Prologue
With a sigh, Luke leaned back in his chair and ran his hands through his hair. He needed a haircut. For weeks now, he felt as though he’d been running in circles with absolutely no relief projected anywhere in the near future, which meant he probably would be going another week before he could pencil in the time to do something that mundane.
At the moment, he was sitting in his newly designed office, running through his inventory list, waiting patiently for Trent Ramsey to show up and shower him with the same shit he’d been dishing out for the last couple of weeks. Seemed like that’s what the man lived for these days.
Between Trent and his desire to ensure that the Walker brothers didn’t show them up with their fancy new resort – his exact words – and the fact that Sierra had been having Braxton Hicks contractions for the better part of the last five weeks, Luke was damned close to losing his mind. Despite his minor blow up at the doctor, both she and Sierra had assured him that it was common. Nothing to worry about.
Right.
Every single morning, Luke woke up, practically wired for sound, unable to sit still as he waited for the other shoe to drop. Although everyone seemed to think he wanted their praise for his new outlook on life, he was getting a little irritated by everyone’s concern. Shit, it would be easier if he just went back to being the ornery asshole they expected him to be.
Except he couldn’t. Not anymore.
Despite his frazzled nerves, Luke woke up every morning with a smile on his face. It was hard not to when the first thing he saw most of the time was Sierra’s beautiful face. The second thing he saw was Cole’s sexy smirk, and he’d be damned if he didn’t know which one was better. Nor was he sure why he forced himself to get out of bed when he’d much rather spend the day there with them.
But he did and here he was. Although he was quite agitated by the long days, he found it difficult to be in a bad mood. Even Trent wasn’t able to leave a dark cloud in his day, although the man was trying pretty damned hard. Or so it seemed. Trent was pushing his limits and quite frankly, Luke felt as though he deserved some credit. After all, he hadn’t killed him yet.
Today, they were supposed to meet to discuss the possibility of taking Club Destiny in a decidedly different direction. The thing was, Luke wasn’t entirely opposed to the idea. With the club currently up in the air as far as which direction it would take, he was willing to listen to suggestions. With both Sierra and Cole backing whatever decision he made, Luke felt as though he needed to give them some sort of security when it came to the future of the club.
Only he didn’t have a fucking clue what that was going to be.
The vibration of his cell phone on his desk made him growl. If Trent decided to stand him up one more time…
“What?” he barked into the phone without looking at the caller id.
“Luke?”
“Baby?” Luke panicked from the strained tone of Sierra’s soft voice. He’d been preparing for this phone call and without her even saying anything, he knew. “Are you ok?”
“That depends,” she said, and this time he heard the smile in her voice.
“On?”
“Whether or not you’re ready to be a daddy.”
“Are you fucking serious?” Luke growled the words and stormed out of his office at a flat out run.
He was halfway down the stairs to the main floor before he realized he didn’t have his keys. Or his wallet. Shit. Or his phone. Wait. Phone was on his ear.
Halting mid step, and damn near face planting down the remaining steps, Luke abruptly turned, grabbing hold of the railing to keep from falling. Running back to his office, he snatched his keys and wallet off of his desk and headed the opposite direction once again.
“Where are you?”
“Cole is taking me to the hospital,” she said sweetly, although he could hear the hint of discomfort she was clearly trying to hide. “You might want to hurry.”
At least she didn’t have to question whether he was going to be there. For the last week, he’d been going over the plan – which they both tried to tell him there wasn’t one. Since he insisted on at least one of them being with her until the baby was born, Luke felt a little better. Not much, but a little.
“Baby, I’m on my way now. Don’t hang up.” Luke was descending the steps two at a time, sending up a quick prayer that he didn’t break his neck, unable to focus on anything except the woman breathing in his ear. “How far apart are the contractions?” he asked.
Contractions. It was almost laughable that he even knew what those were, but thanks to the Lamaze classes he attended with Sierra and Cole, he was well aware. More knowledgeable than he ever imagined he would be.
