by Freya Barker
As we walk inside, I ask if Sophia got off okay. She’d been there for the wedding but had to get back to Denver the day after. There may have been a little tension around her brief visit, but I’d been too busy enjoying my day to pay it much notice.
“Ouray ended up driving her to the airport,” Lissie says on a whisper.
“Oh?”
“Yeah, he stepped in when Wapi got all up into Tse’s face about driving her. The chief wasn’t having it.”
“Poor girl. She comes here for our wedding and has to deal with those two fightin’ over her.”
I respond to a few greetings shouted out from around the clubhouse and give Nosh a kiss on the cheek, before walking into the kitchen—my domain—and sit down at the kitchen table with my friend.
“Good to be home,” I tell her and she laughs at me.
“You’ve only been gone three days.”
“I know.” I shrug. “But this is the only true home I’ve ever known. I miss it when I’m not here.”
She grins at me. “On that note; are you ready for some more juicy gossip?”
“Oh Lordy…what did I miss now?”
“Nothing yet, I don’t think, but Paco got into it with that lawyer of Brick’s after you guys took off.”
“Mel?”
Both Brick and I really like her so we’d invited her. Especially after she managed to finalize all the paperwork securing Finn’s place with us before the wedding.
“Oh yeah. Paco was already a few sheets to the wind when he commented she’d be even prettier if she’d dye her hair and put on some makeup. Boy, did she shut him up fast.”
I chuckle. Mel is definitely not one to mess with, and I have no doubt she ripped him a new one. Paco is a good guy underneath all that cocky bluster, but I can see how those two would rub each other the wrong way.
I’m about to comment on that when Ouray ducks his head around the corner.
“Got a minute?”
Brick
The crew busted their asses while we were gone.
As much as our mini getaway was intended as a honeymoon of sorts, I planned for it to give the guys time to finish up the add-on.
Three days ago the bathroom was bare; no tiles, no hardware, no vanity. Same thing with the bedroom, the drywall was up, but nothing had been painted and the flooring wasn’t down yet. I’d offered to pay Jed Mason’s crew double if they could finish up before we got back.
I just went for a quick look and clearly my club had used some elbow grease as well, because all our stuff was already moved into the new master suite. Our old bedroom upstairs is now Kiara’s, as per her brother’s instructions. We offered it to him, given he is the oldest, but he insisted it made more sense for a girl to have a bathroom to herself.
The kid kills me. For all his occasional attitude, he is wise beyond his years and I’m gonna love seeing him grow into the fine man I know he’s destined to be.
I promised the kids they could come have a look as soon as I showed their nana around.
“Are you serious?” she says when she walks up with Ouray. “They’re done?”
Should’ve known she’d clue in the moment she noticed the dumpster and the equipment gone from the side of the house.
“Come have a look.”
I step aside to let her through but she stops in front of me.
“You did this?”
“Well, technically it was Jed’s guys and our club family who did this.”
“But you set it in motion,” she insists.
“I might have put in a good word.”
She lifts up on her toes and brushes my lips with a kiss.
“Thank you.”
“Why don’t you have a look first?”
I nudge her farther in the house and she makes a sound in the back of her throat when she notices the family room we added on behind the dining room is fully furnished. Something I had Lissie’s help with.
She walks through, running her hands along the sturdy woven fabric of the new sectional sofa.
“I love it,” she mumbles, before turning around to the new French doors opening off the family room onto the new patio.
“Check out the master suite,” I prompt her.
“It’s beautiful.”
She hasn’t even seen it all when she turns to me and throws her arms around my neck.
“You can stop now,” she says, her face lifted up.
“Stop what?”
I’m not quite clear what she means.
“Stop makin’ sure I won’t regret saying yes to you.” She remembers my promise when I proposed. “I never will. You already gave me a life I never would’ve dared dream of.”
THE END
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I have to thank the awesome Barks & Bites, my reader group. These ladies keep me motivated on days when I’d rather head back to bed and pull the blankets over my head. They’re also very welcoming so if you enjoy my books and would like to join, you can do it here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/FreyasBarksandBites/
At my back (and often at the drop of a hat) are Karen Hrdlicka and Joanne Thompson, my fabulous editing/proofreading team; Deb Blake, Pam Buchanan & Petra Gleason, my beta readers for Edge Of Tomorrow; and CP Smith for her fabulous formatting.
Also putting up with me (and I’m not always easy!!) my agent, Stephanie Phillips of SBR Media; my promo queen Debra Presley & my advertising guru Drue Hoffman of Buoni Amici Press, my publicists; Krystal Weiss, my awesome personal assistant; and finally every amazing blogger, who promote and recommend my books.
But, as always, the biggest thanks goes to you, my readers. You give each new story I put out there a warm, enthusiastic welcome, and never fail to warm my cold heart with your kind words!
Love you all.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Award-winning author Freya Barker loves writing about ordinary people with extraordinary stories.
Driven to make her books about ‘real’ people; she creates characters who are perhaps less than perfect, each struggling to find their own slice of happy, but just as deserving of romance, thrills and chills in their lives.
Recipient of the ReadFREE.ly 2019 Best Book We’ve Read All Year Award for “Covering Ollie, the 2015 RomCon “Reader’s Choice” Award for Best First Book, “Slim To None”, and Finalist for the 2017 Kindle Book Award with “From Dust”, Freya continues to add to her rapidly growing collection of published novels as she spins story after story with an endless supply of bruised and dented characters, vying for attention!
www.freyabarker.com
ALSO BY FREYA BARKER
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STANDALONE BOOKS:
WHEN HOPE ENDS
VICTIM OF CIRCUMSTANCE
PASS SERIES:
HIT&RUN
LIFE&LIMB
ARROW’S EDGE SERIES:
EDGE OF REASON
EDGE OF DARKNESS
EDGE OF TOMORROW
ON CALL SERIES (Operation Alpha):
BURNING FOR AUTUMN
COVERING OLLIE
TRACKING TAHLULA
ABSOLVING BLUE
REVEALING ANNIE
ROCK POINT SERIES:
KEEPING 6
CABIN 12
HWY 550
10-CODE
NORTHERN LIGHTS COLLECTION:
A CHANGE IN TIDE
A CHANGE OF VIEW
A CHANGE OF PACE
SNAPSHOT SERIES:
SHUTTER SPEED
FREEZE FRAME
IDEAL IMAGE
PORTLAND, ME, NOVELS:
FROM DUST
CRUEL WATER
THROUGH FIRE
STILL AIR
LULLAY: A CHRISTMAS NOVELLA
CEDAR TREE SERIES:
SLIM TO NONE
HUNDRED TO ONE
AGAINST ME
CLEAN LINES
UPPER HAND
LIKE ARROWS
HEAD START
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Freya Barker, Edge Of Tomorrow (Arrow's Edge MC Book 3)