BAD BOY ROMANCE: DIESEL: Contemporary Bad Boy Biker MC Romance (Box Set) (New Adult Sports Romance Short Stories Boxset) (19 page)

Diesel grunted. “Not until they’re older.” He looked a little sick for a moment, and Kim thought he might be regretting getting involved with her, especially since they hadn’t really talked about kids. She didn’t even know if he was okay with them at all, much less having one so soon into their marriage. She held her breath as he seemed to work out his thoughts aloud. “I never thought about having a family with Sophia, but I’m sure there were reasons for that. And I haven’t really talked much about it with you, but I’ve pictured being a father and you as a mother for a while now. I’m more excited and eager to have kids than I could have imagined. In fact, the idea is more fulfilling than anything I did with the club.”

That was music to Kim’s heart, and in fact, it inspired a song. She would have to work on it right away, while the thought was potent in her head and the tune was working itself out inside. First, though, she hugged her husband and leaned her head on his shoulder. “I love you, Diesel, or whatever I’m supposed to call you now.”

He chuckled. “A rose by any other name?”

She nodded and laughed, meeting his eyes. “It’s true. You’re still you, and you always will be.”

He caressed her face and drew the pad of his thumb over her lips. “I love you, too, and I don’t care what your name is. I don’t care who your family was, and I don’t care what I have to do to be with you. I will make any sacrifice and go to any length for us to be together. Always.”

Forever wasn’t a concept Kim could wrap her head around, but she believed him. Life was finite, but she knew that, as long as she lived, Diesel would be with her. And now, they would have another member of the family, a child that had been made by taking a piece from both of them that was growing inside her like some little miracle. She had never imagined herself on the run, or with a leather clad biker. But she couldn’t ask for anything better. This was everything she never knew she always wanted.

THE END

By Alexis Diamond

Air, hot and sticky rushed past the orange and black stripes, causing the fur to ripple.  Niall was in full sprint, mouth pulled back exposing long sharp teeth.  The man ahead of him dared one final frantic look over his shoulder as he lunged for the chain link fence in front of him and began scrambling to the top.  The tiger took the fence in one graceful leap, landing on the other side in a spray of pebbles and sand.  He whipped his muscular body around and sat staring up at the man in a bored manner. 

“I didn’t do anything!  Call your cat off!”  He screamed into the night, his head turning from side to side, his eyes bulging in the near darkness.  “I don’t know who you are!”  He glanced down at the massive tiger, a true impossibility for South Beach on a Tuesday night.  The cat seemed to smile. 

“Oh, my!  Oh my!”  Tina ran into the diner’s break room and immediately switched the channel on the old television set.  It was one of those ancient 13” models that actually needed a human hand to touch the dial to change the channels, and there wasn’t a remote at all.

“Hey!”  Sinclair yelled, part of her sandwich falling from her mouth.  “I was watching that!  I hardly ever get my break when my soap is on!” 

Tina turned her tiny frame and motioned with her hand for Sinclair to come closer to the television.  “You won’t believe this!” 

“Move and I’ll be able to see and believe.”  She said with a roll of her eyes. 

Tina grabbed one of the plastic chairs and yanked it backwards to the little table Sinclair sat at.  Tina was her friend, but her timing was always lousy. 

“Look!”  She screeched and pointed at the screen. 

A man was being led away by handcuffs he was screaming at the policemen, then straight at the camera that he had seen a tiger.  A tiger had pinned him a top a fence.  The scene cut to chuckling anchors, a man with phony looking brown hair and a petite blonde who looked like Barbie. 

Sinclair rubbed the back of her neck nervously.  So she hadn’t been crazy after all.  The anchor team went on to say that this was the fourth such tiger sighting in the past month for South Palm Beach.  Neither plastic person seemed to take it seriously. 

Tina looked at Sinclair with sharp eyes.  “If you had of reported seeing a tiger it would have been
five
sightings.”

“Yeah.”  Sinclair replied absently.  She shook her head and stood, taking her half eaten lunch to the waste basket.  “Doesn’t matter.  Probably some rich jerks pet that has gotten loose.”  She checked her hair and makeup in the tiny mirror by the door.  Her face looked rounder today than normal.  Her whole person felt rounder today.  It was hard to truly keep up her spirits concerning herself when she had recently needed to request a size 14 uniform and turn in her size 12.  Large bosomed and basically big boned, her mother had told her at an early age that she was doomed from birth.  She would never be thin, or lithe, or petite, blah blah blah.  So she had set out on a mission from the onset of puberty: if she was condemned to an ugly body, then she would at least have a pretty face and good hair. 

