Hurricane Hearts Read online

  With that, he slammed into me and showed me exactly how much he wanted me. All was right in our world, and never again would I put what we had at risk. Winter Morrison was the man I would love and cherish for every day of the rest of my life.

  31

  BIRDIE

  “These red shoes look exactly like the red shoes I just packed, and the red ones before that,” Winter said. “How many pairs of red shoes does a woman actually fucking need?”

  I snatched the shoes from him. “Maybe you should go help Carey finish up in the kitchen. I don’t need to hear your thoughts about the rest of my wardrobe.”

  His brow arched and he did exactly what I didn’t want him to do. He eyed the other side of my wardrobe. “Fuck me, Angel.” Then looking at me, he said, “By my count, we’ve already packed forty-seven pairs of shoes. There’s gotta be at least that again in here.”

  I stepped next to him. “Yes, and don’t they look beautiful in there? I mean, you certainly don’t complain when I wear them.”

  “I wouldn’t fucking complain if you didn’t wear them.”

  “That’s because you wouldn’t complain if I didn’t wear anything. And why are you counting my shoes?” I knew that letting Winter anywhere near the packing of my clothes and shoes and bags would be a bad idea, but he’d insisted on helping. We hadn’t even gotten to the bags yet. God help me.

  “Birdie”—he snaked his arm around my waist and pulled me close—“we’re moving in together. I’m going to see how many pairs of shoes you own, and how many more you buy, and all the places you try to hide them from me.” He took hold of my face with both hands and bent his to mine. “Don’t start hiding from me now, baby.”

  Winter was so damn perceptive. Since we’d arrived home from Brisbane three days ago, it had been a whirlwind of getting back to work, catching up with my family, doing all the things I needed to do to move house, and packing. And while it was exactly what I wanted, Winter had taken charge and was driving this forward faster than I could keep up. Fast was his way, as was ignoring obstacles and making shit happen regardless. I hadn’t forgotten that, but seeing it in action had proved a little overwhelming.

  The other thing overwhelming me was the fact that although we’d lived together for almost a decade, his work had taken him away from home for many of those years, and that wasn’t the case now. My brain had gone into overdrive thinking about that. Would we live well together now? Had we changed too much in the last five years that we would no longer be compatible? Would he be able to cope with my crazy habits that he’d not had to deal with on a full-time basis before? Will he move in with me and then realise he actually doesn’t want me anymore?

  “I’m trying not to hide,” I whispered, my heart beating faster at what I saw in his eyes. Love. Adoration. My future.

  “I’m not going to let you.” He brushed his lips over mine before looking at me with that trademark cockiness of his I knew well. “And I’m sure as shit gonna need to build you a bigger fucking wardrobe.”

  “Yeah, you are,” I said, slipping my hands under his T-shirt so I could touch his abs. “And I want front row seats while you do that. These abs need to see the light of day a lot more often as far as I’m concerned.”

  “Fuck,” he growled, his hand gripping mine and dragging them from his body. “I wasn’t built to withstand you, Angel, so when your brother is down the hall, these hands need to stay away.”

  “Her brother is standing right here, and I thank you for stopping that PDA. There’s only so much one can bear and I’m about at my fill of you two,” Carey said.

  I turned to find him leaning against the doorjamb, arms crossed, watching us with a look that showed he meant what he said.

  Winter chuckled while I poked my tongue at him and said, “You’re just jealous, Carey.”

  “What? Of some dick action? I can get that any day I want.”

  “Yeah, you can,” I agreed, moving towards him because I heard Cleo’s voice from the front door, “but Winter’s dick is something else. I wouldn’t blame you for being jealous of me for getting it.”

  “Fucking hell,” he muttered as I brushed past him. “Not an image I fucking needed in my head, Birdie. And not the kind of dick action I was talking about.”

  My laughter filled the house as I walked through it to find my bestie. I also heard Winter laughing while my brother grumbled about the mental images he now had. Life is good.

