Page 10 of Faking it with the Bad Boy Bikers

I sighed. “I’m going to climb back under my car and finish changing my oil.”

He looked me over in my faded gray overalls and grunted. “Cute. Be careful.”

I narrowed my eyes at him but he was already walking back to talk to Henry and Woodrow. Watching the three of them, I could tell they were close. They seemed to have a language all their own as they communicated with each other. Woodrow broke away from their group and jogged toward the station after a minute or two and Seth stood guard over Hammer while Henry moved over to me.

“You okay?” His eyes moved to my wrist and his jaw flexed. “Think you need an x-ray?”

I pushed my hair out of my face and shook my head. “I grew up on a ranch. I know what fractures and breaks feel like. This is just a bruise.”

He watched as I lowered myself to the ground and crawled under the car. “The kid wasn’t fibbing, huh? You can work on bikes, too?”

“Yeah. Although, nothing I could do would fix Hammer’s bike now.”

“Hammer?” Henry made a sound I couldn’t decipher. “I have a feeling only an idiot with a name like Hammer would ever underestimate you, Nellie. I, for one, would never have gone near a redhead holding a weapon.”

I leaned out from under the car and scowled at him. “Really?”

He winked at me and then turned at the sound of the screen door slamming. “Hey, kid. Bring me one of those cookies.”

“Say please.” Waylan’s legs appeared at the side of the car. “And my name is Waylan, Henry. I already told you that.”

I reached out and tugged her pants leg. “Be nice, Way.”

“No, Waylan’s right.” Henry sounded like he was smiling and I really wanted to see it. “She told me already. And I could learn some better manners. Please, may I have a cookie, Waylan?”

Waylan ducked down so I could see her face. “What do you think, Mom? Should I give him a cookie?”

There was nothing like Waylan’s bold personality to make me smile. “He did say please.”

“Don’t make me beg. Those cookies smell delicious.”

“Fine.” She dragged the word out. “Don’t be greedy, though. These are for all three of you.”

CHAPTER 9

Seth

Before Henry could catch Waylan, she ran around him to come to my side. I tried to block her from seeing the asshole at my feet but she saw him and stumbled to a stop. Her blue eyes widened and then narrowed. I let out a surprised grunt as I had to catch her when she tried to throw herself at him.

“He hurt my mom! He’s not supposed to be here! He hurt Mom!” She was wild with rage, her eyes wild and ringlets flying everywhere as she struggled to get free. “Let me go! He’s bad!”

I heard a loudthunkand heard Henry swear. Nellie stood up holding her head and grimacing but when she saw Waylan in my arms she hurried over and took her from me. “Look at me, Way. I took care of it. Now Seth, Henry, and Woodrow are going to take over. You don’t need to worry about this.”

Waylan locked her arms and legs around her mom, her little body shaking as her chest heaved for breath. “Are you okay, Mommy?”

Nellie squeezed her eyes shut for a moment before backing away. “I’m fine, baby. You don’t have to worry about Mom. I’m tough.”

I frowned as I watched her talk Waylan down and wondered what they’d gone through that had made the kid so protective of her mother. Wanting to get closer to them I grabbed a few zip ties from my saddlebag and tied the abusive asshole to his bike so he wouldn’t be able to move.

I moved up behind Nellie and Waylan and awkwardly patted the kid’s head. “There, there.”

Nellie spun around and raised her eyes to mine. “There, there?”

I shifted my weight from foot to foot. “Just trying to comfort her.”

Her lips curved down as her brows furrowed in concentration. I wasn’t sure how I felt about being the subject of it but she quickly blinked and turned away.

“Your head okay? I think you dented the car.” Henry looked like he was struggling not to smile.

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