Page 67 of Riding Free

Dare snorts. “More than happy. He said it was the smoothest that’s ever gone before. Sucks because we have to keep doing it. Good, because he won’t suspect we’re trying to figure out what the fuck his deal is.”

“Agreed,” I murmur. “And now I’ve got my own drama to deal with before the day is done.”

“A wedding. I heard. You don’t want to do it here?” he asks.

I shake my head a couple of times from side to side. “Needs to be today. Her parents are trying to threaten her with some grandparent rights shit. Something they absolutely can’t do, but⁠—”

“You don’t need to explain to me about protecting your woman.”

Yeah, I guess I don’t. Dare married Chassis just to protect her and for no other reason. It just so happens they ended up falling for one another, and they’re happily married now instead of living in the fake relationship status they tried to pretend wasn’t fake.

I’m pretty sure it’s the epitome of fake it until you make it, because here they are, making it.

“So that’s what I’ll be doing. Protecting her and then, when we get back, I’ll have a little conversation with her father man-to-man.”

“Nice,” he hisses. “Since you were out doing that run, take the week off, spend some time with your wife, old lady, and mother of your child, then we’ll get working on your new project. I want that to be your focus until we have everything figured out.”

Say fucking less. I’ve never been a detective, but as the club’s secretary, paperwork and digging into shit to see the whole picture is my jam, so I’m more than happy to do it, and with Hippie by my side, I’m pretty sure we can knock this out in a few months’ time.

“I’ll be back and ready in a week to hit the ground running.”

“Get moved into your place and settled with your new wife and baby. This doesn’t have to be immediate.”

I jerk my chin, and my lips curve up into a grin. “I fuckin’ got this, Dare.”

A few moments later, I’m walking out the door, sending Hippie a text to meet me at my place, and then climb on my bike and head toward home.

I haven’t seen what Blast has done since I was away, but I’m hoping after a few days in a Vegas hotel, we can move straight in without living at the clubhouse any longer. I didn’t think about how inconvenient it must be to live here with a baby before I demanded Keely and Thea move in.

They deserve their own space and their own home after they’ve been shuffled around. And I’m going to be the man who gives that to them. Because they’re mine and I’ll be keeping them for-fucking-ever.

CHAPTER

FIFTY-ONE

KEELY

“It’s stunning,” Chassis calls out.

“I’m not sure if there’s a word for more than stunning, but that’s what it is,” Elodie announces.

I stare at my reflection and wonder how the hell they see it, because I think it’s really pretty, but I have never and probably would never put me and stunning in the same sentence, no matter what I’m wearing.

I’m wearing a maxi dress that, once I’m wearing heels, will probably just skim the floor. It’s light blue with spaghetti straps and large peach flowers all over. The bust is diagonally pleated in a deep V-neckline and gathers in the center. There are horizontal pleats around the waist, followed by vertical pleats from the waist to the floor.

It’s a beautiful dress.

Very pretty, really. It’s not overly matrimonial, but I don’t want that. It’s soft and girlie. It’s blue for the something blue. And it’s new, too, so there’s that. I would just need something borrowed, I guess.

“I really think you look amazing,” Juliette whispers. “Now you just need some shoes.”

“Have you thought about what shoes you’d like to wear?” Elodie asks. “I can see a pretty peach or maybe even… ohh, a hot pink would be hot as fuck,” she cries out.

She’s right. That would be really cute, especially with this dress. It would be a pretty contrast.

“Please hold,” Juliette states, and I watch as she stands. Then she stops and turns to me. “What size are you?”

“Eight,” I murmur.