“Easton!” Mom called and rose to her feet.
“Don’t get up, Mama,” I ordered, as she wrapped her arms around me.
“Oh, pish. How are you?”
I gave her a squeeze, then cupped her face. “I’m good. How are you?”
“Good day today.” She smiled. “How long’s it been?”
I knew what she was asking. She wanted to know how long it had been since she’d asked for me. “Three days.”
“Oh, Bubba, I’m so sorry.”
She’d called me ‘Bubba’ since I could remember. She’d always said it was because I was a huge baby and it stuck.
“It’s okay, Mama. We’ve got today.”
“What have I missed?” she asked, leading me to the table she’d been sitting at earlier.
“I met someone,” I said.
“A woman?”
I chuckled. “Pretty sure. Haven’t seen her naked yet, though.”
“I raised a gentleman, so I hope she makes you wait.”
“She’s indicated she plans to do just that.”
“Good,” Mom said, as we took our seats across from each other. “How’s your brother?”
“Do you want to do a video call?”
She clapped her hands. “Yes, please.”
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and texted my brother, letting him know what was up, then orchestrated a phone call. He answered right away, and I handed the phone to my mom. “Hi, honey,” she said, smiling.
“Hey, Mom, how ya doin’?” he asked.
“I miss you, Steely.”
“Miss you too, Mama. I’m thinkin’ of comin’ down next weekend. Sound good?”
“Yeah, baby, I’d love that.”
“You look really good, Mom.”
Mom smiled. “Thanks, honey. I’m having a really good day.”
“That’s great to hear,” he said. “I’m gonna let you finish your visit with Easton, okay?”
“Okay, honey.” She kissed her fingers then lay them on the screen, before handing me back the phone.
“Hey, loser,” I said.
“Hey, dickhead,” he retorted. “I’ll text you when I’m comin’ in.”
I nodded. “Sounds good. See ya.”
We rang off and I focused back on my mom.
“Tell me about this girl.”
I smiled. “Shiloh. She’s a nurse and she’s beautiful.”
“Well, of course she is. I can’t imagine you’d fall for someone ugly.”
I chuckled. “I haven’t fallen for her.”
“No?” Mom challenged. “When did you meet her?”
“Day before yesterday.”
“I know my Bubba,” she said, patting my hand. “You’ve fallen for her.”
“We’ll see.”
“Do you have a picture?”
“No.”
“You haven’t stalked her social media?” she asked.
“Well, yeah, I’ve done that.”
Mom chuckled. “Show me.”
I did a search, but she’d locked down all of her accounts, so it wasn’t easy finding a picture. “Oh, here’s one. Her hair’s different now. Shorter.”
I handed the phone to Mom and she ran her finger over the screen. “She’s beautiful.”
“Yeah, she is. She’s also fuckin’ fierce, Mama.”
“You grab hold and don’t let go, baby, okay?” she rasped, blinking back tears as she handed me the phone.
“Okay.”
“And if I have another good day, please bring her to meet me.”
“It’s soon, Mom. I’m not sure how she’ll feel about it.”
Mom squeezed my hand. “Do it anyway.”
I smiled. “Okay, Mama. I will.”
She nodded, and we spent the next two hours reminiscing until she grew tired, starting to get confused again.
“We should get you to bed,” Jeanie said, wrapping an arm around my mom’s shoulders and smiling gently.
“Is Steele coming?” Mom asked, standing.
“Next week,” I promised, pulling her in for a hug.
“When did you grow the beard?”
“Eight years ago,” I said, kissing her cheek.
“I like it.”
“Thanks, Mama,” I said.
“I’m tired.”
“Go to bed,” I said, trying to keep my emotions in check.
“Okay, Bubba. I’ll see you later.”
Jeanie walked Mom back to her room and I made my way to my bike.
Shiloh
BY SIX THAT night, I figured Otter wasn’t coming by again, so I opened a bottle of wine and poured a glass… just as my phone buzzed.
