Joke

by Mia Malone

  “Yeah,” I sighed and leaned back.

  Then my phone buzzed, and I glanced down on it.

  “We’ve closed. Cady’s upstairs. Walk in through the kitchen.”

  “Um,” I said, yawned as realistically as I could, and smiled at Lee. “I’m getting tired, so I’ll…”

  “We’re heading home too,” Paddy said with a small grin. “We’ll drop you off.”

  ***

  Joke

  He sat in the darkest corner of the bar when she walked in.

  “Here,” he murmured when she stopped in the door to the kitchen.

  All the lights were off, and the place was quiet. The streetlights outside the windows shifted the darkness just enough into gray so she’d make her way to him. He’d brought his cock out when he heard her open the back door and was moving his hand lazily over it.

  “Take off your panties,” he murmured.

  She’d pulled a loose, short sundress over her head before going over to spend time with her friends, and it moved around her legs when she did what she was told.

  “Come here,” he said, raised his hips and pushed his pants and briefs down.

  She leaned forward and pulled his tee off, and he put his hands on her ass to pull her closer.

  “Spread your legs. On my lap.”

  He heard her breaths become heavier. Then she was straddling him, and he moved the dress away, pushed her bra down and took a nipple in his mouth.

  “Oh, God,” she breathed out.

  His cock was hard between them, and he shifted so he could grind her pussy against it.

  “Love your fucking fantastic ass,” he murmured and slid his hands down to caress her.

  Then he moved her against him, lifting her up slightly and pushing her down slowly as they kissed. She pulled the tie out of his hair and let her hands slide through it.

  “Love you,” she murmured against his lips.

  He immediately lifted her higher, moved a hand to position himself and slid her down on his cock.

  “Yeah,” he grunted and kept grinding her against him.

  “God, Zacharias,” she moaned. “Please.”

  “We’re not in a hurry,” he murmured. “Just relax and let me do all the work.”

  She nipped his earlobe and murmured a soft, “Okay.”

  He took his time, moving them slowly until she pushed out a soft whimper.

  “That’s right, baby. Love that sound.”

  He stood up and turned them around, placing her on the table in front of them, and thanking the Lord he’d replaced all the furniture a few years earlier with pieces that would be sturdy enough. Then he started pounding into her. She came with a low wail, and he’d planned to keep them going for a whole lot longer, but that sound grabbed hold of him, and the way she spasmed around him made it impossible to hold back.

  “Fuck,” he grunted. “Love you.”

  Then he leaned down to let his outdrawn growl slide down her throat as she kept coming and he poured himself into her.

  He helped her find her panties in the darkness, and carried her upstairs, into his bed. Their bed. Then they settled into how they usually slept, him on his back and her tucked into his side, and Sissy fell asleep immediately. He knew he’d wake up with her sprawled all over him, and smiled as he slid into sleep. She’d said she wasn’t a cuddler, and maybe she hadn’t been. She was one with him, though.

  ***

  Cady

  Cady Parker stood in a bar in a small town in the Rockies and watched the man she’d seen carrying her mother up the stairs a few days earlier.

  Joke Tucker.

  She hadn’t wanted to like him, mostly because she didn’t understand how her mother could move on to him after being married to her dad. It wasn’t that her dad was perfect, or that anything was wrong with Joke. The men were just so different, and she didn’t get it, not until he made her work with him. They’d suddenly spent time together, and she also got to see how he was with everyone around him. He was kind, strong and took absolutely no shit from anyone. She got it then because except for the horrible stalker, her mom didn’t take shit from anyone either, and she was also kind and strong.

  Cady wondered if they’d both been like that always or if they’d learned to be that way. She hoped it was something they’d grown into because she didn’t feel very strong herself.

  Things had changed a lot in the past year. She wasn’t sure she was ready for more changes, and leaving home felt like such a huge step. Life had become scary which made her behave like an idiot. She’d fought with Mimi already before they came to Wilhelmine, but when her baby-sis had started following Joke around like a happy puppy, she’d been even worse toward her. She mostly ignored her mother, which was a shitty thing to do too.

  Cady knew all of this, and it didn’t seem to help that she woke up every day vowing to get herself together.

  Then Joke stepped in, and things changed again but for the better this time. It wasn’t that he’d said she was a grownup. It was that he treated her like one. She was so going to brag to her friends about where she’d worked that summer, even if it was just for a short while. She’d brag about when a very nice-looking man had asked for her phone number too, mostly because Joke had moved around the bar so fast it had been a blur. The man ended up in a corner and getting a stern talking to according to Tug, the ugly but at the same time sweet looking older man also working at Oak.

  “Thinking about getting up there?” Joke asked, and Cady jolted out of her thoughts.

  They had a karaoke night. A bona fide karaoke night in a biker bar in a nothing town in the Rockies. Her friends’ trips to all-inclusive resorts in Mexico or the Caribbean suddenly seemed pretty lame in comparison.

