Kate (The Dimarco Series Book 5)

by Jennifer Hanks

  “What kind of dog is it?” Pike asked.

  My eyes found his and I felt myself relax. I knew Pike and Bella well from working with them both. Bella being the waitress who’d trained me and Pike heading the security team that works here. I could ignore Luke as long as I continued talking only to this side of the round table. “A golden retriever mix.”

  “You can’t name a boy dog, Cookie.”

  I followed the sound of the voice and focused on one of the brothers, the similarities between all of them so obvious now. Sydney spoke up before I had the chance. “Sorry, Kate, that’s Cam, my boyfriend.” She sent him a nasty glare. “And they can name him whatever they want.”

  Cam grinned. “Cookie, Syd? Really?”

  I laughed, I couldn’t help it because he was right, it was a ridiculous name for a boy dog. “It’s okay. Andy named him that because he loves vanilla wafers and he said the dog is the same color as one.”

  Sydney nodded. “You know what? That puppy was the color of a vanilla wafer, so he chose a good name.”

  Cam shrugged. “I guess it’s better than vanilla or wafer.”

  “Andy?”

  I shifted my gaze to the other side of Cam when I heard Luke’s voice, knowing I’d ignored him long enough. I wasn’t even sure why I was acting the way I was. I guess embarrassment can cause all kinds of behaviors. “Andy’s my son.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “You actually have a kid?”

  I narrowed my eyes. “What does that mean? You didn’t believe me?”

  He snorted. “Not really. You would not believe the things people will say to get out of a ticket.”

  “Wait.” Cam held up his hand. “Get out of a ticket?” His eyes flared. “Is this the woman you were telling me about that ran the stop sign?”

  I closed my eyes when my face burned hot only opening them when Sydney spoke. “Luke! You gave her a ticket over a stop sign?”

  “No, I didn’t give her a ticket.” He eyes moved from Sydney to stare at me. “I gave her a warning.”

  I felt his stare all the way down to my bones, it was that intense. I broke eye contact and turned back towards Bella. “I should get back.”

  Sydney laid her hand on my arm. “Let me at least introduce you to everyone, officially.” When I nodded, she continued by pointing at the opposite side of the table. “That’s Chris, Cam’s twin, and his girlfriend Lucy.” She didn’t have to tell me they were twins, they were completely identical. Lucy smiled and said ‘hello’ while Chris merely lifted his chin, but he was grinning. “You’ve met Cam and Luke, they’re all brothers,” She motioned around the table.

  “Don’t forget about me.”

  I jerked my head around when I heard a deep male voice from behind me and saw a couple more people were moving around us to stand at the table that was way too small for the large group.

  Chris rolled his eyes. “Nobody will ever forget you, Jake.”

  The man slung his arm around a cute blond beside him and grinned. “That’s true.”

  Sydney giggled. “That’s Jake and Lanie. And the one who just put his arm around Lucy, is Ben. Jake and Ben are more brothers.”

  I shook my head, confused. “But I thought you said Lucy was with Chris?”

  Jake grinned. “Lucy gets around.”

  Chris shook his head. “Fuck man, you’ve been begging for a beat-down lately.”

  Lanie rolled her eyes, but it was Lucy who spoke up. “Kate, I’m dating Chris, but Ben and I have been friends for years. He introduced me to his brother at Jax and Kasey’s wedding.”

  “Ben brought Lucy as his date, they were dating.” Jake instigated.

  Lucy only shook her head, still smiling, but Chris spoke up. “They were not dating, they only pretended to be dating.” He turned fully towards Jake. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

  “She wanted to date me, but I thought she was better off with Chris.” Ben added.

  “Kate.” Lucy called out and I looked directly at her, my mind trying desperately to keep up, but there were so many of them. “It’s a long story, but Ben and I never dated and never would. We’ll get together for coffee and I’ll tell you the whole story.”

  “Why do you always say that Luce?” Ben pretended to sound hurt, but even I could tell he was teasing her.

  Chris snorted. “Because you’re a fucking man-whore.”

