At just over fifteen months, he was into everything—running and walking, talking as best he could, and generally being the cutest child any of them had ever seen. Well, that was true until her brother Drew and his wife Charity had welcomed twin girls. Now there was a flurry of activity in their family, just trying to accommodate the sheer number of people they’d grown to be.
“I’ll go get him,” Dalton leaned over, kissing her on the cheek. “But I’m telling you, we could get married in jeans and t-shirts and it would make no difference to me. The only thing I want is for you to have my last name.” He kissed her again before he got up and headed towards their son’s bedroom.
Sometimes she hated how easily he could calm her down because she felt as if she were entitled to her meltdowns. When Dalton kept his cool it made her feel like she was insane.
Her phone rang and seeing her sister’s name pop up, she answered it on the first ring.
“Are you freaking out?” her little sister’s voice had the opposite effect Dalton’s had.
“Yes, I’m freaking out! What if no one can make it to the wedding? We have enough food ordered to feed over a hundred, we ordered tents and heaters, and none of it was cheap. We’ve saved for the last year for this wedding.”
Tatum sighed. “You know Dad offered to pay for it. You really pissed him off when you told him no.”
Mandy shuddered as she remembered that conversation with their dad. “I know, but I feel like he should pay for yours. Dalton and I are older, and we have a child….”
“Do I look like I’m getting married anytime soon?” Her barely-out-of-her-teens sister interrupted.
Mandy wanted to say ‘if Remy could get his head out of his ass you would in a heartbeat’, but she was scared of the possible repercussions. “Still,” she continued. “What if you want some sort of cool trip or something? Dad should pay for that for you,” Mandy insisted.
“Maybe that’s what I should do for the New Year,” Tatum was saying. “Tell Dad to send me and Addie on a getaway. Mexico or someplace like that.”
“Good luck with that, T,” Mandy giggled, realizing talking to her little sister had put her in a better mood. “I gotta go, Dalton went to grab Walker and I need to see if he wants help.”
“All right, but if you need anything, please let me know,” Tatum said before making a kissy noise in the phone and hanging up.
Mandy watched as Dalton came down the hallway back towards the living room, holding Walker in his arms. There wasn’t anything sexier than seeing Dalton hold their son.
“What?” Dalton asked as he set Walker down on the carpeted floor. “You look like you’re either going to yell at me… or jump my bones.”
He loved the woman who was going to be his wife, but he was always a just little unsure what she was likely to do to him at any given moment. Even after so many years, he still couldn’t read her completely. For some men that might have been a source of friction but not with him. Dalton was man enough to admit sometimes Mandy wore the pants in the family.
“No,” she shook her head from side to side slowly as she sat down, handing Walker a sippy cup. “This is definitely a jump your bones look. I can’t begin to tell you how hot you look carrying our son.”
“We still have a few hours before he goes back down but he likes his pack and play, and he loves that hour-long cartoon movie,” Dalton was already advancing on her.
She held up a hand, warding him off. “As much as I would love to spend the next hour in your arms, I have to go for a trial-run of my wedding hair. Christine wants to make sure she can do it,” she frowned, tempted to stay but committed to going.
Dalton walked over and pushed his hands under her shirt, clasping them at her back. They stood like that for a few moments, before he tilted his head and brought his lips to her neck. He knew they had limited time, but it didn’t mean he couldn’t get her hot for him before she left.
He groaned against her flesh as he felt her hands on his back, grasping his shirt between her fingers and pulling on it as she nipped. “Dalton, we don’t have time for this,” she panted.
He didn’t let her go for a few more heartbeats and when he pulled away, he could see her nipples peaked against her shirt. Her breath coming in small gasps; it wasn’t as if he was unaffected, but he loved when he could break the firm control she normally had on herself.
“Just a little something for you to think about while you’re gone,” he flashed her a smile before turning away and going to tend to their son.
“You don’t play fair,” he could hear the pout in her voice.
“Oh babe, don’t act like you do either. Besides, all’s fair in love and sex.”
She giggled.
“You know I’m right,” he winked.
She grinned and nodded as she grabbed her jacket and keys because yeah, she knew he was.
“Are you sure you’re gonna be able to make my hair look that full?” Mandy looked skeptically at the picture she’d pulled up on her phone. She’d fallen in love with the hairstyle the moment she’d seen it, but now she was having second thoughts about being able to pull it off.
“I promise you Mandy, it’s going to look amazing,” Christine assured her friend.
“I’m sorry I’m so neurotic, I’m just nervous about the weather report for next Wednesday,” she put her thumbnail in her mouth, chewing on the end.
Christine nodded sympathetically as she walked over to a cabinet and started withdrawing tools Mandy assumed she needed to give her the hair she wanted. “I know you’re stressed and I understand, but you just need to remember you’ve got a great man, an adorable kid, and a family full of people who love you. We’re gonna make it work.”
And she knew that. “It’s hard though, I’ve wanted this for most of my life,” she laughed, shaking her head. “I never thought I’d be Bridezilla, but I’m pretty sure everyone is avoiding me like the plague. The only one excited to see me coming is Walker and that’s because he needs me.”
