Beginning of Forever (Heaven Hill #7) (19 page)

“They can.” Liam smacked him on the shoulder. “It’s not like we have the cloak of invisibility around us.”

“Look at that
Harry Potter
reference.” Tyler whistled between his teeth. “Doin’ a little reading, huh?”

“Cut the shit. You’ll be doing a lot of reading yourself. More than likely princess books. At least my daughter is tomboy through and through.” Liam laughed.

The ladies had been tapped to work the concession stand the church was operating for the night, so that left the men to take the kids around and get as much candy as they could. “If anybody hands out those piece of shit, black and orange wrapped taffy ones, we avoid them at all costs,” Rooster instructed, grabbing Carter’s candy bucket.

“A-fuckin’-men,” Liam agreed. “I cracked a tooth on that shit last year and had to get a crown. What we want are candy bars and sweet tarts. Love the sweet tarts. Drew and I eat those things until we get sores in our mouths.”

“Are the teenagers coming to the club party tonight?” Tyler asked as he got Addie situated.

“Hell no, that’s adults only.” Liam shook his head. “But we have babysitters for the kids. A couple of Mandy’s friends needed some extra cash. They’re gonna watch them all night up at the house.”

“We trust ’em?” Tyler questioned.

“Yeah, they’re good kids. Most of them have moms that work at
Wet Wanda’s
, so there is an affiliation there.”

“Alright, let’s get this over with,” Rooster told them as he picked up Carter. “You hold this bud.” He shoved the candy bucket in Carter’s hand. “Smile big and charm the candy out of these ladies. Daddy wants a Snickers.”

“Shit.” Tyler chuckled, shaking his head. “Just go to the store and buy one.”

“Not when I can get it for free. I guarantee you he has more candy than the two chicks by the end of the night.”

“Ohhhh, you’re on,” Tyler told him, scooping up Addie and taking her inside.

Tatum stood back with Liam, her gaze on her dad. “We’re old pros at this, ain’t we, baby girl?” She nodded. “What do we do?” he asked her.

“Smile big at Ms. Jan.”

Ms. Jan was what some people called a crazy old coot, but all she wanted was to be treated like everyone else. If you smiled at her, she would dump her whole bag of candy in your bucket, just because she appreciated it.

“That’s right.” He grabbed her hand and led her into the church. “Let’s win this shi…stuff. Let’s win this stuff.”

*

Mandy was quiet as Dalton drove along the back roads that took them from Warren County through Barren County, before stopping at a plot of land that Dalton’s family had owned for many years, just off the state park at Barren River. She knew he and his brother, Deacon, had lived here with their uncle for a time, until they had been able to get back on their feet. She didn’t know much about Dalton’s parents, but one thing she did know was that he never wanted to talk about them, so she never brought it up.

“It should be warm. I came out here early this morning and made sure it was clean and that I’d turned the heat on,” he told her quietly as they pulled up to a trailer.

She knew by looking at it that it wasn’t much, but it wasn’t anything different than half a million other trailers that littered the countryside here. They were used as weekend getaway homes so that people could fish and camp out in the country. They weren’t meant to be a five-star hotel. It would, however, serve for what they needed for this night. They both wanted a place where they could be alone and no one would bother them. “Thanks.” Her hand shook as she popped open the car door.

They ran towards the front porch that had been built onto the trailer, and Dalton stopped her, reaching out for her hand. “Be careful, it might be slick. We’re a little more north here than in Bowling Green. I noticed the roads were more covered the closer we got.”

She gripped his hand tightly as she carefully made her way up the front steps. Her eyes didn’t leave his hands as he took out a key and opened the door, allowing her to go inside. Looking around, she realized that while it was small, it was very clean. He’d done a good job. And it was warm; there was a lot to be said for that.

“It’s not much,” he spoke to cover the silence. “It was home for a while though.” He shoved his hands into his jeans pockets and rocked back on his heels.

Mandy noticed that as a tell. That meant he was nervous and wasn’t sure what to do with himself. Knowing he was as nervous as her made this easier. “You should see some of the places we lived when we were little—ya know, when Mom was trying to get on her own two feet. Hell, you should have seen some of the meals we had in our house right before Mom met Dad. It was grim for a while.”

“Don’t.” He shook his head. “Don’t try and make me feel better about where I come from. I come from an entirely different place than you, and I’ve always known that I’m a lucky son of a bitch to even be the Princess’s friend.”

That took her by surprise. “Princess?”

