Waiting for Forever (Hope Valley Book 8)

by Jessica Prince

  “Taste as good as you smell,” he said, sliding his tongue back into my mouth, deep and hard. “Nothin’ but sweetness, Danika,” he spoke against my lips.

  I was about to act. I was either going to beg him to take me to bed or find the superhuman strength to flip the massive man to his back so I could tear his clothes off and mount him right there on my couch.

  I was still deciding which option to go with when his cellphone started ringing. Once again, the mood shifted, only this time it was like a bucket of ice had been poured over us.

  “Shit,” he hissed, breaking the kiss and resting his forehead against mine, both of us breathing like we’d just completed a triathlon and had come in at first and second place. “That’ll be Macie callin’ to tell me practice is just about over and I need to come get her.”

  I nodded, trying my hardest to not show how bereft I was that our make-out session was over. I knew I’d done a terrible job of hiding it when his swollen lips quirked up in a smile and he mumbled, “Fuckin’ adorable,” before kissing the tip of my nose. He moved to sit up, grabbing my hand and bringing me with him as he dug in his back pocket for his phone.

  I sat there, still out of sorts as he swiped to answer and brought it to his ear. “You done, baby girl?”

  I freaking loved that he called his daughter baby girl. It gave me the same squishy feeling I got every time my own dad called me Button, shortened from “cute as a button.”

  “All right, honey. I’m on my way. Yeah. Love you too.”

  He hung up, shifted on his hip to return the phone to his pocket and blew out a sigh as he turned to me. “I gotta go.”

  I couldn’t help the smile that pulled at my lips, stretching so big my cheeks ached. He just sounded so damn disappointed. “I got that.”

  He stood, still holding my hand and using that grip to tug me along with him as he walked to my door. Once we got there, he turned and put his hands to my hips, pulling me so our chests were pinned together. “Jesus, Danika. I never even got that close to comin’ in my jeans when I was a teenager.”

  I let out a giggle, feeling more than just a little pleased with myself. “I’d say I’m sorry, but it would be a lie.”

  He chuckled, his fingertips flexing against my hips. “Yeah, I’m not feelin’ all that sorry either.” Reaching up, he brushed a strand of hair behind my ear and said, “Got a lot goin’ on the next couple days, but the kids both have plans Saturday night. You free for another dinner?” His grin got bigger. “Maybe this time we’ll actually watch the show you put on.” His voice got low and husky as he leaned in close and added, “Or not.”

  “I’ve got plans,” I announced sadly. “It’s girls’ night out at Whiskey Dolls.” The air rushed from his lungs and he dropped his forehead onto my shoulder and groaned. “Sorry,” I laughed. “I made promises I can’t go back on. But . . . maybe I could text you if it doesn’t go too late?”

  His head came up, a pleased expression on his face. “Yeah, sweetness. You should definitely do that.”

  “All right,” I said as he dropped his arms and took a step back, reaching for the door handle. “Then hopefully I’ll see you Saturday.”

  “Oh, darlin’, you’ll definitely be seein’ me before then. We just won’t have the opportunity to do what we spent the last fifteen minutes doin’ on your couch until then.”

  My cheeks heated and I couldn’t help but lower my head to stare up at him through my lashes, suddenly feeling very shy and all kinds of excited.

  He let loose a rumble from deep in his chest and moved back in quickly, grunting, “So damn sweet,” before giving me one last quick, hard kiss. Then he turned and headed out the door.

  I closed it, locking it behind him, then I spun around and pressed my back to it, listening to the engine of his truck as he started it and backed out of my driveway. Once he was gone, I let out a squeal so loud it hurt my own ears and slid to the floor like a puddle of goo.

  Leo: Have fun tonight, sweetness. Thinking of you.

  I bit down on my bottom lip to keep from smiling like a fool as I read and re-read the text Leo had just sent.

  It had been two days since our little make-out sesh, and I already had it bad. Just like he’d said, I’d seen him plenty over the past couple days. He’d come into Muffin Top during his shifts at the station, staying only a short amount of time before having to head out, only to show up again when he got off work with his kids in tow. I liked those times best, not only because I got to see Hardin and Macie, but also because Leo also got to hang around the shop longer.

