by Piper King
“You didn’t seem particularly happy to have me around last night. You know, what with the slapping and all.” He opened the bag and plucked out a glazed donut oozing with sugary deliciousness. I wanted one so bad, but taking it from him felt like letting him win, and I wasn’t about to let him score a point, no matter how good that donut looked. “So, I slept out in my truck.”
Suddenly, I couldn’t help but feel a little guilty. Despite how much I wanted to hate him, making him sleep out in his truck didn’t feel right. It couldn’t have been comfortable. And as mad as I’d been two seconds ago, I had to admit I’d been wrong. He hadn’t run off. He was still here. With breakfast and coffee and a hopeful look on his face.
Dammit, I wished he’d make hating him a hell of a lot easier than this.
20
Lucy finally caved. She ushered me into the kitchen where she dropped the Dunkin Donuts bag onto a rickety table that looked as if it had seen its share of family meals. She got out two mismatched plates, a couple of plastic spoons, and sighed as she eased into the chair across from me. She still looked tired, even after a full night’s rest, though impossibly beautiful with her mussed bed hair and her sleepy eyes.
God, I wanted to kiss her.
“What are the spoons for?” I asked as I watched her hungrily sink her teeth into a donut. Her eyelids fluttered shut in satisfaction, reminding me of the look on her face when I’d made her come so hard in my truck. God, what I would give to provide her with that kind of pleasure again.
“For fixing the coffee.” She pulled the lid off the coffee and gave it a quick stir. “The sugar always sinks to the bottom.”
I decided not to ask why she had a drawer full of plastic forks and spoons rather than the usual silverware that girls like her usually had. Plastic forks that looked suspiciously like the ones from the diner. I had a feeling I knew exactly why that was, and it made the resolution tighten in my gut. Lucy was way worse off than I would have ever guessed, barely scraping by.
And I wouldn’t embarrass her by making her think I’d noticed.
Instead, I changed the subject. “Your Grams seems nice.”
She rolled her eyes, mouth still half-full of donut. “Of course you’d think that. She could barely control her glee when she saw you.”
“Not many men come around here, huh?” I couldn’t stop the smirk from spreading across my face. I hated the idea of another man in Lucy’s bed. Even though I’d only had her once, I didn’t want anyone else to have her. Ever again.
Dammit, D. She’s not yours to have like that.
Lucy’s face clouded over, and she glanced away, almost as if she didn’t want to meet my eyes. Like she was hiding something. “Right.”
Hmm. Maybe there had been a man or two knocking on her door after all. I mean, it was hardly surprising. She was the most gorgeous girl I’d ever laid eyes on, and there were plenty of other men who would appreciate the soft curve of her hips and the delicious glint in her eyes. Hell, they’d have to be blind not to notice a girl like Lucy. She had a perfect pair of tits, made even more perfect by the voluptuous shape they’d taken now that she’d given birth.
But I still didn’t like it.
I curled my hand tighter around the coffee cup. I didn’t want any other man’s grimy hands on this woman. Touching her thighs, tasting her skin.
Lucy’s eyes were on my tensed hands before they flicked up to my face. Something flashed in her eyes, something I couldn’t read. “Not that it is any of your business, but I haven’t been with anyone since you.”
A flicker of pure satisfaction passed through me, and I relaxed my grip on the coffee. Our eyes met across the table, and she sat there unflinching for the first time since I’d arrived last night. Up until then, she’d found some way to avoid my eyes. But now, she just looked at me, almost as if she were daring me to see her. Really see her, all the way into her soul.
Little did she know that I didn’t need to look into her gorgeous green eyes to know who Lucy truly was.
I just knew.
The way I knew every major interstate for hundreds and hundreds of miles.
“If it’s not any of my business then why are you telling me?” I asked quietly.
