Taming Blade (Kings Reapers MC Book 5) by Nicola Jane (mini ebook reader TXT) 📕

gonna run off with him or have his babies.” I smile softly. “You don’t need to worry.” It’s a lie, but a necessary one to keep her from worrying, and besides, we’re history, right?

“But I do worry, Tils,” she mumbles. “I worry your dad will find you, that he’ll hurt us again.”

I frown, taking her hand. “Surely, if he was gonna turn up, he’d have done it by now. Twenty-eight is a little late to be rocking up and pulling the dad card. I’d send him away if he dared to.”

“He isn’t the type of man who you can send away, that’s the problem.”

“You want me to ask the guy from the local MC if he knows him?” I ask.

She shakes her head. “No, that’s the last thing you should do. If they know him, they might tip him off, there’s a deep loyalty between those sorts of men. I didn’t tell him I was pregnant. I ran. Just promise me you’ll stay away from this man and his gang.”

I nod, giving her a sincere smile. Blade’s done with me. He would have turned up here by now if he wasn’t. I have to move forward and forget about him. “There’s a man showing interest,” I say. “Not from an MC club. In fact, he’s a real gentleman. He keeps sending me flowers. We’ve only had one official date, but he was nice.”

Mum smiles, a look of relief on her face. “That’s good news. A romantic man makes a good boyfriend.”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I haven’t heard from him since the last date.”

“Then call him,” she says, patting my hand. “Sometimes you have to change your own destiny instead of waiting for others to make the move. Call him.”

I took Mum’s advice and called Ethan. He’d been working shifts and hadn’t had a chance to call me to arrange a second date. It’s been a whole week since I saw Blade in the shop and I’ve heard nothing. I’ve picked my phone up a million times to call him but lost my nerve. I made the right choice, and I have to stick to it.

Sara wraps my hair around the heated curler. “Maybe I should just stay single,” I say. “We did make a pact to stay away from men. And this back and forth between guys is slutty behaviour.”

“We both know that was a moment of madness. And anyway, it’s only a second date. No one’s talking about relationships. You are single, you made no promises to either man, so I say let the sluttiness commence!”

“I feel like since Travis, I’ve been on a downward spiral. Should I tell Ethan that I slept with Blade?”

She pulls my head back so I’m looking up at her. “No!” she says bluntly. “Chill the fuck out and keep calm. You’re overthinking this. You don’t owe Ethan an explanation. Just draw a line under Blade and move forward.”

“Maybe I’m on the rebound,” I mutter.

“Christ, you’re depressing me. Just go tonight and enjoy yourself. Don’t make any commitments, just make the most of being treated well. And think about how happy it’ll make your mum.”

Ethan picks me up and drives us to an expensive restaurant owned by a famous chef.

“You really didn’t need to go to all this trouble,” I say, taking the seat he holds out for me.

“It was no trouble. How have you been?”

I blush, memories of Blade filling my head. “Fine. I’ve been ill, so I was in bed for most of the week. How about you?”

“I’ve been working. We’ve been crazy busy. Sorry you’ve been ill.”

“What do you do again?” I ask.

“Behind the scenes work. It’s complicated and extremely boring.”

I nod. “Sounds intriguing.”

“It was a nice surprise to hear from you, by the way.”

“I don’t usually chase men,” I say, laughing. “My mum is in London for a few days, and she convinced me.”

“You told your mum about me?” He grins. “And she approves because she got you to make a move.”

I laugh again. “Yes, she does. She’s a sucker for a romantic.”

“Well, I’m glad she talked you into it. Although, I was going to call and ask you out tonight anyway. What does your dad think about you dating?”

I grin. “He’s not that type of dad. Mum is the overprotective one, he’s,” I shrug, “chilled. Mum spoke about my real dad when she came to see me,” I add, and he raises an eyebrow.

“You said before she never talks about him.”

“She doesn’t. I got the impression she’s scared of him. She said he was a nasty piece of work and in an MC. I think she got spooked cos my Nan told her about the Kings Reapers.”

“Ah,” says Ethan, with a knowing look. “That makes sense. I told you those guys were no good.”

I nod. “I know. I’m listening, I promise.” I smile. “She felt she had to warn me off hanging around bikers.”

“For good reason,” he says. “You still hanging around them?”

I frown, resenting being spoken to like a lovesick teenager. “I don’t know why everyone thinks I was hanging around them. I happened to bump into them a few times. Blade is a regular in the shop, but there’s nothing more to it.”

He senses my snippiness and smiles gently. “ How’s your plans for the cocktail bar coming along?” he asks in a swift move to change the topic.

We eat seafood and drink wine. It’s relaxed and easy, how a date should be, or at least, how I’d dreamed a good date to be. Ethan is chilled, he smiles a lot, and he has kind eyes. He says all the right things, and by the end of dinner, I feel sad, not wanting our time together to end.

“We could go for a drink,” I suggest as we head back to his car. It’s a stupid idea—I’ve already had a bottle of wine and he’s driving so hasn’t touched a drop.

“I don’t want to rush us,” he says, and I nod, feeling