“That’s so cute!” I exclaim.
“Got something for you, sweetheart,” Matt states.
Matt
I know our wedding isn’t conventional by society’s standards but I’m a biker and we don’t do all the glitz and glamor as a rule. Seeing how relaxed Mandie is with my brothers, as well as the old ladies, makes me realize that despite my concern over our courthouse marriage, she’s perfectly content. I walk over behind the table and withdraw a box, then hand it over to Mandie. “Go ahead, open it before we cut the cake,” I advise.
I watch as she removes the top and opens the tissue paper inside. Her slight gasp makes me smile; I don’t think she realized that she would get a ‘property of’ cut when she agreed to be mine. “It’s beautiful,” she whispers, her voice reverent as she pulls the cut out, her hands stroking the leather. A vision of her wearing nothing but that while she’s astride me comes to mind and I feel my jeans tighten.
Down, boy. Now’s not the time, dammit!
“Let me help you, sweetheart,” I murmur, taking the cut from her hands. I want to see my name on her, something I never thought would happen in my life. I carefully slide it on and am rewarded when she smiles up at me. I’ve noticed that despite the unconventionality of our relationship, she’s more relaxed these days. “It looks good, Mandie,” I tell her, leaning in to kiss her lips.
“I can’t wait to go riding,” she confesses.
“You’ve ridden before?” I feel jealousy streak through me at the thought of her holding onto another man.
“My grandpa belonged to a riding club when I was a little girl and he used to take me for rides. I was little then, maybe six? But I remember how free I felt, and I imagine that I’ll feel the same way now that I’m all grown up, right?”
I grin down at her, my ire now gone. “Can’t wait to have you on my bike, pretty girl.”
“Alright, alright, can we cut the cake? Some of us pregnant women need that goodness in our bellies!” Corrie calls out. Mandie starts to giggle and I vow that I’ll give her plenty of things to laugh about in our life together.
“Guess that’s our cue, sweetheart,” I tell her. With little fuss, we soon have the cake cut and have fed each other a piece. She doesn’t smash my piece into my face; instead, after I take the proffered bite, she swipes her thumb across my lower lip to catch a crumb. The gentleness behind her touch is oddly erotic and I find myself wishing we were at that point, because I’d love nothing more than to scoop her up and carry her to my room.
“Oh my God, I’ve died and gone to Heaven,” Shayla moans out between bites.
“Think you said that last night too, baby,” Nick asserts, smirking.
She smacks him on the arm while all the adults burst into laughter. Thankfully, the kids are all clueless. I glance over and see Beau, sitting in a high chair, covered from head to toe in frosting. “How does that even happen?” I ask, nudging Mandie and pointing over to him.
“You should’ve seen when Ollie planted the garden! I came home and he was covered in topsoil. She had washed his face and hands to feed him, but he looked like Pigpen and oh my goodness, the tub! It took two baths to get him clean again.”
“We’ve got a hose in the back, it might be easier,” Reese states.
“We could set up the sprinkler for the kids, it’s nice out today,” Corrie adds.
“Yay, sprinklers!” Aria yells, causing JJ and Meli to start hollering.
“I got it,” Porter says, standing. “C’mon, y’all, let’s go play outside.” The kids follow him and I gotta give my brother props because he picks Beau up, high chair and all and carries him out to the back of the clubhouse.
We spend the next several hours watching the kids play, chatting with my brothers and their old ladies. “Mandie, when can you start doing the bookkeeping?” Corrie asks.
“Any time you’re ready for me,” she replies. “I’ve only got my final to take and I’m done.”
“Good. I’ll get the stuff ordered that you need and bring it over so we can get you all set up.”
“Corrie, let’s wait until we get into the new house, that way it doesn’t have to be moved twice,” I advise. “That’ll give me time to get the desks in the room we’re going to use as an office.”
“That works too.”
“Mommy, I is tired,” Aria states, coming up and climbing onto Mandie’s lap.
