“So, you worked in daycare?” Izzy Lowman looked over to where Madison sat, eyeing the woman up and down. Not in an arrogant way, more out of curiosity and Madison didn't mind.

So far Izzy seemed pretty nice and the brunette was sure she would get along with the younger Lowman. They had met at a cafe while Happy kept an eye on his nephew on the playground next to it so the two women could talk.

“Yeah, I started right after Highschool. I worked there for almost eight years so, I think I know how to take care of a child”, Madison smiled at the other brunette who just hummed softly and nodded to herself.

“That sounds amazing honestly”, Izzy told the younger woman, seriously impressed that such a young person has been working for so many years without complaining. “Well, I'd need you three times a week but I think Happy told you that already.”

“He did”, Madison nodded briefly after taking a sip of her iced coffee. The brunette actually hated coffee, yet iced coffee was something she could drink all day. “Is there anything about Rico I need to know? Diseases, allergies?”

“No, nothing. He can eat and drink anything and he has no diseases. He's one happy kind and knows how to behave⸺ well, most of the time at least”, Izzy smirked slightly, which brightened up her face a bit. Like Happy, she also looked quite intimidating when she wasn't smiling, probably a family thing.

She was here a week now and had spent quite a bit of time with the heavily tattooed biker and now it wasn't just his looks that appealed to her, but his personality as well. He was a quiet person and didn't talk much, but when he spoke he was honest and polite towards her, even cracking a joke when she needed to be cheered up. There were no stupid pick-up lines as she was used to, instead they had profound conversations. Once they even talked about one of her favorite books after he caught her reading it again at the clubhouse.

Just like his sister, he looked reserved, cold and scary even.  But once they started talking to you they were really nice.

“I'm sure he is. He's such a cutie”, the brunette chuckled softly. She had no doubt that Rico was well behaved. Although she had only seen the boy twice so far, she had already spent a few hours with Happy and him in the clubhouse once and could tell that the toddler was a sweetheart.

“When do you want me to start?” Her eyes were back on Izzy after she glanced at the playground across the street for a moment.

“What about next Monday? That's when I have to go back to work”, Izzy asked with a small smile. “We haven't talked about your salary yet. I can't pay you more than eighty dollars a night. If that's not enough for you, I understand that. But of course you can help yourself with all our things. Since you come before dinner, you can eat with Rico. I don't want you to watch him eat while you sit there hungry.”

Madison looked at Izzy, noticing how embarrassed the woman was that she couldn't pay more. But that was fine with the brunette, after all she still had the job in the office. She also saw how desperately Izzy was looking for a decent babysitter for her son and Madison couldn't and didn't want to turn her down.

“That's fine, don't worry”, Madison assured her with a sincere smile. “I'll start on Monday then.”

“Oh thank you so much!” The relief in Izzy's voice was strong, which made the brunette smile even more. And with two jobs Madison would be distracted enough from all the other shit in her life.

⸺

After Madison got off his bike, Happy dismounted his bike and took the helmet she handed him, which he hung over the handle of his bike. He curtly studied the brunette, taking in what he was seeing. Again she looked fucking hot in her tight skinny jeans with only a simple crop top that showed a lot of her skin. After removing her leather jacket, she revealed even more of her tanned skin and Happy couldn't help but imagine how it would feel to touch her body, to run his hands all over it. The killer also wondered what it would be like to bury his hand in her hair, which today was straightened and ended just above her tailbone, and give it a sharp tug. Part of him wanted to find out what she would sound like under him Just thinking about it made his pants tighten.

But it wasn't just her looks that got his attention. Her personality attracted him as well. She was polite, had enough respect for the club, which was the most important thing for Happy anyway. But she was also strong-willed and worked for what she wanted. Also, she was kind and every time he saw her smile, his stomach did flips⸺ which he absolutely didn't want to admit that a woman could have such an effect on him. It's never been more than a quick fuck.

“Thanks for the ride!” And she did it again, giving him that pretty smile.

Grunting, he nodded briefly. “No problem. How did things with Izzy go? I heard you got the job.”

“I did and I can't wait to start next week, I'm sure Rico and I will have lots of fun”, she replied with excitement in her tone while they walked inside the clubhouse where they were greeted by Chibs and Bobby, the others weren't around yet.

“By the way, your sister is super nice. I could tell she felt bad for only paying me eighty dollars a night but it's honestly enough”, she added with a hum and took a seat at the bar.

Happy told the prospect to bring her a coke and him a beer before he sat down next to her. “Izzy is someone who makes sure that others are doing well and usually worries way too much. She's probably afraid you'll think she doesn't appreciate your work enough.”

“I see, she's an overthinker”, Madison stated matter of factly, earning a nod from Happy in response.