Otter: Are you home?
Me: You don’t have a camera watching me?
Otter: I’m walking up your stairs.
The doorbell pealed and I made my way to the door, checking the peephole before pulling it open. “Hey.”
“Hey.” He wrapped his arms around me, lifting me off my feet as he buried his face in my neck. “Jesus, you smell good.”
“Are you okay?” I asked, looping my arms around his neck.
He set me on my feet, but kept his arms around me. “I am now.”
“Did things not go well with your mom?”
“They were great. Until she wasn’t.”
I cupped his face. “I’m sorry, Otter. That’s the way it is with Alzheimer’s and it sucks.”
“Yeah. It does.”
“How long did you get?”
“Almost four hours.”
I smiled. “That’s really good.”
“Yeah. It was,” he said.
“She wants to meet you.”
I raised an eyebrow. “You told your mom about me?”
He smiled. “Yeah. Why?”
“Because we just met.”
“So?” he challenged.
“Otter, we need to slow this down.”
“It’s not a marriage proposal, Loh. She’s sick and wants to meet you. No pressure.”
“Wrong,” I countered. “Meeting the parents is huge pressure.”
“Maybe under normal circumstances. But this isn’t normal.”
I stepped away from him. I needed space.
“Babe—”
I raised my hand and effectively cut him off. “Just give me a second to process.”
“I’m thinkin’ that might not be a great idea.” He crossed his arms and watched me.
“Are you always this… ah… intense?”
“No.”
“Then why are you pushing so hard?”
He sighed. “I don’t know.”
I met his eyes. “I think I do, but I still don’t get it.”
“What don’t you get?”
I shook my hands out and started to pace.
“Baby, what the fuck are you doin’?”
“Processing,” I hissed.
“Meow.”
“I’m okay, Sneezles,” I crooned.
“You sure?” Otter challenged.
“I get that your mom is sick, and you want to make every second count, what I don’t get is why me?”
“Why not you?”
I rolled my eyes. “Because I’m ordinary and you’re… well…”
“Well, what?”
I met his eyes. “Extraordinary.”
“There is nothing ordinary about you, Loh.”
“You’re just saying that because you want in my pants.”
“Jesus Christ, woman, what kind of man do you think I am?”
“I have no idea!” I growled. “That’s the point. I know nothing about you.”
“Okay, okay.” He dragged his hands down his face with a sigh. “Let’s take a beat.”
“I’m way too attracted to you for this to work. Crap, why the hell did I just say that out loud?” I squeaked.
He smiled slowly, then closed the distance between us, stalling just out of reach of me. “Come here,” he ordered, holding his hand out.
I took it, letting him pull me agai
nst him. “I’m just as attracted to you, Shiloh.”
“Hmm-mm,” I mumbled.
His hand slid to the back of my neck and squeezed. “You don’t believe a word I’m saying, do you?”
“Have you seen you?”
His lips landed on my forehead and he tipped my head back and smiled. “Have you seen you?”
“Girls like me don’t typically get boys like you.”
“Girls like you?”
“Mouthy. Curvy. Incapable of taking shit off people.”
“My favorite,” he breathed out, kissing me gently.
I gripped his vest. “I’m gonna need you to stop doing that.”
“Yeah?”
I nodded against his chest. “It makes me sweat more than a sinner in church.”
He laughed. “Good to know.”
I patted his chest. “Did you eat?”
“Not since lunch.”
“I made chicken. Do you want me to heat you up some?”
“That’d be great, baby.”
He sat at my island and I nuked the leftovers, sliding the plate toward him. He dug in like it was his last meal on earth and sighed. “Jesus, this is good.”
“You’re easy.”
He chuckled. “It’s good, Loh. Real good.”
“Thanks… Easy.” I grabbed a beer from the fridge and opened it for him, handing him the bottle.
“I could totally get used to this.”
