Even if she never forgave me when I told her the truth.
I sighed and grabbed my jacket. I rode back and forth to The Jar a couple of times a week. It was the only time I got to really ride these days. I’d even started making the chili at The Jar so I could get some time on the road. The rest of the time, I was on daddy duty in my sturdy SUV. Not that I wouldn’t give up my ride in a heartbeat for those girls.
I waved at Jaken behind the bar. He grinned at me and rolled his eyes as he fended off a couple of bar flies. He was a good-looking guy, especially in a place like this. Not that he was clean-cut, by any means. He was tatted and had a couple of scars that the ladies seemed to really like. And without me around, all the women on the prowl had turned their attention to him, cougars and young ones alike.
I definitely did not miss the bar crowd or being hit on constantly by waitresses. Being married had put a stop to some of it. Having Michelle around now and then put a stop to the rest.
No one who took one look at her would ever think they had a snowball’s chance in hell of getting my attention. She was so damn fine, it took my breath away every time I saw her.
I was spending a lot less time on the floor these days. Jaken was managing and working almost every day now. He took his money under the table. I never asked why. I’d trusted my gut on him a long time ago and never regretted it.
The man was running from something. A lot of the people who ended up here were. I just didn’t know what, and it wasn’t my place to pry.
Michelle had been running. Cass too. I never judged anyone for what they had in their past. So whatever it was, was his secret.
I put on my helmet, which was a new thing. I always made Michelle wear hers but I never even bothered with myself. Not until she’d told me how much it upset her. So now, I was a safety guy. I still rode fast but I was a little more cautious.
I valued my life. I hadn’t before. Not really. But I did now. Hell, I wanted to live to be 103 if I could, as long as she was with me.
Having a beautiful wife and kids will do that to a man. Show him he has something to live for. Something to show up for, for the rest of his life.
I was damned lucky and I knew it. I just hoped I hadn’t royally screwed up by going ahead with my plan. It’s not that I didn’t want her input on every single thing in my life. It’s just that risking her life because I couldn’t resist her bare pussy was out of the question. Even now, just thinking about her made me hard.
She was too fucking sexy for her own damn good!
I swung past the fancy organic market she liked on the way home. I picked up some wine and flowers. Everything was pesticide- and preservative-free. After all the health issues with the last pregnancy, we were all eating healthier. I even used home-grown peppers in my hot sauce. No nasty pesticides or artificial fertilizers. We used coffee grinds and eggshells. Payton was passionate about reusing stuff. And she was even more vigilant about saving the bees.
My ladies had educated me quite a lot. I cared about what they cared about. It helped that they were both so smart and caring. They always did the right thing.
Except this damn baby thing. I steeled myself. The flowers and wine couldn’t hurt, but I knew I was in for an anxious evening.
If I was going to tell Michelle tonight, I was going to stack all the cards I could in my favor.
Chapter Seventeen
Michelle
“Wine and flowers?”
I gave Mase an uneasy look. I’d come outside to meet him and welcome him home with a grownup kiss. Pate always said ‘ew’ really loudly when Mase slipped me the tongue.
And he pretty much always went for the tongue.
“What did I do to deserve all this?”
Not that he never brought me flowers, but I was the one who usually picked up the wine. And this looked like a fancy bottle. I didn’t feel like I deserved a reward. The truth was, I’d been a bit cranky lately. Worried. I was anxious about everything, it seemed like. Payton. The state of the world. Even the damn bees.
Pate had told us in depth how long mankind would survive without bees. Just a couple of years before people would starve. It was pretty bleak. So now, we were all onboard with our little ‘nature girl’, as Mase liked to call her.