  “And you weren’t before Luce?” He shot back.

  “Fuck no.” He shoved Ben’s arm off Lucy’s shoulders and replaced it with his own. “Now get your hands off my woman and go find your own.”

  Lucy giggled. “What do you think Kate? Would you like to grab coffee some time?”

  That sounded nice. I hadn’t had a friend in a long time, having lost those in my divorce, but I knew I’d never have time so I decided to stop it before it could start. “I’d like to, but I don’t think I’ll have the time.”

  “Why not?”

  I snapped my head to the left when a loud booming voice spoke.

  “Hey Pop.” Several voices called out, but the man’s attention stayed on me.

  “I thought you were on babysitting duty today.” Luke said, but instead of looking his way, I kept my attention on the man standing beside me.

  “I am, but I decided to come see my boys.”

  “Mom throw you out?” Cam teased.

  He shook his head, frowning. “Damn woman. Said the kids wouldn’t nap because of me and made me leave. Now what’s this I hear about you not having time for coffee?”

  I lifted my eyebrows in surprise. “Umm…” I stammered and breathed a sigh of relief when Pike spoke.

  “Jack,” Pike said and then pointed at me. “This is our new waitress, Kate Miller.”

  Jack threw his hand out, which I took. “Nice to meet you Kate.” He nodded his head towards the table. “I’m the father of all these boys plus a few more and to a beautiful girl, Grace.”

  I shook his hand and released it. “You too…” I paused.

  “Jack.” He filled in. “It’s Jack Dimarco, but just call me Jack, no Mr. Dimarco.”

  “Okay.” I smiled softly.

  “Why are you too busy for my Lucy?”

  I heard the men around the table chuckle and realized he was teasing me, so I smiled wider. “It’s not that I don’t want to, but I have two jobs and a son which doesn’t leave me much spare time.”

  “You have a boy?” Jack smiled. “How old?”

  I thought of Andy and smiled. “He’s six, his name’s Andy.”

  His eyes warmed further. “Six is a fun age with boys, I remember all my boys at that age.”

  “You say that about every age.” Ben said.

  He turned his stare to Ben. “You wait boy, someday you’ll be saying the same thing.”

  Ben just shrugged and Jack brought his attention back to me. “What’s your boy like to do?”

  I smiled wide, I could talk about Andy all day. Myself, now that was a different story. “Right now, he’s really interested in baseball so I signed him up for t-ball.”

  He cocked his head. “When are his games? We can come cheer him on.”

  “Umm…Saturday mornings, but why would you want to come to a t-ball game?” I asked, surprised by his offer.

  “I like watching baseball and none of my grandbabies are old enough to play yet.” He smiled. “Would your family be alright with that?”

  My smile dropped and I thought about lying, but something told me Jack would know that I was. “It’s just me and Andy.” I swallowed hard. “We don’t have any family here.”

  Jack’s eyes held mine and he reached up to lay his hand on my shoulder, squeezing gently. “You do now, darlin’.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  LUKE

  Fuck, he already called her darlin’. When my father does that, it’s pretty clear he likes the woman he’s talking to or about. He’s not usually so quick with the ‘darlin’, but I knew as soon as he started talking to Kate, she’d captivated him. I recogn
ized it because she’d done the same damn thing to me. I also knew by the way he was staring at me now that she’d walked away, claiming she should get back to work, his mind was working something out.

  “Jack that was such a good idea about going to see Andy’s games. I get the feeling Kate could use some friends. I’ve been trying, but she really does work all the time.” Bella spoke up.

  “I agree and let me just say I saw her with Andy and she’s amazing. It was easy to see that she didn’t have the time or energy to take on a puppy, but she did and she did it all for him.” Sydney added.

  Lanie looked up behind her where Jake stood before speaking. “We should have her, Andy and Cookie come to our house to play with Braydon and the puppies.”

  Jake’s face softened when he looked down at her and I felt that damn pang of jealousy. “That’s a good idea, baby.”

  Lanie smiled and nodded at the table. “Maybe we can have a picnic or something.”

  “How about an engagement party?” Sydney suggested.

