Page 16 of Biker's Baby

SEVEN

Abe

It wassix in the morning when I got back from work. Though my shift normally flew by, driving the forklift around that warehouse all night had been such a drag.

All I could think about was Iris and the fact she was back home.

I had worked for this company for the past two years, and this was the first time in my career that I thought about asking them for a different schedule. I’d always been so flexible with them, taking the graveyard shift since that was the one no one else wanted to work.

It worked out with the MC, too.

But now, with Iris in the house, I didn’t want to spend my day asleep while my nights were spent at this warehouse. I wanted to be with her.

On the other hand, I knew it was dangerous for me to be thinking that way. I couldn’t be devoting the time I had to her. It had turned into such a disaster before. I wasn’t about to make the same mistakes again. Not to mention the fact that Tad had changed drastically in the past couple years.

He wasn’t the same man he had been when Iris was here before.

Time and hardship had changed him just as it had changed all of us, but when it came to Tad, that could be bad news for Iris.

I decided I had to talk to her.

But, when I got home, she was asleep in the spare bedroom with her son on the futon. They were both covered under the blanket that I normally kept out on the couch, but I didn’t mind.

Instead of going straight to bed myself, I decided to put on a pot of coffee and left her a note telling her that I would be up in a few hours. She could help herself to breakfast, and if she were to look out in the freezer in the garage, there were more options than the little freezer above the fridge.

I was so tired from the events of the night and day before it didn’t take me long to pass out once I was in the comfort of my own bed. Though, I did fall asleep with thoughts of Iris dancing through my mind. She was every bit as beautiful as she had been when she was here before – helpless and asking me to protect her from that terrible man who relentlessly abused her.

Now here she was again. She was asking for help, but I was glad she hadn’t asked for the same level of help that I had given her before. I still had to talk to her about what it meant for her to be here, and that wasn’t a conversation I looked forward to having.

I would take it slow, but I still hoped that she would be understanding. After all, I was the one who had said she was allowed to stay, so I didn’t want to make things difficult for her now by saying that I had changed my mind.

I didn’t remember my last thought specifically before I fell asleep, but I did have a smile on my face. There was something about her being here that made me happier than I’d been in a long time. Sure, it complicated things, but that didn’t mean that she didn’t also bring a lot of good memories back.

There was a time in my life when I had been in love with her. And with her here now, I could imagine that it wouldn’t take much for me to feel that way about her again.

It was stupid to do that to myself, I knew, but it didn’t change the fact that my mind was already heading in that direction. I just had to be smart about this. I didn’t want to get hurt again, and with that child here, I knew she would do anything to make sure that baby was safe, too.

And if she was being followed by a dangerous person, I didn’t want to think of what it meant for her to give up everything.

I knew it would be instinct for me to keep her safe.

I just hoped that instinct didn’t mean someone was going to get hurt.

I woketo the smell of pizza filling the air.

I had frozen pizzas out in the freezer in the garage, so I knew she had to have seen my note. I was glad she had made one of the pizzas. I had collapsed into bed starving, and I was even hungrier now.

I pulled myself out of bed and put a fresh pair of shorts on. I pulled jeans over the top and pulled on a clean shirt, then I walked out to the other room.

There was soft music playing over the radio, and Iris was dancing with her son in the kitchen. The pizza was cooked and sitting on a cutting board on the counter, and I could see she had already eaten two of the slices.

She was singing softly to her little boy, and he seemed to be enjoying the dance with her. I tried not to stare, but I did allow myself to take a moment and just watch what she was doing. It had been so long; she was almost a ghost in my life now. It was hard to believe that she was back – yet there she was, in the flesh.

I had my questions about the boy, but I honored her privacy. It wasn’t my business who’s kid he was, not to mention it didn’t matter how the father was, he was still half her, and if he had half Iris in him, then he was worth my full protection.

Iris was every bit the angel I remembered her being, and there was a part of me that wished I could go to Tad and talk to him about this situation. But I knew with the way he was these days, he would shut down the entire operation. He would very likely tell me that she had to get out of my house, and I didn’t want to do that.

I’d thought earlier that he might give me permission to take care of this on my own time, but with the way he had spoken to me on the phone the night before, telling me that he owned my time outside of work, I wasn’t going to push what I got away with.

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