So I turned and walked fast to my car.

* * *

Three hours later…

I was working in the kitchen when I heard the Harley pipes.

They stopped behind my house.

I washed my hands to clean off the dough for the homemade rolls I was making but stood behind the island and faced the sliding glass doors.

Hop’s eyes locked on me when he was in the courtyard and he didn’t tear them away as he walked in and slid the door closed.

When he came to a stop and crossed his arms on his chest, I was the first one to speak.

“You mean the world to me, too.”

The room infused instantly with sheer beauty.

“Get over here,” he growled.

I felt those three words in three very good places but I didn’t move.

“I’m dramatic,” I reminded him.

“Get over here, Lanie.”

“I go over the top.”

“Over. Here.”

“I create scenes.”

“Lanie. Now.”

“You have to get used to that. It’s part of who I am.”

Hop didn’t speak.

“I don’t like that you did what you did but I do like that you’re a man who’d fight for what he believes in in order to make it real.”

His eyes closed and his head dropped as his arms uncrossed and he rested his hands on his hips.

“Honey,” I called and his head came up. “You have a monster too.”

“I did. My woman just slayed it.”

It was my turn to close my eyes and drop my head because that felt so good, I couldn’t let anything in but the feeling.

“Lady,” he called and I lifted my head.

“I’m worried about Benito,” I announced.

“I know you are,” he replied.

“We disagree with how to deal with that.”

“Give it time, babe, you’ll trust me, understand my brand of protection, and that will not be an issue.”

We both fell silent.

Then I gave in, “Okay.”

I watched how my capitulation affected him as he let the emotions wash over his face. Softness, warmth, then the darkness of passion.

He stopped at the passion and ordered, “Now get over here.”

“Are you going to give me a rug burn?” I asked.

“No. But you’re gonna become acquainted with the seat of your couch and not because your ass is gonna be in it but because your face is gonna be in it. Your ass is gonna be over the back of it which is how you’re gonna take me.”

Another mini-orgasm.

“I think you just gave me a mini-orgasm,” I shared.

“If you get your ass over here, I’ll give you one that is not mini.”

Oh wow.

There it was again.

“That’s four,” I admitted then stupidly went on. “I had two in the forecourt, FYI.”

“Lanie, you bein’ cute is only makin’ me want to f**k you harder.”

“Is that bad?”

Hop lost patience.

“Lady. Get. Over. Here.”

I got over there.

The minute I was in reaching distance, Hop crushed me in his arms and slammed his mouth down on mine.

Not long after, I got acquainted with the seat of my couch in a way I never expected I would.

It was fabulous.

Chapter Thirteen

Perfect

One week, two days later…

I had my head in the fridge, trying to figure out what to have for dinner and thinking maybe we should do takeout, when I heard the sliding glass door open.

“Hey honey, you want a beer?” I asked as I heard the door slide shut.

“Bourbon,” Hop answered.

I pulled my head out of the fridge and turned to him to see he had a face like thunder. He was also opening the doors over my pantry where I kept my hard liquor.

“Is everything okay?” I asked, moving to the island.

Hop uncapped my Jack Daniels then threw back a healthy slug straight from the bottle.

I made a mental note to buy another for company and leave that one all to Hop.

He dropped the bottle and sliced his eyes to me. “Get this shit, Shy is doin’ Tabby.”

My mouth dropped open, my heart swelled, and the look on his face was the only thing stopping me from doing a girlie jump in the air, arms overhead, shouting, “Hurrah!”

Tabitha Allen was Tack’s only daughter. She was in her early twenties but when she was in her teens, she had a screaming crush on Shy.

I had no idea why Hop looked like he wanted to kill someone but maybe he didn’t know that Tab used to have a huge crush on Shy. Regardless, I thought it was cool. This meant she was healing from her loss. She had sunk so deep in her grief, we all feared for a while that she would drown in it. But she’d come back to her old self.

I wondered if Shy had anything to do with that and I hoped he did.

“Uh, is it Shy you want to kill and if so, why?” I asked and Hop just scowled at me so I gave him another option. “Or are you generally just pissed at the world because you had a bad day?”

“Did you hear me?” he asked.

“Yes, you said Shy and Tabby have gotten together.”

“Shy is Shy, babe. That means he’s doin’ her.”

“Well, yes, she’s past the age of consent and Shy is Shy. He’s hot and maybe it’s good she’s getting some.”

“From a brother?” he spat with disgust.

I decided to try silence for a bit to see if he’d share more so I’d know what the big deal was.

This didn’t work when Hop stopped talking and slugged back more Jack.

When he again dropped the bottle, I told him, “Hop, this is one of those times you need to remember your old lady is a fledgling old lady and you need to explain.”

“She’s Tack’s daughter,” he reminded me of something I knew.

I nodded.

“Off-limits, babe,” he declared.

“Well—”

“And he knows it.”

I moved to him, got close and lifted a hand to rest it on his chest before I said, “The heart sometimes doesn’t care about limits.”

Something in his eyes changed and I knew him well enough to know that change didn’t bode well for me.

This knowledge was confirmed when he stated, “They been at it a while, better at hidin’ it than you and me which, FYI, Shy knows about us. High you already knew, Hound was in the kitchen when we had our go ’round and Hound’s got a big f**kin’ mouth so Boz, Tug, Brick, Dog, Snapper, and Bat also know.”