  He called both nights after his kids went to bed, and texted as often as he could. I was walking around in a constant state of happiness so immense I felt like I was floating. I got a rush of endorphins every time my phone pinged, making me downright giddy.

  We’d only just arrived at Whiskey Dolls a few minutes ago and got settled at our table at the very center of the room—the best seats in the house thanks to Gypsy’s connections—and already, there was a part of me that was itching to leave so I could have time with Leo.

  But I wouldn’t. There was also a part of me, an even bigger one that knew I needed this night with my girls. The early blush of a new relationship was all well and good, but the ladies I was with were the ones who would stay in my life for eternity.

  The semi-circle booth was so big it fit Gypsy, Tempie, Tessa, Sage, Rory, Eden, and me perfectly, and still had enough room for us to move around comfortably.

  Gypsy’s friend McKenna only performed a couple nights a month, choosing to spend the rest of her time with her man, Bruce, running things, so she’d been there to greet us when we showed and took us right to our table.

  Stuffing my phone back into my purse, I tucked it in at my side and took in the club. This was my first time here since it was rebranded and re-opened, and I had to say, the place was awesome.

  All the women were dressed in the coolest modified cigarette girl uniforms, and the men wore tailored slacks with white tanks, suspenders, and fedoras. All the wood in the building was stained a rich, deep cherry, the chairs and booths were lined with burgundy leather, and the walls were painted in a deep red with plush, velvet curtains.

  “This place looks great,” I breathed as I looked around. “I can’t believe it’s the first time I’ve been in here since it opened.”

  “I feel like I need to order a Manhattan or a Sidecar just to be cool enough to be in here,” Eden said. “And I don’t even drink that kind of stuff.”

  “Oh! A Manhattan sounds good! I’ll take one of those,” Gypsy told the waitress who’d just walked up.

  “Same for me,” Tempie said.

  “I’ll have a glass of Cabernet,” Tessa told her. I ordered the same. Eden decided to live a little and ordered that Sidecar, and Sage and Rory each got a beer.

  “So,” Sage started as soon as the waitress took off to fill our orders, her eyes pinned to me from across the table. “Who were you texting just now?”

  Crap. “Just one of my girls asking a question about the shop,” I lied, wishing desperately that I already had my drink.

  She gave me a dubious look. “Mm-hmm. You don’t smile all secretive like you just were if it was just someone from work.” She leaned forward, bracing her arms on the table and drawing everyone’s attention before announcing, “You have a man.”

  Oh crap! Crap, crap, crap! I thought I’d hidden my reaction well, but my mom always said I had the worst poker face.

  Before I could insist she was wrong, Tessa’s head whipped around, her hair nearly smacking me in the face. “You do?”

  “No,” I insisted, looking around the table at all my eager friend. “I do not have a man. Like I said, it was just a work thing.”

  “I’m not buying it,” Gypsy declared. “I went in for a coffee yesterday, and she had this big, creepy, Joker smile on her face the whole damn time I was there.”

  “Yes,” Rory said, pointing an accusing finger my way. “I saw it too. The day before ye
sterday. She seemed really happy. Like, that obnoxious kind of happy you are when you first get with a new man.”

  “You mean like how you were with Cord?” Tempie teased, earning an elbow to the ribs from Rory.

  “I was not obnoxious.”

  “Oh please,” Eden said with a roll of her eyes. “We were all obnoxious like that when we first started out with our guys. Well, all of us except Sage. She and Xander went straight from fighting to . . . well, you know.”

  “They still fight,” I threw in.

  “This is true,” Sage agreed. “We fight because what comes after is so damn fun. But Eden’s right. I wasn’t obnoxious. Biker chicks can’t be obnoxious, it isn’t in our DNA. And you,” she said, jabbing a finger in my direction, “are trying to skate around the topic at hand. So who is this guy? Is he hot?”

