A Biker’s Tiny Present (Rebel Vipers MC Christmas Standalone)

CHAPTER THREE

RILEY

I make it two minutes down the road and turn around. I don’t know why, but something is telling me to check somewhere else before I go to the clubhouse.

Yesterday I saw a sign hanging on the community activity bulletin board at the grocery store about a winter open house happening at The Lodge today. I know the bar slash restaurant is owned by the MC, and there is no guarantee that the mystery biker I’m looking for will be there, but now that the idea is in my head, I have to check it out.

The clubhouse is west of town, a few miles down a curvy road, but The Lodge sits just past the Tellison village limits sign to the east. I pass through one of the two sets of stoplights our little town has, the other being on the west end of Maple Street, and two minutes later turn left into the restaurant’s parking lot. The Lodge sits adjacent to Moraine Craft Brewery, also owned by the club, and the already large lot is almost full. I find a spot in the row closest to the road and hustle toward the door.

The same sign from the grocery store is also taped to the front door.

Winter Open House 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Come visit Santa from 3 to 5 p.m.

Toy and Baby Clothing Drive—benefiting the NICU at St. Gerard Community Hospital.

Hot chocolate for kids and adults!

That sounds yummy. If I wasn’t on a mission to find Nicholas, I’d definitely be giving it a shot.

Glancing at my phone I notice it’s already almost seven-thirty, so I hope someone in charge from the club is still here, and if not, they better be ready for me to be visiting every club owned business I know of in the vicinity. I’ve wasted enough time calling anyone and everyone I could think of, so hopefully I won’t strike out again with this pit-stop.

Walking inside, I’m greeted by a blast of warm air, so I unzip my coat. There’s a light smell of greasy burgers, pizza sauce, and peppermint. It’s a very strange combination, but based on the growl coming from my stomach, it’s not a bad one. That reminds me, I haven’t eaten in coming up on eleven hours and I’m regretting skipping lunch. Hopefully I can find Taylor and Nicholas, get them back home quick, and stuff my face with at least a bowl of cereal before I crash headfirst into my mattress.

The open room is crowded with mostly parents and children eating dinner, although there are a few solo stragglers enjoying a beer at the bar, but I see no sign of my sister or nephew.

There are three ladies mixing drinks behind the bar and I head straight for the one across from the first empty stool I find.

“Excuse me,” I call out, holding my phone with the screen forward. “Have you seen this woman and her baby today?”

A pair of the darkest eyes I’ve ever seen, I swear they are black as a starless night, snap between the picture I’m showing her and my face. Her jaw drops as she sets down the glass she’s currently wiping. I feel her eyes inspect me top to bottom, and I swear I can almost feel her looking into my soul. I see a confused look, mixed with a little judgment, as she takes me in. But just as quick as it appears, a smile fills her face. Waving her hand, beckoning me to the right, she nods. “Follow me.”

I follow her parallel along the bar as she maneuvers around the other bartenders, until she pops out at the end. She wipes her hands on the small black apron tied around her waist and holds out her hand. “Hi. I’m Raven. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Riley,” I reply as we shake. “Do you know where my sister and Nicholas are?”

“Your sister, no,” she reveals and my heart starts to sink. But then she points down a dimly lit hallway, “but the baby is here. With his dad.”

“His dad?” So he is here. I guess my hunch was right. “What the hell is going on?”

Raven starts walking and I follow her with zero hesitation. “I think it’d be better to let Tiny answer that for you.”

“Who’s Tiny?” I ask as we stop in front of a closed door.

Lightly knocking, and not waiting for a reply, she uses a key and pushes it open. A tall man in all black, and a blonde woman with shoulder length wavy blonde hair and a fairly large baby bump, are the first people I see. She smiles and nods as the two slip past us and head down the hall.

“See you in the morning, Sunshine,” Raven calls out as she steps in the room.

I’m frozen where I stand. Even though I know Nicholas is here, and I’m beyond happy that I’ve found him, the rest still hasn’t caught up to me. Where is Taylor? Why did she bring the baby here? What is this place?

“This is my office,” Raven replies, motioning me into the room.

I didn’t mean to say that out loud, but her reply gets my feet moving. Not two steps inside, I freeze. Raven was telling the truth, but it only solves one of my problems. I see Nicholas and he seems to be okay. He is sound asleep, his adorable, chubby face smiling like he’s having a great dream. Who knows how long he’s been here, or when he took his naps today, so I’m not surprised to see him out like a light.

“Oh, thank God.” I finally take the first deep breath in an hour.

“Who are you?”

I obviously didn’t miss the man holding my nephew, because who could miss someone this tall and good looking drink of water, but his growly voice and grunt steal my attention from the bundle in his arms.

Holy moly is he hot. Like melt the butter for my biscuits, don’t forget to wear your sunscreen, get in your car in the middle of August and burn the back of your thighs on the leather seat, H-O-T, hot!

I get my first look at his shockingly handsome face, a face that stuns me silent and turns me stupid, “I . . .” and I can’t finish my thought.

“Tiny, this is Riley. She’s Nicholas’s aunt,” Raven jumps in and answers for me. “Riley, meet Tiny, Nicholas’s dad. Or so your sister’s note says.”

I can hear her talking, and absorb every word she’s saying, but I let my eyes wander and really take him in. Under his judgy judging eyes, I judge him for myself.

Insanely tall. At least a few inches over six feet—check.

Bald head covered in colorful tattoos that crawl down his neck, even on the front of his throat, as well as one beside his left eyebrow—check.

Hoop ring piercing in his right nostril and small black gages in both ears—check.

Bushy, but somehow soft looking, jet-black mustache and beard surrounding pouty lips I want to drown in—check . . . wait, no, I can’t think that.

Oh, how I’d love to, but if he’s really my nephew’s father, he has to be off limits. As sexy as his dark broodiness is, and as irresistible as I find the ink that flows from the edges of his t-shirt sleeves all the way down to his fingertips, this man is not available. Taylor may not have wanted him for the long-term, but he’s in Nicholas’s life now, so I need to nip any inappropriate thoughts in the butt right here and now.

Had I met this man any other time, this meeting would be very different if I had my way. Unfortunately for me, it looks like he will be in my life but not in a way that my libido and mind can agree on.

Goddammit, Taylor. What did you get us in to?