The Biker Needs A Nanny (Thirteen Bikers for Christmas)

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Grace—

I watch the girls run off into the crowded clubhouse. “You’ve got some really great girls,” I tell Lucky.

“I do.”

He grabs his bottle off the bar. “Ready?”

“Yep.”

We weave through the crowd to the door and wait for the girls. Lucky’s president comes to stand in front of us.

“You leavin’ already, VP?”

“Gotta get my girls home.”

The man turns to me and extends his hand. “I’m Case, by the way.”

“Grace,” I say, shaking his hand.

“Nice to meet you, Grace. Now that you’ve seen we don’t bite, I hope you won’t be a stranger.”

“Thank you.”

Then he grins and points toward the ceiling. Lucky and I look up and spot the mistletoe. Case arcs a brow. “You know the rules, VP.”

My eyes widen, and I stare at Lucky.

He grins. “Rules are rules.”

Then he sweeps me in his arms and dips me, and his mouth brushes against mine. It’s just a soft, gentle kiss. Before I know it, I’m back on my feet, but I’m sure my face is flushed.

There’s applause from the brothers standing nearby.

Case winks at Lucky, then wanders off.

The girls run up, and we move out the door. Lucky walks us to the truck and helps the girls into the cab, then he opens the driver’s door for me and waits while I climb inside. He stands in the open door, and I fasten my seatbelt.

“You okay to drive?” he asks, searching my eyes. “I didn’t even ask how many drinks you had.”

“Just one. I didn’t even finish it.”

He grins. “That bad?”

I grimace. “It was pretty strong.”

“Those prospects, they aim to please.” He tilts his head. “Follow me out, okay?”

“Yep.”

He passes me his gifted bottle of booze. “Take that to the house for me?”

“Sure.”

Then he closes my door and walks to his bike.

“Grace…” Ella says with a knowing grin.

“Yes, honey?” I meet her eyes in the rearview mirror.

“You kissed Daddy.”

“Well, we were under the mistletoe. That’s the rule.”

She looks out her window, but she’s still smiling. I hope she isn’t getting any ideas in her head. I suppose I should be grateful that she isn’t mad. Plenty of children don’t want another woman replacing their mother.

“Are you excited about the boat parade, Ella?” I ask, changing the subject.

“Boat parade!” Poppy yells out. “Yay!”

When we arrive at the house, it’s just after sunset, and climbing out of the truck, we hear the horn of a boat being lightly tapped.

Lucky climbs from his bike. “Come on, girls. Hurry.”

The three of them dash around the house.

I follow, and when I get to the other side, they’re pounding down the dock and a flotilla of boats slowly approaches in a line.

The lights strung on the boats reflect in the calm waters of the bay. One of the boats is playing Christmas music.

Lucky returns to the house and grabs a couple of blankets. “Here, girls. This will keep you warm.”

They’re cuddled together on one of the chaise lounges, still holding their new dolls, and he tucks the blanket around them.

I sit on the other lounger.

“Want to share a blanket?” he asks.

“Sure.” I scoot over and he covers us both with the other blanket.

As each boat goes past, the girls wave, and the captains honk their horns. People aboard wave back, and shout, “Merry Christmas!”

The parade is about two dozen boats long, and takes a while until we reach the last boat, which is playing Jingle Bells .

The people aboard are singing loudly, and if I had to guess, I’d bet they’d all imbibed on some rum to warm them on this chilly night.

I stand and clap, as does Lucky.

“That was fun,” I say, then turn and spot Mildred and her husband several docks down. They wave, and I shout, “Merry Christmas!”

“Merry Christmas!” they yell back.

Then we make our way inside.

“It’s time for bed, girls. Go change into your PJs and brush your teeth. I’ll be up in a minute to tuck you in,” Lucky says, and they scamper off.

“Goodnight, girls,” I call.

“Night, Grace,” I hear in return from both of them.

Lucky picks up the bottle with the red bow. “Have a drink with me after I tuck the girls in?”

“Sure.”

He heads up the stairs, and I walk to the fireplace, rubbing my upper arms. I spot one of those logs in a bag that you just light the corner and it flames to life. I may not be able to build a fire, but I can do that much, and I don’t think Lucky will mind.

By the time he comes down the stairs, I’ve got music on and a blazing fire going.

He stops at the bottom of the steps.

“A fire. Nice.”

He moves to open the bottle and produces two cocktail glasses from a cabinet. He fills them with an inch of amber liquor and holds one out to me. “Cheers.”

I clink my glass to his. “Cheers.”

