New Title 6 (13 page)

 “Cool.”
She beamed, and then her face was puzzled. “Then how come Talon was sleeping on
the couch when I came out this mornin'? Shouldn't he be in here with you?”

 Talon
chuckled. I blanched.

 “From
now on, Maya. That's where I'll be,” Talon said.

 She
shrugged and said, “Okay.” Then bolted out of the room with Talon chuckling and
following behind her.

 I
flopped to my back, placed the pillow Talon had used over my face, and
screamed. How was it possible that children were so carefree when it comes to
life changing situations? Ones that would freak any adult out? Just like it had
to me when anything came to Talon and myself.

 I
was prepared to lay there for quite some time and debate on what to do next.
Should I panic some more over the fact that my daughter wasn't phased by the
fact that I would now be having a man sleep in my bed? A bed that she jumped
into nearly every morning to wake my zombie form up from? Or should I leave
things as they were, and not bother freaking out about anything that just
occurred?

 All
thoughts soon left me, because Talon's scent from the pillow distracted me,
sending image after image of last night into my mind.

 It
was time for me to get up and have a cold shower.

 I
walked into the kitchen wearing a long, striped, black and grey skirt with a black
tee that read 'Get Low and Go’. My hair was still wet from the shower, so I
left it down. No doubt, by mid-morning I would have to put it up because it
would turn out to be one big frizz bomb, because I ran out of my hair product
that kept the curl at bay.

 I
snorted. Let's see how Talon handled that look; he could still run a mile.

 Rounding
the corner, I stopped dead. Maya was sitting at the table in her school
uniform. Yeah, that was fine. Mattie and Julian were leaning against each other
as well, on the bench. Yeah, that was fine too. What had me going
o-kay
and made my eyes pop from my head was Talon, my badass biker man, standing
behind Maya and doing her hair in a ponytail...with a flipping ribbon to boot.

 Talon's
hard eyes turned to me. “Do not say a...freakin' word,” he growled.

 My
heart swelled. I wanted to run to him and maul him like a wild woman. Not only
was he caring for me by caring for my daughter, but he was doing it in front of
witnesses. To top it off, he actually listened to me and chose not to swear in
front of Maya.

 Shit
. Tears were forming in my eyes.

 Talon's
eyes stayed on me as I saw them turn sweet. He knew it meant something to me,
and just in case he didn't, I walked over to him and gently kissed him. My lips
met him, and when I went to pull away, he pinned me back with his hand around
my waist and deepened the kiss.

 “Aw,
yuck.” Maya moaned.

 I
smiled against Talon's mouth. He chuckled. I stepped out of his reach and went
to the coffee machine on the counter. Though I didn't miss the gentle shove
Talon gave Maya, or the wide happy smile that was upon her lips.

 If
this was how it was going to be, I could handle that.

 “Mornin',
guys,” I said to the two grinning fools. I hipped Mattie out of my way from
reaching my morning coffee. “Get outta my way. If I don't have my fix in the
next twenty seconds, all heck will break loose, and it's way worse than me
PMS-ing.” I took a sip and turned to Talon. “Let that be a warning to you.”

 “Got
that, kitten.” He smirked.

 A
knock sounded on the front door.

 “Open
up duck heads, I ne-e-ed a good coffee,” Deanna yelled. Mattie moved off to the
front door.

 “Momma,
can I go play before school?”

 “Have
you had breakfast?”

 “Yeah,
Talon got it for me.”

 Wipe the tears off my heart.

 “Teeth?”

 She
rolled her eyes. “Yes, Momma; Talon already told me to.”

 Forget wiping tears; let the flood begin.

 “And
I can see Talon has already done your hair. So yes, baby; you can go play.
We'll leave in ten.”

 “Okay.”
She got up from the table and ran out of the room, calling a quick hello to
Deanna on the way past her.

 “Coffee,
bitch, quick,” Deanna ordered.

 I
got a cup ready and handed it to her as she sat down at the table. Talon walked
over to me and placed me in front of him, his arms twinning around my waist. I
sighed and relaxed into him; he grunted his approval of me not fighting him on
the close comfort he was offering after taking care of my young.
And melting
my heart into a big puddle of goo. The hairy ball sac.
Though, I couldn’t
help the smile creeping onto my lips.

 “Yo,
boss man,” Deanna started after her first sip. “You gotta get better fuckin'
coffee at the compound. It nearly choked the hell outta me.” She shuddered from
the memory.

 “You
got work today?” I asked Deanna.

 “Yeah.”
She rolled her eyes.

 “Who
in their right mind hired someone with such a colourful vocabulary?” Julian
asked. Mattie nodded in agreement as he leaned back in his seat and placed an
arm around Julian’s chair.

 I
giggled. “The library.”

 Talon
chuckled behind me. “You have got to be shittin’ me.”

 Deanna
flipped him the middle finger and then swung it to Julian.

 “Oh,
don’t give me that, caramel cake. I think it’s a great job for you. All that
silence.” He snickered. “No wonder you swear like a trooper when you’ve been
cooped up all day.”

 I
cleared my throat. “Actually, she only works a thirteen hour week.”

 Julian
raised his eyebrows and turned to Deanna. “I guess all the colourfulness just
comes naturally.”

 Deanna
snorted. “That’s right, sugarplum. Anyway, now that I’ve had me fuckin’ fill of
all your shit, people, I better be off.” She rose from the table, bringing her
mug to the sink.

 “Who’s
on you today?” Talon asked.

 Huh? What does he mean?

 Deanna
sighed loudly. “I don’t need no ass-wipe babysitter.”