“Well, don’t get too excited,” I warned. “I rarely get to cook, so this is like lightning on a clear day.”
“Baby, you can cook for me anytime. You just let me know and I’ll come runnin’.”
My phone buzzed on the counter and I glanced at the screen, then sighed.
“You okay?” Otter asked, mid-bite.
“It’s my brother.” I left the phone where it lay and ignored it.
“You really gonna ignore it?”
“Yes.”
Otter raised an eyebrow as he continued to eat.
“What?” I challenged. “Every time I answer his call, I get roped into something stupid.”
“Is that really true?”
I shrugged. “Pretty much.”
He scowled. “Don’t like that, Loh.”
I rolled my eyes. “Well, I’m not doing it anymore, so it’s a moot point.”
He opened his mouth to say something else just as my phone buzzed again. I snatched it off the counter and growled, “What?”
“Well, hi to you too, sissy.”
“Beau, I’m not in the mood. What do you need?”
“Wanted to take you out to dinner. You know, make up for the other night.”
“Dinner isn’t going to wipe the slate clean, Beau.”
“Not even the Chart House?”
“Not even the Chart House.” I glanced at Otter. “Unless…”
“Unless, what?”
“I think you should pay for me to take someone else to dinner,” I said.
“Oh, it’s like that, is it?”
“It’s so like that,” I said. “If you want to make it up to me, then I need space from you, and a three-hundred-dollar gift card to dinner.”
“Jesus, Shiloh, I’m not made of money.”
I shrugged. “Okay, then.”
He sighed. “Will it wipe the slate clean?”
“No. But it’ll leave very little chalk.”
“Fine. I’ll drop it by this week.”
“Thank you.”
“You really gonna avoid me?” Beau asked, sounding pathetic.
“Yes. It’ll give you a chance to think about what you’ve done.”
“I’ll let that slide for a week.”
“You do you, boo boo, BoBo,” I retorted. “I’m going to let you go.”
“Okay, sissy. Love you.”
“Love you, too,” I said, and hung up with a grin, leaning on the island. “I’m taking you to dinner.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Yeah?”
I nodded. “The Chart House.”
“I can swing taking you to dinner, baby.”
“Yeah, but it’ll taste better knowing Beau paid for it.”
He chuckled. “You might be right.”
“It’s a date.”
“So, we’re datin’, then?”
I frowned. “Aren’t we?”
“You’re the holdout, baby. But you takin’ me to such a fancy place for dinner means somethin’, so make your decision carefully.”
“It’s not a marriage proposal.”
“Well, if it were, the Chart House is low hangin’ fruit.” He jabbed his fork toward me. “When you propose, I want somethin’ unique. Somethin’ special.”
I blushed even as I rolled my eyes. “You are impossible.”
“I’m high-maintenance, there’s a difference.”
“There really isn’t,” I said.
He laughed. “I’d love to go to dinner with you, baby. You let me know when.”
“Okay.”
He stood and moved around the island sliding his hands around my waist. “You’re gorgeous when you’re discombobulated.”
“I’m not discombobulated,” I lied.
“My mistake.”
“Stop.”
“Stop what?” he challenged.
“Otter.”
He leaned closer. “Yeah, baby?”
“This isn’t working.”
“It isn’t?” he asked, leaning closer still.
“Oh, fuck it,” I growled, looping my hands around his neck and standing on my tiptoes to kiss him.
He smiled against my lips and lifted me onto the counter where he deepened the kiss, making me seriously forget my manners. Breaking the kiss way too soon for my liking, he dropped his forehead to mine.
“You’re makin’ this hard, Loh.”
“Yeah, I noticed.”
He stroked my cheek. “You wanna see it?”
I closed my eyes. “More than you know.” He stepped back and unbuckled his belt, and I jumped off the counter and grabbed his arm. “But, we can’t.”
“You sure?”
“No.” I grimaced. “Sorry.”
He gave me a gentle smile. “It’s okay. We can wait.”