Christine set down the stuff she was sifting through. “That’s a damn lie and you know it. You just need to take a few deep breaths and realize things really are going to be fine.”
She watched as Christine walked back over and picked up what looked like hair. “I’m trying, but I think both Dalton and I are way more nervous than we thought we’d be. And it’s been almost two weeks since we’ve had any alone time,” she inadvertently blurted out.
Maybe that was the problem. Maybe she needed to feel close to her husband-to-be. Maybe they just needed a night to themselves, so they could take a break from all of this stress.
When was the last time they’d been together without the stress of the wedding, or of the house they had only recently finished building and moved into, weighing down on them? She really couldn’t remember and wasn’t that a bad spot to be in?
“All right,” Christine walked over to where Mandy sat, holding a bunch of what looked like hair in her hands.
“What is that?”
“You were right, you don’t have enough hair for the volume you want, so we’re going to give you some help with that. Extensions.”
Mandy had heard awful things about fake hair, but for her wedding, she’d do what she had to.
“Walker,” Dalton sighed as he tried to keep up with his son. “Don’t run!”
They were in the clubhouse parking lot and while most drivers knew he had a little hellion on his hands, there was the off-chance someone was visiting. They may not know his spawn had a penchant for running once he was out of the car seat.
Dalton ran to catch up with him, planning on giving him another stern talking to about running away, but before he could, Liam came out of the clubhouse.
“He run away from you again?” Liam yelled to his soon-to-be son-in-law.
“Yeah,” he answered, struggling to walk with the bag of Walker equipment they needed to tote along everywhere they went.
As he approached Walker and his grandfather, he could se
e Liam bend down on his knee so that he was eye level with the little boy. The look on Liam’s face was one Dalton had seen many times – he was teaching a lesson.
Dalton breathed a sigh of relief. This was one lesson he wouldn’t have to teach his son. Grandpa had this one.
Chapter Twenty-Four
“I don’t know why he does that,” Dalton mumbled as he made his way into the clubhouse. Wondering why his son felt the need to test the brakes of anyone in his path. He hoped like hell they would be able to teach him better than that.
Liam had picked up the wayward child and was carrying him as they entered. He glanced at them and had to smile. Grandson and grandfather had a very special relationship. Anyone could sense the bond, just by looking at them. Liam watched the child like he was a piece of fine china and Walker looked at the older man like he hung the moon.
“He’s testing his boundaries, aren’t you?” Liam tickled the little boy’s stomach, grinning as Walker giggled loudly and fought to be released onto the ground.
When he was down, he let loose with a boost of speed and energy that made them all envious.
Plopping onto a nearby couch, Dalton sighed. “He’s wearing me out,” he grumbled good-naturedly. It had taken them almost two hours to get out of their house and down here to the clubhouse.
“Where’s Mandy?” Liam asked as he had a seat beside him, and offered him a beer.
Usually Dalton didn’t drink during the middle of the day, but his stress level was at an all-time high and he appreciated the mellow feeling a bottle of beer would give him.
“She’s at Christine’s,” he took a drink and let the crisp taste pour down his throat. At least some of the tension melted away. “They’re practicing her wedding hair or some shit like that.”
Liam snuck a glance at the younger man. “I take it she probably saw the weather report for the week. How’s she doing?”
“Ha! She’s in full freak-out mode. I tried telling her it doesn’t matter. We can get married in a pair of jeans and a couple of t-shirts with two people there. It’s not that big of a deal. All that matters at the end of the day is she wears my ring and has my last name,” he attempted to explain. “But she’s all kinds of fucked up about it.”
“She’s a lot like her mom,” Liam whispered so his wife wouldn’t hear. “You need to take her mind off of it.”
Was Dalton mistaken or was Liam telling him to have relations with his daughter? Quickly deciding that’s what he was saying, he gave his head a rueful shake. “Been there, tried to do that, but there’s too much going on right now. Every time we get close, something happens or Walker needs attention. It’s hasn’t been that easy.”
“I remember what that was like,” Liam laughed, clapping a hand on Dalton’s shoulder. “You’ve got to take all the distractions out and focus on the time you two need to spend together. Especially with this big event in your lives about to happen.”
“But it feels so wrong to look at it like that when the ‘distraction’ is our son,” Dalton tipped his bottle at the boy who was squealing as he ran away from Remy, who was giving a good chase.
“Sooo,” Liam drawled out, “that’s when he comes to stay with Grandma and Grandpa for the night.”
“I don’t want to seem as if I’m pawning him off,” Dalton tried to explain. It meant a lot to him to take good care of his son; he took the responsibility as seriously as he could, because his own parents hadn’t.
“You aren’t, I’m offering,” Liam assured. “Mandy’s at Christine’s right? Why don’t you go grab the bike and pick her up? She wouldn’t be expecting a nighttime ride with you would she? It’s cold, but it’s not frigid, grab a couple of jackets and a hat. If we’re really going to get that freezing rain in a few days, it’s gonna have to cool off a lot more than it is now.”
