Epilogue

Talon~ 3 months later

“Damn, girl, you move fast. I’m impressed.” Minx grinned at me and bumped my shoulder. “A baby on the way and a husband.”

I rubbed my slightly rounded belly and shook my head at her tone. “Not a husband yet, just a fiancé. That’s why we’re celebrating with our engagement party here tonight.” It was more like a backyard barbecue because no one here stood on ceremony, and honestly, I’d been craving barbecue all the time lately. With the weather slightly cooling, I’d been taking advantage of my craving with barbecue chicken, ribs, burgers and even sausages. It was getting ridiculous and if I didn’t get a handle on it, I’d gain fifty pounds before the baby got here. We’d opted for an engagement barbecue on First Street in front of the diner. Mick wanted it at the club, but I thought after everything that had happened we should make it a Brently thing. Besides, while I supported his club membership, I still felt a little weird being there.

“Either way, Talon, you’re the envy of every pass-around here.” I knew what she meant because I’d gotten more than a few nasty glares since I’d arrived. Especially Janine who’d been making snide remarks for the past few weeks.

“I can’t worry about them when I have a wedding to plan and a baby to get ready for. Do you know anything about weddings or babies, because I don’t?” I hadn’t been around babies much in my life other than at amusement parks and restaurants. Not enough to actually take care of one. I was terrified.

Minx laughed and hopped up on the stool beside me, looking amazing in short denim shorts, a plain white tee that hugged her gorgeous breasts and her ever-present cowboy boots. I wondered how many pairs she had. “I know more about babies than weddings. Somewhere in the world I have a kid brother and sister.” She said it so casually, but I could see the wistfulness in her eyes. She missed her family.

“Does that mean you don’t want to be my maid of honor?” She was my only close friend and since she hadn’t ever fucked Mick, I figured we were solid.

She turned to me, big brown eyes looking so vulnerable I wanted to pull her into a hug. “You want me to be your maid of honor? Why?”

“You’re my friend. My best friend, and I want you beside me on this important day. You don’t want to do it?” Tears welled up in my eyes, and I was firmly blaming it on pregnancy hormones and not on the fact that she was rejecting me.

She swiped a tear that I pretended not to see and nodded. “No, I do, it’s just… Don’t you want someone more, I don’t know, someone else?”

I wrapped an arm around her. “No, I want you even though you’re so fucking hot you’ll totally upstage me on my wedding day. I still want you beside me. Say you’ll do it.”

“I’ll do it.” She gave me a long hug, and I felt all the pain Minx had been through in her life. I thought I had it hard, but I didn’t know shit about hard compared to her experiences. Based on her reaction to something I took as a simple request between friends, I knew it was worse than I could ever imagine. I just hoped one day she’d confide in me about it. “How’d you get me a night off for this shindig?”

“I told Mick that the maid of honor had to be at the engagement party.”

“You were so sure I’d agree?”

I barked out a laugh. “No way, but I was hopeful and full of hormones. If that hadn’t worked, I would’ve bribed you with my lasagna. Or tears.”

“Your tacos are better,” she shot back, sassy smile back in place.

“Good to know.” I cooked a lot these days, and I found it was a good way to get things done around the house, whether it was help in my garden or moving things in the nursery. Mick and Charlie never needed bribing, but I enjoyed cooking for them just the same.

“So, I have something for you, but I don’t want you to make a big pregnant deal out of it, okay?”

Minx hated emotions, so I nodded without making any promises. She handed me a tall black and silver box wrapped with a beautiful black bow. I gasped when I lifted the top off and took sight of the shimmery, sparkling black tiara. “It’s gorgeous.”

“Can’t have the VP’s ol’ lady looking anything but fierce, right?” She smiled as she lifted it out and set it on my head. “It’s black rhinestones and Swarovski crystals topped with black pearls.”

“Holy crap, Minx, it’s amazing. Thank you.” I pulled her in and squeezed her tight. “No one has ever gotten me something so cool!”

“You promised.”

“I know I did, but I’m pregnant and I can’t help it. Deal with it.”

“Fine. You’re lucky I love you.”

