by Zoey Parker
Somewhat worried, his eyes met hers. “You okay? You’re real quiet.”
She strained her neck and placed a soft kiss to his lips. “You’re a strict teacher,” she teased, flattening her hand on his chest.
“Well, some students just won’t learn any other way.” He chuckled and pulled her tighter to his chest.
“Maybe Cutter should try this with Cherry.” She couldn’t help but giggle.
His arm stiffened at her joke, and she looked back up at him. A frown covered his brow. “You weren’t entirely wrong. I did treat Cherry more like a whore than a woman. That’s on me. But it was different…I was different then.”
Josephine knew what he was saying, could feel the shift in him as they lay together. Whoever the Lucas was who hooked up with Cherry wasn’t the guy lying in bed with her at that moment, cradling her in his arms.
“Cutter will be good to her, right?”
“Yeah. He will. He’s claimed her.”
Josephine supposed that meant something, but she was getting tired and couldn’t concentrate anymore. She kissed his chest and closed her eyes, letting the sound of his heart carry her off to sleep.
# # #
Lucas walked into the garage ready to start work on a 1955 Cadillac rebuild. He’d been dreaming about this job since Joe let him know they’d taken it in. Taking more work outside bikes was starting to pay off, not only for the extra income, but also giving Lucas the chance to play with more toys.
“Hey, Lucas.” Cutter stepped out from behind the car, closing the trunk with exercised caution. “You ready to get started?” He nodded at the table of tools ready to go.
“Hell yes.” Lucas took his cell from his jeans and tossed it onto the workbench before diving in to get his hands dirty.
They worked almost silently for over an hour before Cutter brought up Josephine. “You know, Cherry felt bad the other night. She was worried she’d gotten your girl in some trouble.”
Lucas stretched his back and grabbed a bottle of water. “Nah, my girl can get herself into plenty on her own. She doesn’t need Cherry to do it for her.” He twisted off the cap and took a swig. “She felt bad about Cherry, though. She was afraid she hurt her feelings.”
“Cherry’s heard worse, but I’ll admit, when she told me what Josephine said, it got my blood pumping.” Cutter gave him a hard look.
“I took care of it.” Lucas waved a hand in the air.
“Not like I would, I bet. You probably fucked her senseless.” Cutter wiped his hands off on a rag before popping open a can of pop.
Lucas laughed. He had done just that but for entirely different reasons. “The other night, Clay showed up at the house.” He checked over his shoulder to be sure they weren’t being overheard. Prospects sometimes got the idea to get a little close when something juicy was being discussed. And the president of a rival club showing up uninvited to a captain’s house was juicy.
“What he want?” Cutter’s eyes darkened.
“Same bullshit he spewed to Joe here. But he wants me to push Joe’s hand, get the votes to go with handing over the routes.”
“We aren’t handing over those fucking routes,” Cutter snapped. “We aren’t going to roll over and play bitch for those fucking pricks.”
Lucas took another drink of his water. “Yeah.” He nodded. “I know it. And I’m not saying I don’t agree, but are we ready to take on the Iron Rebels? I mean, if we don’t do this, they will be down our necks full time.”
“Always the fucking devil’s advocate.” Cutter kicked the rag that fell from the table.
“I’m not saying I’m going that way. I’m just saying, if we don’t do it, we need to be prepared for the fallout. They’ll start going after our shipments. Our runs will become harder to get through town. And what if they start going after our growers or the docs?”
“Then we pound their skulls in.” Cutter shrugged. “I get what you’re saying. We’ll just have to see what Joe is gonna decide tomorrow night. Have you talked with him about this?”
“No. I don’t want to put more on his plate.” Lucas picked up his wrench and ducked back under the hood.
“So, I’m claiming Cherry,” Cutter piped up again a few minutes later.
“I figured. You said something like that the other night.”
“Tomorrow at church, right before I’m doing the introduction,” he continued on.
Lucas looked up from where he was working and arched a brow. “Making her your old lady? That’s a little more than claiming her.”
“It’s right. She needs someone like me, and she’s good, you know, like, a good person.” Cutter wiped his hands again with the rag.
“You don’t have to justify it to me. She is a great girl.”
“You had your dick in her, and that burns me something fierce.” The real issue started to emerge.
“That was way before you took any interest, months ago. You’re gonna get your boxers in a bunch now?”
Cutter looked away then shook his head. “I’ll deal with it. It’s fine. I mean, fuck, more brothers than not had their cocks in her, but that stopped when I took more interest. She’s not going to be anyone’s whore anymore.”
“Well, except yours,” Lucas said with a serious face.
Cutter’s face snapped to Lucas’s and a long, tense moment passed before he cracked a smile. “Fuck yeah, mine.” He tossed the rag onto the workbench and straightened up. “What about Josephine? You gonna make her your old lady, like, official?”