Dalton tossed the idea around in his head. “Look at you being all romantic like,” he teased Liam.
“Hey you gotta keep those fires burning while your kids are small, because when the kids are grown and gone – what do you have if you’ve got nothing else in common?”
And with those words, Dalton realized why Liam was still happily married after all these years.
“What do you think?” Christine asked as she turned the chair around, letting Mandy see herself for the first time.
Mandy didn’t recognize herself. Never before had her hair been so thick, so glossy, so gorgeously tousled and styled. Her bangs had a braid and the rest was curled in opposite directions, giving it major body.
“Oh my God, I look hot,” she grinned up at Christine, their eyes meeting in the mirror. She hadn’t felt hot, or felt like she looked hot in months. Being the mom to a really rambunctious kid didn’t leave her with much free time for getting her sexy on. And she didn’t have to get dressed up for work unless she was accompanying Charity to court.
“Not that you don’t normally look hot, but this does make you look a little like a classy porn star.”
Mandy laughed, feeling some of the tension melt away. At least she knew her hair would be awesome. Christine would make sure of it. “Thank you so much for putting my mind at ease,” she got up from the chair and threw her arms around her friend.
“That’s what I’m here for. Part counselor, part hair stylist, part kick in the ass.”
They were still going on about her hair when they heard the roar of a bike pull up outside the shop.
“That’s Dalton,” Mandy frowned. “He’s supposed to have Walker. Wonder what he’s doing?”
“Seeing as how there’s no kid in sight, maybe he wants to spend time with his fiancée,” Christine suggested. “If you need to leave your car parked in the back, it’ll be safe for the night,” she winked at the younger woman.
Mandy was confused, but nodded in agreement anyway as she walked out of the shop’s front door, folding her arms over her chest to ward off some of the cold.
“Is everything okay with Walker?” she worried as she hurried towards Dalton, fear rising up in her throat.
Dalton stopped, framing her cheeks with his hands, he smiled down at her. “You’re beautiful.”
Her heart melted at the way he spoke the words, but it didn’t erase the fear. “Thank you, but is Walker okay?”
“He’s fine,” Dalton calmed down the rising panic. “He’s with Grandma and Grandpa for the night. It’s time his parents had a night out.”
Her mind spun at what he’d said. They hadn’t had a night out together in a long, long time. The past few months had been occupied with wedding talk most of the time, and if they weren’t talking about it – they were doing something to prepare for it.
“Are we going out on a date?” she asked, her voice high at the realization they had a night to themselves.
“We are,” he nodded, leaning down to give her a kiss on the cheek.
“And we’re taking the bike?” her eyes were shining. It’d been such a long time since they’d taken the bike, now that they had to contend with a car seat most everywhere they went.
“We are,” he slung his arm across her shoulder, directing her towards where he had parked. “My lady, your steel horse awaits.” He handed her the heavy duty jacket he’d grabbed for her.
She gave him a smoldering gaze, feeling for the first time in a long time – not just like a mother – but the object of his desire. “I can’t wait to ride it,” she licked her lips. “Or it’s owner later on.”
Dalton closed his eyes, groaning as she ran her hand down his stomach, stopping at the bulge in his jeans. “We’ll definitely work something out.”
The promise was there in his voice and she knew without a doubt, they definitely would.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Mandy breathed in deeply, loving the smell of the crisp air. As it made its way through her nose and out her mouth, the cool burn of it made her feel alive. Alive in a way she hadn’t felt in a long while, longer than she’d realized. For the first time in months, she wasn’t thinking about the din
ner she’d have to cook, the laundry she’d need to do, or trying to get Walker down for bed. Tonight, she just thought of how good it felt to have her arms wrapped around Dalton’s waist.
She tightened her arms, and rested her head against his shoulder. She wasn’t sure where they were going but she’d go anywhere with him, there was no question. They’d come a long way from where they’d started—these days they didn’t hide anything from each other.
As Dalton slowed the bike down for a stop light, she tilted her heard up towards his ear so she could speak to him.
“Where are we going?” she asked, tucking her hands under the leather of his jacket and his cut, there she could feel the thermal material of the shirt he wore and the warmth of his body.
“You’ll see,” he promised as he put his hand over hers, and squeezed her fingers. He wore no helmet, only a hat turned backwards on the top of his head.
Mandy liked to wear a modular helmet, so there was no way they could share a kiss or anything more intimate. The squeeze of his fingers though, she could feel in her heart. Over the past year, their love had grown in ways she hadn’t imagined it could. It was deeper, understated yet more passionate, and more real than anything they’d felt before getting back together.
There wasn’t any kind of doubt in her mind now that he loved her. She knew he’d take a bullet for her, knew he’d follow her and Walker to the ends of the earth, felt all his emotions in one look. He was done hiding and she was done letting him hide. They were as open with each other now than as they’d ever been. He was back to giving her that fluttery feeling in her stomach, and all it took was one smile from her lips to have him right there with her, his arms around her. Leaning her head against his shoulder blade, she closed her eyes and enjoyed the quiet time. No matter where they went, as long as they were together, she didn’t care.
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