I felt like he’d just punched me in the stomach.
“Is that how you feel about me and Noah?”
CHAPTER FOUR
RUGER
Fuck.
He couldn’t believe he’d said that. At least Noah hadn’t heard it.
Sophie, though … Jesus.
“I’m gonna start unloading the car,” Horse said. Coward.
“No, I don’t feel that way, Sophie. Believe me,” Ruger said, and he meant it. “You’re the only fuckin’ thing he ever did that’s worth a damn. I’m crazy about Noah, you know that. And we don’t always get along, but you’re important to him and that makes you pretty fuckin’ important to me.”
She offered him a quavering smile, and to his horror he saw the glint of tears in her eyes. Not good. Ruger could handle Sophie pissed off, but crying?
No. Fuck no.
“Let me show you your place,” he said quickly. “Downstairs. You got your own French doors down there, private entrance. It’s pretty. You can use the front door, too, if you like.”
“Thanks,” she murmured. Ruger walked across the kitchen to the basement door. He opened it, leaning in to turn on the light, holding it open for Sophie. He followed her down the steps, feeling like a dick. Then he felt like a bigger dick, because instead of thinking about ways to make things better, he checked out her rather fine ass.
Damn woman had been driving him crazy all day.
Her tits practically jumped out of that tank of hers, and the cutoffs had to be ten years old, the fabric was so worn and thin. They were tight, too, which matched his theory about their age. Sophie wasn’t fat, but she’d put on some weight since high school. In fact, she’d filled out far too nicely for his comfort. Having her in the house would be a living hell. Hell already. He couldn’t see her legs without imagining them wrapped around his waist. When she’d propped them up on the dash earlier, he’d almost crashed the goddamned car.
He thought about that morning, on the couch in her apartment. His cock grew bigger with the memory, and he hoped to hell she wouldn’t notice, because he’d been right about one thing. Sophie really could be a stuck-up bitch, and he didn’t doubt for a minute she’d use his attraction against him. She might want to fuck him—and he knew she did, she’d been as into it as he had—but that didn’t mean she thought he was good enough for her.
Fuck, she was probably right about that one.
Screwing her would kick ass. But after that? Things would get weird. Ruger wasn’t interested in settling down with any woman, but if he ever did, she’d be different from Sophie. She’d fit in with the club, for one thing. She’d be the kind of girl who knew how to crack a beer at the end of a long day, kick back, and then give him a blow job before bed. She’d love riding on the back of his bike, she’d be blonde, and she’d be tough enough to hold her own in a fight.
Most important, she wouldn’t fucking talk back to him. Sophie had a hell of a mouth.
“Wow, it’s beautiful,” Sophie said, stopping him dead at the bottom of the stairs. He looked at her to find all traces of wistful sorrow gone. Instead she smiled big at him, clearly thrilled with something or other. Damn, woman’s moods changed so fucking fast, a man couldn’t even begin to keep up. “I can’t believe this. How did you get everything ready so quickly?”
He blinked, then looked around, shocked.
What the fuck?
When he’d left that morning, the place had been clean-ish. Not because he’d cleaned it, of course, but because one of the girls from the clubhouse had a few weeks ago for some reason. Trying to hook him for her old man, probably. He’d fucked her and kicked her out, because he’d be damned if he’d let one of those bitches get their claws into him.
It wasn’t sort of clean now, though. It fucking sparkled.
This was supposed to be a family room, with a small kitchen built into the back for reasons he’d never bothered to consider. There was a short hallway to the side, with two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a utility room. He used one of the bedrooms for storage, the other as a place for his friends to crash. Never once had it looked or felt like a home.
Someone had come in and fixed all that.
Softy, fuzzy-looking blankets were draped across the couches, and a spiral rag rug full of bright colors covered the center of the beige carpet. There were fresh flowers on the coffee table, right in front of the wall of glass looking out over the valley. French doors opened onto the little patio under the ground-floor deck. Two loungers covered in big, soft pillows sat ready and waiting for use outside, framed on either side by cascading hanging baskets.
They hadn’t been there that morning.
There were even more fresh flowers on the pretty blue-checked cloth covering the round table near the kitchen. A goddamn mystery table, because he had no fucking clue where it came from. Even the windows looked different. He studied them, then realized they had new blinds and long, gauzy curtains.
Then he saw the TV. A flat-screen sat on what looked like an old-fashioned wooden radio, which he had to admit was kind of cool and different. Not a huge TV, but plenty big for the space. Sophie darted down the hallway, sadness forgotten. He understood her sudden happiness, because right now the basement looked a lot more comfortable and welcoming than his space upstairs.
“Ruger, I can’t believe this!” she said called from one of the rooms. He walked in to find a child’s bed, dresser, and bookshelf set up and ready to go, complete with a motorcycle-covered blanket and pillowcase. The walls had been painted light blue and little pictures that matched the blanket edged the ceiling. One wall had a big, black square painted on it, with the words “Noah’s Room” written on it in chalk. “Noah is going to love this. Thank you so much!”
Sophie launched herself at him. Ruger wrapped his arms around her automatically, confused as hell. Shit, she felt good. His dick jumped to full-on attention and he sniffed her hair, wondering what it’d feel like wrapped around his fingers while she sucked him off.
Sophie stiffened, obviously feeling his hard cock, and tried to pull away. He slid his hands down to her ass, holding her tight as he studied her face. Her tits pressed tight against his chest and he felt her nipples harden. She wanted this as bad as he did. Fuck, her lips were big and soft and pink.
He wanted to bite them.
“Mom!” Noah called. “Mom, where are you? I can’t believe this, there’s a stream and a little pool to play in. Ruger’s got four-wheelers, too. Horse says they’ll take us on a ride sometime!”
Ruger jerked away from Sophie.
“We can’t do this,” she whispered, eyes wide. “This is breaking the rules.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” he said, which was a goddamn shame. For four years they’d played this game, pretending the other didn’t exist. It’d been the right thing to do. Sometimes they’d played it so well he almost believed it. That’s what his nephew needed from them, not some sort of bullshit one-night stand ruining things.
Ruger could get laid anytime—Noah only had one mom.
The kid ran in and stopped, eyes wide as he took everything in.
“Is this my room?” he asked.
“Um, yeah,” Ruger said. “Looks like it. What do you think?”
“Cool!” Noah said. “I’ve never had a room like this. Mom, you gotta see the yard!”
He tore off again. Then Horse stuck his head in, offering Ruger a shit-eating grin.
“Nice, ain’t it?”
“We should talk,” Ruger said to him, jerking his chin toward the living room. Sophie took the opportunity to dart through the door and investigate the second bedroom.
Horse nodded, and Ruger followed him out.
“What the fuck happened here?” Ruger asked, keeping his voice low.