Chapter 8

8

ALICE

I loved my job, but after spending almost all of the weekend with Grady, the last thing I wanted to do was go to work on Monday morning. The life I'd planned since I moved away from home had taken an unexpected—but amazing—turn, and I wanted to revel in my new relationship. Instead, I had to drag myself out of bed before it was even light outside so I could head home to shower, change, and get to the school before the kids started to arrive.

Cara was the bright point of my day, besides the orgasm Grady had given me before he'd let me get dressed. And after, while we were cleaning up. Hence the need for another shower when I got to my rental house.

It was impossible not to think about Grady with his niece around. Her dark hair and green eyes resembled him so much that I couldn't stop daydreaming about what our babies would look like if we ever got to that stage.

Although he hadn't mentioned picking her up from school again, I was disappointed when Cara's mom was waiting for her at the end of the day.

"Momma," she cried, running to fling herself into her mom's arms much the same as she did with her uncle.

"Hello, my sweet girl. Did you have a good day at school?" she asked.

Cara nodded. "Miss Alice showeded me how to draw a kitty cat!"

"She did?" Her mom's gaze darted to me, and she smiled. "Is that her picture?"

"Yes," I confirmed with a nod as I handed her the colorful piece of paper. "She was very clear about not wanting to wait until Friday to bring it home with everything else in her folder."

Glancing down at the picture, she gave her daughter a kiss. "I can see why. You did such a great job. Do you want to put this on the fridge when we get home?"

"Yay!" Cara cheered as her mom carried her out the door.

I'd never been happier to take my last student to meet their parent as I was today. I was beyond ready to get home so Grady could pick me up for our date tonight.

"Are you all dreamy-eyed over Deviant?" Britney rolled her eyes as she turned toward Jessica and added, "Can you believe that she really thinks she's special to him?"

Jessica cast an uncomfortable glance my way, but that didn't stop her from saying, "Nope."

Britney smirked, crossing her arms over her ample chest. "I mean, I get why you'd think it was a big deal since he's super-hot, especially on that bike of his. I saw you on the back of it on Saturday."

"Yeah, he took me for a ride," I confirmed as I grabbed my purse out of my locker, even more ready to get out of here with these two confronting me.

"I'm surprised," Britney murmured, arching her brow.

I should've just ignored her, but my curiosity made me ask, "Why?"

"Not that Deviant would take you for a ride. A guy like him is gonna take what he can get from a woman." Her gaze raked down my body. "It's just that I never expected that you would want to be one of the many who he put on the back of his bike. You just don't seem the type to be okay with casual."

I couldn't argue with the final point she made. I'd never thought about having a fling with a guy, or else I might've lost my virginity before I met Grady. He was the only man I'd been truly attracted to, and it was easy to picture a future with him. But that didn't mean he had the same thing in mind when he asked me out.

I didn't bother saying anything else before I left the employee break room. I could barely get any words out when Nora said goodbye as I walked past her and headed outside.

I hated that I allowed Britney to get into my head, but I couldn't stop wondering if she was right about me being just one more in the long line of women who Grady had taken on his motorcycle. I'd felt so special when he'd driven me around town, almost as though he was making a statement by showing me off to everyone. But I had probably made more of the gesture than it really was.

Maybe my lack of dating experience had made me take a giant leap ahead of where we really were. Just because we'd slept together and he had introduced me to his club brothers and their wives didn't mean he saw a future with me. Us having tons of unprotected sex didn't mean he wanted to give me the babies I'd been daydreaming about ever since I got to work.

I needed to get my head straight before Grady picked me up from my place. The last thing I wanted to do was ruin things between us before they had the chance to really begin.

"Shake it off," I mumbled as I turned into my driveway and saw he was already waiting for me, his motorcycle parked to the side with enough room for me to park in my usual spot.

"Hey, gorgeous," he greeted me with a grin. "Hope it's okay that I'm early."

I pasted a smile on my face. "Of course it is."

"Good, because I couldn't wait to see your pretty face." He brushed his lips against mine before tugging my keys from my hand to unlock my door. "And I wanted to get a jump-start on our day since I need to stop by the clubhouse to talk to Fox about something."

"It'll only take me a minute to change into jeans and boots."

We didn't make out the door for another half hour because we got distracted making out on my couch. I was disappointed when Grady put a stop to it but looked forward to more when he patted my butt and rasped, "Don't worry, gorgeous. You're gonna get plenty of orgasms tonight."

I pressed my thighs together to ease the ache between my legs. "That's a promise you'd better keep."

Sincerity gleamed from his green orbs as he vowed, "I'll keep every damn one that I make to you."

He led me out to his motorcycle, butterflies swirling in my belly. I held him even tighter than usual as he drove us to the Iron Rogues clubhouse, my thoughts darting between what Britney had said and how serious he'd seemed when he was talking about keeping his promises to me. I was confused and knew I should probably talk to him about it, but now wasn't the right time. Maybe I'd bring it up after dinner when we had the privacy that his house provided us.

Dahlia was the only one sitting at the bar when we walked into the clubhouse, so Grady left me with her while he went to talk to her husband. I took her up on her offer of a soft drink, staring at the bubbles until she nudged me with her elbow. "You okay?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

"Deviant has been gone for fifteen minutes, and you've barely said a word," she pointed out.

I heaved a deep sigh. "Sorry."

"You can be as quiet as you want, but judging by the look in your eyes and the downward curve of your lips, you seem sad about something. I know we haven't had the chance to get to know each other that well yet, but I'd like to help if I can," she offered.

For the first time ever, my nervous habit of blurting stuff out actually helped me because I didn't have the chance to second-guess sharing my concerns with Dahlia before I said, "I love riding on the back of Grady's bike, but one of my coworkers mentioned there's been a long line of women before me, so I can't help but wonder if I'm making more of it than I should."

"Your coworker is talking out of her ass," Dahlia declared with a laugh. "First of all, you're the only woman besides his mom and sister-in-law allowed to use Deviant's first name. So you're definitely not making more of what's happening between you and him than you should. If anything, you're probably underestimating Deviant."

My heart filled with hope. "Really?"

She nodded. "The only thing more sacred than their bike to an Iron Rogue is the woman who belongs to them. Deviant wouldn't have put you on the back of his unless he was planning to keep you."

I was in a much better mood when Grady came to find me again only seconds later. "Ready to head to dinner?"

"How about you take me to your place instead?" I suggested. "We can order in some food…after."