Page 68 of The Devil's Scars

Chapter Twelve

Zoe was in the kitchen getting a cup of coffee for Silver, when a happy gurgle behind her caught her attention. She’d left Keira in the far corner, playing with her toys, and this sound was much closer than that. Zoe turned.

“Hey, sweet thing, are you sneaking up –” She froze when she saw Keira walking – on toddly, wobbly little legs, to be sure –but still… walking. “Oh, my God! Keira…”

The baby smiled, paused, wavered as she fought to find her balance, and then carried on around the sofa, determined.

“Zoe?” Silver appeared in the bathroom door, his blond hair wilder than ever and holding a wrench, looking concerned. “What’s up with Keira? Is she OK?”

“C’mere, Silver!” Zoe gestured him over, pointed. “You won’t believe it.”

Silver approached, glanced around the living room corner, and stopped dead. “She’s walking!”

“Yep.” Zoe grinned at Keira, who suddenly plopped backwards onto her diapered bum with a little indignant cry. “Well. Kinda.”

“That was the first time?” Silver watched the baby get to her knees, grasp the sofa to pull herself up, then take a few hesitant steps forward and away. “Ummm… now the second time?”

“Yeah. First time ever. I mean, she’s been standing for a couple of weeks, just holding on to things, you know. But full-on walking alone? Never before this minute.”

“Well, holy shit.” Silver’s handsome face broke into a massive grin. “Way to go, kiddo!”

“She’s growing up on me,” Zoe said wistfully. “I know what people mean now, when they say that it happens so fast.”

“I’ve gotta take your word for it,” Silver said, stroking his lumberjack beard with a massive hand. “Daddyhood is not in my future, sweetheart.”

“Never say never,” she told him wryly. “This little angel showed up in my life pretty suddenly, as you may recall.”

“True enough, Zee. You got me. I guess I may become a Daddy by default, somehow.” He flashed her a grin, his silver eyes shimmering in that cool, sexy way that they had. “Who knows? Maybe I’ll fall for a hot tattooed blonde chick with an adorable kid just learning to walk…”

Zoe threw back her head and laughed. God, how she’d come to adore this man over the past couple of months living in his house. Silver had shown himself to be exactly zero threat –he was quite the opposite, actually. He’d shown up just that morning on short notice to fix the bathroom sink, and the good-natured flirting and teasing had started within seconds of him knocking and strolling on in the door.

Yeah, he was hot and built from karate, and kind and sweet and funny. He was amazing with Keira, and he treated Zoe with the utmost respect, never making her feel like he was in her personal space, even when he was within inches of her. And despite the flirting and saying that he’d fall for a hot blonde with a kid, Silver was like an older brother, in a way, like the way Wolf was to her. Like the way most of the guys were, even after only a couple of months, and Zoe’s initial reticence and reservations.

So, she laughed at Silver’s flirting. Openly and totally relaxed, and in this moment Silver admired her shining beauty yet again, without wanting to make a move in the slightest. It wasn’t like that with Zoe, and he didn’t regret it one bit: he loved her looks, her sass, her work ethic, her fierce dedication to Keira… but he had never contemplated hitting on her.

The truth was that he required strict separation between his women, his work, and the club. Unlike most of his brothers, he never got involved with women who came to Satan’s to drink and dance or waitress, or any of the club pass-arounds like Vixen, or even women who came into the garage where he worked as manager. Silver had lost track of the number of phone numbers that had been slipped under paid invoices, or left on his desk, or simply handed to him with a sexy little wink as the woman had collected her car.

He’d never called any of them. Not once. Not for a date or a quick one-nighter or even a blow-job in Satan’s back rooms. And he never would. He’d learned his lesson about mixing business and pleasure, and God knows, he’d paid one hell of a high price for not knowing the score before he’d gotten mixed up with Anna Evans.

Well. He’d learned. It had been the hard way, but goddammit, he’d learned.

Not that he thought that Zoe would ever do to him what Anna had –but still. Silver was a disciplined man, and he knew full good and well that the key to discipline was consistency, with no exceptions. Silver never allowed himself to think ‘just this once’ or ‘this one time’, because once a rule has been broken, it ceased being a rule, and became a guideline, a mere suggestion for living. And Silver Bennett didn’t live by guidelines, by vague and hazy ‘maybes’. Not anymore.

So he kept his sex life far, far away from his place of business, and from the club. He travelled quite a bit for the garage, sourcing rare and unique motorcycle parts for custom repair and building jobs, and he usually picked up female company at a bar in another city. It was fleeting and purely physical but still respectful, and Silver was good with that. If he went back that way, he always called the women up. Friends with benefits was his speed, really, and he had a few favored female companions, scattered around five different states.

“What are you laughing at, gorgeous?” he asked Zoe now. “Turning me down again?”

“Yep. Unequivocally.”

“Awwww.” Silver looked heartbroken. “How will I go on? How? How?”

Keira giggled now, and Silver looked down at her, then he bent and scooped her up into his arms. She squirmed happily when his bushy beard tickled her face, and he grinned at her.

“You, little miss, are amazing. Me and Mommy should be celebrating your milestone, huh?”

“Oh!” Zoe said, remembering something. “Well… if you have some time and you like red wine before noon, Willa bought me a bottle before she left…”

“One small glass of red is awesome, sweetheart.” Silver kissed Keira’s nose, then set her down carefully. “Let me just clean things up in the bathroom. Won’t be a sec.”

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