The sunlight woke me to one of the most gorgeous sights I’d ever had the privilege of seeing: Harlow wrapped in the blanket next to me, sleeping soundly. I brushed her hair away from her face, gently tucking it behind her ear.

Sleepily, her eyes fluttered open.

“Good morning, beautiful.”

Guiding my hand, a devilish sneer perked up her lips. “Let’s see how good this morning can get.”

Just as I was about to give in to her, the front door slammed shut and Blaz’s voice boomed through the house. “Harlow? Collin?”

“Fuck!” I jumped out of bed, throwing Harlow’s clothes at her.

We quickly got dressed as she whispered, “What the fuck time is it?”

I glanced at my watch. “Seven in the fucking morning. How the hell is your dad here already?”

“Fuck if I know. Stay here,” she ordered before slipping out the door.

I held my breath as I listened while Harlow greeted her father.

“Daddy, you’re here early. I haven’t even had the chance to make coffee yet.”

“We have our work cut out for us this weekend. Needed to get a jump on the day before the rest of the guys arrive.”

As quietly as I could, I scrambled from Harlow’s room into the bathroom and turned on the shower. I needed time before seeing her father. I wasn’t good at keeping secrets, and the fact that my fingers had just been on Low’s cunt was going to be all over my damn face.

The hot water rolled over my back as a knock banged on the door.

“Come in?” I yelled.

“You gonna be ready soon, princess?” Blaz teased.

“Be out in a second.”

Leaning against the wall, all I could think about was how big I had fucked up yet again. Impulsivity was starting to become a norm in my life, and I needed to get it out of my damn system quickly.

She wasn’t a mistake.

Last night was incredible.

I took a few short breaths, turned off the shower, and got dressed. Of all the things I had to feel guilty about, finally being with Harlow couldn’t be one of them. I couldn’t help it. I just needed to get through the next couple of days and let everything play out.

Making my way into the kitchen, I dug my hands into my pockets to keep them from shaking.

“Coffee?” Harlow asked, holding the filled pot in one hand.

“Sure.” I took a seat at the table across from Blaz.

“Sleep well?” he asked while adding cream to his mug.

I snuck a glance at Harlow as she blushed a bit. “Can’t complain.”

“Good. Bear and the rest of them should be here soon, and then we have to head to the toy run.”

So far so good.

“You still wanna ride along?” I questioned Harlow, taking the cup of coffee from her.

“If you don’t mind. It seems like a lot of fun, and it’s good to give back at this time of year.”

“That it is, sweetheart.” Blaz was thumbing through the paper, seemingly oblivious to how red both Harlow and I were. Then, without missing a beat, he added in, “How long is it going to take for the two of you to admit y’all fucked last night?”

I choked on my coffee as Harlow gasped, “What?”

“Don’t think I didn’t notice Collin sneaking out of your room.” Blaz eyed his daughter as her shoulders tensed.

“It wasn’t fucking,” I sheepishly admitted, grabbing Harlow’s hand and pulling her onto my lap.

“Then you just innocently slept next to my daughter like a damn boy scout?” Blaz bellowed.

“Sir, I say this with the utmost respect for both you and your daughter: what happened between us last night was so far from fucking. Yes, we slept together and there was nothing boy-scout-like about it, but I have real feelings for her and will not for a second let you think all I wanted to do was get a nut off.”

Blaz sat glaring at me for what felt like forever. “You better not be blowing smoke up my ass, boy.”

“I would never.” I didn’t break eye contact. I wasn’t going to back down, and Blaz needed to know that.

“You remind me of your father,” he scoffed, pulling a flask out of his cut.

Pouring whiskey in both of our coffees, Blaz cocked his head to the side. “So, what’s your plan? Come up here every now and again? Move here? Take my little girl away?”

Harlow grabbed her dad’s hand. “Does there have to be a plan already? Can’t we just see where this goes and let me be fucking happy for a second before you scare Collin half to death and start talking about marriage and babies? I know where this is heading, Dad.”

Blaz’s face softened. “Fine, but don’t for a minute think I’m happy about this.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to be anything but furious. No one will ever be good enough, will they?” Harlow glanced over her shoulder at me. “At least Collin is one of the good ones, and it’s better than me falling for someone who doesn’t understand our life.”

I quickly kissed her cheek before she got up.

“Blaz, I won’t do anything to hurt your daughter.”

“Trust me, it’d be the last thing you ever did on this earth.”

Standing on the porch, Bear, Blaz, Carson, Kane, Ax, Reese, and I went through the plan for the next couple of days while Harlow and Scarlett stayed in the kitchen.

“Everything y’all are going to need is in these duffle bags: burners, ammo, guns, maps—the whole nine,” Carson explained.

“Do we have any information about the guys who are doing this?” Bear asked in his booming voice.

“All we know is that they are damn good at flying in under the radar and hitting us during shift changes. We have a couple of cops on payroll who have been doing a piss-poor job of keeping an eye on the warehouse. Every time I have one of my guys out there, the fuckers don’t show,” Blaz clarified.

“So unmarked cars, no bikes?” I asked, lighting my third cig of the morning.

“You got it kid.” Blaz wouldn’t look at me. It was going to take a lot of proving myself to him before I would be back in his good graces.

“Old school stakeout, I like it.” Kane was itching to get started. Of all the guys, he was the one I had spent the least amount of time with. All I knew about him was that he was a former Marine and had served with Trent and Ax a lifetime ago. That was really all I needed to know to trust him. It was odd to have guys from Arkansas, Texas, North Carolina, and Tennessee working together, but I was proud to be the one from my charter working with guys I didn’t get to often.

“We have a shipment due in tomorrow night, late. I’ll need all of you there watching both of the gates,” Blaz continued.

“We will have this pest problem eliminated in no time at all.” Bear stifled a yawn as he stretched. “Damn, that ride was long as hell. I can’t believe Scar didn’t bitch the entire time.”

“She’s one tough broad, only old lady in the entire organization that rides her own bike.” I could feel Blaz’s old-school ways coming through, but Bear quickly shot down his backhanded compliment.

“Scar was raised by Gunner Morgan. You try to tell her she can’t ride and she’ll shoot your nuts off with a ten-cent bullet. I like my nuts swinging right where they are.”

“Touché.”