Page 26 of Her Outlaw Biker
As I work in silence, something swells in my chest. A quiet realization that’s been building all along, from the second he stepped between me and danger on that desert night.
He saved me.
Not once, but twice.
The Iron Vultures, my dad’s debt, the fear that used to keep me up at night…it’s all behind me now. I used to believe no one was coming for me. That I’d have to carry my burdens alone forever. But then he came into my life…
Jack Maddox. My guardian angel in leather and scars.
And I know it now, clearer than anything…
“I love you.”
The words fly out before I can stop them.
He freezes. Blinks. Like he’s not sure he heard me right.
“What did you just say?”
I look up, heart thudding. “I said I love you.”
He stares at me for a breathless second. Then he’s moving. He grabs me, lifts me clean off the floor, and spins me once before setting me back down in his lap and crashing his lips to mine in a hot and hungry kiss.
I giggle against his mouth, gently cradling his jaw.
“You love me,” he says, like it’s the best damn thing he’s ever heard.
“I do,” I whisper. “So much.”
He leans his forehead against mine, still breathless. “I fell in love with you the moment you showed up at my door. You knocked the wind outta me, baby.”
I smile, blinking back tears. “Guess I’ve got a thing for haunted, gun-toting outlaws.”
He chuckles low in his chest. “You’re stuck with one now.”
“Good.”
He kisses me again, slower this time, like he’s sealing something sacred. “I love you, my little bird.”
Chapter Ten
Ghost
I’m dreaming.
But it’s not the usual kind. No gunfire. No blood. No echo of my past sins.
This dream feels like something out of another life—someone else’s, maybe, or a version of mine I lost a long time ago.
We’re at a wooden table, worn but sturdy. There’s a half-eaten pie in the center, laughter echoing off the walls. My mom’s wiping her hands on a dish towel, rolling her eyes at my dad’s terrible joke. My grandfather chuckles, shaking his head like he’s heard it a thousand times before.
And then there’s Clover.
She’s across from me, barefoot in the kitchen, wearing one of those soft sundresses I never knew I liked until I saw her in one. She’s laughing, full and unrestrained, a sound that makes something deep in my chest settle. She looks over at me, eyes bright, cheeks flushed with joy.
Home.
That’s what this is.
