8
Bunny
Charlotte Lane.
The name felt familiar the second Ben said it. A rush of memories came flooding back but not in any real order. Things like what my apartment looks like and my office. It was all fuzzy, but I knew it was real. Still, there are gaps. People's faces without names.
“Bunny—”
“I thought it’s Charlotte now.” I turn to face Ben. He’s dressed in jeans and a black shirt with his company's logo on it.
“You’re always going to be my Bunny.” The second the words leave his mouth, I burst into tears. All these emotions come bubbling out. He grabs me, pulling me into his arms. “Shit, I don’t have to call you Bunny.”
“I love Bunny,” I say through sobs. “Do I have to leave now? Go back?”
“No.” His hands come to my face to cup my cheeks. He leans down, getting close. Something I’ve noticed he does when I start to get overwhelmed. “I don’t want you going anywhere. Even if it all comes back to you. I want you here. With me.”
I press my mouth to his. His fingers sink into my hair, and he kisses me back. I melt into him. “There isn’t anything back there. I don’t want to go back, but we’ve only just met, and I can’t just stay here.”
He said I’d always be his Bunny, and I want that to be so true. I know I don’t belong to anyone. At least I didn’t until Ben.
“Says who?”
“People?” I shrug. “Don’t people like date and stuff. Get to know each other. Aren’t there steps or something?”
“You do a lot of dating?”
“Not that I really remember. But maybe that part hasn't come back to me.”
“It doesn’t really matter, Bunny. We can do what we want. Besides, I don't think it’s safe. Kilduff might be dead, but there are too many unknowns. I think you’re safer here.”
“You think someone might be looking for me?” I’ve never thought about that. Honestly, all I care about at the moment is being here with Ben.
“I’m not really sure, and I’m not going to throw my speculations at you. You want to be here, and I want you here. We get to explore this.” He motions between us. “So what does it matter?”
“So I’m staying.” I smile up at him.
“That would make me damn happy,” he drawls.
“Me too.” He kisses my cheeks, drying my tears.
“All right, I’m going to make you breakfast and then I need to head into the office.” My stomach drops. He’s leaving. “You down with coming with me? I mean, you can stay if you want. I’ll set the alarm and—”
“I want to come.” I cut him off. I’m not too excited about the thought of being alone. In fact, the idea kind of terrifies me at the moment.
One thing I’m pretty certain of is I’ve been alone a lot in the past. Of the faces that flashed through my mind, none of them felt overly familiar. It makes me think I don’t really have someone that I’m close to. The thought makes me a little sad, but I try not to dwell on it. I have Ben now.
He makes me breakfast before we head into his office. When we get there, Ben shows me around and then leads me into the main office area where Pink and Ollie now are. Ollie is showing Pink how to do some of the office work.
“So you and my brother?” Ollie asks when Ben dips into his office, leaving me with the girls.
“Ahh—” Crap. What do I say to that?
“Snow, I’m teasing you. It’s interesting to see my brothers with girls. They never introduced me to anyone they dated. If they dated. Ben works so much I’m not sure he had the time, and Kane has always had a stick up his ass.”
“I removed it.” Pink winks at me. “I’m a girl of many talents.”
All of us burst into laughter. I’m a bit envious of their friendship. Hell, I’m a bit envious of everything around here. When we first got here, Jason was here dropping Ollie off. He was treating her like she was spun from glass, making her wait before she could even hop down from his truck.
It was pretty badass to watch this tatted-up motorcycle guy in a leather jacket with the word President on it be a sweetheart. Well, kind of a sweetheart. He kept kissing on her like he didn’t want to let her go. His hand was always hovering over the small baby bump she has before he smacked her ass and told her to be a good girl.
Pink and Kane were already here when we arrived. They were coming out of Kane’s office. Based on their messy hair and Pink’s blushing cheeks and swollen lips, they’d just gotten done fooling around.
Pink was giving him some sass before he told her she’d be getting a spanking when they got home later. That hadn’t deterred her in the least. To be honest, I think she was looking forward to it from the expression on her face.
Not only do I want that but what Pink and Ollie have too. There is so much love floating around this place. It makes my heart ache.
“How long have you two been friends?” I ask.
“A few months. She bartends sometimes at my husband’s MC club.” Ollie flicks a glance to Pink. “You bartend there still?”
“Yes, I do.” She leans forward, dropping her voice. ‘Don’t tell my fiancé I said that.” I snort another laugh.
“Okay, so you married a president of an MC club who also owns a gold mine?” Ollie nods her head. “You belong to this MC club and are engaged to her brother.” I look to Pink for that one.
“Yep. My pops was a part of the club. A patched member. He died, and Pres—Jason—kind of took me under his wing and watched over me. I have custody of my little brother Carter. He’s only seventeen.”
“He’s only seventeen?” That’s a bit surprising. He was there the day everything went down. I thought he was more my age, which I found out today is twenty.
“Yeah, we grow them big around here. Well, the men,” Pink teases. Clearly. She’s tiny. We’re about the same height, I’d guess, but I’m curvier. Kane and Ben are about the same size. Kane might be an inch taller, but Ben is built broader.
