CHAPTER 8

LANA

My body was still humming after coming twice this morning, and I’d threatened to make him sleep in the guest room tonight if he didn’t let me get the food on, or we’d not be eating today.

Not that he’d taken my threats seriously because he’d just smirked at me, tapped me gently on the arse and left me to get dressed.

He did help me get our Christmas dinner together, though. It was fun working side by side with him; he knew how to cook, so we worked well together. And we chatted about anything and everything, I loved listening to all the places he’d travelled to while he’d been working.

“I’m so jealous,” I grumbled as I shovelled another mouthful of the stuffing he’d made into my mouth. I don’t know what he’d done to it, but it was amazing. I could have eaten the entire lot by myself.

“What are you jealous of, darling?”

“All the travelling you’ve done.”

Tommy covered my hand with his and squeezed it, bringing my attention back to him.

“You shouldn’t feel jealous, Sprite. Look at all you have.” He waved his hand around before he continued, “You have a beautiful home you bought yourself. You have a job you love, and from all that you’ve told me, you have people that care about you. That is much more than I have. I have a body that’s broken from years of abuse, a broken motorcycle and a family that doesn’t even know I’m alive. Yes, I’ve travelled the world, and I’ve money in the bank, but what you have here, this is far more important.”

Tears pricked my eyes at his words. He was right; I had accomplished a lot over the last few years, and I should be proud of myself.

Sitting up straighter in my chair, “You’re right,” I agreed. “I should be proud and I am. I’d still like to travel, though.”

“I tell you what, Sprite, you pick where you want to go, and I’ll take you. That way, I won’t have to worry about you, and I can play tour guide and show you all the good places not on the tourist maps.”

Smiling so hard at his words that my cheeks hurt, I wasn’t sure if this happy feeling was because he didn’t seem to be sick of me yet and wanted to spend more time with me or if it was that I was growing feelings for the sweet, gruff, dangerous man. Either way, I knew I wanted to spend more time with him. Holding out my hand for him to shake, “Deal,” I told him, “You and I’ll go travelling this year. I’m guessing this means you’ll stick around?”

“Yeah, Sprite, I’ll be sticking around. I’d like to get to know my family again and if you’re not sick of me, I’d like to spend more time getting to know you too.”

“I’m not sick of you,” I assured him, squeezing his hand in agreement. I smiled, leaving our clasped hands on the table between us. I went back to eating one-handed, reluctant to let go of his.

I’d heard of instant love but hadn’t believed in it even though I’d seen it with the Crow MC. I wondered what Tommy was feeling. I’d not say anything for now, but I was going to enjoy the next few days with him. We’d have to go and pick up his bike sometime soon as we couldn’t just leave it on the side of the road, but for now, there wasn’t anything pressing calling other than to stuff our faces and veg out in front of the telly and watch Christmas shows for the rest of the day.

It was definitely turning out to be the best Christmas I’d had in years.