11
Walker poked his head into Amber’s hospital room, not surprised in the least to see Joy leaning up against the far wall with a satisfied smile as she watched the rest of the Hot Rides fawn over Amber and Gavyn’s brand-new son.
He remembered that look on her face.It was similar to the one she’d had after he and Dane had fucked her senseless.It made his cock stand up and take notice.
Not now.
“Come on, Walker.Meet Noah.”Gavyn waved him in, making him a little unsure about his place.He was still one of the new people around the shop and had hardly settled in before Joy had appeared.To be included in a moment as pivotal as this in their lives…it meant something to him.Something he hoped he had earned.
He glanced at Joy, who nodded encouragingly, before inching closer.The infant was swaddled in a blanket that turned it into a baby burrito.Even so, it was terrifyingly small.Breakable.So much responsibility it made him rear up and blurt, “He’s so tiny.Even Arden is way bigger than this.”
The women laughed and Eli—the owner of Hot Rods—shook his head.“Hey, man, it’s not all about size.”
Bryce, the tallest and broadest of the entire Hot Rods gang, rumbled, “Oh yes, it is.”
From the other side of the room, Joy snorted.“You know, Arden was even smaller than Noah when she was born.She weighed ten ounces less and was three inches shorter.”
“No.Seriously?”Walker couldn’t imagine that.She was delicate enough as it was.
“Yep.”Joy looked to Amber and said, “Enjoy every minute.They go by so fast.”
The other woman beamed, unable to take her eyes off her husband and their baby.“I will.Thank you again for staying with me and keeping me calm when I would have totally lost it.You were a huge help.”
Walker’s chest puffed up at that.It made him proud that his friends saw how decent Joy was.In fact, he couldn’t ever remember someone appreciating her for her accomplishments instead of who she belonged to before.He hoped this was the first of many times he’d get to see that.
“You should go and get some rest,” Amber told Joy.“You were up with me the entire seventeen hours of pure torture Noah put me through and every moment since.Don’t worry, baby.Mommy loves you anyway,” she cooed at her son.
In that instant, Walker wondered who’d been there for Joy.Had she gotten through Arden’s delivery by herself?Holy shit.She was even stronger than he’d realized.And they were even more terrible for having left her to do it alone.
Superwomen like Joy needed to sleep too.He realized then that she was bracing herself on the wall, not hanging back to avoid intruding.
“Congratulations, guys.”He slapped Gavyn on the back and nodded at Amber.“But yeah, I’m taking Joy home.”
“I drove here.I can get myself back to Hot Rides.”Joy’s stubborn statement would have held more weight if she hadn’t swayed on her feet as she shoved off the wall.
“Like hell.”He crossed to her and put his arm around her waist, drawing her to his side.“Give me your keys.One of the Hot Rods guys can bring my bike back later…right?”
He didn’t even bother to look over his shoulder as Alanso volunteered to do it.
“See?Now, let’s go.”
Joy groused but relented.“Fine.But only because I’m too pooped to argue with you.”
“Perfect.”He led her toward the door as they said their goodbyes.
Walker tried not to focus on Joy’s lush curves where they pressed into him, but it would have been impossible to ignore how perfectly she fit with him.He kept reminding himself, until they reached the ground floor and he walked her out to her car, that he’d probably get arrested if he trapped her up against the elevator wall and had his way with her.
“Where’s Arden?How is she?”Joy wondered.“I’ve never been away from her for so long.”
She really was fatigued if it took her until then to ask.“She’s great.Having a blast with the other kids at Hot Rods.Dane is there and Nova is showing him the dad-ropes.If it’s okay with you, I think we should let them hang out there for the day so you can catch up on your sleep.”
“Wow.Even though I miss her so much, that sounds like one hell of an indulgence.”Joy scrubbed her face with her hands.“But I can’t.She’s probably running out of milk by now.”
“Dane has the emergency formula you told him about, but if you pumped at the hospital I can run supplies over there after you’re tucked in.”He didn’t think anything of it.
To Joy though… She chuckled, shaking her head.“I can’t believe this is my life right now.It’s so different from just a month ago.”
“How so?”