Sinclair smiled wistfully at her reflection.  Her waxed and perfectly shaped dyed eyebrows lifted slightly at the movement.  She dug her red lipstick from the pocket of her apron and applied a liberal amount to her full lips before grabbing a napkin and blotting the excess away.  Her curled hair was still holding up well in her up do.  Hopefully it would for the rest of the day, considering who she had to meet after work. 

“You look great, kid.”  Tina sighed as she dug through her purse.  Tina was the opposite of Sinclair in every physical way.  She was short with straight limp brown hair, a size four, and never under any circumstances, wore makeup.  She was Sinclair’s roommate and had recently did her the biggest favor of her life. 

Sinclair squared her shoulders and smoothed her hands along the pink fabric of her old fashioned waitress dress.  She smiled at Tina. 

“The show must go on.” 

She heard Tina yell after her that it wasn’t a show, not their circus, and definitely
not
their monkey’s.

Niall looked at the fax with a tilt of his head as the paper came slowly from the machine.  He sighed with discontent, his dark eyes squinting at the image.  He yanked it from the paper tray and scowled.  Another Palm Beach bounty.  He wanted out of Palm Beach!  He wanted to either go home, or go somewhere cool where the air was thinner.  Somewhere often covered with white.  The view in Palm Beach was gorgeous.  Ocean everywhere, and bikinis on model lookalikes, but he was bored.  He was bored with the hustle and bored with the pretense. 

“Whatcha got?”  Jerry asked as he walked into the crammed office.  Three desks, three filing cabinets, and a sizeable house tree next to a beat up sofa had been crammed into a space which had been meant for a loft apartment.  They could see the beach from where they were and the rent reflected it.  The kitchenette came in handy though. 

Jerry kicked his chair away from his desk with a booted heel, his hands full with two donuts and a capped Styrofoam coffee cup.  He plopped his sizeable bulk into the chair and took a massive bite out of one of the donuts, sending sprinkles everywhere.  Jerry was another reason Niall needed to leave.  He was ok as far as bosses go, but he was disorganized and infuriatingly messy.  Niall needed order.  As much order as he could get. 

“It’s another bounty.  Female, 5’6”, age 24.”

Jerry motioned for him to hand the paper over.  Niall grimaced as Jerry licked his fingers before taking the paper. 

“Sheila Sinclair Makenzie.”  He raised his eyebrows.  “What the hell kind of name is that?”

Niall shrugged miserably. 

“Not a bad looker.  A little heavy for my taste.” 

Niall made a face and pushed his head back from his shoulders.  Why should Jerry care about size?  He shook his head as Jerry tossed the paper across his desk. 

“You take this one.  It’s low level, failure to appear on a larceny charge.  Jumped bail.” 

“I don’t want it.  You know I’m trying to get out of here.” 

Jerry narrowed his eyes and took another slow bite of donut, this time making it disappear entirely.  “You said you would stick around until we found a replacement and were caught up.”

“Yeah, I did, but as far as I can see,
I’m
the only one trying to accomplish that!”

Jerry started on the next donut, his eyes still on Niall.  His mustache and goatee now collecting white powder.  Niall shuddered. 

“Whatever.  I’ll take care of it.”  Niall muttered and left the office.  

Sinclair walked down the sidewalk her eyes pinned to the cruiser approaching.  She held her breath, but kept walking without breaking stride.  Hesitation would draw attention.  She didn’t turn her head as the cruiser slipped past her continuing up 53rd.  Once again she had escaped notice.  Sinclair knew that probably wouldn’t last forever. 

It had been stupid to miss her court date.  It had been stupid to take the rap for Joseph.  It had been his problem that night, not hers.  She had been arrested for breaking and entering.  Joseph had made his speedy escape on foot.  Love could make a person do strange things, but here was the real clincher; did she even love him?  Lately it was a big fat no.  And then there was the problem of
who
Joseph was attempting to steal from.  One just doesn’t break into the multi-million dollar home of Enrique Arrays and expect to not get caught.  Especially when the thief had once had the trust of Enrique Arrays.  Sinclair shuddered.  Enrique knew she didn’t actually break into the house, he wanted to meet with her so she would spill the beans on Joseph’s whereabouts.  Could she actually do it?  Did she dare not?  She wasn’t entirely sure where Joseph was!  Her life wouldn’t be worth two cents if she didn’t attempt to help Enrique. 

Niall stared up at the white stucco and glass house.  It was a sprawling structure that exuded a definite message: “Hey, I’m rich!  I’m filthy stinking rotten rich!” 

Niall didn’t like this job and he hadn’t even started it properly.  This was another prime example of why he needed to get away from Florida.  He was a human bounty hunter by day (and occasionally night) but he was also a hitman for the paranormal nasties that roamed the state, Palm Beach in particular.  He just needed to make enough money to get home, or wherever.  That was his only goal.  His particular talents were desirable to the nasties of the area.  After all, who wouldn’t want a hitman/bounty hunter who could become a tiger?

