KNOCKED UP BY THE HITMAN

by Nicole Fox

  “How sweet.” Bambi smiled at me demurely from the couch. She still looked like that sweet Texas beauty queen with her nice clothes and her conservative makeup on, but I knew there was a whole other side to her. The poster I had seen that night had come to life, and it had been so much more than I had bargained for. It wasn’t the kind of thing I would ever give up, though. Not again. I had let her slip through my fingers too many times already, and I had to make sure I kept her. Telling her the truth—the entire truth—was the first step.

  “No, it wasn’t sweet,” I countered. “It wasn’t sweet at all. I was just a horny biker after an innocent, beautiful woman. My intentions were far less than honorable, and you need to know that. I wasn’t the same person then that I am now, even though it’s only been a couple of months. I wanted the money from the bet, and I wanted to get you in bed. Even if I didn’t win the cash, there was no way I could really lose if I got to sleep with you.”

  I ran my hand through my hair, whipping off the bandana and flinging it to the soft carpeting of the hotel room. “I saw you through that window, watching me. Even without talking to you, it was like I could tell you were ready for someone like me to come along. Still, I didn’t think it would be so easy to get you on the back of my bike.”

  “You drew me like a moth to a flame,” she admitted, her lips curling upward once again. “I can’t quite explain it, either, but it was like I just had to see what you were all about. For a little while, I regretted jumping on the back of your bike like that. It seemed like such a foolish thing to do. But now, I can’t imagine myself doing anything different.”

  “I can’t, either,” I agreed. “And it’s been strange since I met you. It’s like everything in my entire life has changed, and I can’t believe I was ever anybody other than who I am when I’m with you. And I feel horribly about the fact that, initially, you were nothing but a bet. It wasn’t anything romantic or nice. I don’t even like to admit it, but if we’re really going to do this, then I want you to understand the truth. More importantly, I need to know if you accept it. If not, well, then I understand that as well.” I sucked in a deep breath and stared at her, waiting for her to rage and yell at me for using her. I had been a dick, and that wasn’t restricted to just the bet. She had every right to reject me before we took this any further.

  Bambi stared at her hands where they sat clutched together on her lap. She rubbed her lips together while she thought, having no idea how sexy it made her. “When I walked into that pool hall and I heard you talking to the guys about whether or not I was pregnant and if you had won the money, I was horrified.” Her voice was quiet, almost hoarse.

  My heart dropped into my boots. I couldn’t believe I had done that to her. What the hell was wrong with me?

  “I had thought that what we had was something big and romantic, and that we were just constantly riding off into the sunset together. That was how it had felt up until that moment, and I loved it. I didn’t care that we were never in one place for very long or that we stayed in old motels. It made it feel more like an adventure, and I think I needed that.” She brought those big brown eyes up to look at me, and I damn near fell right into them. “I’d lived such a miserable life, Snake. I didn’t really know who I was, and I hated what I was forced to pretend to be. Nothing was right in my world, and I needed something completely different to free me from that.

  “I have to admit that I started to question myself when you wouldn’t let me go back to explain things to Mother.” Her eyes dropped to the floor again. “I felt bad for her. She’s always been alone. Her parents weren’t very loving or kind, and they died shortly after I was born. She didn’t have a lot of friends, and she didn’t do well with men. As soon as she got pregnant with me, my father left. I know she’s completely crazy—there’s no doubt of that—but I couldn’t help but feel some sort of sympathy for her when I knew she was all alone in that house.”

  “Bambi, I’m so sorry. I should have let you go back.” I reached a hand toward her, realizing what an asshole I must have seemed when she had asked me about going home. I never should have denied her anything, especially something so important.

  “No, you shouldn’t have.” She held up her hand, palm out, to stop me. “You want to explain things to me, and I should have a chance to do the same. Snake, you might have done something really wrong by taking part in that bet, but it doesn’t mean I don’t have some things to tell you as well. And I can’t say that I’ve been perfect. There’s a lot I’m still trying to figure out.

  “Anyway,” she continued, “You claimed to have won that bet, and that was when I realized it was all over for me. The dream was over, and I had to return to reality. But I did mean what I said when the cops showed up. You never kidnapped me, and I came with you of my own free will. It was also of my own free will that I left and went back home.

  “Of course, it was miserable there. Mother was pissed at me for running away, and she was horrified when she found out about the baby. She didn’t say much about it once she was done yelling, but then she told me what she really wanted.” Bambi paused, swallowing several times.

  I wanted to swoop down to the couch and hold her in my arms, but I could tell that wouldn’t have helped. She was upset, but she needed to get this out. And she was a much stronger woman than I had originally imagined.

  “Mother asked me to claim you had raped me,” she whispered, her eyes falling to the floor.

