Chapter Twelve

S prite was ready for her training today. She'd spent the weekend getting laundry done and organizing their stuff the way she liked it. She'd also taken the girls to the park to play and explored the small town. They'd eaten at the diner and walked the streets to get familiar with the area, including visiting the park and the D-Day memorial that the club had built.

Winnie had invited them to come by the gym and Blake had bugged Sprite until she made it happen. Winnie had showed her a list of classes she wanted to offer for kids if she could find teachers. Blake and Phoebe had bounced around the room at the thought of gymnastics.

Oakley had enjoyed the play area that Winnie had and had hung out with David. Sprite had been excited to get to snuggle Winnie's youngest Joey. He'd been crawling but was more than happy to snuggle against her shoulder while she and Winnie chatted.

She'd offered to help the group that was moving Roam into his house, but Roam had said the guys were just moving big furniture. Regina and a couple of the women had moved all the small kitchen items and clothing while Roam was gone.

She'd had Sunday lunch at the clubhouse, which she'd learned was a weekly event. She was thrilled to have one more meal she didn't have to worry about. Roam had informed her the menu changed weekly but after having homemade fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy and a roll, Sprite would be fine with that meal each weekend.

Sprite hadn't grown up with a mom who cooked much of anything, so it was a treat that Regina loved cooking. She'd even offered for Phoebe and Blake to help her in two weeks because they were making homemade pizza and she needed help with the dough and toppings.

Sprite pushed in the door and prepared herself to be in close proximity to Roam. She'd worn her jeans and one of her new Bluff Creek Ink tank tops. Roam was walking out of a back room when she entered, and she hoped she wasn't drooling. A tight Bluff Creek Ink black T-shirt tucked into jeans that hugged every bulge, then tapered down, highlighting his thighs. Motorcycle boots completed his look, and she wondered how the heck she was going to concentrate on anything when he was around looking so delicious.

"Good morning! Holy moly, Sprite. How the heck am I supposed to not be hard all the time when you're in that sexy top?"

Sprite giggled because at least if she was having trouble so was he. She walked closer, looking up at him. Normally she didn't mind being short but if she wanted to kiss his cheek, she'd need to jump or pull him closer. She grasped his beard on his chin, pulling him down. She leaned up and brushed her lips against his cheek above his beard.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome," he said, adjusting himself. "Let's get to work so I can think about something besides my cock and your tight, hot pussy."

"Roam," Sprite growled.

"Okay, I'll quit but just know this is hard for me."

Sprite giggled, then wheezed. Roam rolled his eyes at her. Yep, it was hard for her. Hard enough she wanted to run her fingers and feel it pushing against his jeans, but she was supposed to be learning. They had to figure out a way to work together without getting all worked up. Though she was luckier than Roam. Her panties were soaked but they weren't noticeable like his hard-on was.

"Sorry, now teach me about the appointment system."

She walked around the reception desk and took a seat, waiting on Roam to join her. Whew. She was glad she didn't blush when she got embarrassed because she'd be redder than a tomato.

She could do this. She had to.

ROAM HAD FINISHED EXPLAINING all the different parts of the scheduling system and they'd downloaded the app on Sprite's phone so she could accept clients, message them or do anything with the system from home.

Although he had a part-time receptionist, he wanted Sprite to control her appointments until she felt comfortable allowing their receptionist to book for her. Plus, a lot of requests came in on the weekends, when people were thinking about it. Having the system on the phone allowed them to be fully booked each week and add people in when they had cancellations.

Roam was seriously proud of himself for getting his dick under control. The light scent Sprite wore was filling his nose and had him thinking of having it on the pillow beside him, but he manned up and was all business while teaching her.

He'd need to turn the air conditioner a little higher. It was so cold in the room that Sprite's nipples were hard as little rocks. He didn't mind seeing them but he sure as hell wasn't going to let every client she had see them.

He stood up and walked into the office to try to get himself under control while Sprite was looking at the system. He wanted to just jump to her living in his house with him and combining their families. He knew it was fast, but after living through a shit relationship, he recognized the real thing.

When one of the kids did something funny, he wanted to turn to Sprite and tell her about it. Last night, after he'd read to the kids and kissed them good night, he'd looked around the house and realized every dream he had of this house now included Sprite and the kids.

He was heartily glad he'd built a large house. Once he'd had Grant, he'd known he wanted a houseful of kids. Whether they were all his by blood didn't matter to him. Baron was his dad and had shown him how to love with all his heart.

Although he and Sprite would have five kids between them, he could see them having more. He wasn't opposed to adopting either because there were so many kids who deserved a good home and not enough people to provide them.

He turned to go back out to the reception desk and Sprite was standing in the doorway, just staring at him. She walked closer until she was flush against him.

"I want the job and don't want to screw it up, but every time I'm around you, the connection grows. How do we do this?"

He slid his arms around her, just feeling her in his arms and thankful he'd found her.