  Dad’s head turned sharply to look at Jake. “You getting married?”

  Jake’s eyes met my dad’s and he grinned. “We are.”

  Dad’s eyes narrowed. “When did this happen?”

  “’Bout ten minutes ago.” Jake said.

  Dad’s booming laughter filled the room. “Well, alright then. Call your mother or she’ll be pissed she didn’t know.”

  “I’ll call her.” Lanie spoke up. “I want to call my dad anyway.”

  I watched Jake pull her close and kiss her softly. Averting my eyes, I found myself looking across the bar, seeking out Kate, who I found almost immediately. She was moving quickly from table to table taking orders and smiling at everyone. Thinking back, she’d smiled at everyone at this table but me. I guess I pissed her off more than I thought when I pulled her over and that should make me feel bad, but as hard as I try, I cannot feel any regret. Her long dark hair is braided this time and pulled over her shoulder with some loose pieces falling around her face, different from last time, but I imagine it wouldn’t matter how she’d wear her hair, I’d still think she looked beautiful. She’s slim and tall, but her uniform of shorts and a t-shirt hug her body closely, pulling my eyes to her subtle curves. My hands itched to run over those curves and wrap her incredibly long legs around my waist. I wasn’t sure if she felt my stare because she never even glanced in my direction, but I had no idea how she couldn’t. I wasn’t exactly being subtle.

  I took a deep breath and blinked slowly before returning my attention to the table where at least three different conversations were taking place.

  “Seems like she could use a little help.”

  Dad’s voice brought my attention to him and it was obvious he’d been watching me watch Kate. My gaze met his. “I doubt she’d take help.”

  He nodded and glanced across the bar where Kate was setting down drinks on a table containing friends of my brothers from the local Motorcycle Club or MC as they’re known. “Everybody needs help sometimes, son, whether they want it or not.”

  I met his eyes once again and we shared a look before I shifted my attention back to the conversations at our table. He knew better than anyone that I could attest to that. I hadn’t wanted anyone’s help after I’d been shot, assuming I could do it all on my own, but I was proven wrong.

  “Looks like Bear wants to be the one to give her a hand.”

  My head snapped in the direction of the table where Kate was still standing and sure enough Bear, the MC’s president was standing with his arm around her waist. It seemed like he was introducing her to his MC brothers, and I clenched my jaw, hating he was standing anywhere near her let alone touching her.

  I took a sip from the bottle in my hand, unable to stop staring at the scene in front of me. When she smiled at him and moved from the table, I watched as five men all belonging to the Sinners MC, watched her walk away. Bear turned his head towards me and I lifted my chin to acknowledge him, watching a grin cross his face before he shook his head and gave his attention back to his MC brothers.

  “I ever tell you when I met your mom, she had a quite a few men interested in her?”

  Dad’s voice cut through my thoughts and I shifted my attention back to him. “No, you never told me that.”

  He nodded. “It’s true.” His face took on a thoughtful expression. “I told myself to leave her be, made every excuse in the book, but the thought of one of those bastards touching her made my decision for me.” He wrapped his big hand around the back of my neck and squeezed just like he’s done since I was a little boy and leaned in close. “Tell me, how do you feel about one of those boys touching her?”

  I shook my head and grinned. I was a lot like my dad; he already knew the answer to his question. “I figure you already know.”

  “That I do.” He chuckled. “Just wanted to make sure you did.”

  I frowned. “I think I need to give her space, time to settle in.”

  Dad’s gaze shifted to land on Kate talking to my brother Jax who looked as though he’d been walking towards our table but stopped. “I think she needs a friend right now. And family.”

  I couldn’t stop the grin. “You taking in another one?”

  “I’ve told you before, we’re lucky to have what we have in our family. We should share it whenever we can.”

  He has said that. Since we were young, he’s talked about what his family and friends mean to him, never once letting us question what we mean to him at the same time. I took another drink from my bottle. “So, what are you saying?”

  He looked back at me and smiled wide. “I’m saying I’m in the mood to watch some baseball.” He leaned in close again. “Feel like catching a game with me next Saturday?”

