by Cathryn Cade
Christmas Honey, a Sweet&Dirty BBW MC Romance Series novella
Sweet and Dirty BBW MC Romance Series
Cathryn Cade
Published by Windtree Press, 2017.
This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.
CHRISTMAS HONEY, A SWEET&DIRTY BBW MC ROMANCE SERIES NOVELLA
First edition. December 21, 2017.
Copyright © 2017 Cathryn Cade.
ISBN: 978-1386933649
Written by Cathryn Cade.
Also by Cathryn Cade
Club 3
She's All In
She's All Tied Up
She's All That
She's Worth It All
Club 3; The Complete Set
Hawaiian Heroes
Walking in Fire
Rolling in the Deep
Blooming in the Wild
Burning Up the Rain
Hawaiian Heroes Books 1-4
Sweet and Dirty BBW MC Romance Series
Show Me the Honey
Honey For Nothin'
The Man With All the Honey
Follow the Honey
Honey in the Rock
Take the Honey and Run
Hawaiian Honey
Sweet & Dirty BBW Romance Books 1-4
Christmas Honey, a Sweet&Dirty BBW MC Romance Series novella
The Great Space Race
StarShadow
Standalone
Touch Not the Cat
Watch for more at Cathryn Cade’s site.
Table of Contents
Christmas Honey
CHRISTMAS HONEY
A novella featuring Jack & Lindi from
SHOW ME THE HONEY
Copyright 2017, Cathryn Cade
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
This story is a Christmas continuation
of
SHOW ME THE HONEY
Book 1 in the Sweet&Dirty BBW Romance Series.
Want to read SHOW ME THE HONEY
1st for FREE?
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* * *
Lindi has a big surprise for her biker man this Christmas. But will Jack want her precious gift... or is he busy rekindling an old flame?
This will be the best Christmas of Lindi Carson's life. She and her dream man, biker Jack Moran, are growing their businesses together. She has Jack's ring on her finger, and a precious secret she can't wait to share with him.
But when a seductive beauty from Jack's past blows into town, Lindi's plans for a private celebration are ruined.
Will this Christmas be sweet as honey... or will the couple feel love's sting?
* * *
Lindi Carson stared at the small, white plastic tube in her left hand. Two pink stripes stared back at her from a small window.
Pregnant.
As she struggled to process the news, time slowed to a crawl. Details leaped out at her—the big diamond winking on her left hand, the smell of herbal soap from the dispenser nearby, the drip of water in the sinks. Her two best friends' gasps as they leaned in to see the results of the test she'd just taken.
"Oh, my God!" Kit squealed. The curvaceous redhead threw her arms around Lindi and jumped up and down, joggling Lindi like a bobble-head doll on the rear-view mirror of a vehicle on a bumpy road. Unfortunately, Lindi's stomach did not share her friend's enthusiasm. Her lunch threatened to come back up, and she felt dizzy all over again.
"Kit!" the statuesque blonde on Lindi's other side said sharply. "Stop, you're going to make her puke. She nearly passed out in the checkout line, in case you already forgot."
"Oh, sorry!" Kit leaned in to smack a warm kiss on Lindi's cheek, then let her go. "But it's so exciting! You're gonna be a mama, Lindi-Lou. And me and Sara will be aunties. Good thing Sara thought to buy the pee test strip."
Sara gave Lindi a careful hug. "I knew it," she said wisely. "That's how my brother and his wife found out they were expecting—she got up from their sofa and passed right out. Luckily he caught her before she could hit her head on the coffee table."
"Shyeah," Kit put in. "Lindi, I thought you were gonna take a dive right into the Christmas candy. Good thing I caught you. And good thing we already paid, or we'd have to abandon all this shit we spent an hour picking out."
Their loaded cart was parked just behind them, as the store had made their bathrooms large enough for customers and their shopping.
Sara peered into Lindi's face. "D'you want to sit down for a bit? You're still white as a sheet."