  Mimi would be bragging too because she had been allowed to spend a few hours at Oak that night. Their mom had made that happen, and it had not been easy because Joke had not liked it. He’d grunted something about having to sell booze and not having the time to watch over more than one girl at the time. Then he’d dropped a few f-bombs and glared at her mom who had glared back, but she’d done it with lips that were twitching and laughter in her eyes. Mimi had put her hand on Joke’s arm and whispered a soft, “Please,” and Cady knew immediately that yeah. Her sister would totally be at the bar that night because Joke Tucker might not take shit from anyone, but he was such a softie when it came to Mimi. A few f-bombs later, Mimi had finally been allowed to come on the condition that she stayed within five feet of wherever Joke was, which she apparently ignored because she was talking to Day across the bar.

  “Later,” Cady said and wondered if she’d find the courage.

  She could sing. Mimi was the one looking like their mom and grandma, but Cady was the one who got their voice so she could sing and really well too.

  “We’ll do it together,” Joke said and moved away to help a couple of ladies select a song on the machine.

  They’d do it together? Joke would sing? Visions of herself next to Joke, belting out Highway to hell swam in front of her eyes, and she shuddered. Then he grinned at the women who were about to enter the stage, and oh, God. He was old. And he lived in a small town. He wore flannel shirts.

  He’d make her sing Achy Breaky Heart.

  The two women started singing, and she heard cheers as they wiggled and danced while they did a slightly off-key version of Nine to Five. Yeah, she thought. Achy Breaky Heart. Or Ol’ Red.

  She actually liked country music, so if they’d do something that hadn’t been performed for the first time before she was born, it wouldn’t be too bad, but she knew she anyway wouldn’t have the guts to get up on the make-shift stage. That made her both angry and sad, so she turned and snuck out through the kitchen.

  The night was quiet, and she sat there watching the stars.

  “What’s wrong, Cady?”

  Joke’s deep voice didn’t surprise her. She’d heard the steps and since it wasn’t her mom’s she’d guessed who was approaching.

  “No
thing,” she murmured, decided that it had been a coward’s deflection and added, “I won’t sing.”

  “Okay.”

  “We’re leaving in a week.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Dad’s taking us to Philadelphia for a week when we get back.”

  “You’ll enjoy that. Good to see the place before you move there.”

  God. Why were they sitting there talking about stupid Philly? Why didn’t he ask her what she thought about college? Why –

  “I’m a little scared,” she heard herself confess and turned away, blinking furiously.

  She was such a moron.

  “My dad is an asshole,” Joke said, and Cady turned slowly to look at him. “He used his hands, belt, whatever he had available on me until I was fourteen and strong enough to make him stop. He’s done other shit. Said shit. Mom lets him. Jenny got some, but I took most of it.”

  “Joke…”

  “Started working here when I was your age, just to make enough money to move out, but then the owner wanted to sell. There were a couple of douchebags who were interested in taking over, and I did not want to work for them. My grandma owned the diner. It’s Jenny’s now, but it was Carrie’s back then, and she got a mortgage on it. Bought Oak for me.” He laughed silently, but it sounded mostly like a sigh. “Just fucking bought this place and gave it to me. Said Jenny would get the diner, and I would get Oak.”

  He put a strong hand on her shoulder and squeezed until she looked at him.

  “I sat inside.” He tilted his head toward the bar. “Last night the old owner was there. Everyone had left, and the place was dark. I sat there for hours, scared out of my mind, wondering how the hell I would make it. I wasn’t old enough. Not experienced enough. Not strong enough. And then Grandma walked in.” He snorted and shook his head a little. “Middle of the goddamned night and no lights on. How she knew I was there, I have no clue, but she did. Looked at me and told me that all I had to do was take one step at the time. I’d do fine, she said. Just keep walking because not walking meant you were dead and I wasn’t. So I did.”

  Their eyes held through the night and his face softened.

  “I was twenty. Less than a year older than you, Cady.”

  “Oh, God,” Cady whispered. “Twenty?”

  “Kept walking since then. You’ll do it too, one step at the time, sweetheart.”

  “Okay,” Cady said, suddenly not so godawfully frightened anymore.

  He’d somehow known, and his words had cut right through that huge, scary future, making it something she could handle. Would handle, one step at the time.

  “One more thing,” Joke said. “Fell right in fucking love with your sister. At first, it was because she looks like Sissy. Then because she’s Mimi. Took me a bit longer with you. Didn’t see it at first.” He grinned at her and leaned closer. “Mimi got the outside, but Cady, you got the inside. That core of steel. The focus. Sharp fucking eyes that see way too much. So yeah. Took a bit longer but I see it.”

  Cady blinked and swallowed.

  “I don’t know what to say,” she confessed.