“It’s been a busy day and we did just get you out of the hospital. Let’s get our stuff together and head home, okay?” Mandie questions.
“You have the next week off,” Juan advises.
“Juan, I need to…”
“No, you don’t, sweetheart,” I tell her. “Aria still isn’t one hundred percent and you need to start packing your place up for when we move.”
“Next week is soon enough for you to come back. Besides, your regular customers will be so happy, they’ll probably throw money at you,” Juan says, laughing.
“So the new girl is having challenges?” Mandie questions.
“Just a few,” Maria says. “With Shona now gone, the new girl, Amalia, has been pulling more shifts. If we could get her to understand that she doesn’t need to flirt with every man who walks into the place, she’d do much better.”
“It’s because she used to work at a strip club,” Olive replies.
“How do you know that?” I ask, my curiosity aroused.
“I asked her the other day. Mama was home with Beau, and I came into the restaurant to help Papa. I saw what she was doing and finally, I asked her. When she told me that, I told her to tone it down because she was pissing off the women and that was why she wasn’t getting many tips.”
“You told her that?” Mandie inquires. “Good. Because she obviously didn’t hear me when I said the same damn thing. If you’re going to be friendly, that’s fine, but don’t ignore the women and focus solely on the men. It’s not right and it’s not appropriate.”
“I may need to rethink her employment,” Juan mumbles.
“Maybe she could go on hostess duty,” Maria suggests. “The increase in her hourly pay would make up the difference in what she would make in tips.”
“Considering she’s not really making any tips, it would be a raise,” Olive asserts, giggling.
With both kids rounded up, I stand there, my arm around Mandie and look at everyone. “Can’t thank y’all enough for today. It means more than you’ll ever know.”
“You’re family,” Reese states. “Both of you, as well as the kids. It’s what family does.” I nod and call Champ over from where he was lounging. He and the other three dogs are worn out thanks to running and playing with the kids all day. He meanders over to us and I give a wave before turning and walking back through the clubhouse.
It’s time to take my family home.
11
Mandie
I know I’m quiet on the ride to the house, but so many things are swirling in my head that I can’t voice them. Matt took his cut off and helped me take mine off before we got into the truck; I need to know why. I’m worried about tonight too. Will we have a typical wedding night? Or was he telling the truth when he said it would happen when it happened? I know I’m attracted to him; the way my body reacts whenever he’s around clued me in to that fact. Plus, with all the time we’ve spent together these past few days, I have found that I genuinely like him. We have a lot of common interests, something that Alistair and I didn’t have, and his insight into so many things has given me new ideas about how to handle stuff.
“Today’s been a good day,” he says, taking my hand in his and lacing our fingers together. I glance down at them, loving how mine seems to fit into his just right. The difference in our skin tones is telling; he’s tanned, and his hands have that rough feel that I equate with a man who works hard, while mine are pale and much, much softer.
“Yeah it has. I still can’t believe we’re married,” I reply.
“I’d say me either, but that would be a lie. I’ve alwa
ys been attracted to you,” he admits. “Just didn’t think it was reciprocated. Otherwise, I would’ve asked you out a long time ago.”
“I’m glad things worked out the way they did because if you had, I probably wouldn’t have been ready and might have said no,” I state. “I’m still concerned that you got the worst part of it all.”
“Not from where I’m sitting.” He glances over at me and grins. “A beautiful woman and two adorable kids, what else could a man ask for?”
I roll my eyes at him and he chuckles. “You didn’t say you had a few screws loose, Matt,” I tease. “I resemble a troll in the morning.”
“Prettiest troll I’ve ever seen then.”
“I have a question though, why did we take our cuts off before we got in the truck?”
“Because we don’t wear them in vehicles, only when we’re not in them or on our bikes.”
I think about it and say, “Is it a respect thing or something?”
“That’s exactly what it is. We can wear our shirts that have our patch on them in vehicles and such, but not our cuts.”
“I don’t want to misstep so if there’s anything else I need to know, please tell me,” I implore.