“I don’t know.” He’d been thinking about that. The idea of having Josephine involved in the club, full time like that, didn’t sit well with him. She was an outsider, from a different world than him.
“Thinking citizen wife?” Cutter went back to the car.
“I don’t know.” Lucas said again with a little more irritation. “I have to do something. At least get her to move in with me. She’s got my baby in her belly for fuck sake. She can’t keep living on her own. But, having her here? It’s just…well...”
“I get it. This isn’t the life for everyone, especially no dental hygienist who looks more like the high school librarian than an old lady.”
Lucas had to laugh at the comparison. Cutter wasn’t far off. “I’ll figure it out later. For now, let’s get this shit going.”
“Hey, boys!” Cherry sauntered up to the carport where they were working. Her cutoffs accentuated the roundness of her ass and the narrowness of her waist. The painted-on t-shirt didn’t do anything to cover up her perky breasts either. They simply displayed them more predominantly. Lucas thought for a moment about Josephine wearing something as provocative as what Cherry had on, and he couldn’t help the scowl that took over at the thought. Maybe when they were alone, but in public, her ass would be covered from the wandering eyes of the pricks he surrounded himself with.
“Babe.” From the disapproving gaze of Cutter, Lucas could see he had the same idea about her outfit. “What’d we talk about?” He wagged a finger over her body.
Cherry looked down at her outfit and blushed, a pretty blush Lucas never had the chance to see before. “I’m going shopping today, promise.” She dragged her finger over her chest, making a cross and winking. “That’s why I’m here.” She put her out her hand. “You said you’d go to the bank for me.”
“That’s right.” Cutter pulled out his wallet, counted out the cash, and laid it in her palm, leaning down to kiss her cheek after. “Why don’t you take someone with you? I think Julie is in the clubhouse.”
“Julie?” Cherry’s eyes widened. “That’s okay. I’m sure she’s busy, and I just want to get this done. I have a shift tonight.” She tucked the bills into her back pocket. “Got a job over at the house in back. Just doing the hostess work, nothing upstairs.” Cherry explained to Lucas.
“Yeah, well, I’ll be home at midnight, and I expect your ass to be in bed.” Cutter gave her another kiss, this one more possessive, and slapped her ass.
“Midnight. Go
t it.” She waved her fingers and smiled as she walked away. “Oh!” She snapped her fingers and turned back to Lucas. “How is Josephine? She looked upset when she left the other night.”
“She’s fine. The hormones are getting to her, I think.” Lucas laughed. He took a quick look at his watch. “I think her shift ended at two this afternoon. Why don’t you see if she wants to go with you? She’s going to need some new clothes pretty soon.”
“That’s a great idea.” Cherry pulled out her phone. “What’s her number?”
Lucas recited it to her as she programmed her phone.
“I’ll give her a ring when I get to the car.”
“Not while you’re driving the damn car, Cherry,” Cutter ground out.
“Of course not.” She gave a playful wink and skipped off across the courtyard toward the parking lot.
Lucas couldn’t help but laugh. “I don’t remember her being so bratty before.” He turned back to the car they were working on.
“She wasn’t. She’s getting comfortable. Do you know her father walked out when she was six? Pointed right at her and called her some awful shit, then left. He was probably drunk or high, but she’s been walking around thinking about what he said all these years. I’m telling you, if I see that son of a bitch, I’ll cut his fucking throat. And her mom too, cokehead woman leaving her kid to deal with all that shit. Cherry’s been paying the rent on her mom’s trailer for the past two years. That’s why she’s been here all that time, trying to get in the graces of a member.”
“She wanted to be an old lady so she would have someone taking care of her?” Lucas knew most of the women working at the clubhouse were doing the same thing, looking for a member to pick them up. It wasn’t something he found tasteful, though. He liked the idea of his woman having some independence, able to stand on her own two feet. It made it all the sweeter when he swooped her off them.
Lucas picked up his phone and shot Josephine a text telling her Cherry would be getting a hold of her, and she was to use the credit card he gave her. She hadn’t spent a single penny of his, even though he insisted over and over again to get some clothes, buy stuff for the baby, anything she needed. He loved her independent side, but her stubborn side was starting to chafe.
Chapter 12
Josephine walked through the food court of the mall, Auntie Anne’s pretzel in one hand, a shopping bag in the other. Her mother needed a new nightgown. Between the medications and the chemo, she’d lost more weight, and her old pajamas were hanging off of her. The new one would fit better, and at least give her some shape.
Lucas’s text telling him that Cherry was going to call her caught her as she was getting into the car. She wanted to get some groceries to make dinner for them that evening; he would be coming over after work, whatever work meant. She knew he was working in the garage. He hadn’t stopped talking about that Cadillac he was rebuilding, but he said he wouldn’t be around until eight. As far as she knew, the garage closed at six but she didn’t question. She wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to know the answer to what he would be doing between closing and coming to her place.
