My hand clenched around my beer.
“I’ll talk to them,” I said. “Inform them that they’re about to have a new stepmother that’s younger than them.”
They all laughed. “You gonna make her your old lady?” Torren asked cheekily.
I raised the beer to my lips. “Sure am.”
“After you catch Shovel?” Sebastian asked.
“Yeah, on the off chance that he finds out about her, he’ll think she doesn’t mean as much to me since she doesn’t have my name covering her back. Or, at least, that’s my hope,” I said.
“We’ve been looking for him high and low for the last four weeks. You can’t put your life on hold while you attempt to find him,” Kettle said.
Kettle sounded sad for a moment there, and I looked over at him to gauge his words.
Kettle had lost his child when he was deployed and he hadn’t been the same man until he married his woman, Adeline.
Adeline had changed Kettle for the better, giving him a new lease on life in the process.
“I know,” I said. “I just need a few more weeks.”
“Why just a few more weeks?” Trance asked curiously.
I smiled.
“Because I have a plan,” I informed them.
“And does your plan have anything to do with the dog you just bought from me?” Trance continued.
I grinned. “No, that was all for Sawyer. She liked him and hasn’t really stopped talking about getting one of her own someday.”
“Ahh,” Trance said. “Well, I can drop yours off when I drop Cleo’s police academy drop out off tomorrow. It sure is nice knowing he is going to a good home.”
“What do you mean, mine?” Cleo barked.
The group started to laugh at the note of panic on Cleo’s face.
“I’ve already got a dog!”
“Yeah, and according to your wife, you’re about to have one more!”
Chapter 20
If you let me kiss you, I’ll take your breath away.
- Silas to Sawyer
Sawyer
“Wow, this is a big party,” Ruthie said at my side.
I nodded and took her hand, pulling her with me.
Today was the day that one of the club’s members came home from the war.
He was a Navy SEAL and had been deployed in Iraq for nearly a year.
Today would be his first day back, and the club had gone all out trying to show him how excited they were for him to be home.
I’d never met him.
But I’d sent him a care package.
Heck, I’d bought the man underwear.
“Have you been to one of these before?” She whispered, her hand tightening on mine.
“Once,” I told her. “But this one is bigger because of all the other chapters coming in. They’re having it at a warehouse for Christ’s sake. Do you think I’ve been to one of these?”
She laughed. “Dually noted.”
“What my problem is, is that I called that man of mine over an hour ago to tell him I was coming out here, and would be here at exactly this time…so where is he?”
Hard, strong arms wrapped around my waist, and suddenly I was tossed over a shoulder like I was a sack of grain.
“I’m right here, little girl. Right where I said I’d be,” Silas teased, jolting me up and down slightly.
I turned my glare on Ruthie when she started to giggle like a savage, her hand still in my own.
“Shut your face,” I hissed at her.
She snorted. “That didn’t work the first day I met you and definitely doesn’t work now. So try something else.”
I flipped her off after letting go of her hand before Silas started to walk inside the building.
“Where are we?” I asked Silas’ ass.
His large hand smoothed up and down the back of my thigh, getting perilously close to the goods, but stopped just when it started to get interesting and set me down on my feet.
“You’re the one who drove out here,” Silas said dryly.
I waved my hand in the air as if to clear it.
“I mean, I know where we’re located. What I wanted to know was what is this place?” I clarified.
Ruthie stood behind me as we took in the massive space.
“And why is there a boxing ring in the middle of it?” I wondered aloud.
Silas placed me on my feet.
“This is where we usually have our fight nights,” Silas said, taking my hand and leading me through the crowd of people.
Everyone was in varying degrees of dress.
There were, of course, the sluts…or tag-a-long’s as Silas liked to call them. They were the women that hung around the club and hoped to get something…maybe a quick thrill or even just the excitement of partying with a bunch of bikers.
Then there were the people like me, mostly old ladies by the looks of the property patches on their backs. They were wearing jeans and t-shirts, mostly. One or two had a dress on.
Then there were the men…the bikers.
There were bikers here a plenty.
It was a virtual sea of black leather covering the shoulders of men in varying ages and sizes.