***Doll***

 

Lochlan is driving and I’m in the passenger seat. Hadley is in the truck with us while Lips, Esmee, and Broke are in a car behind us. They’ve told me that Hadley’s father is an EMT, firefighter, and had an early shift. Her stepmom, Diamond, is taking care of their son, Arrow. Seems like everyone has babies over here because Lips told me that Broke and his ol’lady have a son named Wyatt. He’s about the same age as Esmee.

All of this makes it very clear they’re one family who supports each other. Must feel nice to always have someone around to have your back and that kind of trust surrounding you. My parents live far away and although I know I can drop by for a visit when I want to…it’s not something we’d do. They have their own lives and so do I. A phone call or text is way easier and time just flies by so freaking fast it makes it so the only visits are around Christmas.

Right before we got into the car and were all standing around, Lochlan told me that another biker and a prospect would meet us later on. Something about running late. Okay, Lochlan might have joked about those two getting it on together and that got him a smack on the back of his head from Broke. Although all of them laughed.

“What do you see in that guy?” Lochlan keeps his eyes on the road, yet I know the question is for me.

Hadley’s looking out her side window and doesn’t hear or notice that we’re talking.

“Are you always this direct?” I ask the massive Viking in the driver’s seat.

He might be all reddish blond hair, muscle, blue eyes, a Thor like vision…but he doesn’t look anything like Ramrod, or even have the kindness that radiates from my ol’man’s eyes. My heart and body only want one single person on this earth. The one that makes all the difference. The one who makes me feel special and safe. I realize that I intend to give him everything he gives me.

I don’t even give Lochlan a glance, because I don’t have to see the look on his face. I couldn’t care less what he thinks of me. “He picked up a total stranger, opened his home to me, and gave me a world of kindness. The first guy who’d ever made me feel special. I’d say I see my future in that guy, one I hope to cherish him in for an eternity.”

Lochlan curses. “Ramrod hit the jackpot with you, huh? He’s been saving himself for months and months for the right girl. Always muttering ‘have a little faith’ to himself if I would bug him about it. Seems the waiting finally paid off. You’ll do just fine. Just be honest with him, he hates people who lie.”

Now I understand why he reacted the way he did when I told him my name was Faith…that’s one hell of a coincidence that he would say that to himself only to have me stumble into his life. As for the not tell a lie part…

“Yeah, I noticed when he asked if I was okay…apparently telling him I was fine wasn’t good enough.” I roll my eyes at the memory.

Lochlan snorts. “Yeah, even the little white lies tip him off.”

We continue the drive to the store in silence. Lochlan parks the truck in the parking lot on the side of the building. Everybody gets out. Lips is holding Esmee in her arms and Hadley has her tiny fingers wrapped around my hand. Glancing at the store, I see it says ‘Bettie’s Fabric-land’ in big red letters above it.

“Arlo and the prospect are about eight minutes out. They’ll stay out front when they get here,” Broke tells us before we walk inside.

Lochlan acts like a bee that’s following my ass every step I make, as if I’ve got it dipped in honey. When he bumps into me for the third time I glare over my shoulder and add, “Do you mind?”

“No, I don’t. I’ve got orders ma’am.” Lochlan shrugs.

I take my new phone out of my sweater pocket and shoot a message to Ramrod. I’m smiling, because in this moment I feel back to my old self.

 

Me: Lochlan has a fascination with my ass. He knocked on it three times, does that mean he wants in or something?

 

I give Lochlan a sweet smile, and he’s still eyeing me when his phone starts to ring. He checks the screen and instantly glares at me as he answers the phone.

Holy shit, I can hear Ramrod barking through the phone from where I’m standing. Yeah, definitely not a happy camper. Even Broke, who’s standing across from us with his back against the wall, as if he’s on guard with his arms across his chest, raises his eyebrows in question.

“Crystal clear,” Lochlan growls and lets his phone slide into the pocket of his jeans while mine gives a buzz indicating I have a message. I’m still holding it in my hand so I glance down and smile.

 

Muscleman: Problem solved. Next time rephrase your fucking words and just tell me he needs to jack off a little.

 

I’m cracking up. I know very well the b and the j are close to each other and it’s a typo, but it’s way too funny to pass off.

 

Me: Jack off a little?

 

 

Muscleman: Fuck. I meant back off, me and my fat fingers.

 

Me: You do have thick fingers, they feel great though.

 

My cheeks go bright red when I’m done typing and I look up to see Lochlan still glaring at me. I feel like I’ve been caught doing something I shouldn’t do.

 

Muscleman: Great. Now I’m hard in a meeting with dudes. Talk later.

 

I decide not to bother him anymore and see Hadley coming my way with the most adorable piece of fabric. When I’m holding it in my hands, I can see it’s a bit reddish brown at the tops of the fur with darker heart shaped spots. But when you spread the fur you can see it’s a light brown underneath, which is perfect because then I can cut away some of the length for the belly and nose and so on.

“You did very good. Let’s go and measure how much we need,” I tell Hadley and wait in line. There’s an old woman in front of us discussing her order. Lochlan is standing right behind us, although he’s not in touching distance.

“No worries, sweetie, thank you for placing the order for me,” the old woman tells the girl behind the counter. “Then I’ll come back again tomorrow. I’m just happy you found the fabric for me so I can make my granddaughter the dress I have in mind. And for you to make it possible to get it here so soon is wonderful, technology these days...now you have a nice day, ma’am.”

She turns and sees Hadley. “Hello, young girl, that’s a nice piece of fabric you have there. What are you going to make?”

Hadley laces her fingers with mine and puts her head down.

“We’re going to make a giraffe,” I tell the sweet old woman.

We make some more small talk before the old woman leaves so we can buy the fabric. Lips is standing next to me, holding her daughter. Hadley hardly reaches the counter so she can’t see but she waits patiently while the girl behind the counter is cutting off the piece of fabric we need.

The girl slides the fabric over the counter but knocks over a tiny plastic tube with a handful of buttons, tipping it over the counter making them bounce on the floor.

Hadley waves franticly and I hear Lochlan rumble behind me. “She wants to pick them up, no worries.”

The girl behind the counter smiles and says thanks before she continues to ring up our order while Hadley squats down and puts the buttons back in the plastic tube. I glance out of the window and see a guy walking in the direction of the store.

My heart stalls immediately and it seems like everything else slows down with it. Recognition sets in. I see him raising his arm, the flash of a gun, and instantly I know very well what’s going to happen next because it all clicks in my head.

“Gun!” I yell before glass shatters and I manage to take Lips, who’s holding her kid, down with me. My neck stings but when I turn, I see Hadley still close to the floor picking up the buttons like nothing happened. Of course she doesn’t know, because she can’t hear and her eyes are focused on the floor and picking up the buttons. I crawl toward her and hug her tight. I look up and see Lochlan behind Lips looking at me like I have all the answers.

Broke crawls our way. “What the fuck happened? Did you see?”

He directs the question at Lochlan, who’s still staring at me. “I didn’t, but she did.”