Page 30 of Chill’s Chance

“She’s something else. I think she’ll give Puma a run for his money.” I agree. “I don’t suppose you can tell me anything from the meeting?”

She frowns. “What do you want to know?”

“Have they found anything about Nicole’s murder?” I ask.

“Not much. They have an image of a guy in a police uniform, but we can’t tell for certain if it’s a proper uniform or a costume.”

“A costume?” I ask. “Wouldn’t that be easy to find out? I mean, there can’t be that many costume shops around.”

Chill chews her food as she eyes me. “This is Las Vegas. I think only New York and New Orleans have more costume shops than we do. That doesn’t even include stores that sell erotic clothing and stripper supplies.”

I consider her comment and nod. I hadn’t considered that. It wouldn’t be hard to get hold of a costume, and there is still the possibility that the cop who killed Nicole was a real cop.

“So, no leads?” I finally ask.

“Spark is still looking. He hasn’t exhausted his resources. He’s also looking into loan sharks, to identify possibles. Ones who would most likely offer Nicole a loan. Again, this is Vegas, so we have more than our share of loan sharks as we do costume shops. But we won’t stop looking.” She says, placing her hand on mine. “Sterling is also looking into it. He has other resources. Don’t give up.”

Squeezing her hand, I give her a nod. “I just feel so damn guilty for not being here when they needed me. I thought marrying Nicole was the right thing for her, but what if I kept her from finding someone better? Someone who would have taken care of her?”

“Knock that off.” Chill orders. “You did an honorable thing marrying her. You wanted to help her and the baby. Don’t sell yourself short just because she didn’t have a fairy tale ending. Who knows what could have happened to her if you had turned her away? According to Slade, she was proud of you and she cared about you. He knows you two weren’t in love, but that you still wanted to be a family.”

Her words stun me. I reel back and stare at her. “How can you be certain?”

“Because he told me. He asked if I was the woman you fell in love with. The one you told Nicole about during your last visit.” Chill says, giving me a smile. “I told him I was, so if I’m wrong…”

I reach over and lace my fingers in her hair and pull her towards me so I can kiss her. Laying my forehead against hers, I take a deep breath. “You are the woman I fell in love with. You are the woman I love today and will love for the rest of my life.”

“Good, I’d hate to be the only one that feels that way.” She says.

My eyes pop open when her words sink in. I grin at her and she grins back. “Yeah?” I ask, stupidly.

“Yeah.” She agrees, giving me a sweet kiss.

“Sorry to interrupt.” Puma says, picking up a chair to flip it around so he can straddle it. “We need to go talk with our friend.”

Chill nods and rises from her seat. I watch the two of them leave. Earning my keep, I get up and help clean up the common room while I wait for Chill to return.

“Things are going well between you and Chill?” Max asks as I help him put away the leftovers. There isn’t much left and I’m certain all of it will be gone by lunchtime.

“Yeah.” I say, grinning. “We talked. I screwed up. She seems to have forgiven me, so I’m grateful.”

Max nods. “That’s good. Chill seems happier now.” He admits.

“What about Showtime?” I ask him. “Have you said anything to her yet?”

He shakes his head. “I can’t, not yet. I need to find the right time.”

“Is there a right time?” I ask him and he flips me off.

Chill is still MIA when we finish cleaning up, so I head outside. Slade and the other kids are climbing an impressive jungle gym. There’s the typical swings and slides, but they also have a short rock wall that leads up to a ledge that connects to two towers. I peek inside one tower to see it has a pole in it like you’d find in a fire station. The other tower has a circular slide. On the other side of the playground is a swimming pool and between them is a mini-water park.

“This place is incredible.” I say, taking a seat at a picnic table with Desdemona and Alisa.

“This is all Puma’s doing.” Alisa says. “When we first moved here, I suggested we build a small play area for Elina.” She says with a laugh. “This is what he thinks is small. He hired some firm that specializes in building parks and playgrounds.”

I laugh. “Wow, I wouldn’t have imagined the President of an MC doing all this, but then again, he played sports for a living before coming here so I can understand play time would rank high.”

She nods. “You should see what he has planned for the park going in across the street.” She continues when she sees my confusion. “The San Diego chapter is building a subdivision behind their clubhouse. All the members are selecting plots and building homes. This way, they can be close to the clubhouse but still have some privacy. Puma wants to do the same thing here. They put in an offer for the land across the street and Puma already has ideas for building a massive park in the center of it all. He wants to see the entire club married off and multiplying.”

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