“I thought it might put you at ease to know that I don’t have men coming through this house on a conveyor belt.” Lucy stood and swiped the remains of our breakfast from the table, dropping the wrappings into an overflowing trash can. “So you can sleep well at night knowing I don’t have strange men hanging around our daughter.”
Of course. Well, if that was the angle she wanted to take for now, then that was fine. But I knew deep down there was more to it than that. That didn’t stop me checking out her ass though. She had on a tight little pair of jeans, and her apple-shaped ass sent a different kind of hunger pang through my body. I wanted to nibble on those cheeks, spread open her legs, and then—
“Diesel.” Her voice was sharp, and the grin on my face grew when I saw how red her cheeks were. “My. Eyes. Are. Up. Here.”
I opened my mouth to let out a retort, but a high-pitched wail interrupted the moment. Instantly, I was out of my seat, concern flittering through me. My eyes locked on the baby monitor squatting on the kitchen counter, and my heart leapt into my throat. Something was wrong with Anna. And while I’d been through a war and had tackled fights against a half a dozen guys at once, I had no idea what the hell to do about a screaming baby. The sound shook me to my core.
Lucy laughed and shook her head. “Calm down, Tiger. She’s probably just hungry.”
“That’s it?” My heart thumped harder in my chest.
“Come on.” She led me out of the kitchen and up the stairs. “It’s time to meet your daughter.”
21
I had to admit, it’d been sweet the way Diesel totally and completely had a meltdown when he’d heard his daughter wake up and cry. Instantly, he’d morphed from full-on bad boy, staring at my ass and looking like he wanted a certain kind of seconds for breakfast, and into an over-concerned father. His head had snapped up, and his back had gone straight, like a sergeant at arms.
He’d mentioned the army before, but he hadn’t said much about it. And I couldn’t help but wonder why a soldier would be driving trucks for a living. A part of me wanted to ask, but I figured there were more pressing things to focus on right now. Like introducing Diesel to Anna.
Suddenly, I was very nervous. What if Anna didn’t like him? What if he didn’t like her?
But I needn’t have worried.
The moment I opened the door to Anna’s bedroom, pure love shone from Diesel’s face. His eyes landed on his daughter, eyes that were reflected right back on him. She looked so much like her father that I had to stop and stare. Seeing them together like this, I was shocked I hadn’t realized it before now. Her forehead, her eyes, the bridge of her nose.
Anna stopped crying. And she smiled.
“She’s beautiful, Lucy.” His words were barely a breath on the air. “She’s the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen.”
Pride soared through me, and my heart suddenly felt very full. I moved over to her crib and lifted her gently into my arms, holding her close and dropping a kiss on her sweet forehead. She smelled so fresh, so light. And even though that night with Diesel had felt like a mistake, it was undeniably the best thing that had ever happened to me. I wouldn’t change it for the world.
Because it had given me my girl.
“Would you like to hold her? Just for a minute?” I asked as Anna smiled up at me, gurgling her little baby sounds. She was definitely hungry and she needed to be fed, but I could feel Diesel itching to get closer to his baby girl.
“Okay.” His voice sounded hoarse, and his eyes were glassy. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought he was on the verge of tears.
Carefully, I eased Anna onto his chest, and his strong arms engulfed her. He held her head so gingerly, so lovingly, that my heart broke right then and there. Diesel gazed down at his da
ughter with a deep adoration, one I’d never seen on any man’s face before. I couldn’t stop the tear from sliding down my cheek. All this time I’d thought he was an asshole, someone who just didn’t give a shit about anyone but himself.
But I’d been wrong.
Looking at the way he held his daughter, it was plain as day that there was far more to him than that.
And I’d thought he was handsome before, but oh no. That was nothing compared to him now.
The hottest man I’d ever laid eyes on was cradling my baby.
And everything in me strained toward him, yearning for him to put another seed inside me.
Dammit, I wanted to have all his babies.