"Okay," Lindi mumbled, because her head felt light as that bobble-head. Like she needed to find a solid place to sit and hold on, or she'd tip over and roll away, bouncing off obstacles until she came to rest in a corner somewhere, or got run over by the other shoppers thronging the FG Meyer grocery and dry-goods store.
And to think, just a short time ago she herself had nothing on her mind but the upcoming holiday festivities, both at her and Jack's new home by the lake, and his new supper club.
"We'll go to Starbucks," Sara decided. "It's upfront by the main doors. You can sit down and sip on a coffee."
"Not coffee," Kit protested, leading the way from the bathroom. "She can't have caffeine."
"Decaf then, or cocoa," Sara said. And since she was now the first Old Lady of the local chapter of the Devil's Flyers MC, and also the oldest of their trio, Kit quit arguing.
They dodged other loaded carts and threaded their way past stands of poinsettias and holiday centerpieces. Lindi sank into a chair and gazed unseeingly at the Starbucks' baristas, clad in green Santa hats and tees, like cute elves.
Pregnant. She placed her hand on her belly, clad now in skinny jeans, a red sweater and her cute fitted caramel jacket that matched her knee-high boots. Even now, inside her, cells were dividing at an unfathomable rate, forming a tiny person. Which meant that in a few months, none of these clothes would fit her.
But that was nothing compared to this news, this miracle. She was carrying Jack's baby. Her big, tough biker man had planted his seed inside her, and she was going to grow it until they had a child of their own.
They weren't married yet, but this was the way they seemed to do things--fall into bed together, then fall in love. Get pregnant, then get married. Who would ever have thought when he grabbed her from her café, believing she held stolen money belonging to him and Keys, that they'd make a life together. But they had, in more ways than one.
She watched a young couple pushing their shopping cart out of the store. The woman was pregnant. A cute, dark-haired toddler sat in the cart seat, clutching a stuffed animal.
Her and Jack's baby would be blond, for sure. A little tow-headed boy, or a pretty little girl with blonde curls. She imagined her tall, brawny biker man walking into the BeeHive with a blond toddler by the hand, a blond baby in his big arms, and a special smile on his rugged, handsome face for her, for them as a family.
Except that the timing for this baby couldn't be much worse.
They were so busy, getting ready to open Stingers. The last several months had been full of planning, hiring contractors, purchasing materials, and all the other details that went into opening a supper-club.
Jack's restaurant would specialize in steaks and down-home barbecue with a Northwest-fresh twist. He had obtained liquor licenses, and gone through the series of inspections that went with every level of construction and putting togethe
r the kitchen, restrooms, dining room and bar. Only one final inspection was left to pass.
She and Jack hadn't even had time to put up a Christmas tree. And on December 22nd, that was not okay. Lindi loved Christmas, and decorating the tree with her mom and Cissie was one of the good memories of her childhood. No matter what crappy place they lived in, her mom had always made sure they had a little tree, with their childish, hand-made ornaments and some from the dollar store.
She sniffled. Oh, geez, thinking about a Christmas tree was making her teary? This must be the pregnancy hormones she'd heard about from so many women.
Sara came back to the small table, graceful and gorgeous, the way Grace Kelly might've looked if she decided to take on the role of biker queen. Sara's long, layered platinum hair and porcelain skin gleamed against her black leather jacket, cream-and-black check tunic, black leggings and tall, silver-conchoed boots.
She handed Lindi a paper cup of steaming hot cocoa, and sat with her own cup of black coffee. "You doing okay, sweetie?"
Starbucks disappeared in a blur as tears filled Lindi's eyes again. "What if Jack doesn't want it?" she blurted. "He's so...so busy. He's hardly slept this last week, between inspections and equipment deliveries. The freezers were late getting here, and--"
Kit bustled over as she spoke, and sat. Sara opened her mouth, but Kit held up a hand. "I got this," the pretty redhead said, for once preempting even Sara.