"I think we take it day by day. I know it's too soon, but I see a future with you and the girls."

He leaned down, brushing his lips against hers until her lips opened and let him in. He didn't care about where they were or if someone walked in. All he cared about was tasting Sprite because he craved her. The feel of her in his arms and how she made those little sounds in her throat, letting him know she wanted him.

He lifted her, carrying her to the couch in his office. He sat down with her on his lap, her bottom rubbing against his rapidly hardening dick. He slid a hand into Sprite's hair, turning her face toward his.

He stared into her eyes, knowing this pink-haired, tattooed and pierced woman had given him more in the last week than he'd had his whole marriage.

"I'm not perfect, Sprite. In fact, there are days I wonder what I'll screw up today, but with you, I want to be perfect for you. I want to put a smile on your face, knowing you think I'm enough."

Sprite swallowed and stared at him. He could also feel her gaze as she scrutinized his face. He wasn't sure what she was looking for.

"I'm not perfect either but that's okay. I feel more for you, Roam, than I've ever felt for any man. I'm okay taking a chance on us as long as, no matter what, my kids will be safe."

He dropped a kiss on her nose, wondering how he deserved this woman willing to take a chance on him.

"No matter what, your job, your house, your kids will always be safe. Even if I get my head up my ass and need a talking to, there are so many brothers that will set me straight. I want to see where this goes because I think it's something special."

The door dinged as it opened.

"We're not open," Roam yelled.

Rascal peeked his head around the corner. "What part of teaching Sprite the appointment system included our office couch?"

Roam knew he deserved that. He'd caught Rascal and Meg recently, right after they'd had fun times in the office. He might have teased Rascal a couple times afterwards.

"Oh, I'm so sorry..."

"Nah, Sprite, I'm just teasing. I'm happy you and Roam are getting along. Sometimes, I need to knock Roam down a couple pegs to keep things interesting."

Sprite still jumped up off his lap and left the office.

Roam stood, waiting for what Rascal said next.

"I'm happy for you, Roam. You deserve the world. Just remember to talk about everything. Don't assume she knows how you feel."

Rascal patted his shoulder, then turned and headed to the front, with Roam following.

"So does it make sense, Sprite? Or should the old guy teach you?"

Sprite giggled. "It's good. And you're sure you're okay with me only setting appointments for half the allotted time next week?"

Rascal nodded. "Yep, it will be a crazy week and the kids are still getting used to moving. I don't want you to get stressed the first week. Plus, let's face it. Once that goes live on the website tonight, you're going to be inundated because they'll see what you've done and there aren't many tattooists who are women in our area. A huge amount of women are going to feel comfortable coming in for a tattoo for the first time. I don't want you burning out the first week."

"Yes, at girls' night, a lot of the women were wanting tattoos."

"So if they're part of our family, you can have them come in a time slot or you have the option to tattoo them whenever - even when we're technically closed. My suggestion to you is limit them to two a week to start. You know they'll be your clients. You want some open slots for new clients."

Sprite was staring at Rascal, biting her lip. Roam wondered what she wasn't saying.

"I'm a man. I cannot read your mind. If you have an idea, let's hear it."

"Well, once I get my feet under me, I wondered about a once-a-month women's night. We could offer refreshments and do smaller tattoos. The amount we could get done in an hour or they could get part of theirs done. I noticed there isn't any place in town to get manicures and pedicures. We could invite someone to bring their mobile supplies and they could get that done. Even women not getting a tattoo could come in and socialize."

Roam hid his smile at the stunned look on Rascal's face. Sprite was not only a great tattooist, she also had some business knowledge.

"I think that's a great idea. Why don't you write it up and cost it out, including if we need to have one to four people providing manicures. I think we'd need a little more space, but we have the upstairs that we haven't done anything with. Most of the main street buildings are two stories and we've never used ours. We could see what condition it's in and what it would take. The other option would be using the upper level of the diner. Bear has made it an event space for book clubs, but it possibly might work there. Let's talk about this. I'm so glad you brought it up, Sprite. I think you're a fantastic addition to the shop."

Sprite grinned and Roam just basked in seeing his girl get praised. From the small amount she'd said, he didn't think that was the environment she grew up in. He couldn't wait to see her dreams explode as she realized that Bluff Creek was a place where dreams do come true.

"I will. Is tomorrow soon enough?"

"I think any time is fine. If you're excited and want to go ahead and get it done, then great. If the kids need something more or the women want to drag you somewhere, don't miss out on the fun," Rascal said.

Rascal walked closer to her. "I don't know how you feel about hugs, but I want you to know you're part of my family now. I have two new grandkids as far as I'm concerned."

Roam swallowed back tears at the look of awe on Sprite's face before she slid her arm around Rascal and let him hug her. It was a good thing War wasn't here or he'd never hear the end of it. All his teasing he'd done to his brother was going to come back and bite him on the butt.