“Three minutes,” she replied, and Luke heard Cole’s voice in the background.
“Kane!” Luke bellowed as he turned toward the back entrance. “I’m on my way to the hospital! If Trent shows up, tell him I’ll call him later.”
“Shit!” Kane’s voice echoed through the cavernous bar behind him as he disappeared down the short hallway that would lead to the parking garage.
“Baby, are you there?” Luke asked once he was inside the truck. As he fishtailed onto the main road just a minute later, Sierra’s deep breaths filled the interior of his truck through the Bluetooth speaker.
“I’m here,” she whispered. “Please hurry, Luke.”
“Don’t worry, baby. I’ll be there in five minutes.”
Or two more contractions.
Holy fucking shit! Any minute now, he was going to be a dad!
No one ever bothered to clue him in to the fact that minutes rarely factored into childbirth.
Ten long hours later, Luke was standing at the hospital nursery, staring at the beautiful baby girl lying in one of the newborn bassinets on the other side of the glass partition.
“Damn, bro. It’s a good thing that little girl looks like her momma.” Logan’s laugh echoed through the hall. His brother’s firm grip on his shoulder shook him slightly, and Luke smiled at his attempt at humor.
“I was thinkin’ the same thing,” Tag added, standing on the other side of Cole.
Luke glanced over at Cole who was standing next to him, smiling as he did. He looked about the same as Luke felt. Bewildered. Amazed. There were a shitload of adjectives that could be used to describe it, but no matter what, Luke was happy.
“Shouldn’t you be taking care of your wife?” Luke asked, his gaze once again fixated on the tiny body wrapped in a pink blanket just a few feet away on the other side of the protective glass panel.
“What do you mean by ‘take care of’?” Logan smirked. “We already had to find a way to pass the time for a few hours.”
“Nope. Don’t want to hear it,” Luke said with a growl that quickly morphed into a laugh. Shit, even Logan couldn’t get under his skin today.
The warmth of Cole’s shoulder against his was a lifeline that Luke found himself hanging onto. Ever since the phone call the previous day, he’d been going a little crazy. Watching Sierra in so much pain wasn’t what Luke considered a good time by any stretch of the imagination. He quickly learned that the nurses weren’t all that fond of him barking out orders either. Although, Sierra seemed to take it all in stride. How, he had no idea.
Between her and Cole, they’d managed to keep him from going insane, albeit barely. Since the doctor finally announced that it was time, Luke’s heart hadn’t stopped pounding. Even now, as he stared at the precious little dark haired girl sleeping so soundly just a few feet away, his chest continued to ache. In a good way.
“You hanging in there?” Cole’s voice was lowered, although Luke knew Tag and Logan heard every word.
“Yeah. You?”
“Barely,” Cole whispered. “It’s still a little surreal.”
Leave it to Cole to be honest with what he was feeling. That was something Luke was still working on.
“Is she as perfect as she looks?” Luke asked, not intending for the words to come out.
“She is,” Cole reassured him and their hands touched, their fingers linking together between them as they both stood in awe.
“Like I said, just like her momma.” Logan once again chimed in, but this time he sounded just as awed as Luke felt.
“So, what’s it feel like to be an uncle?” Luke asked Tag and Logan, not directing the question at either one specifically.
“It feels like I’m gonna get to give you a hard time about a lot more now. A girl, huh? I hope she gives you two a run for your money.”
Luke didn’t spare Logan a glance, but he laughed anyway. Yeah, he was pretty sure they were going to have their hands full with this one. If Sierra’s personality was anything to go by, then their little girl was going to be spunky and wild. And Logan was right about one thing, she certainly looked like her mother with her pretty blue eyes and dark hair.
Then again, he’d overheard Sam and Ashleigh talking, and there was a very strong possibility that she might just look like her daddy after all. According to them, dark hair and blue eyes were exceedingly common for babies.
They’d just have to wait and see.