 Well
that explained that.

 Talon’s
phone rang; he answered with a gruff, “What? Yep, she is. That right. Ok.” He
flipped the phone closed and placed it back in his pocket. “Don’t fuckin’ move
a muscle,” he growled.

 I
moved out of his arms and faced him with a glare. “Don’t you talk to me like
that; and I’m not moving, a-a-and keep down the tone. Maya’s still in the
house.”

 He
smirked. “I wasn’t talkin’ to you, kitten.” He nodded over my shoulder. I
turned to see Deanna near the doorway looking out into the lounge with a tense
body.

 “Deanna?”
I asked.

 Julian
squealed. “Whoo-boy, something’s going to go down. I so frigging love this
place. It’s like having your own private movie. Wait, I need a snack while
watching this.”

 “You
just had breakfast,” Mattie said, shaking his head.

 “Come
on—”

 “Guys,”
I interrupted, and then spun back to Talon. “What’s wrong?”

 “That
was Griz on the phone; he asked Hell Mouth to wait while he had a quick shower.
He got out and she’d disappeared.”

 Deanna
turned back around, hands on her hips, and a scowl on her face. “Oh, come the
fuck on. I needed a coffee.”

 “You
could have waited.” Talon glared back at her. “Have some fuckin’ respect,
woman. Griz had a shit night; he doesn’t wanna deal with your crap all day, but
he is.”

 “Whatever.”
She shook her head and looked at me. “This is what you call friendship; now I
have to put up with a body-fuckin’-guard all day and night.”

 I
gasped. She was right; I was a terrible friend. All my past poo now affected
her life in more ways than she could handle. I know Deanna; she’d hate being
crowded all the time.

 “Don’t
start all your wah, wah crap.” She rolled her eyes and walked over to me; our
gazes met. “You know I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love ya guts.”

 I
nodded. She smiled, and the front door banged open.

 “Get
your ass out here, woman, or you’ll be late for work,” Griz snarled.

 “I’m
coming,” Deanna yelled back. She sighed, hugged me, and made her way out. “See
you losers later.”

T
alon and I walked Maya to school. We walked Maya—my daughter—to
school. As in together. Both of us walking with Maya, to school. Like a
real-life couple. It felt amazing. He held my hand; Maya held his other hand,
and as we walked, we talked. More like Maya talked to Talon, and I walked along
while trying not to bawl my eyes out, trip, or sing, “The hills are alive with
the sound of music.”

 Once
we got back to my place, he announced, “Kitten, I gotta take off for a while.
Blue’s coming over, but I’ll be back later before you hav’ta get Maya from
school. I’m gonna bring some of m’shit with me to keep here; saves me traveling
home every day.”

 I
gulped. This was serious stuff; still, I couldn’t stop from saying, “Talon you
live right next door; it’s not that hard.”

 He
laughed. “Babe, I don’t live there. I sometimes crash there when I’ve had too
much. I live out on some land in Buninyong.” He kissed me before I had a chance
to have a thought.

 I
went to my tippy toes and tightly wrapped my arms around his neck. He growled
deep, sending a shiver to my fandola. I loved it when he did that. Our tongues
did the tango with an expertise of practiced partners.

 “Ah,
don’t mind us.”

 I
moved my head back enough to look over Talon’s shoulder, and while panting, I
saw Julian and Mattie standing in the kitchen doorway. I wanted to hiss and
yell at them to flock off. But I was also grateful they turned up, or I’d be
turning myself inside out to claw my way into Talon’s pants.

 “Fuck
it. One day, kitten. One day, I’ll have you, and then you won’t be glad to be
interrupted.”

 I
looked into his amused crinkled eyes. “Well, I wasn’t totally happy about it.”

 “I
agree,” Julian said. “She was giving us laser eyes.”

 “That’s
good to know.” He smiled down at me, kissed my forehead, and moved off to the
front door. “I’ll pick up some takeout for dinner after I get Cody from his
mother,” he said over his shoulder.

 “No
need, Thor. Mattie and I are going shopping; we’ll have enough to feed an
army.”

 I
raised my hand to get his attention. “Oh, um, what’s Cody’s favourite meal to eat?”

 Talon’s
warm eyes turned to me. “Any kinda roast, kitten. Just like his dad.”

 I
looked over to Mattie and said, “Can you get me a leg of lamb?”

 “Sure
thing.” He smiled.

 “He’ll
love it, babe,” Talon said. “I’ll catcha later.”

 Five
seconds after Talon left, Blue walked in. Maybe I should lock that door one
day, but now it seemed to be the traffic way for hot bikers.

 “Hey,
baby.” Blue grinned and walked—no, more like stalked— over to me, and ran the
back of his hand down the side of my cheek. My eyes widened as he nodded over
my shoulder to Julian and Mattie.

 “Alrighty,
we’re off down the street, hun,” Julian said. “If you think of anything else,
text me,
baby
.” He raised his eyebrows up and down. Then he coughed
under his breath, “Slut.”

 I
gave him an eye roll. “Uh, wait. Um…” I turned to Blue. “Shouldn’t we walk with
them, to keep them covered?”

 “Everything
is set, baby. As soon as someone steps out of this house, another is upon
them.”

 Wow.
Talon wasn’t taking any chances.

 “We’re
going in Julian’s car,” Mattie said.

 “Don’t
stress; you’ll be covered,” Blue said.

 “Okay.
Uh, guys, I’ll see you soon.” In other words, do not leave me alone long with
Blue. Because seriously, what the heck was that about? Sure Blue had flirted
before, but he’d never made contact with me.