Epilogue
A few days later, Liam and Denise sat on the sun porch of what she’d finally started to call their house. It was late, almost midnight, and the kids had finally gone to bed. This had become their favorite time of day. Late at night after everything had settled down, they’d taken to coming out on the porch and discussing their day. Sometimes it was just a discussion, sometimes it led to more. Whatever it ended up being, Denise loved it no matter what.
“Anything interesting happen today?” he asked, pulling her close to his chest, relishing the way her head fit under his chin.
“Your Mom called. She said they have a job opening at the courthouse in the same department she’s in.”
It hadn’t been a bad idea when Lauren pitched it to her, but Denise had been unsure of how Liam would take it. She still wasn’t very sure what her role in his life was besides companion.
“The courthouse, huh? With my Mom? What do you think about that?”
“I dunno,” she shrugged. “My first thought was maybe I could help the club. Ya know? There’s a lot of things I can find out in that office,” she laughed.
“You so deserve what I’m about to give you,” he laughed along with her. That was the hallmark of a good woman in his circle. Always thinking about what she could do to help the club.
“A good hard f*cking?” she asked cheekily.
“And such a dirty mouth on you too? What happened to the meek woman you were when I first met you?”
“You brought out her wild side,” she whispered, running her tongue along his jawline.
“I’m glad, but sit tight right here for just a second.”
He got up from where they sat and made his way into the house. She twirled her thumbs, wondering exactly what he was doing. Listening carefully, she heard him open the closet door in the hallway where the jackets were kept. It was a warm night, she wasn’t sure why he would need a jacket.
“Close your eyes,” he called as he made his way back out onto the porch. His voice was pitched high, obviously excited to show her what he had brought her.
She did as he asked and sat, waiting for whatever it was he was going to give her. For some reason her heart beat wildly against her chest. Nobody had ever given her anything before. He sat something gently beside her, and then the couch dipped as he sat on the other side.
“Open ‘em up!”
It took a moment for her eyes to re-adjust to the darkness. When she saw a pink box, wrapped in a bow, her hand flew to her mouth. “What’d you do?” she asked, suspicion in her eyes.
“Guess you’ll have to open it to find out won’t you?”
Not wanting to admit that she’d never had a gift from another man before, she took her time. She savored opening the bow and then the paper. She could see the excitement in his eyes, and it made her want to just tear into it. He held his hands in his lap, almost like he was trying to keep himself from tearing it open for her. As she took the lid off the box, the musky smell of leather hit her nostrils, and she inhaled deeply.
“Seriously?” she asked as she moved back the tissue paper.
“Just wait until you see it,” his grin was contagious and she knew she wore one that matched.
She gasped as she finally pulled all the paper back, revealing a bunch of black leather. She wasn’t sure if it was a jacket or chaps or what, but her hands shook as ran her fingers over the smooth material.
“Pick it up and get a good look at it,” he instructed her.
What she thought was a leather jacket was actually a cut. It had her name stitched into it and below it sat a property patch. She sat it down on her thigh and ran her hand over the patch, trying to hide how much it shook.
Property of William Walker Jr. “Liam”
“Wow,” she whispered as she turned it around. The cut had its own colors and patches. It almost made her look like a full-fledged member.
“I also got you some leather chaps to wear. I’m hoping maybe you’ll wear nothing but those one night,” he teased, popping his eyebrows up and down.
That little shot of humor was needed. A property patch – from what she had seen – was a big deal, but she still needed him to explain to her exactly what he wanted.
“We’ll see,” she grinned at him. “So what does this mean?” she asked, holding the cut up.
“That you’re mine, and no one’s ever going to take you away from me. It means when the time is right I’ll get you a ring, and we’ll make it official in front of God and everybody. How does that sound?”
“Sounds amazing,” she breathed deeply, finally content with the direction her life was taking.
Wordlessly he opened his arms to her, and she went into them, settling back against his chest. She could feel the steady beat of his heart, the warmth of his body, and she could feel his hands as they stroked her body. It was the quiet moments like this that she loved the most. The wild man who had turned her on to her own wild side. The man who had accepted her kids as his own and the man who had completely changed her life.
“I’m really lucky that Sharon asked you to work for her,” he whispered softly in her ear. Their lives could have gone so much differently had she not answered that call or refused to help out a friend.
She giggled softly. “You don’t know how happy I am that I answered that phone call because I almost didn’t. I thought it was a bill collector and came pretty damn close to rejecting it, but something told me not to. It was obviously meant to be.”
The End