“With how close you two seem, I would have guessed you’ve been friends longer,” I say.
“When you click, you click.” Ollie smiles. There is something about her that’s purely genuine. I can see how it would be easy to be friends with her. “You have to meet Vee!”
“Oh shit. You haven’t met her yet. Arch is the VP of the Ravens. They just got married, and she’s pregnant too,” Pink says.
“Y’all have been friends for years, right? Ben has mentioned her. Said she’s like a little sister to him.”
“Yep, you should come to the club Friday and we’ll all hang out. Vee is a sweetheart. I actually think you two are a bit alike.”
“That’s sweet of you to say. I’ll talk to Ben about it.”
“Don’t make us kidnap you. Cause we’ll do it.” Pink deadpans.
“Dude! She was just kidnapped. Too soon.” Ollie shoots a rubber band at her.
“Oh shit.” Pink’s eyes go wide. “I can’t believe I said that.” I can’t help but laugh, and they quickly join me. “I’m sorry. That was messed up.” Tears roll down my cheeks. I'm laughing so hard now. “I’m sorry,” she says again when we all get it together. I shrug.
“I don’t remember it, so you saying it doesn’t trigger me. It’s the darkness and being trapped that gets me. That’s what all my nightmares are about. Waking up and thinking I’m stuck. Unable to move and everything is black.”
“That’s so fucking scary. I’m sorry you went through that,” Ollie says.
“It led me to Ben.” As soon as I say the words, I kind of wish I could take them back. They probably think I’m nuts. But when I meet their eyes, they don’t give me a look that says I’m crazy.
“Don’t break his heart,” Ollie says, surprising me. “I always wondered if the reason my brothers didn’t date or I never heard about them dating was because they might be jaded over our mother.”
“She passed, right?” Sometimes at the hospital, Ben would tell me stories to help pass the time. It’s why I knew about Vee.
Ben talks about his family a lot, but when he never brought up his mom and said his father recently fell in love, I asked. All he said was she passed away not long after Ollie was born.
“She did, after she went out for milk and never came home.”
“I’m sorry.” Ollie waves it off.
“I didn’t know her, so there was nothing for me to miss. I was a bit of a surprise to my parents. My brothers were a lot older. I think she thought she was almost done with the whole kids thing and being married, and BAM I snuck up on her, and she was not down to do it again.”
“I don’t think I could ever understand walking away from your child. I was told I was left at a fire station when I was only a few months old.”
“Are you remembering stuff?” Pink asks.
“Some things. Obviously, I don’t remember being left at a fire station, but I remember some of the foster homes. Like I can picture them in my mind.”
“That’s good.” Ollie gives me a warm smile. I nod, but I’m not sure how I feel about remembering things.
“So to be clear, there is something going on between you and Ben?” Pink asks. “I mean, I know you two have been connected at the hip.”
“Of course, there is. You see the way he’s been staring at her.”
“Yeah, but Ben and I aren't that close. He’s always traveling and stuff. I just know he’s the more chill of the Hart brothers. He doesn’t have a stick that needs to be removed.” They both start laughing again, but my thoughts lock in on what Pink said about Ben always traveling.
I know he owns Hart Bonds, and said something about investing in properties with his brother. He did also mention something about doing freelance work for the government. My anxiety starts to climb thinking about Ben leaving to go somewhere far away.
“How do you girls get anything done?” Kane teases, coming out of his office.
“You worry about your job, and I’ll worry about mine, big guy.” Pink glares at him teasingly.
“I’m stealing my girl.” Ben grabs my hand, pulling me back toward his office.
“Hey, we were having girl talk!” the girls call after us, but Ben ignores them, shutting and locking his office door.
“Everything—” My words are cut off when he kisses me. He doesn't stop until we’re both gasping for air. The thought of Ben going anywhere has gone from my mind. The same way things always seem to go away when his mouth meets mine.
“Missed you.”
“Been like thirty minutes.” I smile at him.
“Might have gotten jealous listening to you laughing out there without me. You never laugh that much with me.”
“I laugh with you.” I lick my lips. “Do other things with you too.”
After that kiss and feeling his body pressed against mine, my mind is thinking back to this morning and how he got me off.
“You’re blushing, Bunny. Are you thinking about something?” I nod. “You need me again like you did this morning? I’m more than happy to give you a repeat.”
“Okay,” I whisper.
“Let’s get you home then.” He grabs my jacket, putting it on me before he takes my hand to lead me out of the office.
Home. Damn, I love that he calls it home for me too.
“Where the hell are you two going? You just got here!” Ollie calls after us. My blush blooms.
“If you need to stay, we can,” I whisper, not wanting to get him into some kind of trouble because he’s always worrying over me.
“See you brats later,” Ben says to the girls. Pink winks at me while Ollie gives me a bright smile, and I realize they’re only teasing.
Ben opens the door to his SUV for me. Before I can even try to get in myself, he’s lifting me by my hips and putting me inside. He even pulls my seatbelt over me, clicking it into place.
“The only place I need to be, Bunny, is with you.” I grab the front of his shirt and pull him down for a kiss.
I truly think I’ve found my very own hero. I also think I’m already in love with him.