.

Pyro sighed, not knowing what the answer was when his head and his heart were raging a battle for supremacy.

You love her.

There was no denying it. Angel was under his skin, burrowing deeper and faster into his heart and there was nothing he could do about it.

So make a choice.

Yeah, the question was…did he deserve someone like Angel?

Did he deserve a second chance at happiness?

***

Angel put Mila to bed and was happy to crawl i

nto her own bed. She snuggled down into the luxuriant softness and sighed as her bones melted into the cushion, cradling her body like a cloud. There’d been a time when she’d taken such luxuries for granted, before her parents had died. Then Ashley had done her best to keep things normal but times had been hard and money always tight but that was nothing compared to living on the streets.

She never wanted to go back to that. Ever.

Pyro had made it possible for her to start over.

If only she didn’t miss him so bad she ached all over. She missed his comforting warmth beside her, the way he tucked her into his side as if he would protect her from her nightmares, and most definitely the way he took her breath away when he took total mastery over her body. A sigh slipped from her lips and she closed her eyes, willing herself to stop pining for a man who hadn’t chosen to follow.

“You should always use the door chain.”

Angel’s eyes popped open with a start to find Pyro leaning against the door frame, looking as if he’d just spent the last few weeks tearing up the town and operating on too little sleep. She held her breath, not quite sure why he was there but dared to hope it was for her. He pushed off the frame and walked inside, hands shoved in his pockets as if he didn’t trust himself.

“What are you doing here?”

“I don’t know,” he answered honestly, surprising her when he went to his knees at her bedside, his gaze almost helpless. “I shouldn’t be here. I told myself I wouldn’t bother you. I wouldn’t contaminate your life when I’d worked so hard to make sure you got your clean start…but here I am. I couldn’t stop myself. So many days, weeks, not enough sleep, too much whiskey…I’m sick of it. I’m ready for something else.”

He was talking in circles but the pain in his eyes was real. Her heart jumped a beat and she pulled him to the bed where he collapsed beside her, his eyes fluttering shut with as much relief as she’d ever seen and she smoothed the hair away from his forehead. “I’m ready, too,” she whispered, daring to believe they could have a future together. His eyes opened and the moisture glittered, betraying him. The big bad biker was really softy at heart. She laughed through her tears and bent to kiss him. “Please come home.”