CHAPTER NINE

Payton

I sighed and grabbed my purse, rummaging for the phone, and handing it to him. He tapped on the screen and then handed it back to me. I scrolled through and smiled. He’d saved his contact information under ‘SMA.’

“SMA?”

He grinned. “Sexiest Man Alive.”

I shook my head. “You’re hilarious.”

“True.” He grinned. “And I’m right.”

“We’ll see.”

“Yeah. We will.”

“Where’s Lily’s mom?” I asked.

He sighed. “I don’t know.”

“Why did you break up?”

“We didn’t.”

I gasped. “You’re still together?”

Alex let out a snort of derision. “Babe, we had nothin’ to break up.”

“Look, if you don’t want to tell me, you don’t have to. But we can’t move forward unless I know something about you and your situation. I hate drama, Alex, and the last thing I want is the mess of a baby mama making things impossible.”

He rubbed his forehead and then nodded. “Jenny was a club whore who I’d fucked a couple times. She wanted to be my old lady, I said no, so she got pregnant.”

“On purpose?”

“Yeah. She thought I’d ‘do the right thing,’ but she’s crazy, babe, and I wasn’t interested in the drama either. When Lily was born, I checked paternity and confirmed she was mine. Shocked the hell out of me, ’cause she was sleeping with two or three other guys at the time.”

“Wow. So, what did you do?”

“I got a fuckin’ lawyer. We worked out child support, but when Jenny figured out I wasn’t supporting her and Lily, and I sure as hell wasn’t makin’ her my old lady, she split. Lily was almost nine months old.” He shook his head. “Bitch has been gone four years almost to the day. I don’t know where she is, don’t care. Just hope she’s gone for good. Lily’s better off.”

“How did you feel about having to take care of Lily?”

“Babe, she’s a little girl. She’s my little girl. I was happy to take care of her. I just thank fuck she looks like me, not sure how I’d feel if I was lookin’ at her mother every day.”

I grimaced. “I guess that’s honest.”

“Life’s too short to lie or candy coat shit. I’ll protect my own. Whatever it takes, but I’ll be honest doin’ it.”

“So what do we do about me? In regards to Lily.”

He shifted in his seat. “We get to know each other. If this is goin’ somewhere, we’ll all spend time together. Before that, you and I’ll be alone or we’ll be low-key at the club if she’s there.”

“You’ve thought about this.”

Alex chuckled. “Yeah, babe. I have.”

“Do you know who I am? Who my brother is?”

“Yeah, Payton, I know. I did a full background check on you, so I know you more than you probably want me to.”

I shrugged. “I don’t have anything to hide, Alex. I’ll probably do the same thing.”

“Have at it, baby.”

“So you know who my brother is and that doesn’t concern you?”

“Club’s clean, Payton. As am I… well, sort of. No felonies. Can’t do my job without bending the law on occasion. Your brother stays out of my business, I’ll stay out of his.”

I rolled my eyes. “Brock doesn’t typically get into anyone’s business; well, outside of his job of course, unless he’s also protecting one of his own. Then all bets are off.”

“Noted.” He cocked his head. “You really gonna make me wait?”

I choked on the shake I’d just sucked into my mouth. I slapped my chest and took a few deep breaths to calm the coughing. “You did not just ask me that.”

“We’re bein’ honest, babe. Need to know where I stand.”

“Um, yeah, I’m going to make you wait. I’ve never slept with anyone I wasn’t in love with and you won’t be the first.”

He grasped his heart. “You wound me.”

I giggled. “You wanted honest, bub. You got honest.”

He grinned and leaned forward. “I’ll wait, baby, but that don’t mean I’m not gonna wear you down.” He slipped his hand to my neck and stroked my jaw. “And kissing better not be off the table, or we’re gonna have a problem.”

I licked my lips. “No, kissing’s most definitely not off the table.”

Hawk guided my legs to the ground and pulled me against him, lowering his mouth to mine. As he deepened the kiss, he slid his hand to my neck, and ran his thumb over my pulse. I loved kissing, had kissed a lot of boys and men in my day, but Alex was by far the best I’d ever experienced.

To me kissing was like holding hands… no big deal. Sex was different. It was intimate and when I slept with a man, it was because I thought there was the chance we’d last forever. There’d only been two that fell into that category for me and they’d both lasted several years, ending amicably.

But kissing Alex was different. I felt like he was giving me everything and I wanted to give him everything back. I broke the kiss and stroked his cheek as I tried to catch my breath. “You’re freaking me out a little.”

He smiled, his blue eyes soft and sweet. “Baby, there’s no pressure. We’re gettin’ to know each other.”

“I get that in theory, but you…” I shook my head, not wanting to finish my thought.

“What?”

Gah! I bit my lip. “You kiss me like that and I forget my manners.”

Alex chuckled. “Well, I’m doin’ it right then.”

I rolled my eyes. “You’re impossible.”

“Won’t ever make you do somethin’ you don’t want to, baby, but I fuckin’ love kissin’ you.” He smiled. “And you just admitted you love kissin’ me, so, gonna make that work for me.”

“It works, handsome. Just might work a little too well.”

He grinned and kissed me again, until his phone interrupted the moment. “Hey, Kayla. Lily okay?” he asked, and wrapped an arm around me, pulling me against him. “Yeah. Probably in a couple of hours. Put her on.” I snuggled closer to Alex as he talked on the phone. “Hey, baby. No, I’ll be home after you go to bed. You being good for Kayla?” He chuckled. “Kisses back. Love you to the moon, baby girl. Okay. Put auntie back on.” He kissed my temple and gave me a gentle squeeze. “You okay? Sure? Yeah, really appreciate it, Kay. Yeah.” He chuckled. “Okay. ’Bye.”

“You’re really sweet, Alex.”

“Don’t tell anyone that, baby. Bounty hunters aren’t supposed to be sweet.”

I giggled. “My lips are sealed.”

“What’s your work schedule over the next few weeks?”

“I’m working all week.” I craned my head to look up at him. “Then the following week, school’s out Wednesday through Friday for Thanksgiving week, but otherwise, I’m typically working until about four every day.”

“Right, Thanksgiving.”

I smiled. “Do you have plans?”

“Usually go to the club.”

“Are you committed to that?” I asked.

“Not necessarily. Why?”

“Because you’re welcome to join us. We cook a butt-load of food and there’s football and pie. A lot of pie.” I smiled. “Plus a gaggle of kids to keep Lily occupied. Your sister’s welcome too.”

“Let’s play it by ear, yeah?”

I nodded and stared out at the water. I couldn’t explain it, but the fact that he didn’t jump at the chance to spend Thanksgiving with me really disappointed me. I’d been hesitant to get involved with him and yet, here I was sad that he wanted to play it by ear.

Obviously, I was insane.

Or a woman.

Sometimes I wondered if there was much difference.