Ride Steady (Chaos #3)(117)

His voice was oddly gentle when he stated, “Baby, I see you’re not gettin’ this is a leap in where we’re headin’, and as much as I like that leap, I’m not takin’ it without you gettin’ it.”

“Getting what?”

“Me droppin’ my clothes on your floor.”

“I would prefer the hamper,” I replied. “But I’ll take the floor if I don’t have to haul your stuff from here to home or make a special trip and do it in the machines here.”

“Carrie, you’re still not getting it,” he pushed carefully.

“What?” I asked impatiently.

“A man and woman are in a certain place, he drops his clothes on her floor.”

I threw my hands in the air. “Well, obviously. But I’m seeing you don’t get it. A woman has to be in a certain place with a man to let him feed her baby and claim him every time he’s even close. So I’m there. A handsome biker is the only being that stops to help me with my tire in rush hour, congested traffic on I-25, that biker being all that’s you, I got there quickly. It’s you lagging behind, leaving your dirty clothes in the wrong building.”

The air started zapping when he whispered, “Are you seriously asking me to move in with you?”

My head jerked to the side in surprise.

He was usually so quick.

“Do I have to ask? I mean,” I tossed a hand to the bed, “when’s the last time you slept here?”

He didn’t answer.

I kept at him. “Am I yours?”

“Fu…” He clenched his teeth and forced out, “Yes.”

“So what am I not getting?” I asked.

“It’s fast,” he pointed out.

“Okay, it is,” I agreed. “But is it wrong?”

He stared at me.

Then he said, “No.”

“If it freaks you out, we won’t make it official,” I offered. “We can make it official when you take me on a date where I can wear my fabulous new top I haven’t been able to wear since Elvira bought it for me. But we can start by you leaving your laundry where it’s convenient for me.”

Joker kept staring at me.

“So should we get a trash bag or do you have a duffel or something?” I prompted.

He didn’t move.

“Joker,” I called.

That’s when he did it.

It.

It being putting his hand up to cover the side of Travis’s head and pressing the other side into his chest, before saying, “Shits me how bad I wanna f*ck you right now, seein’ as I can’t do it.”

It was my turn to say nothing.

Because part of it was the fact that I just then noticed, since the meeting with Angie, he’d cursed, but only in front of me.

Never in front of Travis.

Except right then, when Travis would have no idea what he said, but because I didn’t want it, Joker made it so he couldn’t hear it anyway.

Then more of it happened right there in front of me.

Travis shrieked, pushed away, grabbed Joker’s thumb, shoved it in his mouth, and bit down. He was a baby so everything went into his mouth. But he’d been teething for a while and had one coming in, so that bite and his current stubbornness was about that. And I knew from experience it didn’t feel all that great.

Joker didn’t even wince.

And taking that in, I knew more of it was knowing Joker was going to be an excellent father, and I knew this because he already was one. He might not share blood with my boy and Travis already had a dad.

But now he had two.

Another part of it was what he said giving me a shiver, making me want what he wanted in a way I wanted it too, right there, right then. And I loved that he wanted it. I loved that my handsome, manly man biker wanted me, just as I was, making me feel wantable.

And the last part of that it was that leaving his laundry for me, which meant leaving his clothes at my house, meant a great deal to him. He wanted that. And he showed me he did.

Finally I pulled it together.

“Is there anyone out there to watch Travis for half an hour?” I asked and it came out breathy.

“Sunday plans. All a’ them. They scattered,” Joker answered and it came out rough.

“Darn,” I whispered.

“Later,” he said and it was a promise. I could tell by the look on his face that made me shiver again.

“Okay.” I was still whispering.

“Naughty,” he said softly.

Another shiver. A bigger one. And my legs started shaking.

“Okay,” I repeated breathily.

“Now, lunch.”

I nodded.

“After I feed you, we’ll come back and get my laundry.”

Another nod, but this time I did it with the curious feeling of being utterly delighted at the thought of having more laundry.

He lifted his hand my way. “Come here, Butterfly.”

I went there.

I took his hand.

He gripped mine tight.

Then he walked us out of his room to his truck, where he put my son in his car seat in the back.

He took us to lunch.

And later, after we went back and collected his laundry in a duffel (as well as a plastic bag), while Travis had his afternoon nap, Joker made good on his promise.