the old rusty pickup she’d driven. And the thing wasn’t in her name. It was in her boss’s name. It didn’t matter that she had a piece of paper saying she’d bought it from the woman. The title wasn’t in her name or Code would have found her a long time ago. If push came to shove, he could throw that at her and would.
“That’s not true.” She stopped. Took a breath and then nodded. “I can see why you wouldn’t think it wasn’t safe, but I need my own vehicle. Transporter is good with engines. He can fix it, can’t he? He’s been busy, coming with us and all, but the pickup actually ran good.”
“Babe.” One word. That said it all. She knew better.
She waited and when he didn’t speak she went to step past him. He caught her around the waist, his arm a bar, blocking her.
“I can buy you something else.” Something with armor. “We’ll head down to Santa Rosa or the Bay and get you something that is safer for Zane.” That was always a good move. Breezy responded to all things that had anything to do with Zane’s safety.
She thought that over. “I hate that you have to buy it for me.”
“Damn it, Breezy. We’re …” He paused. Took a breath. There was that pride she’d developed and with it came stubbornness. “Let’s get married. What’s mine belongs to you anyway. Not the bike, but the rest of it. All of it. It’s mostly got your name on it if it’s worth anything.”
Breezy looked shocked. “You want to get married?”
His heart skipped a beat. “Don’t you? You’re in love with me. You know how I feel about you. We have a son.”
“Marriage is something you don’t take lightly, Steele. You don’t propose in order to get your way over a car.”
She sounded so snippy he wanted her right there all over again. He’d taken her once on top of the dishwasher already. He could again if she gave him that voice. Made him as hard as a damned rock.
“I told you I wanted to marry you, back when we were first together I wanted to put my name on you.”
“Like a brand. I’m not cattle.”
He stepped deliberately into her space. “You’re anything but, woman, and you know that. Yes, or no? You going to marry me? You already have your name on the house and bank account. If something had happened to me, the club would have continued to try to track you down because you would have gotten it all.”
He saw by her expression that was big. “Baby, I told you. I was coming after you. I bought the house for you. I want to marry you, but if you want to wait and spend more time with me, I’ll be okay with that too.” He shrugged his shoulders, going for casual when he was feeling anything but. He’d promised himself he’d be honest with her. “I’m well aware I need the security of marriage more than you do, but I can wait. It will happen eventually.”
He despised that he couldn’t quite get over wondering from one hour to the next if Breezy could really love him, but it was getting better. Slowly, but he was getting there.
“Of course, I want to marry you,” she said and instantly her face changed to one of suspicion. “You don’t already have some huge ring that will weigh down my entire hand, do you? Because if you do, we’re taking it back.”
He found himself smiling all over again. “No, we can pick that out together.”
“Okay then, but I still want my truck back. I need my own ride.”
He nodded. “I get that, baby. A car isn’t going to break us. I don’t ask a lot of you.” That was a damn fucking lie, but she didn’t know it. “Do it for me. Let me get rid of the truck. If you think your boss in Santa Fe needs it back, we’ll get it to her. Otherwise, we’ll have Transporter fix it up for Kenny or Darby. But let me get a car I think is safe for you and Zane.”
He realized the moment he said Transporter could fix it up for Kenny or Darby, she would wonder why it couldn’t be fixed up for her. He saw that on her face, but then, because she was Breezy, she hooked her palm around the nape of his neck.
“I will. I’ll drive whatever car you want me to, but