A baby.Joy’s baby.Possiblyhisbaby.
Holy fuck.
He should have said something, anything, to reassure her, but it was hard to function when his mind had just exploded.
Joy’s lower lip wobbled.If she broke, Dane would too.He couldn’t believe they’d fucked up so badly and left her alone to deal with the repercussions of their single lust-filled night together.If he’d suspected before that he would never be worthy of her, he knew it for sure now.Doubly so when she glanced at Walker and him before double checking, “Is that okay?”
“We’re not barbarians,” Walker snapped as though he didn’t believe it himself.
Joy flinched.
Dane glared at him.
Though Amber was tall and athletic, a gorgeous black woman who didn’t take shit from anyone, she’d already broken through to the softer side of Joy.No simple feat; she didn’t trust easily for good reason.“Forget your troubles for a little while, okay?It’s New Year’s Eve.The perfect time for a new beginning.You’re among friends here, even if a couple of them are sometimes dumbasses and it seems like you have a bit of catching up to do.For the record, I’ve never seen them shut up this long.You must really have a hell of an effect on them.”
Amber smacked Walker with the back of her hand in his gut, making him grunt.“Say something.”
Walker sputtered then said, “Hi.”
At least Joy cracked a smile at that.“Hey.”
Dane’s jaw felt like it was rusted shut, but at Amber’s glare, he broke it loose.“Sorry, Joy.It’s just a shock.Seeing you.And the baby.There’s so much going through my mind right now I don’t know where to start.Just come in, okay?Let’s go into the break room where it’s quieter so we can figure out the rest.”
Joy’s shoulders loosened and she relaxed her clutch on her daughter.Ignoring Walker and Dane for the moment, maybe because that was easier for her too, she asked Amber, “How far along are you?”
Together they escorted her to the back of the garage and into the common area where they’d shared so many meals and laughs over the better part of the year.Time Joy had obviously spent a lot differently.
Dane hated himself more than he ever had, which he’d thought impossible.
“Thirty-six weeks.”Amber looked at Dane and Walker then, shooting them a glower every bit as stern as the comforting tone she was using on Joy.“I take it you know these boys?”
Joy snorted at that.“They’re the biggest ‘boys’ I’ve ever seen.But yeah, you could say that.”
“Right.”Amber shut the break room door behind them, blocking out some of the revelry, then turned her attention to Walker and Dane.Dane appreciated her chaperoning to make sure they didn’t fuck things up any worse than they already had.He suspected Joy might appreciate that too.“And you two want her to stay, don’t you?”
“It’s complicated, Amber.”Walker scrubbed his hand over his beard.
“Yes.”Dane said without thinking.Because it was true, even if it wasn’t smart.
“Perfect.”She smiled at him, encouraging him to do what seemed to be the right thing on the surface.“Well, they have a house here.It’s not huge, but there’s plenty of space for you and your daughter, even accounting for all the stuff that comes along with having a baby.”
Joy grimaced.“What you see is pretty much what I’ve got.I kind of left in a hurry.”
“No worries.I have a shit ton my friends gave us at my shower that I would love to share with you.”Amber shared a wobbly smile with Joy.“This will be my first and I have no idea what the hell I’m doing.Some practice would do me good.Maybe we can figure out how to assemble and use some of this stuff together over the next couple of days if you hang around that long, huh?”
“That sounds incredible.So far I’ve been mostly winging it with the help of Google and then worrying I’m the worst mother in the history of the universe.”Creases appeared between Joy’s brows.
Dane extended his hand again.This time he brushed his fingers over her elbow, electricity running from the spot where they barely connected.“I’ve always thought you would be an amazing mother.I’m sure youarean incredible mom.”
Joy shrugged away from his touch until they lost contact and some of the tension returned to her muscles, so he backed off.
Amber came to the rescue again.“Even if these two keep being idiots, as it seems they might have been, that doesn’t mean you should leave if you don’t have somewhere better to go, okay?Promise me.If you’d rather, I’ll give you directions to a shelter Tom founded with his wife.Just come and get me at any time, okay?We live in the house you passed on the right as you came up the driveway to the shop.”
“From what I could see, it looked really cute.The Santa on the motorcycle was a nice touch.”Joy grinned, dazzling Dane with her smile.He was staring at her so hard, trying to soak in every last detail about her and the baby he still couldn’t quite believe was real, that at first he didn’t notice Walker was edging closer, about to burst with all the things they were both dying to know.“And I appreciate your offer, but that’s probably not a good idea.There might be…people…looking for me.”
“Amber, could we have some privacy, please?”Dane tried to keep his voice level and calm despite the flurry of emotions wringing his guts.Was Angus chasing her?Clive?All of Wildfire could be a few miles behind and ready to swarm Hot Rides.
They had to find out so they could warn everyone about the trouble they’d brought to Middletown if necessary.