“You know I don’t want to, right?”
“Baby, it’s all on your timetable. I get why you need to wait.” He cupped my face. “No, that’s a lie. But I’m following your lead. Whatever you need.”
“I just need to see that I can trust you.”
“I get it.” He kissed me again, pulling me against his chest and sliding his arms around my waist.
I dropped my cheek to his chest and took a deep breath. “Thanks, Easy.”
He gave me a squeeze and we stood there for several minutes before his phone buzzed in his pocket.
“Sorry, Loh, gotta take this.”
“It’s all good,” I said, pulling away and loading the dishwasher while he answered his phone.
“Hey, Doc.” Otter sighed. “Yeah, brother, give me twenty. Okay.” He slid his phone in his pocket. “Gotta go.”
I nodded. “Okay. I’ll text you about dinner.”
“We’re gonna see each other before our dinner date.”
I bit my lip.
“We’re not gonna see each other before our dinner date?”
I shrugged. “Not sure when. I start a new shift on Tuesday and it’s three twelves.”
“Tomorrow, then.”
“Sneezles has a vet appointment.”
“I’ll come with.”
“Wow, you must be desperate for human interaction if you want to help me take my cat to the vet.”
He grinned. “Maybe I just love your cat.”
“Which is weird. You know that, right?”
“Your cat’s the shit,” he said, for the umpteenth time. “When do you need me here?”
“His appointment’s at eleven. I’m planning on leaving at ten-thirty.”
“I’ll be here before then,” he promised, kissing me and
heading out the door.
I locked up behind him, grabbing my glass of wine and flopping onto the sofa. It was gonna be a Notebook evening.
* * *
Otter
I walked into the barn and headed to the back conference room where I found Doc, Doom, Dash, Badger, and Alamo. All officers of the club, all looking very serious.
“Everything okay?” I asked, closing the door behind me.
Doc chucked a slip of fabric toward me and I caught it midair and glanced at it. It was a patch that read ‘TREASURER.’
I frowned. “Why do I have Badger’s patch?”
“You don’t,” Badger said, uncrossing his arms to reveal a new patch that read ‘ROAD CAPTAIN.’
“What…?”
Doc grinned. “Badge was always a stopgap for treasurer. You know this. He did it until it was time for you to take over. You’re better with numbers, which is why we talked about this three years ago. We want you to move from road captain to treasurer. It’s long past time. You got an issue with that?”
“Did you say you were gonna promote another road captain?”
Doc nodded. “Two others, actually. Rabbit and Mouse.”
I grinned. “Do they know what they’re gettin’ into?”
The group chuckled.
“Not yet,” Doc said.
“Excellent,” I retorted. “Thanks, brothers, your trust in me means everythin’.”
I ripped the Road Captain patch off my cut and handed it to Doc, then we headed out to the great room bar and grabbed a bottle of Patrón. We took our shots, then grabbed beers and flopped onto the sofas in the middle of the room.
“Special family night Saturday,” Doc said. “Celebrate your promotion.”
I raised my beer in a toast. “I’m in. My brother’ll be here.”
“Excellent,” Doc said. “You gonna bring Shy?”
My brothers’ heads whipped my way.
“Who the fuck’s Shy?” Alamo demanded.
“Fuck you,” I snapped good-naturedly to Doc.
My president grinned, sitting back in his seat. “Shiloh is the nurse who helped deliver the twins, she’s also turned our treasurer’s head.”
“Isn’t she also the nurse who delivered Coop?” Doom asked.
Cooper was Rabbit and Parker’s son, and they’d had a hard road getting to happy. A couple of miscarriages made them worry there wouldn’t be children at all, but now she was about ready to give birth to their second child, and Rabbit was walking on air.
“One and the same,” Doc said. “Otter, here, has claimed her.”
My brothers laughed and I shook my head.
Calling the Biker's Bluff (Dogs of Fire MC: Savannah Chapter Book 7) Page 4