Released: MC Secret Baby Romance (New Adult Contemporary Biker Romance) (11 page)

“Is she mine?” he demanded, his voice low. I couldn’t find words, but I nodded slowly. I could see the hurt and anger in his eyes. “Is that why you broke it off?”

“Yes,” I admitted simply.

“Why didn’t you tell me?! Did you think I was like all the other men who would turn my back on you and our daughter?”

“No, actually, I thought the opposite. I knew you would stay. You would try and make it work, and Luke, you are a star and there is nothing I would do to stand in your way.”

“You don’t get to make that choice on your own!” he screamed at me, his lips drawn back in a snarl.

“I’m sorry.” I spluttered through the tears that filled my eyes and spilled down my cheeks.

“You don’t get to cry over this. You kept me from my daughter,” he accused.

“I wanted you to have everything you ever wanted.”

Luke stilled, before stalking back over to me. “Did you ever think that all I ever wanted might be standing in front of me, and waiting for you back at your apartment? You don’t get to make those decisions for me, ever.” Luke once again turned and walked off into the night.

“Where are you going?” I called out after him.

“Getting you a cab. You should be at home looking after our daughter,” he said angrily, as he hailed a passing taxi. Wordlessly, he bundled me into the taxi, avoiding my gaze and ignoring my protests. As the taxi pulled away from the curb, I watched him standing beside his SUV. He looked so sad and alone, and I prayed this would not be the last time I saw Luke.

***

I sat on the sofa watching yet another re-run of Frozen as Emmy lay curled on my knee fast asleep. I stroked her hair mindlessly, thinking of the events of the night before when the apartment buzzer broke through my daydreams. Gently moving Emmy off my lap, I pressed the intercom.

“Hello?”

“It’s me,” called a voice that I would recognize anywhere.

“Luke, Emmy’s here and I really can’t go round two with you today.”

“I’m not going to cause a problem, Skye, I just want to talk.”

I hesitated for a minute before pressing the buzzer. Opening the door to the apartment, I met Luke as he walked up the stairs.

“Please, Emmy’s asleep,” I warned as he stepped into the apartment.

“I told you I’m not going to cause trouble.” There was no trace of anger in his voice now. “I thought about it all last night. I didn’t sleep a god-damned wink. We can’t change the past, but we can change the future.” He caught sight of Emmy sleeping, curled up on the couch, and I could see the emotion and love in his eyes.

“What do you want, Luke?” I asked, my eyes searching his for an answer.

“I want you, Skye. I want Emmy. I want all of this, and I want to hear you sing again.” At the sound of his voice, Emmy stirred, and Luke went over to her.

“Hello, my sleepy princess. Time to get up. Your aunty is getting married today, and we have a party to go too,” he said, as Emmy gazed up at him sleepily.

“Party!” Emmy laughed excitedly and dashed off to her bedroom to get ready.

“You’ve done a great job,” Luke said, as he crossed the room and kissed me gently on the lips, “but this is a family wedding, and we’re going as a family.”

The End

Bonus – Jax - Biker

Chapter One

Annabelle

“Is that your last box?”

Melissa had just staggered through the door holding an overloaded cardboard box with clothes spewing out the top of it; she peeked her face out from behind it, red and sweaty.

“Yep, just sent off my parents.”

“Aw, no goodbye?” I grinned mischievously at her, and took the box from her arms, setting it on the coffee table.

“Christ, it was like they couldn’t get out of here fast enough! Why were yours so loving?”

I shrugged, “Probably because I’m the last to leave the nest. Your parents have got another two kids and ten years before they can expect to be freed.”

“You’re probably right.”

We’d moved in most of our stuff over the weekend, but Melissa’s parents had been slowly gathering the rest of the stuff she’d left at her house and shipping it over when and as they could. But now, with this box, we were finally done.

“I can’t believe we’re living together,” I said. I grinned at her, “Since when was this a good idea?”

She cackled and began pulling things out of the box. “We’re going to get in so much trouble.”

We both knew that wasn’t true. Melissa and I were probably the last people who would ever do anything devious. She had just finished her business undergrad, and was starting a job as an analyst in town, and I had a bachelor of science and a job at the aquarium… selling tickets, mind you, but I was certain I’d find something a little more relevant before long.

I looked around at our apartment. It had been worth the wait as far as first apartments went. It was way bigger and nicer than anything you could get in the city center, but really, we were only a fifteen minute bus ride away. And, we had a dishwasher; very important things.

The only downside?

“Are they going to let me into the office on Monday if they know I’m living in Malton?” Melissa asked; staring out the window with her nose wrinkled in disgust. I followed her line of sight to a weathered, old man staggering down the sidewalk, clearly drunk. He also looked like he hadn’t showered in weeks.

“Just hope that they don’t look too closely at your tax forms,” I suggested.

I let my gaze stray slightly further down the street to where a shady looking bar called The Cruise sat; windows dark and empty.

“I guess we get to see just how loud that is tonight,” I said.

Melissa murmured in agreement.

The Cruise was open every night of the week but only played music on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Our landlord, Aaron, had told us that it wasn’t that loud, and anyway, we had double glazed windows. Still, it looked like a rough-and-tumble place; certainly, not somewhere I could picture myself going.

