Page 4 of Bolo's Curveball
Laughing, I offered, “Why don’t we go grab some lunch?”
She looked around her office, then shrugged. “Okay. But not with the guys. I haven’t…told any of them.” She cocked her head. “How’d you find where I worked? I never told you what I did.”
Glitch.
It sure was handy having a computer hacker as a friend and club ally. Even though he lived up in Wyoming, he was always happy to help out when needed. And the Wyoming club president of The Berserker’s Rage MC never seemed to mind loaning out his skills to us. We were always grateful for the help. Cypher knew if he ever needed anything, we’d be there for them and vice versa. It was a mutually beneficial relationship even though we didn’t share club names. It was always good to have friends.
I’d been surprised when Glitch had told me that my girl was a fire investigator with a local fire department. “I have my ways,” I said, answering her question without actually telling her anything. I got up and went to hold the door open. “I know a great place not far from here.”
She looked like she wanted to run away again. I wasn’t sure why she was so hesitant to get involved with me, but I was going to do my damn best to convince her that I was worth taking a chance on.
CHAPTER 2
Devyn
This was all too much. Taking a deep breath, I tried to calm the nerves that were jangling inside my chest. I glanced over at Bolo’s side profile as he drove. He’d insisted on driving my car to lunch since he’d brought his motorcycle. He was at least caring enough not to want to put a pregnant woman on a bike. I wasn’t sure why I couldn’t drive my own car, though. Normally I would’ve put up a bigger fight. When he insisted, I relented and let him have his way.
That seemed to be the theme of our…relationship? He insisted and I let him have his way. I’d been flattered that he wanted to go out to dinner with me. I knew nothing about him, so I’d initially said no. Most of my dates were set ups from my sisters, my friends, even my own parents. Those hadn’t exactly worked out. Then again, none of them ended with me knocked up either, so they had that going for them.
I’d finally said yes to him for two reasons. One, those set ups had always been bad. Like, really bad. And two, I liked Bolo’s persistence. His looks didn’t hurt either, as shallow as that sounded. He was gorgeous. There was no denying that.
It’d been stupid to get drunk at dinner. I was nervous. He had that effect on me. So I had too much to drink and slept with him. I could try to blame it on the wine, but really that was just an excuse. I had wanted him. I didn’t regret sleeping with him, or at least I hadn’t until I realized there was a major consequence for that. I’d tried to leave him behind because, in my experience, once you slept with a guy he took off. Especially guys as hot as Bolo.
The thing was, I really liked Bolo. What I knew of him anyway. And having him ghost me because I’d been dumb enough to sleep with him too early was a reality I hadn’t wanted to face. So I left first. I had a bad habit of doing things like that and I had no idea why I even did it.
It was stupid. If he was telling the truth now, and I really believed he was, he hadn’t been planning on going anywhere the first time. It was my own preconceived notions about him that had put a wrench in everything. Which was why I was here with him, in my car, on our way to lunch. Well, that and the fact that I was now pregnant with his baby.
Getting to know one another was smart. It didn’t mean things between us would work out. Either of us could still walk away at any moment. It wasn’t like we were getting into a relationship.
I wasn’t ready to fully acknowledge the part of me that was whispering inside my mind, hoping that thiscouldbe the real thing. And not only for the baby. I wanted what my parents had. A real love that lasted. A person who was the other half of my soul. And then there was the baby. It would be easier for me,and so much better for my child—our child—if I was able to work things out with their father.
Placing my hand over my still flat belly, I sat in wonder over the fact that I was already head over heels in love with the little life growing inside me. That therewasanother life inside me.
I couldn’t believe any of this was happening. I was a little shell-shocked. But the fact that Bolo wasn’t running for the hills made me think I didn’t give him a fair shot at first.
He had this…confidence…about him. I’d just assumed, especially after I learned he was also in a motorcycle club, that he was one of those guys who played the field. A lot. There was more to him than I realized. Maybe getting to know him really would be a good thing I admitted to that quiet voice inside. Who knew? Maybe this would give me exactly what I’d been searching for all these years.
“What’s up?”
I realized I was staring at him. He glanced my way with a grin. “Sorry, just wondering. Whatisyour real name?” I’d thrown out the fact that I didn’t know it earlier, but now I really wanted to know. We’d kept most of our conversations light and easy at dinner before so I hadn’t asked then. I knew how important it was to guys like him to go by their nicknames, or road names. I wasn’t super knowledgeable about MCs, but I knew the basics.
“Ned.”
Blinking, I stared at him in quiet shock. He was this huge man. Seriously, he was well over six feet tall. Six-five or so, if I had to guess. And had all this muscle packed on his frame. Not to mention the air of authority and competence he wore like armor. And his name was…Ned? Maybe I would stick with Bolo.
He started laughing. “I’m kidding, Dev. It’s Caleb Dunn.”
That was much better than something like Ned. Not that there was really anything wrong with that name, other than itdidn’t suit him. Caleb did. “And Bolo?” I asked with an arched brow.
BOLO was an acronym that law enforcement, military, and we in the fire department used for, ‘Be on the lookout’. It was used as an alert broadcast so that people knew to be searching for a person, car, or anything involving a case.
His grin grew and sort of reminded me of the smirk the Grinch often wore in that old kids’ movie. “I was in the Army,” he told me. He glanced over and met my gaze. “I played a lot of pranks. My fellow soldiers got sick of all my shit and often put out BOLOs on me to warn everyone else.”
He had a softer smile on his face now, and was looking at me in a way that made me smile in return. I couldn’t help it. The man was a charmer. Despite this tension charged situation we were in, he was somehow managing to get me to relax.
“You must have siblings.”
His brows shot up as he glanced back at the road. “Two brothers. How’d you know?”