  I found Cleo juggling bags of takeaway and drinks, looking like she was about to drop all of it. Taking some of it from her, I said, “How many people are you planning on feeding tonight, babe? There’s a lot of food here.”

  I’d left work just after lunchtime, so I could come home and spend the afternoon packing with Winter. Cleo had told us she’d be over after work to help us move everything and would bring dinner with her. I’d left her and Winter to decide what to get, but I hadn’t envisioned needing this much food.

  “Winter told me to bring enough food for at least twelve people,” she said, taking everything into the kitchen.

  “Twelve? Why? There’s only seven of us.

  “I’ve organised for some of the boys to come over,” Winter said, joining us. “They should be here soon.”

  “Boys?” Cleo asked, dumping her bag on the counter next to the food.

  “From the club,” I said, connecting the dots while trying to ignore the nervous flutters in my tummy. I hadn’t met any of the guys yet and was nervous about doing that. In all the talking Winter and I had done in the last week since we made up, we’d talked a lot about his club. I’d come to understand how important Storm was to him, not only from our conversations but also from watching him get up every day and go take care of stuff for his club, so it mattered to me that I got on with these guys.

  Winter must have heard something in my tone, because he looked at me with a slight frown, but his attention was diverted back to Cleo when she spoke again.

  “This might be the best thing I’ve heard all day,” she said. “I’m all about helping you guys, but seriously, moving heavy boxes and furniture is not what this girl was made for. Feeding men who bring their muscles to the job? That’s where my talents lie.”

  I grinned, loving that she’d be by my side the first time I met Winter’s friends. I could take on the world with my bestie by my side.

  Carey’s gaze met mine as he entered the kitchen carrying a box full of my clothes. “I’m gonna pack the boxes with your clothes in my trailer. If we’re lucky, it’ll only take me ten trips to get them all to Winter’s house.”

  “Your sarcasm is duly noted, big brother,” I said as he turned and headed outside with the box.

  “I’ll go help him with that,” Cleo said. “I can manage boxes of clothes.”

  Winter moved behind me, hooking his arm around me, over my chest. I could feel his chuckle in his body as he brought his mouth to my ear. “Tell me what thoughts are running through that mind of yours.”

  I bent my arms up and curled my hands over his forearm while relaxing back against him. There was nothing better than being in his arms with his strong, protective body close. “You don’t miss much, do you?” I murmured.

  “No. It’s my job to know when something is on your mind.”

  I smiled, enjoying this moment between us. “I’m nervous to meet the guys from the club, but I’m looking forward to it.”

  He gripped my shoulder, squeezing it as he bent to deposit a kiss on my neck. “There’s a birthday party at the clubhouse on Saturday night. You good to go to that?”

  “Birdie,” my other brother, Lucas, said as he entered the kitchen, “Mum’s losing her shit over something out the front. She said she needs you and only you.” He lifted his chin at Winter in the way they always greeted each other, with a “Hey man,” and then wandered back out of the kitchen and down the hall.

  Winter let me go. “Go see your mum, Angel. We’ll discuss this later.”

  I turned to face him, stood on my toes, an
d planted a big kiss on his lips. I loved the heat and happiness I saw in his eyes when I ended the kiss. They were things I made sure I brought to his eyes every day. “I love you and am good to go to that birthday party. I’ll grab a present if you tell me what you want to take.”

  He chuckled. “We don’t do presents.”

  “Birdie!” Carey called out from the front of the house. “Can you come talk to Mum? She’s having a meltdown over something.”

  With one last smile at Winter, I spun around to exit the kitchen and go see Mum. I ran smack bang into a hard chest and one of the scariest looking men I’d ever met in my life. My hands flew up to steady myself, and in my haste, I scrunched handfuls of his shirt. “Sorry! Did I just hurt you?” I was sure my sharp nails had dug into his skin when I grabbed his shirt.

  His hard gaze settled on me, flaring my nerves again. Amusement flickered on his face briefly as he shifted his attention from me to Winter and then back to me. “If fingernails to my skin caused me pain, I’d be in a whole lotta trouble, but I appreciate the concern.”

