Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 80902 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80902 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
“Mooooooom,” Mia yells from inside.
Crap, I forgot she was waiting on me. “I’ll be right there. Sorry, I promised her we would go get ice cream after I was done in the garden.”
“Sounds great. I’ll come with,” Havoc says with a boyish grin that somehow still fits him in spite of looking like the kind of man most people would cross the road to avoid.
“Really?”
“Moooooooooooom!”
I roll my eyes. “We have to take my car. Her seat is in the back.”
“No problem.”
I don’t know why the idea of going out for ice cream with Mia and Havoc is making me feel all fluttery, but I nod. “Okay, give me a minute.”
9
HAVOC
“This is Mr. Bear.” Mia holds up a stuffed animal that has clearly been through a lot.
I nod, not quite sure how to act with a kid. There are a few running around the compound, but I’m not in charge of any of them. Try not to swear because it’ll piss Shelby off, and don’t let her run into traffic, that’s about all I know. “He’s a dog.”
She looks at me like I’m the confused one. “Mr. Bear is his name, silly.”
“Is your mom coming back soon?”
An older couple pulls into the parking lot and gives me a suspicious look as they get out and head into the ice cream place. As if a guy like me has no right to be with a little girl. I stare them down and throw my arm over the back of the bench behind Mia, staking the claim I don’t really have a right to beyond Shelby asking me to keep an eye on her daughter while she went inside.
Mia doesn’t seem to notice, she’s too busy making Mr. Bear walk back and forth across her lap. “Dunno. Sometimes number two takes a long time. Do you have a Mr. Bear?”
The laugh bursts out of me before I can catch it. Holy fuck, kids have even less filter than bikers. “A stuffed animal you mean? Hm.” Shit, I haven’t thought about stuff like that in a long time. “I used to when I was your age. I had two actually. Big Bear and Little Bear.”
Come to think of it, maybe kids just suck at naming things.
Her whole face lights up. “Were they dogs like Mr. Bear?”
“Nah, they were just bears.”
“Oh… Are they still your friends? Mommy had a cat named Ally but she got lost when the bad thing happened. I don’t want Mr. Bear to get lost. He’s not good at walking by himself.”
Her innocent words and the weight of the worry behind them slice through me like a knife. This whole time I’ve been worried about Shelby, but never given her daughter much thought. Now that I’ve met her, she’s a real flesh and blood person to me, and I would fucking kill anyone who touched either of them.
Carefully, I nod. “Yeah, yeah I suppose they are. They live with my parents.” Or at least I’m assuming they still do. I haven’t been home in a couple years, and it’s not like I’ve looked for them, but my mother hangs on to everything, even if she’ll happily tell you her son is a bit of an asshole.
Shelby comes out with a bottle of water and some napkins in her hand. In the flash of an eye, I see the moment of panic when we aren’t standing exactly where she left us, and then the relief when she spots us.
Damn, she grew up nice. She was always pretty, but when I first knew her working at the bar she did her makeup heavy and teased her hair up big. Probably trying to blend in with the older girls and the strippers so nobody would question her age. The woman she is now is a fucking MILF. There’s something hotter about seeing her in ripped jeans that cup her ass like magic and a shirt that keeps giving me little tempting glimpses of skin.
“Are you giving Mr. Havoc trouble?” she asks Mia, kneeling down in front of her and wetting one of the napkins to clean what’s left of the ice cream off the little girl’s tiny fingers and face.
Mr. Havoc. What a fucking riot. That’s not something I ever thought I’d hear. “Nah, she’s been my buddy,” I say with a wink for Mia, who grins.
“Good. Hey, honey? Rosie is playing on the swings over there. Why don’t you go play a little before we go home? Stay where I can see you, though, okay?”
“Rosie?” Mia hops down from the bench. She takes a step and then turns around and thrusts Mr. Bear at me. “Stay here so you don’t get dirty.” Without even waiting to see if I accept, she’s off, not stopping until I see her run up to another little girl with her hair up in two adorable black poofs.