  “What?” My voice boomed through the room, and I was sure any guests in the surrounding rooms could have heard us. “I wouldn’t do a thing like that! You told her it wasn’t true, didn’t you?”

  “Of course I did,” she defended. “But that’s the thing about her. She doesn’t care if it’s the truth or not as long as it serves her purpose. I was to claim that you raped me, and then tell everyone later on down the road that I had lost the baby. Mother was going to make me give it away.” She choked on the last words.

  I couldn’t help myself any longer, and I was next to her on the couch in an instant. My arms were around her, caressing her, touching the delicate bump where our child was growing. I couldn’t touch enough of her at once, needing to feel that I could protect every square inch of her skin. “I never would have let that happen. I waited around far too long, hoping you would come back, but I would have fought tooth and nail for that child if it had come to it. I still will. I want all three of us to be together, no matter what happens.”

  Bambi buried her head into my shoulder. She smelled of flowers and sunshine. “I know. And that’s exactly what I realized while I was back at home. For a little while, I had thought you were just like Mother, trying to keep me trapped so you could use me for your own purposes. But then I realized that you were protecting me and taking care of me in everything you did, even when you wouldn’t let me go home. You just wanted to keep me away from Mother because she would manipulate me, and you were right. That’s exactly what she was trying to do.”

  I pulled her closer, running my fingers through her silky hair and pressing my rough cheek to her soft skin.

  “I realized what you were really like, what you were truly about,” Bambi continued. “Even though hopping on a stranger’s bike was dangerous, I’m glad I did it. If I hadn’t, then we would never have gotten together. I can’t imagine a life like that, not now.”

  I pulled away from her to hold her at arm’s length so I could see her face. “I’m glad, too. But do you forgive me? I don’t want us to go on and live our lives together if you have some deep and very deserved grudge against me. What I did was so completely wrong, and I need to know for sure if you truly let it go.”

  Bambi smiled with those gorgeous pink lips. She looked into my eyes, and I could feel the connection between us more than ever. “It might not have been honorable or passionate, but if that was what it took for us to meet, then I absolutely forgive you.”

  I drew her into my chest once again so she wouldn’t see the relief that I was sure was written
all over my face. I needed her, and I needed her completely. If Bambi could forgive me for something like that, then I knew we would be all right.

  “You want to know something else nice about this whole thing?” I asked as I looked at a framed picture on the wall on the other side of the room. A little white house took up the background, surrounded by trees and flowers. In the front yard, a mother watched her son play in the grass. The original had been made in broad brushstrokes, so it didn’t show the facial features of either of the people. Still, I could easily imagine who they might be in that idealistic little scene.

  “What’s that?”

  “I really did win the bet. I wanted to use the money to pursue life outside the Warriors. The club is great, but I was beginning to think there might be something more for me out there. I know now that it’s you.” I bent my head and kissed her, savoring the way she felt against my lips. “We can see what life has to offer for both of us.”

  “Sounds wonderful to me.”

  I gathered her in my arms and carried her to the bed.

  Chapter 16 Bambi

  Nine months later, I sat at the desk in the little corner room off the kitchen. I still hadn’t changed the wallpaper in here yet, and it was driving me crazy. No matter how hard I tried to concentrate, my eyes kept wandering to the hideous old flowers that crawled up the wall and twined together. I didn’t have a problem with flowers in general, and in fact had just bought a floral throw for the couch, but these particular ones were plain ugly.

  Blinking, I focused on the screen once again, comparing the list of classes I needed to take for my degree to those that were available for the upcoming semester. I had been through one round of college classes so far, and I found that I loved taking them from home. It allowed me plenty of time to spend with the baby and work on the house, but I knew I was still striving toward my dream.

  The bundle in my arms squirmed and fussed quietly. “Just a moment, sweetheart. I’m almost done.” Smiling, I clicked the appropriate boxes, enrolled myself in four classes, and submitted the schedule to the university. As a young mother, I had no problem getting grants and student loans, so nobody needed to worry about paying for tuition.

  Ariel reminded me once again that I was taking too long. Her little hands reached out from the long sleeves of her onesie, and she pulled in her legs and pushed them out again. I closed out the browser and headed up the stairs. The master suite was on the left, but I turned to the right toward the nursery. The room was nearly as big as the master suite. Snake had insisted that we remodel this room first, and I didn’t argue. Out came the ancient shag carpet and in went the pale wood laminate and light pink paint. With the angled roofs and dormers of our little Cape Cod style house, there was a perfect vault of ceiling over the crib. It was a gorgeous room, and I always felt so peaceful when I walked in. Even though there had been some rough nights when I had hardly slept and had rocked Ariel in the antique rocking chair for hours, it hadn’t changed my opinion.