22
After Lucy fed Anna, my baby fell asleep in my arms. I had no idea what the hell I was doing, but nothing had felt more right in my life. I’d been to a dozen other countries, I’d driven my truck to every state in the U.S. except for Hawaii, and I’d moved around just as often as I hopped from bed to bed. Nowhere had ever felt like home, not even the house where I’d grown up with an absentee father and a brother who had been ripped away.
But this place right here…
I didn’t know how I was going to make this work. The moment I’d laid eyes on Anna, I knew I’d never be the same. I’d stay by her side no matter what. But how could I be the father I needed to be while keeping her protected from the horrors of my past?
I didn’t know. Not yet.
I’d do anything to protect her, and I’d do anything to be in her life. Even if that meant sleeping every night in my truck.
“Well, look at what we have here.” Lucy’s grandmother stood in the kitchen doorway, beaming at me. I still had Anna in my arms. Now that I’d seen her, I wasn’t quite ready to let her go yet, even if that just meant putting her in her crib.
“Morning ma’am. Lucy’s just upstairs taking a shower,” I said. “I would stand, but I’m afraid Anna here might wake up if I move.”
“No, no. You stay right there.” She scurried around the kitchen and extracted a kettle from one of the cabinets. “You like tea?”
“I’m more of a coffee drinker myself. The caffeine helps me stay awake on the road.”
“Yes, I saw that truck of yours parked out front.” She turned and raised her eyebrows. “Now, I know I’m no spring chicken, but I’m no idiot either. I’ve put two and two together, and I take it you’re the young man who fathered my great granddaughter you’re holding.”
“Oh, well. The thing is. Ma’am.” I was at a loss for words. I’d known we would have to break the news to Grams eventually, but I hadn’t expected it to be right here and now and certainly not without Lucy in the room.
“Oh, stop your sputtering.” She waved a dish towel at me and turned back toward the kettle. “I can’t say I approve of how this whole situation came to be, but that baby of yours. Well, she’s the sunshine of my life.”
I glanced down at Anna, at her perfect face. “I can see how you’d feel that way.”
“Good.” She spun toward me, her eyes flashing. “So, there’s just one question I’ll ask of you, and you better answer me true. These two girls mean the world to me. Do you intend to do right by them, Mr. Diesel?”
I stared at this little firecracker of a woman and saw where Lucy had gotten so much of her personality, a part of her that had been dampened since I’d last seen her, a part I wanted to see thrive. And a part I couldn’t wait to see if my daughter had, too.
“Yes ma’am. I intend to do whatever it takes.”
23
When I got downstairs, Diesel was waiting for me in the kitchen. He’d put Anna to bed, and Grams was busying herself with the dishes that had piled up over the past few days. Diesel stood slowly from the table, his eyes drinking me in with a heat that made me want to melt into the floor. His hair was still wet from the recent shower, and his dark damp strands curled on his forehead. It was the sexiest thing I’d ever seen.
He cleared his throat and shifted on his feet. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he was nervous. “Your grandmother was telling me about a park nearby, so while you were upstairs, I packed us a picnic. I thought it might be nice to take you somewhere.”
“You mean, like a date?” I looked from Diesel to Grams and back to Diesel again. I couldn’t have heard that right. Diesel was asking me on a date? The trucker who used to stroll into the diner every week, all dark and dangerous, never saying a word. The man who had made me scream.
“If that’s what you’d like to call it,” he said.
I shook my head, barely believing this was happening. Twenty-four hours ago, I hadn’t been sure that Diesel was even alive. I hadn’t seen him in over a year, no matter how hard I’d tried to find him. And then he’d rolled up, smelling of sex and leather and looking like he wanted to eat me whole before tossing me aside. Again.
But instead of doing all that, he was asking me on a date. A picnic.
Like an actual gentleman.
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” I heard myself say.
Because I was still mad at him.
Right?
“Don’t be stubborn, Lucy,” Grams chirped. “The man wants to do something nice. You let him.”
