Page 31 of The MC's Surprise
Vegas
While I wasn’t happy about Sierra leaving early, I understood her reasoning. And I really didn't want to add more to that man’s shit list than he probably already had against me. Instead of arguing with her about staying longer like I wanted, I headed inside and asked Rooster to steal Butch’s truck and give me a ride back in a few minutes. No chance in hell was I riding on another man’s bike again.
When I came back out, Sierra was right where I left her, her face screwed up in almost a grimace. It made my gut tighten, worried I read things wrong about her. She seemed into the flirting, but she’d been off since the kiss, which I had no damn excuse for. I played it off like it was nothing, but I was kicking myself afterwards. I hadn’t even asked first if she was willing togo there. Sure, we’d hooked up before but that was a long time ago.
My impulsiveness might’ve ruined my shot before I really got one, and I was quietly scolding myself the entire ride to Sierra’s parent’s place. But when we pulled up in the driveway and Sierra reached for the door, a feeling almost like panic welled up in my middle. I thought about Charlotte, and having to work beside her every day without her even acknowledging my interest. I didn't want to do that with Sierra. I wasn’t going to be pathetic and pine over another woman. Not when this one was so damn perfect.
“Can I take you to dinner sometime?”
She froze. It looked like my question took her off guard. I probably could’ve done something better than blurting it out at her, but I needed to get it out there. I was getting frustrated with myself, with how damn pathetic I was when it came to women. I owned my own business, was part of a badass MC, but I couldn’t manage to keep a woman? If the guys knew, they’d never leave it alone.
“I, uh… Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
Her brows were drawn in tight, like she was worried. I apparently needed to be less subtle about my flirting if she hadn’t seen it coming. But I was also her boss and we were having a kid together. The more I thought about it, the more I realized I might be a damn idiot when it came to women.
“Look, there’s no pressure if you’re not interested. It won’t affect your job if you say no. And it won’t change anything about me helping out with the baby. We used to have fun together and it felt like we were hitting it off earlier, and I had to ask. I’ll just, uh–”
“Yes.”
It came out of nowhere, and I paused, raising an eyebrow at her. “Yes?”
“Yes, I’ll go to dinner. Sorry. I guess I just thought–” She cut herself off, a deep frown pulling at her lips for a second before she waved whatever thought was running through her head away. “Never mind that. But yeah. Dinner sounds good.”
For a moment, we both just kind of stared at one another. After the awkward way the evening had been going, I hadn’t expected a yes. And it almost looked like she hadn’t expected to answer that way either. So I had to ask.
“You don’t feel pressured because we’re having a kid together, right?”
“You don’t feel pressured because I’m pregnant with your baby and you kissed me… right?” she countered.
We both were fighting smiles at that point, and I finally let myself take a breath. “No. No pressure. If it doesn’t work, we can always go back to being friends. But it might not be a bad idea to see if we can make it work. How about after the park clean up? You deserve a nice meal after helping us set that up so quickly.”
“The park clean up was the easiest thing to set up, actually. I made one phone call to the parks and recreations department and told them what we wanted to do, and they practically begged me to do it. I think they’re almost as bad off money-wise as the animal shelter. I honestly don’t know where all the government money is going if they can’t manage to clean up a park themselves.”
That was a good question. I didn’t know how our local government allotted their funds, but community projects weren’t on that list. And the parks department was apparently low priority. The only well maintained place in the area was the college campus. College kids and their visiting families counted for half the revenue in town, so the government probably put most of the money in making that area as alluring as they could.
“Well, you’re still going above and beyond for my crew, and I appreciate it. So, dinner?”
She nibbled on her bottom lip, bobbing her head a few times. “Dinner sounds good. You don’t think the guys will want to throw another party?”
“Not on a weekday. We’ve all got day jobs. But don’t be surprised if they wheedle you into coming back on the weekend. If they can find a reason to have a party, they’re going to use it.”
“I don’t doubt that,” she laughed.
I liked that she got along with my crew. She wasn’t irritated or annoyed with them throwing parties or making jokes. And they liked her back. Butch told me recently how she and Skylar were like two peas in a pod and she didn’t judge him by his looks the first time they met. And that man struggled with making connections. Most people were too intimidated by his size to be polite.
I didn’t want her to go inside, and I knew I was stalling, trying to keep her with me just a little while longer, but eventually we saw someone peeking out through the front window and Sierra sighed.
“My mom is spying on us. I better head in. Thanks for the ride. Today was a lot of fun.”
“No problem. I’ll see you on Monday.”
And for the first time in years, I was looking forward to Monday for a reason other than getting a glimpse of Charlotte.
18
Vegas
The skies split open on my way to work on Monday. It’d been gloomy all morning, but being in the desert, storms were rare, so I thought it’d blow over. There were very few times I was grateful I didn’t bring my bike to work, but today was one of those days I was happy about having four walls. I pulled my shitty little sedan into my assigned spot in the parking lot, grabbing my umbrella from the back. I had just stepped out of my car when Charlotte pulled up beside me. I went to her door automatically, holding out my umbrella for her, and she huddled close as we rushed into the casino.