  I couldn’t help but laugh when I caught the devilish look in his eye. Subtle he was not. He liked Kate right away and he obviously liked her for me, but even if that didn’t work out I knew my father well enough to know that if Kate let him in her life, she’d have more friends and family than she knew what to do with.

  “I think I do.” I admitted.

  Smirking, I lifted the bottle to my lips once again, and watched her walk back across the bar in those ridiculously short shorts and tight t-shirt.

  I couldn’t wait to see her face when we showed.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  KATE

  Standing at the bar, waiting for Tucker to finish my order, I rubbed my hand across my forehead and sighed. Friday night and I was already tired. Working all week and waitressing on weekends has been exhausting but necessary for Andy and I to get the fresh start we both deserve. Thoughts of Andy bring a smile to my face, like they always do and I wondered for a moment if Jack Dimarco would really show up to watch Andy’s game tomorrow. When I first met him last weekend, I assumed he only offered to be nice, but he surprised me before he left by calling me over to the table and asking what time his games start. I think I answered, but honestly Luke’s eyes had been on me, like they had been the entire party and it was distracting to say the least.

  “There you go Kate.” Tucker yelled over the increasing crowd noise.

  “Thanks Tucker.” I hefted my full tray onto my shoulder and moved through the crowded bar, squashing all thoughts of Luke, heading for the table of eight people who’d ordered five pitchers of beer. I thought I’d heard them wrong, but when I asked them to repeat it, they said five pitchers. I hadn’t realized they were a bachelor party until I went back to the bar and talked to Tucker. He seemed to think they’re hanging out at Hanks before they head to the strip club later.

  Smiling, I slid the tray off my shoulder and started placing the pitchers down along the center. Moving around the table, I handed out glasses, stopping to ask if they wanted me to pour their drinks.

  The one sitting beside where I’d unfortunately chosen to stop, laid his hand on the back of my thigh and smiled. “I think we can do it sweetheart, but why don’t you join us?”

  I smiled to hide the gagging, reminding m
yself to keep my mouth shut. “Can I get you anything else?”

  The man seated on my other side reached out and patted my ass, causing me to frown at him. “Come on, have a drink with us. It’s not that busy in here tonight.” He laid his hand on my hip and squeezed. “Don’t you get a break?”

  I shook my head and moved to the side, forcing his hand to fall. “Sorry, it’s not my break time.”

  His eyes skimmed up and down my body. “We’re not in a hurry. We’ll just wait so we can have a drink when you are on break.”

  I didn’t react to that, just moved away from their table, and headed back towards the bar. I stopped when Bella moved to stand in front of me. “Everything okay?”

  I shrugged. “Yeah, its fine.”

  She leaned to see around me, her eyes settling on the table in the back corner before coming back to mine. “Are they bothering you?”

  “They’re just annoying.” I shrugged. “A bachelor party, you know how they can get.”

  She nodded, but still looked irritated. “Let me know if they get too touchy or say something you don’t like. I’ll have Pike talk to them.”

  She would too, I already knew that about Bella. Her and Pike are tight, closer than I’ve ever seen two people. It has to be from everything they went through together, but I couldn’t help the wave of jealously that I’d never had that type of relationship with Andy’s dad. After watching the Dimarco’s and their extended families with their significant others, I’ve realized what I had with Andy’s dad was a joke.

  I smiled as I moved by her, heading for my tables near the bar. “Thanks Bella.”

  She patted my shoulder. “You got it.”

  I took a few more orders and delivered drinks, my mind drifting to what I would need to do this weekend. Andy has a t-ball game every Saturday, so I had to factor that in with laundry, cutting the grass, and hopefully cleaning up the house. The only saving grace for me is that Andy and I are gone all day, so the house isn’t usually too messy.

  I glanced back at the bachelor party and groaned. Their pitchers were getting low, which meant I was going to have to check in on them. I gave myself a quick pep talk before moving through the growing crowd to stand in front of their table. “How’re you guys doing? Can I get you anything?”