Old Ghosts: Gypsy Riders MC by Honey Palomino Read Free Book Online Page A

center of my chest.
    “Hey,” I echoed.
    “Daddy!” Rosie ran past me and flew into his arms, just like she did every time. They hugged and kissed before he put her down next to him.
    “Please, come in, Mike,” I said, moving over so that they could walk past me into the apartment.
    “Sorry I’m a few minutes late. I got held up. How did the tutoring go?” he asked Rosie.
    “Great! I just need a little more help, and Ms. Daisy said I will be one of the best students in the class!”
    “Is that so? That’s great, baby. Did you thank Ms. Daisy for her help and her time?”
    Rosie looked pensive for a moment, her brow wrinkling slightly as she thought about it.
    “Well, I did thank her for her help, but not for her time, Daddy. I didn’t think about that,” she said, her big eyes turned up to him, before she looked over at me.
    “Thank you for your time, Ms. Daisy!” She ran over and threw her arms around me.
    “Oh, that’s not necessary at all. I didn’t have anything else to do anyway,” I said. I didn’t think about how desperate that sounded until the words had left my mouth.
    Mike looked at me curiously for a moment before he started quizzing me.
    “Well, thank you for your time anyway, Daisy. I noticed you’re new to Rosie’s school. Are you also new in town?”
    “Yes, I…um…yes. I moved here a few months ago,” I said, quietly. I hated when people started asking questions about my past. As far as I was concerned, the less people knew about it, the better. Plus, it was the last thing I wanted to revisit. I would have been happy to erase it all completely if I could.
    “From where?” he asked. He was looking at me with his kind eyes, and as much as I didn’t want to answer, I knew I would answer anything he asked me, as long as he kept looking at me like that.
    “Where? Oh, just a small town in east Texas.” I was hoping he would be happy with my vague answer.
    “Texas, huh?” he asked, breaking my gaze and trailing his eyes up and down my flowery cotton dress and cowboy boots. “That makes sense. So why did you leave?”
    Fuck. This question was going to haunt me for life, just like Todd.
    “Oh, I guess I was just looking for a change,” I would answer him, but I wouldn’t tell him everything. I had just met him, for god’s sake, and plus, Rosie was standing right there hanging on our every word.
    “I see,” he said, knowingly. It was then that I felt for the first time that this man could see right through me. I looked at him, and the kind, knowing look in his eyes told me that whatever it was, he understood. That he wouldn’t press. That he wouldn’t make me talk about anything I didn’t want to.
    Instead, he changed the subject, and began looking around the apartment. I watched him as he wandered out to the balcony after calling over his shoulder to Rosie.
    “Rosie, why don’t you get your things together and we’ll get going, okay, honey?”
    “Sure, Daddy,” she obeyed, running down the hallway to my tiny office we had been working in earlier.
    Mike leaned over the railing on my balcony, looking down at the garden in the courtyard below. I took this time to memorize him again, collecting images that would run endlessly through my mind later.
    His hair flowed to his shoulders, and once again, I had the intense urge to bury my face in it. His shoulders were wide and strong, his leather cut stretched across it, the patches on the back dirty and worn. His jeans fit him perfectly, outlining his muscular ass and thighs.
    I bet he’s such a powerful lover.
    I reminded myself I shouldn’t have thoughts like that, as I looked as his huge, bulging, tattooed biceps leading down to his ripped forearms and huge hands.
    His hands are so big, I’d bet my last dollar the rest of him is.
    I smiled when I noticed the way his hair blew in the breeze, the sunlight shining through it.
    I bet he’s an amazing kisser. With lips like that, how could he not be?
    He looked back over his