Page 23 of Crow's Haven
I realize what I said, just as Crow’s coffee cup freezes in midair at his chin. “Nurse?”
My brain scrambles to come up with a joke to cover my mistake. “Well, in your home I wear a lot of hats. I’m a chef, a domestic engineer, transport specialist, and occasionally a nurse.”
It works because Crow laughs. “I walked right into that one, didn’t I?”
I take a step closer because he’s standing in front of me, looking like every inch the hot biker of my dreams. His hair’s a mess, still damp from the shower, and there’s a softness in his eyes that only shows up before he has to put on his emotional armor and go out to face the world. I love this version of him. It’s the version I almost feel I could tell my secrets to. Tell him why I was running.
“You’re really handsome in the mornings. Do you know that?”
His sleepy expression turns interested. “I’m handsome all the time. You’re only paying attention in the morning when we’re making breakfast in close quarters.”
I smile up at him. “I think you might be onto something.”
“What you wanna start noticing how I look at night after my boys go to bed, Ladybug? Maybe we could spend some extra time getting to know each other.”
I laugh at that, since his kids started calling me Ladybug, he’s been using it as well. “From what I can see, you’re pretty much an open book. What you see is what you get.”
“You got that right. There ain’t no need to make simple things complicated.”
A small stern voice says, “Are you two gonna kiss?”
We fly apart at the speed of light and Crow takes another sip of his coffee. I spin around and see Scout standing in the doorway, with his arm folded over his chest. I can tell by the look on his face that he’s still expecting an answer.
“No, of course not,” I choke out.
Scout glances over his shoulder and shouts. “You’d best get down here, Chase. They were about to put their lips on each other.”
I wish the floor would open up and swallow me. Since it doesn’t, I grab some bacon and eggs out of the fridge and start cooking.
Within seconds Chase is standing by his brother with a curious expression on his face.
Before he can ask, Crow takes control of the situation. “We weren’t gonna kiss. But if we decide to, you’ll be the first to know. Until then, button it up and stop making Ladybug blush.”
The two of them giggle and we get them back on track with talk about their first day of school.
When we’re finally ready to go, the excitement ramps up another notch, for the boys anyway. Crow rolls out the big Harley and double-checks that the sidecar is securely attached. He’s already polished it once this week, made sure the extra seat belts are secure, so this tells me he’s obsessed with safety when it comes to his kids.
The boys race outside, the second they see the sidecar out of the garage. They immediately begin arguing over each other about who gets to sit close to the motorcycle. There are two small kid-sized bucket seats welded to the frame. Crow solves the argument by picking up Scout and putting him in the coveted seat, while telling Chase, “You got prime seating the last time we went for a ride, Chase. It’s your brother’s turn.”
Chase just climbs into the outside seat and lets his dad strap his harness down over his shoulders. He’s got an adorable little pout but doesn’t talk back. Crow makes sure both of their helmets are strapped down tight then tucks their knapsacks right behind their seats. When he glances at me, I realize I’m staring when I should be warming my car up. Crow and I agreed that we’d both take them to school the first day.
Taking a step back, I say, “Give me a second to grab my keys and I’ll follow you in my car.”
Crow’s hand goes back to pop open the back compartment on his motorcycle and he pulls out that helmet I recognize. “Nada, Ladybug. You’re riding with us.”
Chase grips the seat beside him and glances back at me. “Are you riding too, Ladybug?”
I give him a slow grin because riding on the back of his bike sounds amazing.
I nod and pull on the borrowed helmet Crow hands me. “Unless you’re too scaredy cat to ride on the back of my bike,” he says with a smirk, more for the boys’ benefit than ours.
Chase beams like I’ve just handed him a crown. “Don’t call her a scaredy cat. That’s mean.”
Crow swings one leg over the bike and holds out a hand. “You good climbing up?”
“Yeah,” I say before walking to the opposite side and scrambling awkwardly up onto the seat. Thankfully, the sidecar on the other side was made with a footrest along the side. Once I settle into place, I strap my helmet in place and place my hands on his hips. My thighs are snug against the curve of his seat. My front is pressed against his back and it feels way more intimate than it should.
Chase gives me a thumbs up. “Way to go, Ladybug. You did it!”
