Page 157 of Indecent Lies

“Mama, I tired.”

Cuddling Harper on her lap, Zara kissed her daughter’s light hair, it was almost as white as her own. She’d started the day with them in two little pigtails but as always through her rambunctious playing, they were now off center on her head. Dressed in pink and white jeans and a t-shirt, she looked like a tiny princess at nearly three, but as Zara and Rider knew, their daughter was hell on wheels.

She got her daredevilry from Rider.

Whatever she wasn’t allowed to do, Harper Marinos wanted to do.

It was why Zara’s nerves were fraught holding her baby on her lap in the ER.

She thought she’d seen the back of this place this week. They were due to come for a check-up for Rider’s stitches, but instead they were waiting to have Harper looked at. She had freaking beads stuck up her nose from one of Zara’s broken necklaces, too far up for either her or Rider to get them out.

Her biker man was the calmer of them both and handled it.

He was outside while Mace parked the Raptor truck, Rider couldn’t drive yet and Zara wanted him right here so he could do his scary biker man face and get a doctor to look at Harper without delay.

“Won’t be long now, baby.”

“Papa coming?”

“Yeah, he has to park.” Harper tried to poke her nose again and Zara redirected her arm.

Just then, a woman and a boy no older than twelve or thirteen at her side came through the doors like a whirlwind, she was chastising him and the boy was rolling his eyes.

The muddy blond haired boy was tall, almost up to the woman’s chin and he had a towel wrapped around his forearm, blood marked all the way through it.

Oh ouch, she thought. The poor kid.

The way he was slouching and huffing, he looked like he couldn’t give a flying frog for being hurt. His mom looked as aggrieved as Zara herself felt and in that moment while the other woman checked in, she felt okay that she wasn’t the only mom in the world who let their kid get hurt.

Harper, no matter the situation would never stay still for long and she slid off Zara’s lap, making her way over to the boy instantly. His arm was of more interest to her baby girl, obviously.

“Hurt?” She asked pointing to him and the teen boy glanced down, his brow which had been sullen, smoothed out.

He shrugged at Zara’s nosy girl. “It’s okay, kid, just a scratch.”

“I see?”

Oh, dear. When Harper latched onto something, she got a little possessive and Zara knew before she irritated the boy into seeing his injury she might have to bring her back.

But rather than appearing annoyed by the hovering toddler, the boy got down on his haunches and lifted the towel away to show Harper the deep gash on his forearm.

“Ouchie,” she remarked and reached out to pat his muddy blond head.

Zara bit back a grin at her daughter’s friendliness.

“You cry?”

“Nah, kid. It doesn’t hurt. Just fell off a wall.”

“You were trying to break into a greenhouse, don’t leave that part out, Cain.” Snapped his mom and that’s when he scowled up at her but stayed at eye level with Harper who was busily telling him in her toddler excitable babble that she had beads up her nose. “Beads aren’t meant to go up your nose, kid.”

Harper nodded vigorously. “I know.”

Taking a seat a few away from Zara, the beautiful woman, probably mid to late thirties, sighed and looked at Zara with a look of understanding between two harried moms. “Kids,” she said and Zara smiled.

“Your first ER trip?”

“I wish,” the woman said. “We practically live at the emergency room with this one back home in California. I’m sure he thinks he’s made of Teflon. Yours?”

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