  “More importantly, is he good in bed?” Gypsy asked, then looked around the table. “What? I’m only asking what you all are already thinking, and you know it.”

  I didn’t know if Leo was good in bed, but based on how he kissed and drove me out of my mind the other night, I didn’t think I was off the mark in assuming the man knew what he was doing. And hopefully I’d get to find out soon enough, but still . . . “Guys, there is no man. Really.” I nearly said “I promise” but caught myself before the words slipped out. I never lied on a promise. “I’m just a happy person. If there was a man, you’d all be the first to know.”

  That seemed to do the trick, and while I felt a little bad for lying to my friends, I wasn’t wracked with guilt. This was something Leo and I had agreed on because of his kids. If—hopefully when—I got to tell them the truth, I had no doubt they’d understand.

  Our drinks arrived a short while later, and not long after, the lights in the whole bar went down. A spotlight flashed on, lighting up the very center of the stage, and the show started.

  And it . . . was . . . awesome.

  Chapter Ten

  Leo

  With Hardin and Macie both sleeping over at their friends’ houses, and nothing to do but wait for Danika to get home, I’d decided to take Micah up on his offer when he called to invite me to have a beer at The Tap Room with Hayes, Lincoln Sheppard, and him.

  I wasn’t sure how long Danika’s version of girls’ night would last. Back when I’d been married to Whitney there had been times when she rolled in at two or three in the morning. That always pissed me off, not because she wasn’t allowed to go out, but because she’d never had the mental wherewithal to text or call, letting me know how late she planned on staying, and she never bothered to answer her fucking phone when I tried to contact her.

  I knew Danika’s crew of friends liked to go out occasionally, and I knew it wasn’t out of the ordinary for them to get a little rowdy, but, with the exception of her, they were all tied down, some with kids at home.

  I’d hit the bar not long after nine, hanging with the guys, which consisted of just Hayes and Linc the majority of the time since Micah was off trolling for a hookup, splitting his time between the single ladies filling the bar and us.

  I’d just polished off my first beer and spun around on the barstool, lifting my hand to get the bartender’s attention when something Hayes and Linc were talking about caught my attention.

  “She’s drivin’ Marco out of his mind, which in turn, is makin’ him drive the rest of us insane. And as soon as Sage heard about it, she jumped all over it. Now Xander won’t hear the end of it. I swear to Christ, we never had these kinds of issues before the guys started pairin’ off.”

  “What kinds of issues?” I asked Lincoln as I spun back around, a fresh beer in hand.

  “Sage and Gypsy got this wild hair up their asses about settin’ Danika Parrish up with one of my men,” he answered.

  The swallow I’d just taken went down the wrong pipe, and I started choking on my beer. Fortunately, Hayes and Linc misread it as a failed laugh and didn’t think anything of it.

  “What?” I croaked once I was able to breathe again.

  “Between the two of ’em, they’ve already hit up Hunter, West, and Dalton. Only reason they haven’t gone after Trent yet is ’cause he’s workin’ a job outta town.”

  A sour feeling hit my gut. If word started going around that Danika was on the market, it was only a matter of time before some guy tried to get in there, a guy who didn’t have baggage like a bitch of an ex-wife and wasn’t asking her to remain a secret.

  Goddamn it.

  “I thought she was seein’ someone,” I queried, pulling out my phone for the millionth time to see if she’d texted. There was still nothing.

  “Far’s the women know, she’s single,” Hayes said with a casual shrug.

  “Huh. Then maybe I heard wrong. Maybe it’s just that she’s not lookin’.”

  What the hell was I doing? I’d had exactly one quasi-date with the woman that, yes, ended with us fooling around on her couch, but it wasn’t like we were an official couple or anything. But there I was, trying my best to spread gossip that would hopefully get around to the rest of the men in this town so they’d back the fuck off. When the hell had I grown a vagina?

  I checked my watch for the hundredth time, seeing it was just after eleven. I was just about to call it a night and head home when my phone pinged.

  Danika: Leaving in a few. Still want to come over or is it too late?

