Page 13 of Biker's Baby

“He’s not from here I take it?” I asked.

“No. But he didn’t get the message that I don’t want anything more to do with him. I wouldn’t have come back here if he was respectful enough to let me move on with my life, but like I said. He wasn’t. So here I am,” she said.

I carried her cup of coffee out to her and set it down on the table. Then I took mine and moved to the seat across from the couch. It wasn’t that there wasn’t enough room for both of us, but I didn’t want to be so close to her. I was already struggling with the fact she was even here.

There were so many emotions that came flooding through me when I looked at her, I didn’t know what to make of this. I didn’t want to make small talk. In fact, I didn’t even really want her to be in my house to begin with. Our past was the past, and I felt that it was better left there.

Not that I would kick her out. Especially with a kid.

I didn’t have much to do with kids in my life, but I wasn’t heartless enough to toss a woman with such a small child out to the street.

“What are you doing here?” I asked. “I don’t want to put too fine a point on things, but you came here, to my house. I’m sure you had some reason for that.”

“You were the only person who was willing to help me before,” Iris said.

My heart sank. That was partially true. The whole truth was that her father was friends with Tad, and back then Tad had assigned me to the job of making sure Iris remained safe in her transition from being with her abusive ex back into single life.

I had done my best to make sure that fucker stayed as far away from her as possible, but it hadn’t been without its cost. I had fallen for Iris. I could admit that to myself, and it had hurt me when things fell apart. I didn’t want to go back down that path. I didn’t want to be that vulnerable again.

Yet here she was, and though she hadn’t said the words directly, I was bracing myself for her asking me for that protection again. The only problem was, my MC wasn’t in the business of protection anymore. That meant that Tad wasn’t going to assign or approve anything.

If I was thinking about getting involved with this girl again, it was more than likely he was going to tell me that I had to do it on my own time. And I wasn’t sure I wanted to do that. But I would hear her out. She looked like she had been through hell to get here. I owed it to her to at least let her say her piece before I said mine.

“That’s true,” I said. “I remember that piece of shit you were trying to get off your back who just wasn’t taking the hint.”

“That’s right,” she replied. “And it seems I’ve got another. He hasn’t done anything to me physically yet, but mark my words, it’s just a matter of time before he comes after me like that. I was sure just yesterday morning he was about to kidnap me right off the doorstep of my apartment complex. And this is after he showed up at my work the other day and made a scene.”

“Yikes,” I said. I kept my tone even, though I felt the anger rising in me. I wasn’t sure why I still had that protective streak over her. We weren’t together, and she now had this kid on her hip. Who was his father? Where was his father? Or was my initial hunch correct in thinking that she was now doing her best to get away from this kid’s father?

I wondered how tasteful it would be to ask, but instead I merely put my now -empty mug on the table and leaned back in the chair.

“Do you have a plan?” I asked.

“I’m working on one,” she said. I wondered if she could see in my eyes that I could still read her like an open book. I fully expected her to lie to me about how brave she felt, and now that she was telling me that she was forming a plan, I was about ready to call her bluff.

Instead, I asked her what she was thinking.

“I was hoping to start you might let me stay here a few days,” she said. “If I have a roof over our heads, I can decide what to do without wondering where I’m going to have Tristen sleeping tonight.”

“That’s his name?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“Cute,” he said.

“Thanks,” she replied. “What do you say? I’m sorry that I barged in here like this, but I can pay you for the space. I just need to have somewhere safe while I figure out the next move.”

The look on her face told me she was lying, but I didn’t say so. I didn’t want to make this more uncomfortable for her than it already was. She wanted a place to stay while she thought about what she would do next, that was fine.

I wasn’t going to take any money for it, but it might be the solution that got me off the hook for getting more involved while I still felt that little urge to be there for her in spite of everything.

“You can stay if you need,” I said.

“Oh, thank you, thank you!” she sobbed. She clearly fought the emotion as it built up inside her, then she cleared her throat.

“I appreciate it,” she said. “Really. We won’t be any trouble.”

“No trouble at all,” I assured her.

But already, I knew this wasn’t going to be easy.

She was back, and my body was feeling it. Perhaps there was a small part of me that still wanted her.

No, that was a lie.

A big part of me still wanted her.

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