EPILOGUE

AJ—

Undertaker lay on top of me in his big bed, stroking my hair back from my face.

“I remember the first time I laid eyes on you. The young girl with the red hair and the red briefcase…” He grinned. “Porcelain skin that I longed to touch and a smattering of freckles across your nose that kept you real.”

“You noticed that?”

“I noticed everything about you—your hair, your skin, your scent.” He nuzzled my neck.

“I noticed your eyes. They don’t look away and they don’t miss much. I felt like you could see right into my soul, and I fell hard for you. Even though we were the most unlikely couple ever.”

“Yeah, they do say opposites attract.”

“You, the badass biker, and me, the boisterous redhead with big dreams of saving the world.”

“There’s nothing wrong with big dreams, Allie.”

“Until your biggest one goes up in smoke. Literally.”

“It doesn’t have to be the end. You can—”

I huffed out a breath and looked away.

“Hey, hey… You can rebuild. You can start over.”

I was quiet for a while. He stroked my face, letting the silence be. I liked that about him; we never felt the need to fill the silence with mindless chatter. Eventually, though, I knew I had to tell him. “Derek?”

“Yeah, babe.”

“I’ve made a decision. I’ve decided I want to give up my practice and just run the charity. It’s what makes me happiest.”

He pulled back an inch, studying my eyes. “You sure? You worked so hard all those years.”

“My clients are leaving me in droves. There’s not much of a practice left.”

His thumb stroked my temple. “I’m sorry.”

I nodded. “The charity is where my heart is now. Besides, when the baby comes, I won’t want to work so much anymore; I’ll want to be home with the baby.”

“If that will make you happy, then I’m all for it. I want you to have your dreams, every dream you ever had. We’ll rebuild the New Horizons Woman’s Center if that’s what you want.”

“Getting to do what I want, what I need, what makes me happy? That’s only possible because of how much you love me, and that’s why I fell so completely in love with you.”

“They do say, happy wife, happy life.” He took my hand, rubbing his fingers over the engagement ring he’d put there. “You pick a date yet?”

“I was thinking we could just go down to the courthouse and take care of it.”

“You sure? You want a wedding, you’ll get one.”

“I already had a big wedding once. I don’t need that. I just need you and the baby. Anything extra is just frosting on the cake.”

“Babe, I want you to have a life where you get the frosting, too. I’m gonna make sure there’s plenty of frosting in your future, starting with pickin’ a place for our little family to live. Where do you want our home to be?”

I cocked my head to the side. “I was thinking of your grandfather’s place on the water.”

He frowned. “You kiddin’? It’s small; there’s just the one bedroom.”

“If you let me redecorate it I think it will be more than enough room for a while.”

“That’s what you want, that’s what you’ll get. Go crazy, fix it up any way you want.”

“And after we move to a bigger house someday, can we still keep that place? I’ve grown kind of attached to it. We have happy memories there.”

“We do, and since it’s been in the family for years, yeah, I’d planned to hang on to it. Maybe someday make it a weekend place.”

“That sounds great. But right now it’ll be our newlywed place. It’s the place I fell in love with you.”

“Is it?”

“I saw a different side of you there. You were easy, relaxed, at peace. I liked that. You weren’t walking around with the weight of the MC there.”

“Babe, the MC will always be part of our lives, because it will always be part of me. Those boys and I will always be brothers, but the club, the ol’ ladies, they’ll be your family now, too. You gonna be okay with that?”

I smiled. “More than okay. I’m not sure if I’ll be a great ol’ lady to the President of an MC, but if I’m good enough for you, that’s all I care about.”

“It ain’t easy bein’ king, Allie, but you’re gonna be a fabulous ol’ lady. You think you’re gonna be retiring, but you’re gonna be putting all that psychology training to use dealing with those boys. Some of ‘em got some fucked up lives and could definitely use some therapy, but they’re all good people. They’ll treat you like a queen.”

“Queen of the bikers?”

“My queen.”

“What if I slip up? What if I screw up? What if I fail?”

“You can’t fail at this, and if you slip up or fall, I’ll catch you. Always. Every single time.”

“Promise?”

“My oath to you. You and our baby. I love you, Allie.”

My eyes filled with tears. I finally had everything I ever wanted. “I love you more.”

His blue eyes sparkled down at me, and he shook his head. “Not possible.”

Undertaker—

With AJ I felt a cleansing of so many meaningless fears and guilts. I let go of all the tension that had been crippling me. I thought of all those wasted years. Now everything’s changed. I could be a good husband.

At last, I found the happiness I’d searched for all my life. And it felt good, it felt damn good.

I chuckled to myself, looking down at the sleeping woman in my arms. She’d never given up on me, not once through all of it. I squeezed her and murmured into her hair. “I never realized what a stubborn woman I’d fallen for. And you were worried you weren’t ol’ lady material. Damn, girl.”

I loved that she knew exactly what she wanted and wasn’t afraid to ‘crack the whip’ and keep me on my toes. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t need it sometimes.

I put my hand over her still flat belly. Our child grew inside. It was a child neither of us ever thought we’d get the chance to have. This was our second chance at love, at happiness, at everything that mattered.

This time around I didn’t plan to miss a minute of this child’s life. The first steps, the first words, the first day of school. I’d be there for all of it.

I smiled at all the firsts this breathtaking beauty and I would share together.

I had no idea how or why she’d fallen in love with me, but I planned to treasure that love, and everyday from now until I went to my grave I’d thank God she walked into my clubhouse, into my life, and into my heart.

The End