Keeping Ashley at bay all day had been difficult, but Kady had managed to swing it by telling her she still wasn’t feeling one hundred percent and had decided to take another day off work. She had texted her back and been as open as she could be, and she felt terrible for keeping such a big secret, but she needed to speak to Flash first. She needed to see what his reaction was, what he thought about all this. She needed to know how he thought they could proceed from there.

Kady had been ready for him to pick her up from around 7pm and she had paced the kitchen and all around the downstairs in the meantime, trying to calm her nerves. She had wracked her brains of ways she could tell him what was going on, but each time she tried to find the right words, they ended up sounding strange as she spoke them.

I’m pregnant.

I’m having a baby.

I’m pregnant with your baby.

Flash, I have something to tell you…

You know that night six weeks ago, well I.. um…

We’re having a baby.

You’re going to be a dad.

I’m going to be a mom.

Fuck, this is hard…

She stopped pacing and sat down at the kitchen table and put her head in her hands. She had never been so worked up and anxious in her entire life, but she had to keep it together. She had to not let her emotions overcome her or get the better of her, she had other things to protect now apart from herself. She couldn’t be getting herself all stressed out and upset. She had a baby to consider.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door that made her jump almost out of her skin and she spun around to look toward the front of the house. She hadn’t heard the roar of his bike coming along her street, nor had she heard a car. She furrowed her brow with confusion and stepped toward the door, her heart pounding in her chest.

She looked through the peep hole and Flash was standing there with his arms up against either side of the door. He looked so fucking hot. His jeans were hanging just low enough for her to be able to see the curve of hips and muscle that drove her wild and a slight spray of hair that she already knew worked down to his big, hard…

“Kady! Are you in there?” his voice broke her dirty thoughts and she bit her lip, smoothed her hair back and took a deep breath.

This was it.

She reached for the handle and pulled open the door.

“Hey,” she smiled when their eyes locked in on each other’s. And in that moment, when she was right there with him again, all of her anxiety disappeared. He lowered his arms and wrapped one around the small of her back and kissed her lightly on the cheek. He smelled amazing, it was such a raw mix of masculine energy and every time she caught it, it sent her wild. Now that her senses were working overtime, it was even more noticeable and she felt a little gush of excitement between her legs.

“You look beautiful,” he breathed as she looked up at him with wide, adoring eyes.

Suddenly, her words caught in her throat and she didn’t know what to say. He seemed to have a knack for making her completely dumb when it came to conversation, and she started to giggle nervously to try and cover her shyness.

“Where’s the bike?” she asked as she looked up and down the street. “I didn’t hear it.”

“I walked,” he said as he smiled and stood back so she could step out of her doorway. “We can’t talk on that thing, walking gives us more time together.”

Kady’s heart skipped a beat.

He really had to stop being so goddam perfect. It was as if someone had taken every trait she had ever wanted in a man, thrown them all together and put Flash on her doorstep.

She locked her front door and he held out his arm as he had done on their first date. Kady linked with him and they walked along, she couldn’t help but laugh.

“You holding your arm out like this doesn’t seem very you,” she said as she brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Well,” he grinned. “With us just being friends and all, I didn’t want to overstep the mark by wrapping my arms around you so quick.”

She felt herself blush.

“I think I’d like that,” she said.

Flash unlinked her arm and put his big, heavy, protective one tightly around her shoulder.

“Much better,” he said with a smirk.

They walked out of her neighborhood and carried on down the roads that led toward Main Street. It was such a lovely evening and the sun was setting ahead of them, making the world shine pink and gold as it dipped down behind the mountains.

“What a view,” she said as she shielded her eyes and looked out across the desert.

“I know,” he said as he squeezed her shoulder and followed her gaze. “I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”

“Me neither,” she said as they turned a corner and started to come up onto Main Street.

“So,” Flash said with a cheeky grin, “I thought tonight we could skip the bars and all the bullshit and just hang out at the café on the corner.”

He nodded his head in the direction of a small little café that turned itself into a bistro at night. It was run by one of the oldest residents in Slate Spring and had a very old world vibe about it. In all the years that Kady had lived in that town, she had never once been in there, and for that reason, she was even more excited to try it.

“Yes,” she said. “That would be lovely.”

“Good, good,” he grinned as they carried on walking. “I’ve been in strip clubs and bike joints all day, surrounded by sweaty men and tension, all I want to do is forget it all and sit here with you.”

Kady smiled inside and let her fingertips reach up and link with his on her shoulder. He squeezed her hand tightly.

The old man who owned the café tottered out and smiled.

“Hey, Flash,” he said. “Good to see you.”

“And you, Jim,” Flash replied as he pointed to a table that was outside but shaded from the breeze.

“All for you,” Jim smiled. “I’ll bring you some water.”

The old man made his way back inside and Kady felt a real sense of family all of a sudden. She didn’t know how Flash knew the old man, Jim, but it was clear they knew each other well.

“He was my grandfather’s best friend,” Flash said suddenly as he popped a mint in his mouth and started to chew.

“I swear, sometimes, you are reading my mind,” she laughed. “I was just thinking, I wonder how you guys know each other so well.”

Flash grinned at her and raised his eyebrows.

“If only I could get inside that head of yours,” he winked. “It would make my life a whole lot easier.”

