Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 87911 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87911 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
A fight, he’d run.
Shots, he’d cower.
There was no real man to him.
He wanted to be part of a club, but not pay the true price through trust and loyalty. It’s why he could never have Kurt as a full patched member. His father had once told him that no matter how much you liked the guy, you sometimes had to cut loose the weak ones to make room for the ones that will make you stronger, which was exactly what he did.
“Don’t think about it,” Eagle said.
“You’re right. I’m here with you, on our first date, and I don’t want to think about anything but having a good time. So, tell me, Eagle, what interests you?” she asked.
“You.”
She smiled. “You’re saying all the right words.”
“No, Lily, I’m saying everything I mean. You’re the only thing outside of the club, I have any interest in. Watching you and Kurt has been real fucking hard, and now, I can’t pretend.”
“Eagle, please, not tonight. Can we just … you like me?”
The surprise in her voice was so endearing. She didn’t have a fucking clue about him loving her.
“I more than like you, Lily.”
“Oh. I … I had no idea.”
“I know.” She didn’t have a single mean bone in her body. “I don’t want to talk about it tonight. I know you’re not ready. I’m not going to rush you into anything. So, what do you feel like ordering?”
“Eagle?”
“No, I didn’t come here to tell you all of this. I wanted us to have some fun, and that is exactly what we’re going to have, fun.”
Lily squeezed his hand, and then, right there at the bar and grill, she got up and walked to his side, cupping his face.
Her nerves were so clear to read as she leaned in and brushed her lips against his. Eagle knew if she’d been in his life from the beginning, he’d never have made so many fucked-up mistakes, especially when it came to his son.
He’d not been ready to take care of a kid, and over the years, he’d pushed him away to make him a man, but he’d done so with so much regret. His father had loved him in his own way, and he’d done exactly the same to his boy.
“Thank you,” she said. “For being so patient with me.”
Eagle had been waiting for this woman for so long. What was wrong with waiting a couple more days, months, or even years? For the right woman, he’d do whatever it took to win her.
He had nothing to do with Kurt’s infidelity or abandonment. That was all on the man himself. But he wasn’t going to step away now, for another man to take his place.
Lily would belong to him.
****
Thanksgiving came and went, and they moved toward Christmas. Eagle spent a great deal of time with Lily, especially after the divorce went final. The club hadn’t heard from Kurt since the morning he’d woken up with the strippers.
Chloe had asked Alife about her dad, but she didn’t want him to find the man for her.
For his father, he knew the relationship was going slow between Eagle and Lily, but it was happening.
Every weekend, they were both at her house, and if they stayed over too late, Alfie got the spare room while Eagle slept downstairs.
After putting up the Christmas decorations in Chloe’s sitting room and drinking way too much hot chocolate, Alfie couldn’t sleep.
The television was playing downstairs, and he didn’t know how close their parents were getting yet.
Even if they did, he had no intention of treating Chloe like his little sister.
Any plan he’d originally thought to do was now out the window.
Ian, Riley, and he had all agreed, especially after they saw Eagle making out with Lily. It was only the one time and he’d watched Lily end it.
He and the guys had come to the conclusion they couldn’t follow through. Any kind of trick they had planned for her, it would only fall back on them, and his father would go on a rampage, no doubt about it.
Lily would side with her daughter, and he’d risk his father’s happiness by trying to prove what exactly?
Chloe wasn’t a threat to him or the club. In fact, the more time he spent with her, he actually adored her.
She was sweet, especially when she smiled, which wasn’t often enough for him. The moment she stopped worrying about the bullying, and doubting him, she’d really started to shine, and her glow, he adored it, relished it, and knew he wanted to help her to keep on shining.
Closing the corridor, he missed the creaky floorboards, and without knocking, let himself into Chloe’s room.
What had started out as a trick to hurt her had turned into him seeking her out. Sitting with her in class was no longer an act for him.