“So,” I said, clapping my hands and turning to Melissa, “A drink?”

“Or ten!”

She didn’t start work until Monday, and I’d taken the weekend off in anticipation spending my time organizing. More than that, though, I just needed a little time away from responsibility. I’d spent the last four years of my life in a never ending cycle of school and work. I just wanted to relax a little in my new apartment with my best friend.

I pulled the bottle of champagne from the fridge that we’d been reserving for the last box.

“Last box bottle,” Melissa whispered.

“Lost box bottle,” I whispered in reply.

We looked up at each other and descended into giggles. I took the foil off and then held the bottle in front of me, waggling my eyebrows. Melissa held her breath as I twisted the top and, with a loud pop, the cap punched away from the bottle.

And with that, the night had officially begun.

Chapter Two

“Tune!” Melissa called, fisting her wine glass above her head. It was a phrase she’d picked up when she’d studied abroad in England for a semester. Far as I could tell, it meant that she liked the song.

“Another one,” I replied, nodding toward The Cruise. “Apparently, they've got some wicked music game.”

We were sitting out on our balcony, half of which overlooked The Cruise. It was a little bit more exposed than I would have liked with a metal railing providing little protection from prying eyes, but at this point, I was too drunk to really care.

The air was warm, and we were dressed appropriately in shorts and tank tops; our feet bare and pressed against the warm vinyl of the deck. It was one of the longest days of the year, so the sun was just beginning to set. That didn’t seem to both the partygoers of The Cruise any. They were flocking in droves. Apparently, it was Malton’s hottest hot-spot.

“I can’t believe there’s such a happening bar just across the street from us,” Melissa said. “It was a lot easier to laugh about going there when it didn’t seem like we were missing out.”

I laughed. “You want to go to The Cruise?”

She shrugged, taking another sip of her wine. “I wouldn’t hate it. It could be an adventure, you know?”

“Like some sort of sociological experiment?”

She clinked glasses with me. “Always the science mind.”

I looked down at the windows of The Cruise again, lit from the inside by a couple haggard strings of colored lights. “I suppose; at least, this way we’ll know if we’re missing out or not.”

She leaped to her feet, downing the rest of her wine. “So, we’re doing this then? We’re going to The Cruise?”

I followed her up. “For science!”

We spent the bare minimum amount of time getting ready since we were both already pretty drunk. I left my hair down around my shoulders and didn’t bother with any makeup. I put on my favorite black miniskirt though, and a flowy tank top that exposed just the right amount of cleavage. I figured I should at least try to look the part. Melissa went even further than that. She rummaged through her drawers until she found her denim micro mini, and paired it with a gauzy black top with a pink bra underneath.

“Go big or go home,” she said with a wink when she came out from her room.

I laughed and grabbed my purse, shoving some cash and our cards in it.

We crossed the street just as the last rays of the sun had disappeared over the tops of the buildings, and the sky was turning an inky blue. As we approached the front door, a loud rumbling and a couple hoots from behind us nearly scared us out of our skins. A group of bikers shot past, turning right at the end of the building to access the parking lot.

I looked over at Melissa, waggling my eyebrows. “Guess we’re not in Kansas anymore, ey?”

She threaded her elbow through mine and we entered.

The interior was dimly lit, and it was full of people. There were pool tables in the corner by the door and up on a raised ledge beside the bar. The dance floor was surrounded by little circular tables where people of all ages were drinking and shouting over the music. It wasn’t like I had pictured it would be. Yes, it was still trashy. There were no less than three stripper poles on the raised platform beside the dance floor.

Besides all that though, it just seemed like... a bar; nothing crazy. There were people sitting, having a quiet drink. There were people dancing wildly to the Bruno Mars song playing. There were also people who looked like they would eat anyone that approached them, and I recognized them as the bikers who had passed us outside. If we just avoid them, we could probably end up having a decent time.

“Drinks?” I suggested.

Melissa nodded, and we headed to the bar where a tall, slender brunette was pouring shots. We ordered two gin and sevens, which were way cheaper here than anywhere in downtown Kingston would have been. The downside was that they had no beers on tap, and clearly no ability to make anything more complicated than highballs with the mix.

Whatever. That was their business. I would take the cheaper drinks with less variety any day.

We took one of the few empty tables by the dance floor; our backs to the scary guys in the corner. From that vantage point, The Cruise almost looked normal… minus the stripper poles; of course.

The next song was Melissa’s favorite, and she pulled me up and toward the dance floor, the liquid in my glass sloshing dangerously. “It’s time!” she called.

Whatever time it was, I was ready. I loved dancing, especially when the music was as good as it was here. The flashing neon lights and the crowd of people felt like home to me, and I swung my hips and moved my arms toward the ceiling with happiness. There was the perfect amount of people on the floor—enough that we weren’t dancing by ourselves, but not so many that we couldn’t move. I was free to do all the weird and fancy footwork that was normally reserved for when I danced around my room while cleaning.

Melissa laughed at me like she always did, but damn if I wasn’t the dancing queen.