“I love you too, Minx.” I opened my eyes to see Mick behind her, watching us with a concerned glare. “I’m fine, I promise. Look at Minx’s gift.”

His gaze flared with heat. “It’s nice. Wear it tonight and nothing else?”

“Oh hell,” Minx moaned and stomped off.

“I have a killer pair of stilettos that I can only wear if I won’t be on my feet all night,” I offered with a coy smile.

“Baby, you’ll be on your back all night. I might even rub your feet and kiss those little piggy toes. That’s a promise.”

“Is it too early to leave?”

He laughed and pulled me in close, the way he always did. “Probably, but do you really care?” He saw the indecision written on my face. “We have all night, darlin’.”

I looked up at him and grinned. “We have the rest of our lives.”

***

Mick

My girl looked so fucking beautiful tonight, round with my baby in her belly. Skin flushed in a light sheen that made her look like she was fucking glowing. And man, her tits were bigger and so sensitive it took nothing at all to get her going. “You look beautiful tonight. Did I tell you that?”

With a sassy smile, she nuzzled my neck as I inhaled her hair. Honeysuckle. “Only about a thousand times. Thanks, and you’re looking mighty fine as well.”

I’d opted for a lightweight olive green button up with my jeans and boots. The way she looked at me right now, like she wanted to drop down and gobble me up, had my dick growing hard against my jeans. If anyone would have told me that I’d be so turned on by a pregnant woman, I would’ve told them they were out of their fucking mind. But my woman did it for me. In a big damn way. “Thanks, darlin’, but don’t go sayin’ shit like that or my fiancée might slap the shit outta ya. She’s feisty like that.”

“Yeah, she is. Don’t you forget it.” She adjusted her tiara and puckered up for a kiss. “Have you seen Charlie lately? She left a message saying she couldn’t make it tonight and that she was going away for a while.”

“She stopped by the service station on her way out of town, said to tell you she’s not abandoning you. She needs to clear her head and think about everything. She’ll be back in a couple weeks.” I saw tears building in her eyes, and they gutted me. “If you need any extra help, babe, you know I’ve got you. Right?”

“I know, and I’ll be fine. I just hate that she’s going through all of this. I mean, I kind of feel what she does right now and I never knew Magnus, but she’s loved him for years and years, and the people she thought were her friends killed him.”

“You’re kind of too good to be true, you know?”

She shrugged and pressed her nose to my chest and inhaled. “You smell like a dream. Every time I sniff you I get all kinds of wet.”

“Damn, baby, you keep saying things like that, and I’ll have to take you behind the diner and have my way with you.”

Talon backed away from me, a teasing grin on her face. “Behind the diner like I’m some hussy?” She frowned and shook her head, eyes alight with amusement. “No, I have a slightly uncomfortable two-seater in my office that I think will be much more comfortable for both of us.”

In one step, I was in front of her, one hand low on her back and the other palming the spot where our child grew. “I like the way you think.” I slanted my mouth over hers and she opened up right away, slicking her tongue across mine in a naughty way that had me picking her up and walking straight into the diner. “Can we use some of that whipped cream you keep in the fridge?”

She laughed, skin flushing at the thought of what we’d done when she brought home a way too large bowl of fresh whipped cream. “I’ve created a monster!”

“Hell yeah, baby, a trouser monster!”

Fingers hooked into my belt loops, she pulled me through the diner and down the hall where her tiny ass office was located. “You know, Mick, I love you. I really, really do. But I think tonight, I’m going to have my way with you.”

I smiled while she undressed me, her slick pink tongue stuck out of the corner, deep in concentration as she undid my belt, then my button before lowering the zipper. “Damn, woman, I don’t know if I could love you more than I do right now.”

“Let’s see if I can change that.”

Looking down into those sparkling silver eyes filled with love, I knew every day we spent together would fill my heart with more love for her. For our baby and however many other babies we made together. She was a one of a kind girl, and I was pretty fucking sure Magnus had sent her here just for me.

Thanks, Magnus, you old dog.

* * * *

~ T H E ~ E N D ~

I hope you LOVED my first MC Romance! I had a blast writing it! Be on the lookout for my next one, Cash, coming real soon!