Page 19 of Taz's Guards

Her body slumped, her shoulders curling forward as she hunched over, wrapping her palms around the hot drink. I didn’t miss the tear slipping down her cheek and it was another gut punch.

Chapter 8

FLICK

For the rest of the day, I was on edge. Lolly really had missed her daddy and didn’t ever let him get far away from her. He was acting like his old self, lots of smiles and jokes, but there was an edge to it.

I’d managed to slip inside a few times to go to the bar to sneak in another shot or two. Not enough that I was drunk, but just enough to have me mostly able to focus on something other than Taz’s words to me earlier. What had he meant by “get everything sorted”? Was he done with me? Or did he want to come back home and work things out?

With the party now over, I sighed as I loaded another box of presents into the trunk of my SUV. The entire club had spoiled my girl rotten, and she had more toys than she could possibly play with before she grew out of them. Maybe I could let Lolly pick out favorites then donate the rest to charity.

My thoughts were jumping around so much I was struggling to stay focused. Shutting the trunk, I stepped back but stiffened when a hand rested on my shoulder.

“Don’t you dare throw me, Flick.”

Taz’s growled words had my lips twitching despite my low mood. Memories of that first night in Styx when he’d crept up behind me. Surprised when he grabbed my shoulder, instinct had taken over and before I knew what I’d done, I had him on his back on the floor. Some of the brothers still gave him grief over it.

“Well, stop sneaking up on me!”

Fuck, but it felt good to banter like we always had. He turned me in his arms and within moments, I found myself pressed between the back door of the SUV and his warm body. Looking up into his face, I got lost in his baby blues.

“Fuck, but I’ve missed you, kitten.”

His gravelly tone had shivers running down my spine. Before I could respond, he lowered his mouth, pressing his soft lips to mine. Moaning, I wrapped my arms around his neck to make sure he wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. He buried a hand in my hair and tugged until I opened my mouth on a gasp, then his tongue swept in and like I always had, I melted for my man. My other half.

Taz had always been so possessive and alpha male when it came to anything intimate. Kissing, sex, fooling around… if he was near me, he was an absolute caveman about getting my attention. Except if Lolly needed me, then he’d be a total pushover for whatever our baby girl wanted. Our daughter had her daddy firmly wrapped around her little finger.

Speaking of Lolly, Taz was supposed to be watching her. Forcing my brain to kick back into gear, I pushed against his chest until with a growl, he broke the kiss.

“Where’s Lolly?”

His eyes were bright with his arousal, not that his massive erection pressing against me left me with any doubt over how horny my man was, and it took him a few moments to respond.

“Jacie kidnapped her. Said something about overdue aunt bonding time or something.”

I lifted a hand to cup his bearded jaw. It looked like he hadn’t faired any better than me during our separation.

“Let’s go get her and head home, Taz. We have to talk before we get hot and heavy, and we don’t need an audience for it.”

With a shuddering breath, he closed his eyes before he pressed a kiss to my forehead, which had another shiver running down my spine. Stepping away, he took my hand and led me back inside the clubhouse. Once through the door, I spotted Jacie, Sparrow, Cleo and Lolly over in the corner. Silk had taken Raven home already, so it was an all-female party now. Before we got more than a few steps, Zara stepped into our path, forcing Taz to stop or trample her.

With how Taz had tensed up, I spoke before he could. “What’s up, Zara?”

Her gaze switched from me to Taz before returning to me. “I was just thinking it might be a good idea for Jacie and Lolly to have a sleepover at our place. You can come over in the morning and have breakfast with us all.”

Pulling my hand free from Taz’s grip, I threw myself at my friend, giving her a tight hug.

“Thank you! We will definitely take you up on that offer.” Releasing Zara, I looked over to where the girls were all playing as I mentally worked out the logistics. “I’ll leave my car here for Jacie to take Lolly back in, and I’ll go with Taz.”

Taz wrapped an arm around my middle and pulled me back against him. “You on the back of my bike sounds like a fantastic fucking idea, kitten. But if we go say goodbye to Lolly, all hell will break loose, and we’ll never get away without her.”

I winced but nodded. He was right. Lolly had seriously missed her daddy these past twelve days and would not be impressed with him wanting to leave her again.

Zara chuckled. “Give me your keys then head out. I’ll explain to Jacie what’s going on. Between Jacie and Sparrow, we’ll keep Lolly busy enough she won’t notice you both have snuck away.”

I wasn’t so sure about that, but the temptation of being snuggled up behind Taz on his bike for a nice, long ride was too good to resist.

Pulling my keys out, I dropped them into Zara’s outstretched palm. “Let us know if she gets upset and you need us to come get her, or if she won’t go down to sleep.”

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