Page 30 of Blaze

“Hey, big bro.” Courtney shifted her arms so that her brother could get a better look at our son. “Meet Arlen Pierce Driscoll, named after two of the men most important to Pax and me. You both stepped in when each of us needed someone, and we really appreciate it.”

When we found out we were having a boy, I immediately agreed to how she wanted to name him. I hadn’t gotten the chance to get to know my brother-in-law very well, but I respected the fuck out of him. More because he’d done a hell of a good job looking after my girl before I came into her life than the fact that he was a Navy SEAL.

Arlen looked stunned as he asked, “You named your son after me?”

Courtney patted his hand. “He’s got big shoes to fill, but I’m sure he’ll live up to them with his dad, uncle, and all of the guys around to show him what’s what.”

“Fucking hell,” he muttered, stroking a finger down the baby’s cheek. “You don’t know what that means to me, sis.”

“Not as much as everything you’ve done for me since Mom and Dad passed away and growing up,” she replied, sniffling.

She managed to hold back her tears during that talk, but she lost the battle when we repeated it later that day and had the same conversation with Pierce. For some reason, it was easier for her to handle the gratitude she felt for her brother than the appreciation she had for the man who changed my life.

EPILOGUE

COURTNEY

Iwas living a life I never would have thought possible before I met Pax. My sexy biker was as good to me now, years later, as he had been back then. And he was such a good dad that I sometimes found myself wanting to pop out babies to give him more children to spoil. But then one of our kids would do something to drive me up the wall and make me rethink that plan.

Like right now, with our eight-year-old-son, Arlen, who I heard all the way from the front of the clubhouse, screaming his little head off.

The rest of the old ladies’ eyes bugged out as I bolted around the building, only to find my eldest child and husband on the clubhouse roof, both of them with some sort of harness tied around their waists.

“What the heck is going on?” I yelled, hands on my hips as I looked up at them.

“Hey, baby.” He beamed a smile at me, but it did nothing to soften my anger. Recognizing the look on my face, he decided to see if Arlen had better luck. “Son, why don’t you tell her what we’re doing?”

“Hi, Mom! We’re rappelling,” he whistled through his missing front teeth.

“Rappelling?” I echoed, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, let’s show her, Arlen,” Pax replied, squeezing our son’s shoulder.

Arlen fist-bumped him before my heart leaped in my chest as they basically jumped backward off the roof, their feet landing almost in unison against the side of the building. I didn’t breathe again until they were both on the ground.

“We need to do that again,” Arlen cheered.

“Why don’t you go play with the other kids while I talk to your dad?” I grumbled, keeping my glare on Pax.

“Aw, man,” Arlen groaned before unhooking all the equipment from himself. Then he ran toward the area where one of the guys had built a playset, where some of the other kids were already playing.

Pax took a step forward, the grin still on his face. “I was right there with him, baby. You didn’t need to worry.”

“Then why did I hear him screaming his head off all the way from the front of the clubhouse?” I demanded.

Pax laughed. “Screaming with excitement. He was rooting around and found some of my old equipment, and I decided if he wanted to use it, I’d better teach him how to do it safely before he got any bright ideas that ended up with us racing to the emergency room.”

I let my shoulders fall, my heartbeat somewhat returning to normal. “I guess it’s good to be safe, but I really wished you would’ve warned me first. I swear, my heart almost stopped beating in my chest when I heard him scream.”

“I’m sorry, baby. The last thing I wanted to do was scare you.” He stripped out of his equipment, letting it fall to the ground at his feet. “Don’t be mad at me.”

“I can if I wanna,” I pouted.

He took a step closer, his eyes going to half-mast. “How about working some of that anger off with me in private, then?”

“Pax.” I moved my hand to shove his shoulder, but he was much faster, gripping my hips and throwing me over his shoulder before I could do anything to stop him.

I couldn’t help the giggle escaping my throat as the other guys laughed around us. I ignored them, my heart now pounding even faster as he headed to the room that he rarely used anymore, carrying me as though I weighed nothing until we were there.

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