Page 19 of Biker's Babygirl

“Listen, Jessica, I’m sure you’re a good girl and everything is totally above board. But me and my people risk our lives every single day. We don’t need to do it where we sleep.”

She winces, and I hate myself for having to deliver this message. But then she looks me right in the eye. “I promise. I’m not hiding anything, and if I’m lying, then… then you can do something really, really horrible to me!” She puts her hands on her hips, practically glaring.

Is she hoping I’ll back down?I have to swallow my amusement—she reallyisa bit childlike sometimes, because only in the mind of a child does that kind of promise work. Still, I can’t help but find her cute. Endearing, even.

And before I know quite what I’m doing, I take her hand and look seriously into her eyes, which widen at the contact. “I accept your promise, and I’ll take you at your word. But I want you to know, I would never do anything horrible to you.IfI find out you’re lying to me, however, Iwillhave no choice but to dole out the consequences you deserve.”

She swallows hard but lifts her head defiantly. “Oh, yeah? What kind of consequence would that be?”

“Well, Jessica, if I found out you were lying to me then I would have to take you over my knee, bare that adorable bottom, and spank it until you were a very,verysorry little girl.”

Ginny

I walk back to the sink, my mind whirling and my hand tingling where Duke had held it. As soon as he’d issued his threat—promise?—he’d released my hand and walked away, not even looking back to see what damage his words had done.

Which was good for me, because my body had been ablaze ever since. And not just my blushing cheeks. Oh, no, that was the tip of the proverbial iceberg. He had me lit up inside, from my rapidly beating heart all the way down to my clenching womb.And every time it clenched, it sent a jolt of electricity straight down to my pussy.

If only he was a Daddy, he’d be my perfect match. He actually kind of seems a bit like a Daddy…

I try my best to get back into washing dishes. Elvis and I had had a good rhythm going, before Duke came over and said the words that turned me to mush.

“Hey. You okay?” Elvis bumps my shoulder. “Penny for your thoughts.”

Despite my whirling brain and the jumbled feelings it’s spewing, he makes me laugh. “Is that all they’re going for these days? In that case, I think I’ll keep them to myself.”

Elvis laughs, too. “Sorry, being a backwoods doctor doesn’t pay as well as you might think. That’s all I can afford at the moment.”

I giggle again, despite myself. But even as I reach for another dish, my quick pulse and the knots in my belly make it hard to concentrate. “Why do you do it?” I ask, hoping to distract myself. “Not for the money, I’m guessing.”

But instead of returning my smile as I expected, Elvis’s expression becomes closed off, and his body stiffens.

I don’t think he’s going to answer, but even though his hands keep scrubbing and rinsing, his eyes stay on my face, serious and somber.

“I think for every single one of us there will come a day when we need to have someone to call. I want to be the kind of person who always picks up the phone.” He turns away and his attention goes back to the sink and the soapy water.

It’s a beautiful sentiment, and yet, I can feel the weightiness of his words.There’s something heavy there… something dark.And feeling that so acutely, the way only someone who has also been there can, makes me realize why we were able to bond so quickly.

“You look tired,” he says, even though he isn’t looking at me. “You can stay in my room tonight and I’ll take the couch.”

“Oh.” His words cause me to do a double take. “Really?”

“Of course. You must be worn out. I don’t reckon you got much sleep in that foxhole.”

But that’s all he says—a simple comment that made a statement without prying for more information. “Hey, it was a people-hole.”

Elvis stops, turns to me, and this time he is grinning. “A tiny-person-hole. Still. Not too comfortable.”

“No,” I agree. “It wasn’t. Hey… thanks.”

“Don’t mention it. All the way down the hall, first door on the right.”

I dry my hands and turn around, hoping to see Duke lurking nearby, waiting for me, but he’s nowhere to be seen.Oh.I try to ignore the disappointment that flashes, quick and hot in my belly, focusing instead on following the directions Elvis gave me. When I reach his room, I gingerly open the door, peering inside warily.

I don’t know exactly what I expected, but Elvis’s room is clean and orderly with his bed made and the bookcases contain several tomes, organized by size. Finally alone, and comfortable for the first time in a long time, I realize I feel completely safe and able to let my guard down. Just looking at the bed makes me feel the full weight of my exhaustion.

In seconds I have closed the door and am lying on the bed—on top of the comforter, just in case I need to get up quick. It isn’t even that I think I’ll need to, but at this point, it’s a habit: always be prepared to run at a moment’s notice.

My eyes close almost immediately, but as soon as they do, Duke’s image fills my mind’s eye. There is no denying that he is handsome—with those soft blue eyes, his perfectly symmetrical features and the blondish scruff in the center of his chin, tingedwith gray. He has muscles for days, and though there’s a part of me that knows I should be apprehensive of the combination of muscles and the stern Daddy vibes he’s rocking, insteadmymuscles are twisting themselves into delicious knots that feel too much like longing.

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