  “King,” Winter said, moving close to me again, making me feel sandwiched between the two. “I didn’t expect you.”

  I thought I recognised his voice. Winter’s club president.

  “I cleared some shit in my schedule.” He paused and looked at me. “We’ve got an issue out the front. One that it seems only you can take care of.”

  I frowned. “Huh?”

  “Your mother is sitting in her car upset over something. We need the car moved so we can back the truck in.”

  “I’m on my way,” I said, moving past him to head outside.

  I had no idea what I’d find out there, but it wasn’t what I did find out there: my mother sitting in her car crying.

  “Mum,” I said softly, opening her door and crouching down next to her. “What’s wrong?”

  Wiping her face, she looked at me. The hurt and disappointment I saw in her eyes made me want to hurt someone for this. Whoever had made her cry was an asshole because my mother was the best woman in the world and didn’t deserve whatever had happened to her. “This,” she said, holding out her phone to me.

  I took it and read the Facebook post she had it open on.

  Oh God.

  My head jerked back up. “This is your Glen?”

  She swallowed hard and nodded as more tears streamed down her cheeks. “I’ve been a crazy woman, stalking him online. He doesn’t know I found his Facebook page. God, I feel like such an idiot. Especially since I slept with him two nights ago.”

  It turned out Glen wasn’t divorced after all. I will kill him. With my own bare hands. After I rip his dick off.

  “Don’t you feel like an idiot! He’s the asshole in this.”

  “I do feel like an idiot, Birdie. I’ve been stalking the man like a teenager. What kind of grown woman does that?”

  I smiled as I reached for her hand. Squeezing it, I said, “All kinds of grown women do stuff like that. When we’re falling in love, of course we do stuff like that.”

  It had been a long time since Mum had fallen for a man like she had Glen. She was going to need me to guide her in this. No way did I want her to think the crazy shit we all did for love wasn’t normal.

  She took a deep breath as she lifted her gaze and looked behind me. “Darling, who are all these men?”

  I glanced around and laid eyes on the Storm men who were standing together talking very seriously about something. Winter and King had joined them, so the group totalled six. Running my eyes over them, I noted a whole heap of muscle and tattoos. And raw male energy.

  “They’re the guys from Winter’s club.” I looked back at her. “They need you to move your car. Do you want me to do it?”

  “No, I’ll do it,” she said before giving me a small smile. “Thank you for not making me feel dumb.”

  “Oh, Mum.” I leaned in and wrapped my arms around her. “You are not dumb. He is. And we’re going to find you a good man who knows how to be honest and how to love a woman right.”

  She started her car. “First, we’re going to get you married.”

  I shook my head at her. She’d been talking about my wedding for days now. “We’re not even engaged yet, Mum. You need to stop talking about it. I don’t want Winter feeling pressured about this.” But God did I want him to propose.

  “Birdie, that man is far from feeling pressured about a wedding. He was born to marry you, and he knows it. If anyone’s going to feel pressured, it’ll be you.”

  I stepped back. “Move the car, Mum. I’m not talking about this anymore.”

  Winter’s arms circled me and his warm breath whispered across my neck as he said, “What aren’t you talking about anymore? Is everything okay with your mum?”

  “Shit,” I said, turning in his embrace, “You need to stop sneaking up on me all the time.”

  A lazy grin settled into place on his lips. “When you tell me I need to stop doing something, Angel, you know I’m going to do the opposite.”

  “Ugh, don’t I freaking know it.”

  His grin eased a little as he asked, “Your mum?”

  “That guy she’s been hung up on for weeks? He’s married. She stalked him and just discovered it on his Facebook page.”

  The grin died on his lips. “Fuck. How far into this was she with him?”

  I took hold of his T-shirt. “You don’t need to involve yourself in this. And neither do Carey or Lucas, so get that thought out of your head now.”

  “What don’t we need to get involved in?” Carey asked as he and Lucas stepped next to Winter.