“You never pat someone wearing their cut on the back without announcing your presence. Basically, treat your cut like it’s our American flag. It doesn’t touch the ground, you don’t wear someone else’s, and whenever we go somewhere on the bike and we’re in another club’s territory, you remove it as a sign of respect toward the dominant club in the area.”
“So many things to learn,” I murmur. “I don’t want to do anything to bring shame to you or the club, Matt.”
“Anything you do is a reflection on me, but I’m not worried and you shouldn’t be either. You’re always kind to others, as well as respectful, Mandie. You’ll be just fine.”
Deciding a subject change is in order, I ask, “When will the house be ready?”
“Mr. Smithers’ daughter has come up and they are currently packing the stuff he wants to keep, as well as dividing up sentimental items. He’s thinking maybe a month.”
“Will you be okay with us staying at the house that long?” I worry my lower lip while I wait for his answer. I know he doesn’t like it simply because of who lived there before, but I suspect it has more to do with the treatment I received at another man’s hand than anything else.
“I’ll be fine, sweetheart. What do you say about us getting the kids out and into a bath. Aria looks ready to drop.” I glance back at my sweet girl and see her slumped in her car seat, her eyes half-closed, Poppy clutched in her arms. Her color is good, though, so I know she didn’t overexert herself. Still, she did just get out of the hospital today, so I know she’s likely wiped out.
“Sounds like a plan,” I reply. I’ll worry about bedtime later.
Matt
I know she’s worrying about later tonight, but I’m not sure how to allay her fears. As we get the kids out of the truck and into the house, I wait outside while Champ does his thing. “Good boy,” I state when he finally runs over to me, tail wagging. “Let’s go see how we can help.” His tail thumps against the door jamb as we walk inside, and I grin. Each night that I’ve been visited by Jackal, Champ has woken me up and the time to go back to sleep has lessened.
Once inside, I make sure the house is locked up, then head in search of my wife.
My wife.
Two words that I never thought would be in my vocabulary. The possibilities are endless and I’m anticipating a time when we’re together intimately. I know I need to tell her about my injuries, but tonight isn’t that time. “Here, let me get him,” I say, taking a sleeping Beau from her arms. Looking down at the little boy who is his mother’s mini-me in male form, I grin. “He sure looks different.” He’s clean, for one thing, but the play at the clubhouse has his cheeks rosy.
“He’ll be back to his normal messy self tomorrow, trust me,” she replies, giggling. I take him into the room that the two kids share and lay him in his crib. Aria is already asleep on her little toddler bed and I grin. Once Beau is settled, I walk over to the little girl and crouch down to tuck her in better. As I lightly run my finger down her cheek, her eyes flutter open.
“I is glad you married us today, Mr. Matt,” her sleepy voice says, causing my heart to lurch.
“So am I, sweetheart. So am I,” I manage to choke out through the lump in my throat. Once I’m sure that both kids are settled, I stand and see Mandie against the wall, tears shimmering in her eyes. Walking over to her, I cup her face in my hands. “You okay, sweetheart?”
“They say that animals and kids are a good judge of character. I think I hit the lottery,” she murmurs, looking up at me.
“So did I,” I reply, leaning in and kissing her. “Why don’t you do whatever it is that you do to get ready for bed? We can wind down a bit and talk.”
“Okay,” she says. I watch her scurry into the master bedroom, then hear drawers opening and closing before the bathroom door closes. Satisfied that all is right in my world for the time being, I head into the kitchen and grab a beer.
12
Mandie
As I go through my nightly routine, I can’t stop looking at my rings. Growing up and seeing the love my parents shared, I dreamed of a time that I would have something like they did. When they died and I went into foster care, I shelved those dreams and focused on my grief. I’m so grateful that I got Mama T because she knew that the broken-hearted teenager who walked through her front door didn’t care about anything. If not for her, I don’t know if I would have done well in school or taken another path. “I’m married, Mama T,” I whisper, stroking my moisturizer over my face. “Can you believe it? Me? You’d love my babies. I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you about Alistair, but if not for him, I wouldn’t have Aria and Beau, so something that ended badly with respect to him had two beautiful results.” The grief that was a constant pain when she first died shortly after I had Aria has lessened, but times like right now, I wish she was still here in the physical sense. I’d like to think she would be proud of how I’ve managed to rise above the shit that Alistair gave me.
