by Jade Kuzma
“Oh, man,” she said. “I’m so tired. I need a break.”
“Come on, Gina. You’ve dealt with bigger rushes than that.”
“Well, I must be getting old.”
“You’re not getting old,” I said with a laugh.
“Maybe you should think about hiring some new help.”
“Hmm… I suppose it is getting a little busy.”
“Great! I can help.”
“You can help?”
“I’ll put it in the papers: Wanted! Hot stud needed to work with sweet girl. Hard labor. Big muscles are a must. Tattoos are a plus.”
Gina had stars in her eyes but I knew she wasn’t joking. Still, I had laughed at her all the same.
“I’m not putting that in the paper,” I said.
“Come on! You’re in charge now. Amy is retired. She picked you because of the vision you had for this place.”
“And that vision doesn’t include a bunch of shirtless guys walking around in aprons serving cupcakes.”
“Who said anything about shirtless? Now who’s talking crazy?”
I shared a laugh with my friend. Gina had been there since the beginning and I was glad that she was still with me.
“What else am I supposed to do for fun?” she said. “It’s not the same without you. Now that you’ve got a little bun in the oven, I don’t have anybody to drink with.”
“Gina, you’re a grown woman. I’m sure there’s plenty of hot guys willing to keep you company.”
“Yeah, I know… Maybe I just need a piece of tiramisu to cheer me up.”
“Why don’t you go take a break?” I said.
“That sounds like the best idea you’ve had so far today.”
I giggled at her. Gina helped herself to a piece of dessert in the display then took a seat in the bakery.
While I cleaned up behind the counter, the bell on the door rang. I looked up and saw him walking in.
His muscles bulged as he carried the giant box toward me.
“Where do you want this?” he asked.
“Just put it in the back with everything else.”
I made my way over to him and watched him set it down with the other products in the storage room. He let out a deep sigh then greeted me with a peck on the cheek.
“That’s more than usual,” Sean said.
“I need it. People are ordering more of my desserts. You can’t get those ingredients here in Ivory.”
“Pretty soon I’m gonna need another bike to bring it all down. You might need to hire a whole group of bikers.”
“You mean like a club?”
“Yeah, a club. Transporting sugar and flour down from the big city. Think the cops will bust me for that?”
“They might.”
I giggled at him as he gave me another kiss. He wrapped his arms around me and squeezed me tight. My eyes closed, I forgot about everything I was thinking of while I was in his embrace.
“The money is good,” I said. “Business is better than I could have ever expected it to be. I can pay you and the club back.”
He pulled away and looked down at me, the smile no longer on his face.
“It wasn’t a loan,” he said. “That was my money because I was still part of that job.”
“I know. I just don’t feel right knowing where that money came from. I can’t just take it from you.”
“You didn’t take it from me. It was an investment. The last investment I’ll ever need to make. Consider it a going away present from the club.”
“I suppose that’s one way of looking at it…”
I turned my back to him, my head down as sudden thoughts started to swirl around in my head.
“What’s wrong?” he said.
“I’ve just been thinking…”
I put my hands on my stomach.
“…I’ve got everything I could ask for. I have you. Our child. The bakery. Gina is here with me, too.”
“What’s wrong with any of that?”
“Nothing,” I said as I turned back around. “Nothing is wrong. It’s like everything is perfect now.”
“I still don’t see a problem,” he said, confusion on his face.
“I guess I just never thought I would find all of that here.”
“What did you think you would find?”
I thought about it for a second. When I realized I didn’t have an answer, a smile came to my lips.
“…I don’t know,” I said.
“It doesn’t matter. What matters now is that we’re here, together. And nothing will ever change that.”
He leaned forward and kissed me again. His lips on mine eased any doubts I might have had.
I gasped a deep breath just as I pulled away from him.
“Something else wrong?” he asked.
“Nothing’s wrong. I think I just need a breath of fresh air.”
“Take a break. It doesn’t look like the bakery is too busy.”
“Let’s do that.”
He took my hand in his and led me back out to the front of the bakery. Sheriff Sutton and Ben greeted us with a smile as we walked by them. The bell on the door handle rang as Sean opened it up for me.
I stepped outside into the warm Ivory sun. The rays shining down invigorated me.
I looked out into the small town and watched as the traffic rolled by. Everybody was going about their usual day.
“This is the life,” I sighed. “I can’t think of a way to make this any better.”
“I can think of one way.”
“Oh?”
I turned toward him, my eyes widened.
“My name is Sean Scott,” he said.
“I know. I like your name. It suits you.”
“Do you? Then I suppose you wouldn’t object to becoming Mrs. Sean Scott?”
“No, I…”
It took me a second to realize what he was getting at. My mouth half-open, I blinked in disbelief.
“It might take awhile,” he said. “I want to get you something worthy to put on your finger.”
“You know I don’t care about that. The money we make from the bakery… It’s not for me. It’s for all of us.”
I reached down and rubbed my stomach as a reminder. My eyes were still locked on Sean’s.
“I guess your job is done,” I said.
“My job?”
“You’re part of the Ivory welcoming committee. Remember?”
“Oh, that… I suppose I might have lied about that.”
We grinned at each other.
Then he took his hands in mine with a serious look in his eyes.
“Lydia… You’re everything I’ve ever dreamed of. You’re my queen. You saved me.”
“You saved me.”
“I’ll always be with you. No matter what. We’ll always be together.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
He leaned forward and put his arms around me. A deep kiss made me feel like I was floating toward the sky.
The small town of Ivory was unlike any place I’d ever been to. It was such a dramatic change from the way I’d lived my entire life. I took a big risk dropping everything to come here.
But I’m glad I did.
Sometimes you never know what you’ll find until you take a risk. I found Sean and he found me.
We would never have to wonder what the future held for us because it was right there in front of us.
Thank you!
BRASH is my first major release! It was a pleasure to write and I hope you enjoyed reading it!
Stay tuned for the next installment of the BLACK REAPERS MOTORCYCLE CLUB series! You can find out directly when it’s released by signing-up to my mailing list!
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sp; Jade Kuzma, Brash: A Bad Boy Biker Romance (Black Reapers Motorcycle Club Book 1)