  Hell no it wasn’t too late. My thumbs started flying across the screen.

  Me: Name the time and I’ll be there.

  I was still waiting for her to respond when Linc’s phone started ringing. I listened as he talked to his wife on the other end, smiling and laughing before he hung up. “Gotta go. Edie’s called for a ride, and when my woman’s tipsy, I’m not missin’ out on that shit.”

  “Tempie just texted,” Hayes said. “She needs a ride too, so I’m rollin’ out with you.”

  I quickly engaged my phone, typing out another message before hers had a chance to come through.

  Me: Scratch that. I’m coming to get you. Be there soon.

  “I’ll go with you guys,” I offered, pulling my wallet out and tossing some bills onto the bar. “Got nothin’ else to do, and they’re probably all in the same state. I’ll take a couple of ’em with me.”

  “Sounds good,” Hayes said.

  I started for the door, catching Micah’s eyes on my way out, I tilted my head in silent communication that I was leaving and got a chin tip in return. He had no intention of heading out until the chick he was currently talking to was ready to leave with him.

  Danika’s message came through as I was starting my truck.

  Danika: What do you mean you’re coming to get me? You can’t come get me. We’re supposed to be keeping this a secret, right?

  Me: I was with Hayes and Linc when their women called. I told them I’d lend a hand. No one will question. Just in case, I’m Sage’s ride as well. Driving now, so can’t text. See you in a few.

  I tossed my cell into the cupholder on the center console, then I backed out of the parking lot of The Tap Room with the biggest fucking smile on my face.

  The second I’d caught sight of Danika my dick sprang to life, swelling beneath my pants so hard I could pound nails, and it hadn’t gone down one damn bit in the past five minutes. It was the smell of vanilla and sugar filling the cab, the sight of her smooth, creamy legs sticking out from beneath that short-as-fuck skirt of her sexy black dress. Not to mention the dress itself. And those goddamn shoes. It was all that hair, glossy and curled, draping down her bare shoulders and back. And it was the makeup she’d done darker than I’d ever seen her wear it, if she wore any at all.

  She was always beautiful, but I’d never seen her like this before. She went from cute and adorable to pin-up vixen in the blink of an eye, and having all that sitting in my passenger seat was the kind of temptation no man could ever resist.

  Sage’s hiccupped giggle came from the back seat, drawing my attention from Danika’s killer legs.

 
“Dani,” she sing-songed. “I know you’re keepin’ a secret. Just tell me. I promise I won’t say a word. Pinky swear.”

  I arched a brow and looked at Danika out of the corner of my eye, noticing her cheeks were stained pink.

  “There’s no secret,” she said to her friend with an exasperated sigh, indicating to me that this was something she’d probably said repeatedly over the course of the hours they’d been at Whiskey Dolls.

  “Hmm. Liar,” Drunk Sage mumbled, leaning forward to brace herself on the center console, sticking her head between me and Danika. “Leo, see if you can get her to talk.”

  “Talk about what?” I asked, my mouth kicking up in a smirk.

  “She swears up and down she doesn’t have a man, but we all think she’s lying.” The words came out slightly slurred, but the effect of them was a punch in the gut that wasn’t all together unpleasant.

  “You do, huh?” I asked, suddenly really into this game. “And why do you think that?”

  “Well, first, there’s the fact that she’s been super smiley and happy lately.”

  I had to admit, it didn’t suck to hear that.

  “I’m always smiley and happy,” Danika countered.

  “Then there was the text.”

  My brows rose and I turned my head to look at Sage, asking, “Text?” before returning my attention to the road.

  “Yeah. She got a text early tonight after we got to the club.”

  “Sage,” Danika snapped. “You’re being annoying; why can’t you just lie down and pass out? Only you would get chattier when you’re drunk.”

  “It’s the biker babe in me,” she declared. “Anywhoo. So she got this text and I watched her while she was reading it. She stared at the screen a really long time. And she had this like, humongous smile on her face and her cheeks got all red. She tried to hide it, but she totally sucks at that.”

  “Really? Hmm. That’s interesting.”