He sits on the couch next to me, and I smile.

“That was nice tonight.”

“Yeah, the girls had fun, huh?”

“Yes,” I reply.

He tastes his drink. “Not bad. You like scotch?”

“I don’t know that I’ve ever had it.”

“Just sip it.”

I do and grimace, swallowing it down.

He chuckles and takes the glass from my hand. “That’s okay. You don’t have to drink it.”

I give him a relieved look. “Thanks.”

“Sorry about tonight.

“About what?”

“That kiss. I had no idea Prez was going to do that.” He downs his drink. “What’d you think of the clubhouse?”

“It was nicer than I expected.”

“Probably because our last clubhouse was a dump. Case made sure we got something better. He’s been a good president since he took the gavel.”

“What happened to the last president?”

“He was stealing from the club and strung out on drugs half the time. The Birmingham chapter came down and saw what was going on, and they ran him off. Him and our old VP. They took their bikes and beat the shit out of them.”

“That sounds awful.”

“It was a really good day for our club, actually. It was the start of everything changing for the better. We owe those boys a debt of gratitude.”

“Who?”

“Shades and his crew. It was hard for any of us to stand up to both our president and VP, but it was easy Shades, because he was on equal footing. Shades is a good man, and he doesn’t take crap from anyone. When he saw what was going on, he didn’t hesitate to clean house.”

“It was nice they came to support you guys for the toy run.”

“Yeah, we do that kind of thing for each other.” His eyes move over me. “I like that sweater.”

“Thanks for buying it for me.”

“I wasn’t fishing for a thank you, Grace.”

“Oh.”

“Thursday, the girls' holiday break starts. My parents are picking them up that afternoon.”

“I’ll have a free weekend?”

“If you want it, but I was going to say that while the girls are gone, I’d… ah… like to take you to dinner.”

I stare at him, trying to figure out if that offer is an actual date or if he’s just talking about grabbing food.

His eyes drop to my sweater again. “Maybe you could wear that. I’ll take you someplace nice. We could start on a better foot than the day we met. We could actually get to know one another.”

He does mean like a date. Giddiness fills me. But at the same time that my heart is beating in my chest, my brain is slamming on the brakes. Whoa. Slow down. He’s your boss. You work for this man. If we try to turn this relationship into something more, and it goes wrong, it could screw everything up.

And I love it here. Even though I know in my heart, I’ll probably have to run soon to keep Eric from finding me. I dread that day, and I don’t want to do anything to cause it come sooner.

On the other hand, my heart is telling me it could work out. We could fall in love. This could be my life permanently, here with this gorgeous man and his beautiful girls. A ready-made family and a home. Things I’ve never had. Things I’ve longed for.

My silence has him cocking his head. “Unless you’re not interested.”

“I am,” I snap so quickly it surprises even me.

His teeth flash, and the grooves along his cheeks form around his smile. “Good. I’d like that.”

The music changes, and Mariah Carey comes on singing her iconic Christmas song.

“Oh, man. Make it stop,” Lucky says.

“I love this song!”

“Seriously?”

“Of course. It’s about a woman in love, and all she wants is the man she loves.”

“Sure.”

“Plus, it’s catchy. How can you not want to start dancing when you hear it?” I jump up and do just that. “See?”

It gets a smile out of him, and I tug him to his feet.

“Come on. You want to dance. You know you do.”

“No, but I’ll dance with you.” He takes me in his arms, then spins me out and back. I slam into his chest and suddenly we’re both staring at each other. I break the spell, taking his hands. “Do you do the jitterbug?”

“Nobody does the jitterbug, Grace.”

I pull back and then forward. “It’s like this.”

He follows my lead until we both start laughing and the song changes to My Grown-up Christmas List . The mood shifts to a slower, more subdued one, and Lucky pulls me into his arms.

“Now this is my kind of dancing,” he murmurs.

I rest my head on his shoulder, and we sway to the music.

A peace engulfs me like I’ve never known, at least, not since I was a little girl and my mother was still alive. I close my eyes, feeling safe and protected. My eyes sting and fill. How will I ever explain why I’m suddenly so overwhelmed with emotion?

I don’t want this moment to end, but when the music finally fades, I pull free and turn away. “I should go to bed. It’s late.”

“Grace…”

I run from the room and up the stairs, dashing the tears away.

He doesn’t follow, and I’m grateful.

I throw myself on the bed and cry, letting out all the pain in my soul. I have to let it go. I have to let the pain of my childhood go. Only then can I ever make room for the kind of love I deserve.