Page 23 of March’s Bad Boy: Ty

CHAPTER 9

TY

The morning sunspills through the window, painting streaks of gold across the sheets. Kara is still asleep beside me, her bare shoulder exposed where the blanket has slipped down. I reach out, tracing my fingers over her skin, committing her softness to memory.

She stirs slightly, her lashes fluttering before she peeks up at me, a sleepy smile forming on her lips. "What are you doing?"

"Memorizing you," I murmur, my fingers still making idle patterns.

She laughs softly. Her voice is thick with sleep. "That's ridiculous."

"No," I whisper, pressing a kiss to her shoulder. "This is ridiculous. How long it took me to finally have you like this."

She hums in contentment, curling into me, and for a moment, I let myself get lost in her warmth. I want to stay like this all day. Stay in bed with her pressed against me, with me inside her, and ignore everything else. But reality soon creeps back in. There's work to do.

"However we come out on the other side of this, I'm going to need a long vacation of sun, sex, and sleep," she says as she stretches.

I don't know where to put my attention. Do I focus on how the blanket is slipping off her, exposing her round tits for me to play with, or do I focus on the fact that she said whenweget through this?

But I know if I touch her, we won't be getting out of bed for at least an hour, and there is so much to be done. With a groan, I roll over and pull myself from the bed, grabbing my phone. When she said yes to the building, I put out a call for help and Mustang Mountain came through.

Priest called up the rest of the Mustang Mountain Riders. In the blink of an eye, we had ten guys ready to help move and set up the new shop, and their wives were ready to help pack and inventory the old shop.

Kara made a call to her friend Caitlin, who does interior design work, and she was so happy I could hear the squeals coming from the phone across the room. Caitlin eagerly agreed to design the new store and is bringing her fiancé, Shane to help out, too. Paisley and Aiden will be joining us because Kara says she isn't about to miss out on the fun.

On Priest's suggestion, she also called Jackson's wife, Emma, who worked in marketing before she moved to Mustang Mountain. Emma was so excited to be part of the team effort and is now planning a spectacular grand reopening event.

Today, Levi was able to round up a few guys to come in and volunteer their time to help get the new place ready. Then tonight, he and I will make a plan for the upstairs. Once the shop work is completed, we can start up there.

When I check my phone, I see a million small things in our group chat. Several of the guys have some wood left over from different projects they are bringing to help build shelves. Caitlin needs to know what colors Kara wants to use in the shop and a few other minor details.

Kara shifts again, this time sitting up in bed, her eyes meeting mine. "Anything good?"

"Everyone's in and already working and making plans," I tell her. "Several of the MC guys have material from other projects they are bringing. Caitlin has some decor questions. Emma already has plans for a huge reopening event, and Jackson's making a schedule for all the other guys to take some shifts to get stuff done."

She blinks up at me, then smiles, the relief evident in her eyes. "That's... that's amazing."

I lean down, brushing my lips over her forehead. "Told you we'd figure it out."

She sighs, closing her eyes for a moment. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"You'll never have to find out." I mean every word.

We force ourselves out of bed, and she throws on one of my shirts, something that shouldn't turn me on as much as it does, and makes coffee while I double-check our plans for the day. The shop's still a mess, and there's a lot to do before the new shelves can even go in, but with everyone coming to help, we might just pull it off.

When we get to the store, it's chaos. Caitlin's already there, flipping through paint samples with a look of determination on her face. While Emma's got a notebook full of marketing ideas she’s sorting through. Jackson and Levi show up not long after, and Priest pulls in with a truck full of supplies, ready to get to work. The energy in the room is electric. This isn't just about fixing up a bookstore. It’s about saving something that matters to all of us.

I watch Kara take it all in, the way her eyes shine with hope, the way she laughs when Caitlin suggests a ridiculous accent wall that actually might be genius. This is hers. Her dream. Andseeing it come together piece by piece? It's worth every damn second of work.

We start unloading supplies, and I grab a drill, working alongside Jackson as we assemble the new shelves. Kara disappears with Caitlin, going over color schemes and furniture layouts. Every time I glance her way, she's deep in conversation, her hands moving animatedly as she talks. It makes me smile. She’s in her element, taking control of something she thought was slipping away.

Levi and Priest haul in the heavier pieces, and soon enough, the store is transformed. Paint goes up on the walls, giving it warmth and personality. The shelves, once stacks of wood, start to resemble something sturdy, something permanent. Something hers.

Hours pass in a blur of sawdust and sweat, and by evening, the space looks completely different. Not finished, but closer. Kara runs her fingers over the smooth edges of a newly built bookshelf, her lips parted in quiet awe.

At the end of the day, after everyone has left, we stand in the middle of the new store and take it all in.

"It's happening," she whispers, almost to herself.

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