Niall sighed and walked up the wide multi leveled steps to the front door.  Arrays had promised there would be someone coming who would have information concerning the guy the hit was on.  He had promised a quick and easy job. 

The round face of an impossibly large man stared at Niall impassively as he was ushered into the stark living room.  It reminded him of the scene from
Scarface
when Tony first meets Frank.  The living room was almost entirely white with white leather furniture sitting around the cavernous sparsely decorated room.  The entire eastern wall was glass with a fine view of the ocean just past South Ocean Boulevard.  Niall wondered if Array’s neighbors knew he was a Cuban drug lord.  He was positive they didn’t realize he was a werewolf.

The gorilla looking man left Niall without a word.  Niall sat on the edge of one of the couches and waited.  He heard voices, low and indistinct, just before Enrique himself appeared with the gorilla close behind him.  He grinned easily and extended a hand to Niall.  A thick gold chain bracelet peeked out from under the cuff of his deep plum shirt and Niall saw the sparkle of diamond from his pinky ring. 

“Mr. Amrit, thank you for coming.”  His voice was cultured and only carried a light lilting and hesitation to give clue as to his origins.  He sat on the opposite end of the couch and gave Niall an amused expression.  “You’re a little taller than I expected.”

“Why’s that?” 

Enrique shrugged, accepting a glass tumbler from his gorilla.  “You’re Indian, correct?”

And there it was, another bigamous assumption.  “My father was from India, yes, but not my mother.” 

“Ah.”  His cognac colored eyes twinkled.  “I guess you wonder why I wish to hire you instead of handling this myself.”

“No, I understand perfectly well.”

He tilted his head. “How so?”

“Distance.  You want to keep your…hands clean.” 

Enrique laughed boisterously.  “My human clients would expect that, yes.” 

“So, who is the guy?”

Enrique snapped his fingers.  The gorilla brought a paper from his jacket pocket, folded in three’s, and handed it to Niall.  He unfolded it and stared at the still shot from a security camera.  The man was tall and gangly with light colored hair.  He was looking straight at the camera smiling. 

“Arrogant.”  Niall said quietly. 

“You have no idea.”  Enrique replied, his lips tight.  “He worked for me as a grounds keeper.”    

“That’s how he knew how to get in?”

“Yes.  He punched one number wrong on the alarm key pad.  You see,” He said leaning forward and clasping his hands over his knees.  “He had disabled six of the security cameras on the ground floor.  This one was left up for my benefit.” 

Niall folded the paper again.  He tapped it lightly on his thigh.  “Why didn’t you show this to the police?”

“The police arrested someone, but it was the wrong someone.  I allowed it because she will help us find Joseph Overman and retrieve my belongings that he still has in his possession.  One of which is of great importance.” 

“And this person is?”

“His girlfriend.” 

A doorbell chimed softly.  Enrique smiled coldly.  “And here she is now.”

Sinclair eyed the large man who opened the door with a wary queasy kind of feeling in her stomach.  She couldn’t recall ever seeing a man quite that blank in the face. 

Maybe he’s slow
.  She thought, but didn’t really believe it.  Her flats clicked slightly on the shiny floor, and she clutched her oversized bag tightly by the straps.  She hoped the deep fried grease smell that clung to her uniform and work shoes didn’t escape the bag.  She had applied a liberal amount of the body spray which she always carried with her to mask the same smell on her skin. 

The man led her into a rather modern spacious living room, and she was surprised to see another man already sitting with Enrique.  She had only met Enrique once, when Joseph still worked for him and she had come to pick him up, and once again she was struck by how handsome he was.  The man on the couch with him had very tan skin, but it looked natural, like he was born with it, instead of achieving the hue from laying around on the beach.  His near black eyes widened slightly as she walked in the room. 

He’s probably surprised I’m not pencil thin with blonde hair
.  She thought ruefully.  Her red lips turned down in a slight frown.

“Please, Sinclair, sit anywhere you like.”

Sinclair sat primly on the edge of an armless upholstered chair, grateful her dirty uniform was no longer on her body. 

Niall couldn’t believe his good fortune.  The woman, his final bounty, was seated less than ten feet from him, and she was connected with the final paranormal job he would do in this infernal place.  She looked nervous, but he supposed she had every reason to be.  He liked the way her obviously dyed deep red hair was curled and pinned up.  Jerry would have rethought his previous assessment.  She was overweight, but not in a grotesque way.  She carried it well.  It reminded Niall of some of the vintage pinup calendar girls he had seen in an antiques shop.  The women were drawn according to what was socially beautiful for their time, and it wasn’t the photo shopped silicone infused image of beauty currently warping young minds.