“But Anna–”
“Don’t you worry about Anna. I’ve looked after her before, and I’ll look after her again.” She flicked the soapy suds at me. “Now shoo.”
Diesel led me out the door and over to his truck where he popped the passenger side door, helping me up into the high cabin. The scent of him filled my nose, a muskiness that radiated pure masculinity. It took me back to that night when the stars were bright overhead and the heat of whiskey swirled in my belly. He’d grasped my neck in his rough hand and pressed me hard into the leather seat, holding me down as he slid his massive length inside me. He’d been rough and gentle all at once.
God, it had felt so good.
And no matter how hard I tried to suppress it, every part of me wanted to experience that night all over again.
24
I had no idea what had come over me, but I was taking a woman on a fucking picnic. It had been Anna, I was pretty sure. She’d turned my brain into mush. Even bullets couldn’t get through my armor, but a tiny little baby hand had knocked every barrier aside like I hadn’t spent years building them high around me. Thick walls between me and everyone else.
But she’d snuck into my heart, all within the space of a morning.
We pulled into the parking lot just at the edge of the park, and I helped Lucy down from the truck. She was wearing a cute little sundress that showed off her long legs and her perfect pair of tits. My eyes got caught on her hemline, where the thin material barely covered her perky apple ass, her tanned legs speaking of summer and crickets and small town life.
But Lucy was looking at me strangely, and I couldn’t blame her. A trucker with a picnic basket. It wasn’t something you saw every damn day.
“This isn’t the beach, but I thought it might be almost as nice,” I said.
Her head cocked to the side even more, her eyes widening slightly. “You remembered that I want to live by the ocean?”
“Of course I do,” I said. “I remember everything you said that night.
Lucy blushed and glanced at the ground, and I couldn’t help but feel damn satisfied. I’d made her happy by remembering and hopefully I could make her happy with everything else. She certainly made me feel that way. I hadn’t been this relaxed in years, out here in the open with a good woman by my side. And not just any woman.
The most gorgeous one I’d ever seen in my life.
As we made our way toward the dirt path peeking out of the thick cluster of trees, I took a deep breath into my lungs, filling my head with the scent of pine and wood. The sun was bright overhead and thick clouds strode across the sky. There was a slight rumble in the distance. Thunder, maybe, but too far away to be a worry.
It had been a long time since I’d come out to a place like this, st
ripped bare of the trappings of the world. I had forgotten how natural it felt to be surrounded by tall trees, soft grass, and clean air. My world was full of asphalt, gas fumes, and steel. That needed to change, starting now.
A bird chirped as we ducked underneath a low-hanging branch, and memories began to flood my mind. In my army days, we’d trained in a place just like this. Every waking hour, I’d trained with those boys who grew into men. Those men had become my family, the closest family I’d ever had besides my brother, who had been there with me every step of the way.
And now they were all gone. Forever.
Except one.
My mind snagged onto the one thing about that night with Lucy that hadn’t been good or right. Jared Evans, stalking into the diner, drugged to hell. Just picturing his face took me back in time to a place I never wanted to go again. It had been his fault. All of it.
He’d gotten everyone killed.
“Everything okay?” Lucy asked.
I realized we’d come to a stop in a clearing, and I hadn’t even noticed how silent and still I had become. I jammed a hand into my hair and twisted away, determined to keep my dark thoughts to myself. Lucy didn’t need to know what had happened to me. She shouldn’t bear the burden of my nightmares.
She couldn’t know how badly I wanted to knock that asshole to the ground.
“Yeah, just trying to decide if this is a good place for us to eat.”
“You seem upset about something, Diesel.” Her soft hand squeezed my arm, and suddenly everything in the world zeroed in on where her skin met mine. I fought the urge to twist her wrists behind her back, push her up against the nearest tree, and fuck her hard until all these thoughts were gone from my mind. I needed to feel her pussy tight around my cock and taste the sweat on her skin, pound out my pain the only way I could.