“Yeah, his genes are strong.”
“And he’s not mad at me? That I tried to kill you?”
“Baby, no one is mad at you. Shit happens. Trust me, this isn’t even the craziest story of this club’s generation, let alone our father’s generation. Did I tell you how my dad met my mom?”
“No.”
“My father was doing a drop.”
“Guns?”
“Yes. And my mother… stole the gun. She was an arms dealer too. So, trust me, he gets the crazy shit that can happen around the club.”
“But maybe they see it through a different lens because those are, you know, their love stories?”
I slid an arm around her, pulling until she moved to rest her head on my chest.
“Are you so fixated on this because you think they might hurt you? Or because you’re concerned about what they might think of you?”
“I trust you if you say they don’t want to hurt me.”
“So, you’re anxious about what they think about you.”
“I guess. A little.”
“Because you want them to like you?” I asked.
Carmen shifted, her body tensing up on me again.
“I care that Sofia likes me too,” I told her. “And Chip. I know he’s not technically your family, but he’s something like it.”
“Sofia loves you. And Chip really respects you.”
“And you want my family to like and respect you too.”
“Yeah.”
“Because you are thinking that you might want to keep being a part of my life?” My heart thrummed at the idea that she might be having the same kind of future thoughts that I was.
“I’m going to be here until we figure this out.”
“Baby,” I said, but said nothing else, waiting until she fought back her anxiety and angled her head up to look at me. “What’s going on in that head of yours about this?”
“This?”
“Us?”
“Us?”
“There’s some kind of us going on here, don’t you think?”
“I… don’t know?”
“No? Feels like there’s something to me. Know you didn’t know me before the whole attempted murder thing, but I’m not a man who spent all his days hanging out with a woman. At least not justonewoman.”
“You’re kind of stuck with me?”
“Am I? Have I been? At your house? At the hotel? Here? I could be sleeping in the prospect room. But I’m here. Where I want to be. With you.”