“Yeah, that’s what most of us who are friends with Drew call you.”

“Why?” She shook her head.

“Because that’s what you are, and that’s how he talks about you. We all know that we don’t mess with you.” His mouth kicked up in a grin. “Except me. I apparently want to get my ass kicked and my balls thrown in a vice. I can’t seem to stay away from you.”

They’d never been alone before, at least not like this. Any other stolen moments they’d ever had, Deacon or his uncle had been in a bedroom not too far away. Dalton had never wanted to disrespect Drew or her dad by doing anything at her house, and she thought maybe that was why her nerves were so on edge. “I can’t seem to stay away from you either.”

Both of them were shy in front of other people; neither of them liked to flaunt their relationship because it always seemed counterintuitive. Neither one of them wanted to piss anyone off. But someone was going to have to make the first move, or they might stand gazing at one another all night. With guts she didn’t know she had, she shrugged her jacket off, toed off her shoes, undid the scarf around her neck, and reached down to the hem of her thermal shirt. Before she lost those guts, she pulled it over her head, standing in front of him in her bra. Normally they had the lights off and it was very hard to make out anything, but she could make out everything looking at him now. His brown eyes turned to the color of whiskey, and she heard his sharp intake of breath. It gave her bravery more fuel, so she unbuttoned her jeans and peeled them off her legs.

Never in her life had Mandy stood in front of someone this exposed. It felt odd, but she trusted Dalton with everything in her life. They’d been friends for as long as she could remember being with the Heaven Hill MC. He was part of her family in a weird way, and there was no one she trusted more than him.

“I’m trying to be the good guy here,” he told her, swallowing so hard she saw his Adam’s apple move with the force of it.

“I’m trying to show you that I don’t want you to be,” she whispered.

He fisted his hands at his sides. There were so many things he wanted to do, so many feelings he wanted to act on, but he had to know that this was her decision. He had to know that she wasn’t doing this because she felt like she had to. He bit his bottom lip and put his hands on top of his head. “I’m not good enough for you,” he bit out against the lump in his throat.

Her heart broke when she heard those words. “You are, you’re perfect for me.”

Not overthinking it, she walked over to him, put her arms around his neck, and pulled his mouth down to hers. If there was one thing they were good at, it was kissing. They’d stolen tons of them over the past year. Still, he kept his hands to his sides where he had dropped them. Pulling back, she reached down to the hem of the Black Friday T-shirt he wore and pulled it over his head. It was obvious he worked out as much as her brother did, because he also had a set of six-pack abs.

“Fuck me,” he breathed out. It was over.

Grasping her around her ass, he boosted her up so that she put her arms back around his neck and had to wrap her legs around his waist. Stumbling over to where a warm bed awaited them, he did his best not to think about all the reasons this was a bad idea. Instead, he did his best to focus on how she felt in his arms and how trusting she was as she stretched against him. Never in his life had anyone ever trusted him that much, and he vowed he wouldn’t fuck it up.

‡
Chapter Twenty-Three

“A
re you sure you don’t want me to drive you home?” Dalton asked Mandy as they lay in bed together the next morning. “It’s not that big of a deal, and I would man up for you to do it.”

She smiled at him, biting her lower lip. “As much as I would love for you to, I don’t want to get into it with anyone, and I don’t want any questions about where I was last night. Layla’s been out here with Deacon before, so she knows where we are and to keep her mouth shut. I trust her.”

“I do too.” Dalton leaned over, kissing her softly. He ran his fingers through her hair, still not able to believe he was here with her, like this.

He had morning stubble, something she’d never seen on him before. Normally he was always clean-shaven and it made her feel special that she’d been able to see this side of him. It made her excited about graduating high school and moving on with their lives.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked her, quietly.

“I’m fine.” She nodded, feeling her face heat up with a blush.

“I can’t believe you’re blushing after everything we did last night,” he laughed. “Wonders never cease.”

“I can’t help it.” She punched him in the arm. “It feels weirder this morning.” She buried her head in his shoulder.

He understood what she was saying, but he didn’t want to voice that. He didn’t want her to know just how profoundly she’d changed his life with one act, one night together. He now knew that he would do anything in his power to protect her and to make sure she never left him. The feelings he had were strong, and he wouldn’t be able to ever deny them.

*

Meredith groaned. She had to pee in the worst way, but she knew it was early, she could tell by the way the sun wasn’t fully lighting up the room. And it was warm, so warm with her own personal heater lying next to her.