Kit leaned forward. She looked like a biker-chick/artist in her red tunic, chartreuse tights, black leather jacket and motorcycle boots. Her auburn curls tumbled down her back, augmented at one temple with a green-glitter streak. But her gaze was serious.
"Lin," she said. "Jack is crazy in love with you, and you're gone over him. So this may be inconsiderate timing, but it's not that bad."
"You mean inconvenient timing," Sara said. "Although it is pretty darn inconsiderate of you to get pregnant now, Lindi. Oh, wait--Jack was there too." She gave Lindi wide eyes, making Lindi smile through her tears.
"Right, whatever," Kit waved her hand and went on. "My point is, you two want babies, right? And this one won't even be born until late next summer. So, you have plenty of time to get in the groove, get all ready. And even though Stingers is opening soon, you'll have Remi as manager, and he's the best." She smiled proudly at the mention of one of her two lovers.
"She's right," Sara agreed. "You do have time. And you can alway hire part-time help at the BeeHive to help Carla, while you're home with the baby."
"And you'll have us," Kit added. "I can't wait to babysit. Ooh, Sara, you need to make a tiny little cut, in case it's a boy! How cute would that be?"
Sara raised a brow. "A black leather vest, on an infant? I think not. I'm just making the twins their first cuts, and they're going on five."
Kit wrinkled her nose. "Fine, Ms Stick-up-your-butt, I'll commission one on Etsy."
"Go for it. Bet Lindi'll never put it on the baby. And anyway, what if it's a girl?" Kit dimpled. "I'll have them label it 'Property of Mommy & Daddy'. Totally cute!"
Sara looked thoughtful. "Hmm, you may have something here. Not real leather, of course, but velour is super-soft."
"Right. Old ladies all over would buy them for shower gifts, and Jack would think its a hoot."
Lindi paused with her cup to her lips, her eyes widening. "Oh, my God. I have to tell Jack."
She couldn't wait to tell her mom and sister too, but that could wait until Christmas day phone calls. Her mom was in Portland with Cissy and her family for the holiday.
Lindi and Jack were too busy to leave just now, so they planned a holiday at home, with Kit, Keys and Remi over for a shared dinner, then on to the clubhouse for a big party Christmas night.
Lindi reached in her little caramel leather purse for her phone. But she paused with it in her hands. "No, wait. I can't tell him news like this over the phone. It has to be in person."
"And in a fun way," Kit agreed. "Which means sexy lingerie."
For Jack, that sounded just right. "Hmm, what else should I do?"
"First, you saved the test stick, right?" Sara asked, her eyes twinkling.
"I did."
"Then here's what you do." Together, the three of them concocted a way to tell Jack that was fun and sexy and memorable.
Lindi smiled mistily at them both. "You're the best, you know that?
Soon, she was headed home through streets busy with other Coeur d'Alene holiday shoppers. At least the roads weren't slippery. The snow of a week prior had melted back, leaving icy mounds in the borrow pits and edges of parking lots, but mostly dry roads.
At this time of day, Jack would be at Stingers. She'd stop in there first, find out when he'd be home, and then go home and make her preparations.
The road around the north end of Lake Coeur d'Alene was quiet, just a few walkers and joggers on the paved path along the lake, and a few sight-seers driving along. One of the resort tour boats cruised slowly along off-shore, half-full of people hoping to see eagles. The majestic birds flocked to this end of the lake in winter to feed on kokanee.
She passed the empty marina, and made the turn into the big, new, paved parking lot now shared by Stingers and the BeeHive. Her little cafe snuggled against the base of the mountain to the right, white cinder-block with an old-fashioned beehive neon sign. She served breakfast and lunch, closing at two o'clock.
Stingers was much larger, built long to capture the lake views, with an L-shaped entry way in the middle. The bar was on the eastern end, the restaurant on the west end. The supper club would be serve dinner only, opening at four o'clock to catch folks ready for drinks before they ate.
