UNDYING: A Bad Boy MMA Romance (Midwest Alphas) (Book 3) (22 page)

“You know,” I say, admiring his glistening skin. He notices me and pauses his words mid-sentence. “Carpenter is
not
a bad look for you…”

His lips curl. “Is that so?” he chuckles.

“Yeah, I could
definitely
get used to this.” I gesture with my hand, tracing up and down his form with my fingertips.

“Excuse me,” he says to the others. They wave him away as he jumps down off the platform to stand by me. He leans down for a kiss, but I take a quick step back to stop him.

“So, you ditched me this morning,” I say.

He shakes his head, smiling. “I didn’t ditch you…” He lowers his voice to soft volume. “I let you sleep in. The doctor says you need plenty of rest.”

I roll my eyes. “You weren’t all that concerned about me getting
plenty of rest
last night.”

He smirks with a raised brow. “Why do you think I let you sleep in?”

I glare back at him with amused eyes. “I told you I wanted to be here today.”

“You haven’t missed anything,
believe me.
Just Dad and the foreman arguing about who knows what— can I kiss you yet?”

I fight my smile. “I don’t think you’ve groveled enough for that.”

“Please?”
he begs, licking his lips in anticipation. “I’m
really
sorry.”

“You gonna make it up to me?”

“Don’t I always?”

I grin. “I suppose you do…”

Tobias leans in slowly, inching towards me until his lips just barely graze my own. I push in the rest of the way, unable to resist his charms. “Feeling okay?”

“I feel fine,” I answer.

“Good.” He smiles and leans in for another kiss.

“Tobias…”

He pulls back and clears his throat. “Coming, Dad!” He shouts across the drive, only to lean in for another quick peck. “Duty calls.”

“Go.” I nod him away. “I’ll sit here and
watch
.”

Tobias winks at me and I turn back to lean against my car door. As I look down the driveway, a white cloud catches my eye, traveling quickly towards the house. The car comes into view and a rush of adrenaline strikes me.

Amy’s sports car rolls in and comes to a stop behind my sedan. I gasp in happiness and rush over to her as she steps out and slides her pink sunglasses onto her head.

“Amy!” I throw my arms around her and she returns my tight embrace. We laugh like hyenas, finally reunited after months of separation.

Ryan steps out of the passenger’s side, grinning widely, his eyes obscured by a pair of black sunglasses.

“Not that I’m not psyched to see you, but what are you doing here?” I ask, pulling away to take another look at her. “Dinner isn’t for another ten hours.”

“I know, I know,” she says, brushing a stray hair off her eyes. “But I didn’t want to risk missing out on your little
announcement
—”

“Shh!” I warn, peeking over my shoulder. “He doesn’t know I already told you.”

“Ohh, okay…” She nods. “I will act surprised.”

Ryan rounds the car to join us. “Act surprised about what?”

“Nothing, dear.”

“Hey, Ryan!” Charlie shouts. “Give us an extra pair of hands over here, will ya?”

Ryan waves across the driveway in his direction. “Be right there!” He looks down at me. “Good to see you, Claire.”

“Good to see
you
,” I say in return before he walks off.

“Also,” Amy begins, “I have something I need to run by you.”

“Ahh…” I nod. “The
real
reason you came early emerges…”

She loops her arm around mine. “Come on.” She tugs me towards the barn. I pull the door open and we walk inside together. “First of all… how are you feeling?”

I take a deep breath and push the door closed, barely blocking out the sound of hammering nails and drills. “Better,” I say. “Charlie’s been helping me through… well,
everything
that happened. I’ve actually started to feel normal again.”

“That’s nice— but I meant,
how are you feeling
?” she asks again, this time pointing down my body.

I chuckle with rolling eyes. “Fine.”

She scoffs. “You
always
say fine. Give me the gory details, woman.”

“It’s too early for gory details,” I argue. “But when they happen, you’ll be the first to know.”

“Excellent.” She taps her fingers together like a maniacal madman.

I reach for the ladder and climb up to the loft to get a better view of the build site. Amy follows behind me, moving slowly to keep her heels from slipping off the wooden rungs. I sit down on the hay bale near the window and she joins me.

“Ooo lala…” She grins, her eyes darting around the sweat-covered workers. “This is quite the view.”

“I know, right?” I scan the skyline, smiling as I catch sight of the horses — one black, the other brown and spotted white — running in the field behind the new foundation.

She tilts her head to the side. “I might just have to extend my stay this week… and volunteer Ryan as helper.”

“I wouldn’t complain. So—” I clear my throat, “what’s on your mind?”

Amy pulls her eyes away from the boys to look at me. “I have some news.”

“Good or bad news?”

“
Cool
news,” she answers. “Ryan and I are forming a new league.”

I blink. “A new league?”

“Yep.”

“What happened to saving the Alphas?”