Her place. It bothered him that she wouldn’t relent and move in with him, but she wasn’t ready, not yet. It was one thing to date him, to have his baby, but it was something else entirely to live with him and be his…his what? Old Lady? Wife? What would she be?
When Cherry’s text or call never came, she headed to the mall. She’d get her mom the pajamas, then grab her groceries on the way home. She tried not to worry about Cherry; maybe the girl still held a little hurt over what she’d said. Or she still wanted Lucas and having to play friends with his girlfriend chafed. Either way, Josephine had gotten along just fine without close friends for so long, she knew she’d be just fine shopping on her own.
Josephine turned down the corridor, heading to the parking lot, when she spotted Cherry. At first, she raised her hand to call out a greeting but stilled her actions when she recognized the man she was talking to.
Pressed into a shadowed corner of the pillars decorating the entrance to a high-end boutique was the man on the bike at Lucas’s house. She recognized his beard—it was longer in the front, coming off his chin into a clean V shape, where the rest of his face was clean-shaven. She couldn’t hear them and quickly moved to the side to stay out of their sight, but from his narrowed eyes and thinned lips, whatever Cherry was telling him wasn’t making him happy. Why the hell was she talking to him anyway? Didn’t Lucas tell her he was the president of that other bike club?
Cherry threw her hands in the air and stomped off, leaving the angry biker to glare after her retreating form. Josephine watched, tucked behind a “you’re here” map, until she was completely out of sight, then continued on her way to the exit. Her phone started ringing in her purse—Lucas’s ringtone. Fumbling with the zipper and her pretzel, she ended up colliding into a hard object. Dropping her pretzel, she cursed and apologized at the same time.
“It’s okay, darlin’,” a familiar voice responded. She got a better look at the person she’d just run square into. Clay. His skin wrinkled around his eyes as he smiled down at her. No friendly “nice to bump into you” smile but one full of menace. “You’re not hurt, are you?” He took a small step back and let his eyes wander over her, lingering a little longer on her chest than she was comfortable with. She hadn’t changed out of her scrubs yet, but the way he looked at her, she would have thought her clothes had fallen off somewhere along the way.
“I’m fine, thank you.” She snatched her pretzel from the ground and readjusted her purse on her shoulder. “Sorry for bumping into you.”
“No trouble at all.” He inclined his head. “Were you headed out to your car?” He looked over his shoulder at the exit behind him.
She looked at her watch and tried to think of the right thing to do. Call Lucas, that was the right thing to do, but if she did that right there, she’d insult Clay, and he didn’t look like the sort of man she wanted to insult openly.
“Yes. I was.”
“Then let me walk you out.”
“No,” she said with more heat than she intended. “No, thank you, but that’s all right. You don’t need to do that.”
“Of course I do. Wouldn’t want anything to happen to you while you were making your way out to the car. Lucas would have my head if I let anything happen to his old lady.”
“I’m not his old lady.” She took a few steps to the garbage can and tossed the dirty pretzel before starting to walk again to the exit. “I’ll be fine. Thank you, though.” She tried to give a smile and a nod, but he wouldn’t have it.
“Nah, I’ll walk you.” His hand grabbed a hold of her elbow. An outsider would see him as a gentleman, escorting her down the hall. In reality, his fingers bit into her arm. He held her with such a grip that twisting out of it was impossible. How did men learn how to do these things? “Even if you aren’t his old lady, he’ll cut my balls off if something were to happen to you. I mean, sometimes people get hurt. Bad things happen to good people.” He kept his voice low as he opened the glass door, letting a whoosh of fresh air hit them as they walked out. She managed to get to her keys and held them in her free hand, ready to stab him with whatever she could if she needed to.
Her heart hammered in her chest so hard, she could almost see the heartbeat through her shirt. A layer of sweat began to build on her forehead as they made their way toward the cars. “I’m over here.” She pointed toward the aisle where she’d parked. The mall was busier than usual when she had arrived and didn’t get a spot close to the entrance. Her little Audi was parked at the end of the row.
“Which car?” he asked, sounding as casual as anything, completely unaware or uncaring of the panic starting to build inside of her.
“The gray one at the end.”
“Looks a little secluded. You should park closer, where there are more people. Like I said, bad things happen. You could fall or trip.” His hand grew tighter on her arm. “Even to good g
irls who do silly things, like get pregnant with some biker’s baby. I mean, that wasn’t really smart, right? You know how dangerous Lucas’s life is? I’d never take up with a civilian—too dangerous. Especially if he doesn’t make good choices. Because his decisions affect you and that kid inside you. He makes the wrong call, takes a bad step, who knows what might happen to you?”
She kept her eyes focused on her car, willing Lucas to call back. “Here I am.” She tried to pull away from him, but he only walked her around to the driver side door. He took the keys from her closed hand and unlocked the door, opening it for her but not giving the keys back.