Once I’m done, I take a few minutes to give myself a pep talk. I have no clue what’s about to happen when I walk through that door. Finally ready, I open the bedroom door to find Matt already in the bed leaning against the headboard. I see a bottle of water on my nightstand and notice that he’s idly flipping channels with the remote. I start giggling and he looks at me. “What?” he asks, his eyes taking in everything about my appearance.
I point to the remote and he grins. “I think it’s hardwired in every man’s DNA to find and hold a remote,” I reply.
His bark of laughter increases my giggles as I slip into the bed. He’s a big guy and I only have a full-size bed, so as soon as I’m in, I feel surrounded. I glance at him and he smirks at me. “You’re probably right and we definitely need a bigger bed, sweetheart.”
“You think?” I retort. As soon as the words leave my mouth, I cringe. Alistair hated when I talked back. He’s not like that, my brain reminds me.
He slowly turns toward me, his moves cautious. “Mandie, you’ve gotta know, I’ll never raise my hand to you in anger. Ever.” His voice is vehement, nearly angry in tone, but I understand regardless.
“I’m sorry. Old habit,” I mumble, suddenly embarrassed. Matt has never given me a reason to think otherwise, so why now am I reacting in this manner?
“Come here, sweetheart,” he says, opening his arms. I scoot closer, which doesn’t take much, and find myself pulled into his side. I notice he’s got a T-shirt and sleep pants on and worry that he’ll get too hot. His hand strokes my arm and side, and I relax further into his embrace. If we never have anything more, I could be content.
“I’m good, Matt,” I finally say. I hear a thump-thump sound from his side of the bed and glance over to see Champ lying there. “He’s a really beautiful dog.”
“He picked me, believe i
t or not, but I agree. Smart as hell, too,” he replies, kissing my forehead.
“I noticed that when we were at the clubhouse, he was watching you, but he also stayed close to Aria.” Beau, not so much as we kept him somewhat confined to the playpen while the older kids ran around like a herd of elephants.
“Kind of suspect that he picked up on the fact she’s not completely healthy yet,” he states. “I like that because even though he’s a dog, it means we’ve got more eyes on them.”
“I wonder if he’ll keep Beau from getting so dirty,” I muse.
“Considering that the other day at the job site he was rolling around in a mud puddle, I highly doubt it. Guess I better pick up more dog shampoo because I suspect those two will be bathing frequently. Maybe I should put an outdoor shower in at the new place, what do you think?”
He sounds so serious, but I catch his lips tilted up and I can’t stop the laughter that bursts forth. The visuals I have of my little guy and his dog rolling around like pigs in mud soon has tears flowing from my eyes. “They’re going to think it’s a match made in Heaven,” I finally gasp out.
“There won’t be a dull moment, I’m sure.” He slowly slides us down on the bed, so our heads are on the pillows, then turns so we’re face-to-face. “Y’know, since I got hurt and was discharged from the military, not one single woman has elicited any kind of physical reaction.”
My brow wrinkles and I ask, “What do you mean? You’ve been out awhile now, right?”
Matt
Honest to God, I never intended to have this discussion tonight of all nights, yet I want her to know me, all of me. “I went in right out of high school and left my fiancé at home waiting. We had dated through high school and were planning to get married during one of my leaves. Except, I got hurt pretty badly, and the rest of the men in my unit were killed. It took a while for me to get rehabbed enough to come home.” I reach over and grab my water, downing half the bottle before I put it back. This next part is so fucking hard to relive, even now, a decade later. But she needs to get how freaking important she is because no one elicited any kind of response in my body until she came along.
Matt - The Black Tuxedos MC Page 10