“Well, we realized that the Kings — as misguided as they are — were in need of a little saving, too. Ryan doesn’t want to abandon them completely and honestly, neither do I. It’s not their fault Thomas and Rick were psychotic assholes. Most of them just want to compete and they deserve a fair shot at underground fame and glory with the rest of the fighters.”

“You rehearsed this, didn’t you?” I joke.

“Multiple times,” she says, smiling back at me. “What do you say? Good idea? Bad idea?”

“Cool
idea.” I nudge her leg. “You two are natural leaders.”

“My Alphas and his Kings. Should make quite the league.”

“What are you going to call yourselves?” I ask. “Midwest Kings? Double Ex Alphas?”

She wrinkles her nose. “I think we can come up with something a little more
creative
than that. No offense…”

“None taken,” I chuckle. “Creativity has never been my strongest suite. I leave the name change in
your
capable hands.”

“Speaking of
your
capable hands…” She pivots around to face me head-on. “How would
you
like to take over my old district?”

My brow twitches. “Me? Really?”

“Of course!” She slaps my hands. “Who else? Ryan and I are setting up home base in St. Louis. I need trustworthy ladies to be my eyes, ears, and brains around the state and,
naturally
, I thought of my old protege.”

I bite my lip and turn back to the view outside. Tobias catches my attention, as easily as he always has, and I can’t hide my smile. He senses it and his eyes shift in my direction, warming me to the core. “I’m sorry, Amy… but I’m going to decline.”

“Are you
sure
?” she asks, leaning in with a raised brow.

“Yes,” I answer. “I appreciate the offer, but…” I look at the life around me. “I think I’m good.”

“I expected you to say that. I figured I’d give you first dibs though before I started sifting through resumes.”

“Thank you.”

“If you change your mind…” She reaches into her bra and pulls out a fresh, new business card. “You know where to find me.” I take the black card from her and scan the shiny, red lettering. “So… since you’re not going to be a Dame anymore, what do you plan on doing with yourself now?”

I stuff the card into my back pocket. “Well, it’s still very much in the idea phase, but Charlie and I are thinking of opening a shelter in town. Someplace safe for anyone that needs it where we can provide counseling and support and—”

Amy’s jaw drops. “Oh, that sounds
perfect
for you guys.”

“Like I said, it’s just an idea for now, but… I want to give something back. You know?”

“Totally,” she says. “You should call it
Sanctuary
.”

I nod. “Not bad.”

“Well, I’m great at naming things.”

“So I’ve heard.”

She nudges my ribs. “Have you and Toby talked names yet?”

I shake my head. “Oh,
no
. I don’t even want to
hear
about that. It’s way too early!”

“Well,
most
couples hear
bells
before they hear
rattles
,” she teases.

I smile, once again looking down at him. “Tobias and I have always done things a little backwards.”

“Whoops—” she says, following my gaze. “I think he heard us talking about him.” We watch Tobias cross the drive and we look down from the loft as he slides the door open.

“What are you two doing?” Tobias asks, eying the both of us with suspicion.

“Nothing,” Amy answers. “Just chatting about girl stuff.”

“Uh huh…”

Amy stands up and pushes her skirt down. “Well, I think I’ll go check on Ryan.” She slowly hops down the ladder and plants a quick kiss on Tobias’ cheek as she passes by him.

He pulls himself up into the loft to join me. “What was that about?”

“I’ll tell you later.” I scoot to the side to give him room to sit by me.

“You probably shouldn’t be climbing up here anymore.” He throws his arm around my shoulders and holds me against him.

I breathe a thick sigh. “I am
not
that fragile, Tob—” His grin catches my eyes, forcing me to pause. “You’re messing with me, aren’t you?”

“Kind of,” he chuckles. He leans down to rest his nose against my shoulder and inhales my scent. “But to be fair — I never stopped being your bodyguard.”

“That’s true.” I settle against him and he brushes his mouth along my neck. “You never stopped being my
Alpha
either.”

His lips curl on my skin. “And I never will.”

I crane back to face him and he kisses me, soft and slow. My heart thumps in my chest and for a moment, I fear that this is all a dream. I kiss him back with closed eyes, pausing to experience him and remember this feeling. Should I open my eyes to find him gone, at least I’ll have this memory inside of me.

My eyes flutter open and he stares back at me. His face shines in the late morning sun, perfect in every single way. “I love you, Tobias.”

He lays his head against mine and wraps an arm even tighter around me, his hand falling to rest upon my growing belly. “I love you, Claire.”

Always and forever.

The Alpha and his Dame.

THE END

UNTOUCHED

MIDWEST ALPHAS | BOOK 1

October 2015

**

UNBROKEN

MIDWEST ALPHAS | BOOK 2

November 2015

**

UNDYING

MIDWEST ALPHAS | BOOK 3

December 2015

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