Lindi had suggested the name as a joke on her BeeHive, but Jack had taken her suggestion and run with it. The neon sign, as well as the menus, the wait-staff polo shirts, and even the napkins, held a grinning yellow-jacket wearing a bib and holding a chunk of barbecue, ready to take a bite.
Stinger the yellow-jacket's wicked grin made her smile every time she looked at him. Kind of like Jack.
However, Jack was not at Stingers. The only occupants of the gleaming new restaurant were two guys working on the new freezer. Jack's new bartender Skip, a quiet, burly man with a shaved head was behind the bar, a retro work of art in glossy wood and brass. Skip was hefting cases of new glassware. He looked like he could bench-press the entire bar if he chose.
"Jack was here," he told Lindi. "Some woman came in. He left with her, said he'd be up at your place."
Huh, that was weird.
But, maybe one of the old ladies had stopped by with Christmas gifts. Lindi and Jack had hosted a house-warming party when they moved into their house in October, and gifts were still trickling in. Some of these were nice things from the club old ladies.
Some were gag gifts from Jack's biker brethren. They had thoughtfully made up a basket of glow-in-the-dark and flavored condoms for the new master suite. Lindi wanted to throw them all away, but Jack rescued the basket for the nightstand in their guest room.
She planned to make sure the condoms were gone for good before her mom or her sister and family visited.
Bidding Skip goodbye, Lindi climbed back in her SUV and headed up the hill. Her heart was thumping with excitement.
* * *
Jack was at home, all right. But the woman he was with wasn't any old lady that Lindi knew.
A flashy black Camaro with California plates sat in their drive. Lindi guessed the visitor might be Jack's mother, or even his sister, here for a surprise holiday visit. Showing up out of the blue like this seemed rude, but whatever. She'd deal with the unexpected arrival.
But, when Lindi stepped into the foyer of her new home on the forested hill overlooking the lake and the restaurants, shock buffeted her for the second time that day.
She saw as expected her tall, brawny, handsome biker man with messy, sandy blond hair, a tough, weathered face, He was clad in a long sleeved gray tee, faded jeans and motorcycle boots. And another woman, held close in
his arms. Okay, he wasn't wearing her, but close enough.
But there was something wrong with the picture, because she sure wasn't his mama or his sister, both stocky blondes with Jack's eyes.
This woman was a redhead--although not naturally, Lindi would bet her new boots on that--with long curls spilling down her back, nails like long, glittering claws, and a slim but curvaceous figure on display in skin-tight jeans, a black sweater cut so low her boobs were practically popping out in Jack's face, and high-heeled, black boots.
And since the two were in profile, it was not lost on Lindi that the woman was plastered against Jack so tight there was no daylight between them--and that Jack's arms were around the other woman's waist. Even worse, he had her red lip-gloss smeared on his chin, and he was smiling down at her like he was enjoying himself.
Lindi dropped one of her shopping bags, alerting the pair to her presence. Glass bottles hit the entry-way rug with dull thud, and fell over, clinking together.
Jack jerked his head around, his eyes widened, and some strong emotion filled his eyes. But was it relief, as Lindi wanted desperately to believe, or was it guilt?
"Babe, you're home," he said in his deep, rough voice.
"Yep," Lindi said through clenched teeth.
The redhead tipped her head toward Jack's broad chest, still hanging onto his big arms, and gave Lindi a sidelong look. Her gaze swept Lindi from head to toe and back again. Then her lips tipped up in a small, catty smile, and Lindi's hands clenched at her sides, fighting the powerful urge to dash forward and yank the woman by her hair from Jack's arms.
"Coral," Jack said. "Meet Lindi. Lindi, this is Coral, an old... friend. She's in town for a few days."
Lindi took in the huge leopard-print suitcase and shiny black purse stacked to one side of the foyer. "So I see." She looked back to Jack, who responded by finally pushing the other woman away from him, so sharply she rocked on her high heels, her eyes wide. This gave Lindi a tiny spurt of satisfaction, but that disappeared when Jack moved toward her and she saw again the lip gloss smeared on his cheek and the side of his mouth.
