Out of the Ashes (Sons of Templar MC #3)(35)

I waved my hand. “Not at all. Lucky seriously called me a MILF? That’s so sweet,” I sang, feeling the effects of two very strong cocktails. I frowned slightly. “And I didn’t name my car, my child did,” I clarified, not wanting my glorious new friends to think I was an idiot that named cars. Plus, I was at least ten years older than them. I felt like I needed to at least give the illusion of maturity.

They all laughed slightly, then Amy leaned forward slightly drunkenly. Woman had had at least two more cocktails than me; I didn’t know how she wasn’t on the floor. “Now, Mia. You’ve gotta tell me, you’ve got a sixteen-year-old kid—totally beautiful by the way.” She gave a head tilt. “Yet you look younger than me.” She moved her head in even closer, moving to a whisper. “What’s the secret? You make a deal with the Devil or somethin’?” Her voice was so serious I couldn’t help but laugh. Like properly laugh, throw my head back and everything.

That’s how the rest of the night went; easy chat with women who were impossible not to like. Women who were fast becoming friends.





“Bye, Gwen!” I called. “Thanks for the ride.”

“Anytime!” she yelled back with a grin.

“Your place next time—you’re making daiquiris,” Amy added from the passenger window, giving me a thumbs up.

I laughed. “Lexie’s got a great recipe,” I called.

They pulled away, sounding the horn and I waved once more.

I may have been a little tipsy. A smidgeon. This was not due to the fact I drank a lot. This was due to the fact I was a mother who had a poor constitution for strong cocktails on account of hardly ever consuming them. When most of your time is dedicated to raising a child, cocktails with the girls was not something I got treated to. When you have that child before you are legally allowed to take a drink, that meant I didn’t even have cocktails with the girls prior to that. More like stealing beers from my parent’s fridge.

Needless to say, three of Laura Maye’s “specials” had me stumbling slightly down our pathway. Those same cocktails had me pause and turn to squint at the house across the street. Like mine, it was dark and didn’t show any signs of life. It wasn’t late, and I didn’t think bikers were the early to bed type, so I deduced he wasn’t home.

I turned back to my own house, deflated. Three cocktails had me feeling not only tipsy, but horny. Though my priorities needed to be in place. Which was why I crept into my house and checked on my most important priority.

Lexie was fast asleep, the dim light from her lamp showing she had once again fallen asleep with a book on her chest. I quietly approached her bed and lifted the book off her. I made sure to mark her page before setting it on her side table and brushed the hair out of her face.

“Did you have fun, Mom?” she asked groggily, slowly opening her eyes.

“Sure did, Dollface,” I whispered. “You have a nice night?”

She yawned. “Yeah, and the strippers all left before you got home, which was a plus.”

I shook my head. “I hope you got good photos.” I kissed her head. “Night sweetie, love you.”

She rolled over. “To the moon,” she murmured, already falling back asleep.

My heart warmed slightly. When she was little Lexie was fascinated with space and the moon. At five years old, when we were lying on the grass of our backyard watching the stars, she pointed at the full moon. “Is the moon far away, Mommy?” she asked in the way that every five-year-old did. Like their parent had the answer to every question in the universe and trusted whatever answer they got to said question.

I found her little hand and squeezed it. “Yeah, baby, so far away they need a big spaceship to travel there,” I told her.

“Farther than Ava and Steve’s house?” she asked with wonder.

I giggled slightly. “Yeah, doll.”

“Farther than the ocean?” she continued.

I struggled to keep a straight face at her serious tone. “Way farther,” I told her somberly.

She was quiet for a long time, this working in her little five-year-old head. Then she turned, resting her head in her chubby little hand, the other one touching my cheek lightly.

“Then Momma, I love you all the way to the moon,” she declared.

I gathered my precious little girl into my chest, one single tear escaping my eye. Everything I had gone through the past five years, everything, was worth my little girl uttering that single sentence. “Me too, baby. To the moon,” I whispered against her blonde head.

I looked at that same blonde head, much bigger now and full of so many mature adult thoughts it scared me slightly. I turned out her lamp and left the room, feeling almost swollen with the love I had for that little human. The one that, no matter how big she got, would always still be the little girl who declared she loved me “all the way to the moon.”

As I slipped into a cami and shorts I got slightly tearful at the realization my little human was turning into a little woman. One that was strong, smart and sensible.

My thoughts were interrupted by a sound that I felt in my belly. That I felt below my belly. Harley pipes.

I peeked out my window to see the lone headlight of a motorcycle pulling into Zane’s driveway. A huge figure got off the bike, disappearing into the house. I swallowed, desire and longing pooling in my stomach at the sight of that figure. I felt like I had been without him for days, not hours. With the help of alcohol lowering my inhibitions, I found myself crossing the street without even a robe on.