“She is, always had been. But she likes you, otherwise she wouldn't have given you the job”, he told her, then he took a sip of his beer that the prospect had put down in front of him.

“Well, I hope so”, the brunette muttered with a faint smile. “I'd love to make some friends here. I mean, I have lots of people around me but I just want a real friend and your sister seems pretty cool.”

If any woman would share this information with him he simply wouldn't care, but he really hoped Madison would find what she was looking for and a really good friend could never hurt. Besides, after her divorce his sister had no one left but Rico, him and their Ma. It would do Izzy some good, too.

“Maybe you'll find a friend in each other, who knows”, he said with a slight shrug and furrowed his brows. “Any news about the apartment you were looking at the day before yesterday?”

“Uh, yeah, the landlord chose the young couple”, she shared with Happy, sighing and scratching her forehead. “But I'm not surprised, both of them had a secure income. But I won't  give up.”

And there it was again⸺ her fighting spirit, which he was really starting to like. She didn't give up and that's exactly what impressed him. And in California you had to be patient when it came to finding a place to live that was also affordable.

“There's a free apartment across the street from my house. If you want I can contact the landlord and arrange something for you.” His dark eyes met her beautiful green ones, a delighted gleam in them at his suggestion.

“You would do that? That would be amazing!” And even if she would get turned down again, she had at least tried. Besides, living next to Happy wasn't so bad, not at all. She knew by now that he stayed at the clubhouse most of his time, yet she would like to live close to him.

“Why not? I'll let you know when I arranged something”, he rasped with the slightest smile, which soon faded away. Why did he feel the need to have her close to him? He wasn't usually interested in that sort of thing. And since she was Samcro Royalty, he couldn't just use her to his satisfaction.

With a grateful smile on her face she looked at him as silence fell over them. And for the first time she really looked into his eyes for longer than usual and to her amazement he didn't look away but stared right back. His gaze was so intense and piercing, and yet there was something calm in his eyes.

Happy's body tensed under his clothes as he looked at her for so long. But it was also impossible to look away, she was far too pretty for that. Only when her phone got off and the brunette flinched did he manage to break the eye contact. As long as she had, no one had managed to look him in the eye without giving in. Which he found impressive.

He let her talk on the phone, even if the conversation sounded anything but calm and peaceful. Madison seemed angry, or rather disappointed? Maybe a mixture of both. What he had also noticed, however, was that every time someone called her, which was really just Gemma, Jax or her brother from Albuquerque, she winced.

“You want to talk about it?”, he asked after she hung up and tossed her phone back into her bag, which was placed on the bar chair next to her.

“Just my parents”, she snorted softly, running her hands through her straight hair, which was still a bit knotted from the ride. “They didn't even realize I wasn't in Albuquerque anymore.”

“Seriously?” Happy raised an eyebrow. How the fuck was it possible not to notice when your own child left town?

“Yeah, seriously”, the brunette confirmed with a sigh, clutching her glass. “I didn't tell them anything because I knew they would just tell me how disappointed they were. That call right now was my dad's first call since I've been here.”

“What did he want?”, Happy inquired with a frown.

“Invite me to dinner for my birthday.” Her features hardened as she sagged her shoulders. “It's the only time in the year that he wants to do something with me. But I'm staying here.”

“It's your birthday?”, Happy's head snapped in her direction, wondering why she hasn't said anything.

“No”, the brunette let out a soft chuckle. “It's on Friday but please don't tell anyone. I don't want a big party.”

“Your mom is Gemma Teller, you're going to have a party⸺ whether you like it or not”, the killer winked, taking another sip of his beer before looking at her again. “You wanna tell your parents that you live here now?”

“Oh great, so let's celebrate that I'm getting older. How great”, she said, a good dose of sarcasm lingering in her tone with a smirk on her face. Then she cleared her throat and shook her head. “No, I'll wait until they find out for themselves that I'm gone.”

Even though feelings weren't his thing, he really felt sorry for Madison right now. Her parents really must be idiots if they didn't appreciate having such a responsible, amazing daughter.

“You're turning twenty-six, not a hundred, little girl”, he grinned slightly before his features hardened as well. “Don't let your parents bring you down. You have a family here that appreciates you.”

“But that's close to a hundred”, she joked, a soft laugh escaped her throat, which closed up shortly afterwards⸺ as it always did when she talked about her parents. “I know and for that I'm grateful. And yet it annoys me that they haven't even noticed that I'm gone.”

“But whatever, I don't want to talk about them today”, she added shortly afterwards and emptied her glass. “I'll see if I can help Gemma. Thanks again for everything Happy.”

“No problem”, he grumbled and tensed again when she planted a kiss on his cheek before she walked outside, earning him a grin from Chibs and Bobby, who had been watching from the other table.