Page 62 of Loco

“Think your reaction pretty well says it all,” Doc said with a satisfied grin.

He was a smug bastard, but he was right. There was nothing I could say to that. We sat there in silence for a minute. Rylie swept up the mess I’d made. He hadn’t said a word about the broken glass. Hell, he had to be used to it by now. It came with the job, and a day didn’t go by without the sound of something breaking.

Oz came out from the back of the club where his office was located, carrying his youngest, who was asleep on his shoulder. JoJo and Samuel were right behind him. I could tell by the way they were moving that they didn’t intend to stop. JoJo shot us a smile.

“Done for the day,” Oz explained as they walked through the room. “Got a doc appointment.”

They all looked happy and healthy as shit to me. Then I met JoJo’s eyes and her smile grew bigger as she rubbed her hand over her flat belly. Holy shit! Was she pregnant again? I grinned back at her, getting her silent message. Then I glanced back at Oz’s face to see if he gave anything away, that maybe he wasn’t ready for a third rug rat. But no, the brother looked content, even accepting of the idea. He looked like a brother who had everything he wanted.

The truth smacked me right in the face. The idea of Millie and me with our own little rug rats hit me right in the fucking heart. A little boy, a little girl, mini-images of us. I’d never thought about this shit, had never wanted it, but damned if it didn’t appeal to me now. A lot of my brothers had families, but I’d never looked at them,reallylooked at them, like I was scrutinizing Oz and JoJo as they made their way out of the clubhouse.

I shook away the thought, afraid that my brothers would look at me and be able to guess what was spinning around in my head. I picked up my drink to finish it, and then set the glass down on the bar deliberately. Rylie glanced my way with a question in his eyes. I shook my head and slid off the stool. Doc gave me a side-eyed glance, but didn’t say a word.

Happy gave me a drunken grin. “Be in by dark, dear.”

I gave him the finger as I walked away.

It was late afternoon. Millie should be about done with her work for the day. If she wasn’t, I’d wait. Before the end of the day, we’d either be going our separate ways for good, or we’d be fucking like there was no tomorrow. I hoped it was the latter. I hadn’t touched another woman since her, and I’d been horny for her since the last time we’d been tangled up in the sheets. My dick was convinced that she was the only one who would satisfy it. My stubborn heart knew that it was so. I just had to stop overthinking shit and give in.

Communication, conversation--fuck, whatever Doc and Happy wanted to call it, I was going to make Millie listen to me. And I wasn’t giving up until I’d convinced her that all we had between us was one big, fucking misunderstanding.

I took my time riding out to her place, just in case she wasn’t done for the day. I wasn’t good at waiting. And now that I’d made up my stupid mind to follow through, for better or worse, I wanted it done. If Millie couldn’t understand what had been going through my head the day that she’d walked in on Kelly and me, if she couldn’t forgive me, I would chalk it up to one fucking bad experience.

Learn that making bad choices had taken away the one woman in my life I could have loved.

It was dusk when I pulled into her parking lot, and there was a full moon. The clouds moving overhead indicated that it might rain. I hit the kickstand down and sat there for a minute. Luck was on my side. Millie’s car was there when I arrived, but when I knocked on her door there was no answer. Either she wasn’t home or she’d heard my bike and wanted no part of me. That thought left a bitter taste in my mouth.

Maybe I’d let too much fucking time go by.

If she wasn’t home and her car was there, where the fuck could she be? I turned my head toward Viola’s apartment. Lockdown at LD’s clubhouse had been called off after they’d discovered and eliminated the threat. Turned out one of the club whores had had it out for Bull because he’d killed her boyfriend, Freak. She’d gone to the clubhouse for intel and had been causing havoc. Cut Bull’s break lines, killed his uncle, kidnapped Viola, and almost killed them both.

It was more than possible that Millie was there, considering Viola’s car was parked right outside her door. Maybe they were having dinner together. Doing whatever it was that women did when they got together. Jesus, that could last for hours. I pressed my lips, walked to the door, and raised my fist to knock. Did I tell you that I was impatient? I listened for a minute, but it was quiet.

I pounded on the door and waited. I didn’t expect much. All Viola had to do was look through the fucking peep hole and see that it was me. If the door didn’t open, I’d have my answer to whether I was going to get an invite inside. I knocked again, my gut telling me that someone was on the other side of the door. I could hear movement.

The door opened. Viola stood there. She wasn’t exactly happy to see me, but her opening the door at all was a good sign.

“Hi,” she said with a bland expression.

I cut right to the chase. “Is Millie with you?” I peered past her, which wasn’t hard because the woman was tiny. But I didn’t see Millie.

“We’re having dinner,” Viola explained. Her slightest hesitation revealed that she wasn’t sure of her next words. “Would you like to join us? There’s more than enough.”

I heard Millie’s loud groan somewhere behind Viola and could just imagine her rolling her eyes. I grinned, and Viola stepped aside so I could go in. “Thanks.”

“Don’t make me regret it,” she mumbled behind me, and then in a stronger tone added, “They’ll be no fighting at the dinner table, kids.”

I found Millie hiding out in the kitchen, leaning against the counter with a glass of wine. My eyes ate her up. Jesus, she was beautiful. Even standing there in an old, faded tee that clung to her full tits, legs mostly bare in shredded cut-offs. Her untamable curls were pulled up and arranged on top of her head. There was a rosy glow on her cheeks, probably caused by the wine, yet her eyes were bright and focused.

I wondered what she was thinking. I decided to test the waters with a simple hello. “Hi.”

“Hi,” she returned softly, without much emotion.

I couldn’t take my eyes off her mouth, those pink lips when they parted to say that single word. Then she made the mistake of licking her bottom lip before tugging the corner of it between her teeth. The urge to go to her and take her mouth in a fierce, wet kiss was so fucking strong that I shook with it.

“I didn’t lay a hand on her.”

Something flickered in Millie’s eyes. Did she believe me? She took a minute to digest what I’d said, and then sucked in a deep breath. “Can we discuss this later, back in my apartment?”

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