“Oh, I don’t know whether it would…” she said ominously.

Suddenly, she felt a pang of panic.

Was this the time where she should tell him? Could she just lay it out there immediately when they hadn’t even had a chance to order anything or speak about anything else?

Her heart began to race.

“Haha,” he laughed. “Well, maybe not. I remember that dumb chick flick where Mel Gibson could hear everything the women around him were thinking. Didn’t look too much fun to me.”

“You watched that?” she asked with a wry smile.

“It was on one night,” he said, sitting back and holding out his hands. “Come on, us bikers need entertainment too.”

“Oh, I can just see it now, you all in your clubhouse or in a back room at The Bleeding Bullet, buckets of popcorn on your knees and your chick flicks ready to go.”

Flash held up his palms.

“You’ve absolutely caught us,” he laughed. “We’re not as badass as we appear.”

“Very funny,” she said with a roll of her eyes. If there was one thing she had learned from growing up in Slate Springs, it was that The Forsaken Riders were bad to the bone. Even if they did have a romantic side when it came to their women. She had heard many tales of late night fights, extortion, guns, violence and drug runs.

Suddenly, she felt queasy again.

There was no way she could tell him what was going on. What if it made him run a mile?

“So, today’s been rough?” she asked to change the subject.

Flash nodded and looked out into the distance.

“Just a bit,” he exhaled. “I nearly had to cancel but I didn’t want to let you down.”

“Why, what’s going on?” she asked, she could sense that something wasn’t right.

“Last night, the Russians tried to take Iron Hill,” he said. “It all got pretty messy. Some of them turned up at one of the Iron Rider’s bars and threatened the girls who worked there. One of them even had a gun pulled on her, from what I’ve heard. We all had to get over there and drive them out and there was a moment when we thought shots would be fired. They’re not afraid of anything, they don’t seem to want to stop. It’s like they know what they’re up against, and they know it’s going to be one hell of a fight… but they just keep pushing for it.”

He stopped and rubbed his temples, and Kady’s heart was pounding so hard in her chest she honestly didn’t know what on earth to do.

“That’s terrible,” she whispered.

“It sure is,” Flash nodded. “It’s been coming for a while, but we thought after Star Valley we would have had a lot more time. They’re relentless, and I can’t stop thinking about when they’re going to turn up here. And what they’ll do… Who they will go for. We’ve made enemies with them now. Things may start to get personal.”

Kady reached over and squeezed his hand.

“I don’t know if you’ve spoken to her today,” he said. “But Ashley had been threatened… Breaker may not have told her, I don’t know… Probably best to keep that to yourself.”

“Ashley!?” Kady said a bit too loud.

The old man came out with their jug of water and two glasses and a couple of menus, placed them on the table and hobbled back inside.

“She’s the girlfriend of a Forsaken Rider and the sister of an Iron Rider, of course, they’re going to be interested in her. She’s a double whammy.”

Kady’s stomach lurched and she felt sick all over again.

“We don’t know how long they’ve had someone in town for, who they’ve followed,” he said as he looked into her eyes. “That’s why we shut down the motel and have been monitoring each and every business in town. We have everyone on high alert for people coming in and out, who is asking what, where they are going…”

“This is awful,” Kady said as she fanned her face.

“And I was worried,” he said as he looked up at her and locked in with her eyes. “Because I don’t want you getting dragged into this mess.”

He was so sincere it made it even more frightening and Kady instinctively reached down and placed her palm across her stomach protectively.

“I just want to make sure you’re out of harm’s way,” he said. “I’m sorry I have to tell you all this, I know it doesn’t make for an ideal date conversation, but I have to be upfront.”

And now, Kady wondered if she should be too.

But if they were threatening Ashley, who was a sister and a girlfriend, imagine what they would do to her if they knew she was carrying a Forsaken Rider’s baby.

Her head was spinning.

She couldn’t tell him. She couldn’t tell him anything at all. She couldn’t even sit there with him and finish their date.

She had to get out of there.

“I’m sorry,” she said as she got to her feet and grabbed her purse. “I can’t do this, I need to go.”

She dashed away from the table and she heard the chair legs on Flash’s chair screeching back as he got to his feet and called after her.

“Kady!” he shouted. “Don’t leave!”

“I can’t,” she called back over her shoulder as the tears began to prick her eyes and she started to run.

She had never felt a sadness or fear like it, but she knew she had to get away. She couldn’t sit there with him and hear all about this danger when she was in this unthinkable position.

She could hear his footsteps coming after her and she stopped and spun around.

“Don’t, Flash,” she shouted as she held up her hand. “I can’t do this. It’s all too dangerous for me, you don’t understand.”

He looked at her with yearning and sadness, and he hung his head as if he couldn’t believe he had blown it so spectacularly.

“Kady,” he said with an honest and open face. “I just had to be real with you. I didn’t want you to be kept in the dark. What if someone came around to the salon and started asking questions. The moment you said anything about me or us, they could come down on you or do something terrible.”

“Exactly,” she said through her tears, which she couldn’t fight anymore. “I can’t do this. I’m sorry.”

And she turned and walked as fast as her legs would carry her.

Her heart was breaking and her happiness was dissolving in front of her very eyes, but she had to go.

She had to do the right thing for all three of them.