  I threw up my hands. “Why do all the men in my life feel it necessary to get all up in my business? Can’t a girl keep some shit to herself?”

  Winter smirked. Carey shrugged. Lucas watched me with amusement. Fuck, these three were never going to stop inserting themselves in my business. It was a place they’d always been because they’d always had my back, but God, sometimes a girl just wanted a little space.

  Winter gave Carey the information he was after. “Your mother discovered she was hung up on a married man. I simply wanted to know how fucking long the asshole had been leading her on.”

  I glared at him. “I will kill you later, Winter Morrison.”

  He smirked again. “And I will enjoy the fuck out of it, but you need to start talking, now.”

  “Nah, it’s all good, man,” Carey said, “I know who the asshole is and where he lives. We’ve got this.”

  I turned my glare to my brother. “You need to stop. Mum hasn’t fallen for a man in a very long time. She’s struggling with her feelings over him, and if you three carry on like this, she’s only going to feel worse. Just let her process this herself, and for the love of God, do not take a trip to that man’s house.” I pointed a finger at all three of them. “So help me, if you do, you’ll have me to answer to.”

  Lucas turned serious and nodded. “Okay.” When Carey hit him with a dirty look, he added, “But just this once. If she hooks up with another asshole, all bets are off, and you will let us handle shit our way.”

  I had no chance at winning this argument, so I just shook my head at them in exasperation.

  Cleo cut in on our conversation. “Carey, your trailer is full now.”

  “Okay, great. I’ll take these boxes over to Winter’s.”

  “You wanna eat first,” Cleo asked, “or are you coming back?”

  “I’m coming back, but I’m always up for food,” Carey said with a grin. “Load me up, woman.”

  Carey, Cleo, and Lucas left as one of the Storm guys came our way. “You guys ready to fill the truck?”

  “Yeah,” Winter said, and then motioned between the guy and me with—“Birdie, Nitro.”

  I smiled at Nitro. God, he was tall. “Hi. Thanks for this. I really appreciate your help.”

  His gaze turned intense. “You’re Storm now. This is what we do.”

  With that, he took off towards the truck they’d brought with t
hem.

  You’re Storm now.

  What did that even mean?

  Winter’s hand landed on my ass. Not in the kind of smack he liked to give, but more in the way of saying “let’s get shit done.” When I looked at him, he jerked his chin towards the house. I nodded to indicate I knew what he meant, but as he started to walk that way, I pulled him back.

  Keeping hold of his hand, I said, “What does that mean?”

  Lines creased his forehead. “What?”

  “That I’m Storm now.”

  The same intensity that had shone from Nitro’s eyes blazed from Winter’s. “It means you’re family now, Angel. These guys, the club, they’ve got your back. When one of us needs something, we give it. No questions asked.”

  I stared at him in silence, turning that over in my head. Unsure of it. Probably because so much had already changed in the last couple of weeks that every new change of events had me racing to keep up. In a good way, but still, it was a lot to get my head around.

  I was all for family, but what would that actually mean for me? What would our lives look like?

  Winter moved closer. “It’s a good thing, baby. And you don’t have to figure out what it means right now. We’ve got all the time in the world. Okay?”

  I smiled up at him, taking a deep breath. “Okay.”

  As his arms came around me and he pressed a kiss to my forehead, a sense of peace settled over me. Winter was right; I didn’t have to figure out what everything meant right now. I just had to trust him and us. Trust that we were exactly where we were supposed to be.

  32

  BIRDIE

  I moved off Winter’s bike and smoothed my hair after taking off my helmet, doing everything in my power to ignore my nerves and how they made me feel ill.

  We were outside the Storm MC clubhouse, about to go inside to celebrate the birthday of one of the club member’s. While I’d met some of the guys a few nights ago when they’d helped me move, I hadn’t gotten a lot of time with them because they’d pretty much moved my stuff, eaten some dinner, and then left. So I figured tonight might be when I’d get to know them a little bit. Plus, I’d only met five of them the other night; there was a whole club to meet tonight. It was crazy how nervous I felt about it.