Temper (Knights of Fury #3) - Chantal Fernando Page 0,32

and then head back to the clubhouse. I tidy the place up, wanting to do something productive with my time, while Crow works out in their gym. When it gets close to lunchtime, I create a platter and set up a little picnic blanket outside, making it as cute as possible, pillows ready for us to sit on. With a bottle of wine in a tub of ice, I work with what I have, and am pretty happy with how it turned out.

“It looks good enough to be on a social media post,” Crow says, walking out shirtless from his workout, a light sheen of sweat glistening in the sunlight.

“Thanks,” I say, shrugging, suddenly feeling a little unsure of myself. Temper is the president of an MC—is something like this going to be stupid and trivial to him? Maybe he’s busy and won’t even be able to return when he said he would, and then Crow is going to have to eat this platter with me so I don’t look like a dickhead.

“Hey,” Temper says from behind us, and we both spin around.

“Hey,” I reply, watching Crow make a quick exit.

“What’s all this?” Temper asks, smiling as he takes in the little setup. “Is this for me?”

I nod, shifting on my feet, feeling awkward as hell. “Yeah, I thought I’d do something...nice...” I trail off, apparently unable to speak coherently. Clearing my throat, I sit down and pat the spot next to me. “Would you like some wine?”

“I’d love some,” he says, sitting down and eyeing the selection in front of him. “This looks amazing, Abbie. You’re so fuckin’ cute, you know that?”

I breathe a sigh of relief, and pour us both some wine. “I just thought you might want to chill out and relax a little after...everything.”

“I could say the same for you,” he says quietly, taking the glass from my hand, our fingers touching. “This must be a lot for you, and you’ve been handling it so well. We’re used to shit like this going down; you’re not.”

“Yeah, true, but it’s up to you to fix it all, not me, which means the pressure is all on you.”

“True,” he agrees, lifting his glass. “Cheers.”

“Cheers.” I cut some brie and place it on a cracker. “How did this morning go?”

“Saint is viewing the surveillance as we speak and then destroying it so we can’t get into any shit,” he explains, brown eyes watching me as I eat. “But then we need to try to identify these guys. We’re going to have to pull in some favors, which I hate doing, but it’s kind of necessary. Anyway, let’s just enjoy this moment and not think about what’s to come.”

“Sounds good. Thank you for the flowers and the note you left this morning,” I say, smiling at him. “They were beautiful.”

“If you want to see beautiful, you should have seen how you look when you’re asleep,” he blurts out, gaze going to the wineglass. “I struggled to leave you this morning. You know, I’m not usually a cuddler, I prefer to have my space in bed, but I liked having you next to me. It’s peaceful. Somehow you drown out all the stress and worry.”

I can’t wipe the smile off my face. “I don’t even know what to say to that. I like that I’m different for you.”

“You have no idea.” He smiles. “I spoke to my brother yesterday, and he’s in shock. I think he thought I’d be a bachelor for the rest of my life.”

“Are you two close?” I ask.

He nods. “Yep, he’s all the blood family I have. Trade and those kids of his, I’d do anything for them. What about you? Are you close with your family? I know that you’re close with Ivy.”

“I am.” I grin, thinking about her. “I’m close with my mom too, but we have a more complicated relationship. With her it’s almost like the roles have reversed, and she needs me to look after her, which makes it pretty stressful. She’s made me feel really guilty being away from home, making it sound like she can’t cope without me, and that her