Page 36 of Faking it with the Bad Boy Bikers

I held up the baby monitor I had a death grip on. “I’ll hear her.”

He took it and put it on the seat beside us, careful as he did. “Is it up loud enough?”

A deep snore, one too deep to come from a child, filled the car, so loud it almost made my ears ache. I fought a laugh. “Yeah. I’d say it’s loud enough.”

Seth tossed a concerned look at the monitor. “Is that normal? Jesus.”

I caught his face and turned it back towards mine. “Are you okay?”

He nodded but the motion died after a beat. Staring out the window behind me, he shook his head. “No.”

“Tell me.”

“I don’t know how old my sister’s kids are.” He let out a rough laugh. “That’s not… That’s just a symptom of the bigger issue, I think. Jesus, Nellie. I don’t talk about this shit. And then I just spilled my fucking guts at dinner, in front of that vulture, nonetheless.”

“Tell me, Seth.” I cupped his cheeks and brought his eyes back to mine. “Please.”

“I was married before.” He glanced over at the monitor once more and then sighed. “When my parents were murdered, I was married and things were going the way they were supposed to. I’d been recruited by the FBI as an analyst. My parents were proud of us, happy for me. They were fucking great. The way you looked at Way tonight was the way my mom looked at me. And then it was just over.”

I sucked in a sharp breath and I wanted to wrap my arms around him, to hold him tight. I wanted to tell him he didn’t have to tell me anything more but I could feel the need to purge radiating off of him. I didn’t know what I was doing, begging the man who was practically a stranger to open up to me.

“The cops didn’t do a fucking thing. I waited. I watched Kris, my sister, crumble, and I couldn’t look at myself in the mirror, knowing I was just letting it all happen to us. I left the FBI, found out who did it, and I handled it. It led me to some darkplaces, but I did what the cops couldn’t. I saw Kris sleep through the night again. It was too late for my marriage. It was probably going to end anyway. We’d started dating in high school. Those things hardly ever last. My parents were the exception.

“Of course, the FBI had watched over me after I quit. My boss’s boss came to me, suggested he knew what I’d done, and offered me a job in the field. It wasn’t like I could go back to an office job so I agreed. That’s how I ended up here. Michael Mays was my last job.” He rubbed one big hand up and down my back. “Waylan is going to be the death of me. I don’t know how long it’d been since I was hugged before her.”

I sat back so I could see his face. “She’s the best thing that ever happened to me. I’d do it all over again, getting kicked out and living on the street, a million times, if it meant I got to have her. She sees the good in people. Granted, she’s more eager to see it in men who look like her Grandpa Blade. You should let people hug you more often, Seth. Not just Way.”

He grunted. “I let you hug me.”

“I don’t know if what we’ve done counts as hugging.” I smiled suddenly. “I’m going to hug you for real now. It’s a hug, Seth. Just a hug.”

He stiffened under me but he let me wrap my arms around his big shoulders and squeeze. When I didn’t let go, he slowly relaxed and his breathing leveled out. His arms came up around me in a hug and I melted into him. “It’s fucking pathetic, Nell. I miss my parents. I’m a grown man. I’m in my forties, for fuck’s sake.”

“They sound like they were good people. And you lost them in such a horrible way. You should talk to your sister about them. She can help you remember the good memories instead of the dark ones you’ve been forced to hold onto for so long.” I leaned back again and stroked his face. “Virginia and Blade have only been gone for six months but Waylan helps me. She keeps thegood memories alive and well. Even when she’s quoting Blade and I’m horrified my child knows the things she knows, it eases the ache.”

“Maybe I will call her. I’ll definitely ask how old her kids are.” He groaned. “I don’t know what’s happening to me. This is embarrassing.”

“God, you virgins are all the same. You always get too attached after sex.” I bit my lip and fought a laugh. “I let you fuck me and then you’re suddenly obsessed with me and telling me everything about you.”

He snorted and his hands slipped down to hold my ass. “Funny. Only one of us was a virgin last night, baby.”

“I wasn’t a virgin. I literally have a child.”

“You were a virgin in all the ways that count.” He leaned back and his eyes went lazy in the dark interior. “I was planning on it being one night, Nellie.”

I nodded. “Me too.”

His eyes trailed down my body before moving back up to mine. “This feels like more than that.”

I swallowed more nerves and rocked my hips. “I don’t want to think about that. I just know that I couldn’t go to sleep knowing that you were upset and that now that I have you under me, I don’t want to let you go without feeling you inside me.”

He groaned. “How the fuck did no one snatch you up before now? You’re a conundrum. So soft and sweet at times and then hard and dirty at other times. You make me want to hold you down and fuck you hard and then pick you up and kiss you soft at the same time.”

I ran my hand down his chest and only stopped when my fingers bumped into his belt. “I’m not stopping you.”

CHAPTER 29

Nellie

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