  I laid the baby gently on the changing table and pulled a clean diaper from the dispenser. She watched me with those big, blue-gray eyes that I just couldn’t stop looking at. Snake and I were both anxious to see what color they would turn out to be. She was the most gorgeous little child I’d ever seen, with sweet little ringlets of dark hair and a heart-shaped birthmark on her chest.

  “Well, you were calm long enough for Mommy to get a few things done, weren’t you?” I said as I performed my duties. “I’ll be starting all new classes in a few weeks, so we’ll get to order some new books. And you’ll have to let me have a little time to read the material. Do you think you can do that?” I knew the answer already. Ariel loved to sit quietly on my lap and watch while I turned the pages of my text books. I couldn’t have asked for a calmer baby.

  Ariel had come easily into the world, if not conveniently. I had gone into labor around two in the morning, surprised by the heavy feeling in my belly and the painful contractions. I had reached over to shake Snake’s shoulder, but he was awake as soon as my fingers had brushed his skin. “What’s wrong? What is it?”

  “I think we’re having the baby!”

  The hospital workers had given Snake some interesting looks, surprised to see a tall, tattooed biker in a leather vest be so attentive to the mother of his child. I had been happy to see that he ignored them completely, focusing on me and the baby instead. He never left my side except when the doctor asked him to step back so they could administer the epidural.

  “It’s a girl!” the doctor had announced only a few hours later. “And she’s beautiful!”

  I had known she would be even before I saw her, but I fell in love all over again when they placed her on my chest.

  Snake had reached out one large finger to touch her tiny hand, smiling when she clutched at him. “She’s amazing,” he had said as he kissed first my forehead and then hers. “You’re amazing.”

  With a fresh change, Ariel was content once again. I brought her back down the stairs. Even though we had lived in this home for several months, I never got tired of looking at it. The money from the bet—which Rusty had forwarded to us along with a little extra cash they had donated as a baby gift—had been plenty to put down on the house. It still needed some work, as it had been coated in old wallpaper from several decades ago and most of the flooring had to be ripped out, but it was structurally sound. Ariel had a generously sized bedroom, there was a garage where Snake could work on his bike, and I had my own little office. Most importantly, there was a big backyard where we would be able to play with our daughter once she got a little older. In our quiet neighborhood, we really had started over. We hardly talked about our old lives at all anymore, eager to leave them behind.

  I descended into the formal living room. While it wasn’t formal just yet, it certainly had the potential to be. It had lots of big windows across the front near the door, and a set of French doors that separated it from the rest of the house. It had been my favorite room when we had looked at the place with the realtor, and I dreamed of filling it with beautiful furniture and wall hangings. It would be the perfect place for a future Christmas tree in the front window, with garlands winding up the banister. For now, it held a corner lamp and a sofa. “What do you think, Ariel? Should we paint these walls a pale blue? Or maybe a bright yellow? And I was thinking hardwood for the floors, maybe maple. Or we could go a little darker and do walnut.”

  As always, the baby simply studied me with curiosity if not understanding. I had made a habit of talking to her constantly, telling her about everything I saw and thought. After I was already doing it, I had read that it could help babies learn to speak and understand language better. If that was true, then it would be a pleasant side effect. I loved talking to her regardless, and she didn’t seem to mind.

  We moved into the hallway, past the dining room and the kitchen, to the main living room where we had a flat-screen television mounted on the wall and a furniture set that we had purchased on credit at a local outlet. The overstuffed sofa, recliner, and loveseat were a comfortable place to lounge together as a family during the evenings, and we had made sure the fabric could be easily cleaned in case Ariel spit up on it.

  In this room, Snake had already pulled down all the existing green plaid wallpaper and painted it a pale coffee color. The floor was unfinished yet, with just subflooring in place, but we had plans to go to the home improvement store the following weekend and make our final decision. He had been spending every spare moment he had working on the house when he wasn’t at his day job at a motorcycle dealership in the next town. I often set the baby down and tried to help him, but he rarely let me do so for more than a few minutes at a time. “You have more important things to do,” he would say when Ariel began to fuss. “I’ll take care of this.”

  As the baby and I walked past the living room windows, I saw the mail truck come bobbing up the road. It paused for just a moment at our mailbox before it headed on down to the next house.

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��Let’s take a little walk outside,” I suggested as I opened the door. It led out to a partially covered porch which served as a breezeway to the large garage. “It’s beautiful outside today.” Meandering down the drive, I pointed out flowers, birds, and trees even though Ariel couldn’t really see them yet. Someday, I hoped to be able to write a children’s story for her. Maybe it would be about a little bird who was afraid to do anything on her own until she found out what fun she could have. That little bird, however, would still love to come back to the loving wings of her mother at the end of the day.

  I grabbed the stack of envelopes in one hand and shut the mailbox. I smiled as I walked back to the house, excited about the fact that the stack was so thick. While most folks might imagine it to be bills or junk mail, I had a good feeling it was more.