  “Nothing to say. Just thought you should know.”

  “I’ve never met someone like you before.”

  “That’s what your mother says too,” Joke said, and moved to get up. “And since you’re like your mother, we’re gonna go and sing a song you and I.”

  “What?” Cady squealed when he pulled her to her feet.

  “Heard you in the shower, Cady. Great voice, just like Siss.” He shuffled her in front of him, and said calmly, “You get to pick the song, darlin’.”

  Could she do it?

  Hell, yes, she decided. Core of steel Joke had said, and she wasn’t sure he was right about that, but she’d get up on that stage and sing a goddamned song.

  I was a good first step to take, and she knew exactly what song she’d pick.

  ***

  Sissy

  I saw Cady walk outside and was going to go and see what was wrong when I saw Joke follow her. I worried but told myself that running out there like a mother hen would be stupid. They were gone for a while, and when they came back, they moved right up to the karaoke machine. Cady punched the buttons and then Joke straightened.

  “Ah, fuck,” he groaned. “Cady…”

  “It has to be this one,” Cady said, and added with a smirk, “You said I could pick the song.”

  Joke suddenly started laughing and moved them to the microphones.

  “Listen up everyone,” he called out. “I’m gonna make an ass out of myself in a few seconds. Anyone laughing will be thrown out.”

  I stared at him, and then at Cady. Were they going to sing?

  “You can laugh all you want, but it has to be this song,” Cady leaned in to say. “My sister and my mother and I always sang it in the car when we were going up the mountain to my grandparents. And since I have the best mother and sister in the whole world, it has to be this song.”

  I stared at her. Would they really sing –

  The music started, and there was a stunned silence. Cady looked pale and had taken a small step back, so it was Joke who picked up the first few lines. I’d never heard him sing before and felt my mouth drop open. His voice was deep and a bit hoarse with laughter, but perfectly pitched and it rumbled through me in a way that made me shudder.

  Then loud cheers echoed through the room, and yes, people were laughing, and I was too. With tears running down my cheeks and a huge smile on my face, I watched the man I loved and my oldest daughter belt out the chorus to the Piña Colada song.

  Bikers and locals in Wilhelmine apparently knew the lyrics to the old and cheesy song I’d sang so many times with my daughters. When the song ended, everyone had been singing along, and Mimi ran straight up to Joke.

  “I wanna sing too!” she squealed. “Can I sing too?”

  “Mimi,” Joke sighed and exchanged a glance with Cady. “You know I fucking adore you, but I’m gonna have to say a very firm no to that.”

  Mimi’s eyes grew wide, but before she could start pouting, Cady pushed her toward the bar.

  “Come on,” she said. “I’ll teach you how to use the soda gun instead.”

  “No going near the beer taps,” Joke said.

  “Am I stupid?” Cady shot back with a wide grin and nudged her sister again.

  I started laughing and walked up to Joke.

  “Didn’t think you could say no to Mimi,” I murmured.

  “She can’t sing worth shit,” he murmured into my ear. “You can though, so we’ll sing instead.”

  I hadn’t planned to and tried to walk away, but he took a firm hold of my hand.

  “You know this one,” he murmured as he punched buttons on the screen. “Heard you sing along to it and I’ve already made a fucking fool of myself, so this will be a step up even if the dude looks like a troll.”

  I stared at the screen and wondered if I should inform him that millions of girls did in no way agree with his assessment that Ed Sheeran looked like a troll.

  Then we sang Dive. It was a countrified version, slightly slower and a lot sexier than the original version. Or, that’s how we sang it anyway. The bar was completely silent as we faced each other, swaying a little and blending our voices through that amazingly beautiful song.

  Joke leaned in when the music faded away and brushed his lips over my mouth.

  “Love you, baby,” he murmured.

  The bar erupted in loud cheers and whistles which could be because our voices worked really well together. We still stood by the microphone, so it could also have been because they’d heard his soft whisper.

  I didn’t care.

  “Love you too,” I said.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Joke

  Sissy was crying when he drove off with her two girls to take them to the airport. Joke didn’t cry, not even when Mimi broke down in his arms or when Cady tried to wipe her cheeks so he wouldn’t notice.

  “We’ll find a w
ay to see each other again before school starts,” he promised. “Say hi to your dad for me and have fun in Philadelphia.”

  That got the reaction he’d wanted which was surprise and no more goddamned tears.

  “Say hi to dad?” Mimi whispered.

  “Yeah,” he shrugged. “Met the guy a while back. Liked him, so say hi. Hey. Howdy-doody. Whatever-the-fuck.”

  Cady pressed her lips together but couldn’t hold a giggle back.

  “I’ve said it before, Joke. You are not like anyone I’ve ever met.” She brushed her hair back in a gesture that was so much like Sissy he had to smile back at her. “We’ll say howdy-doody to dad for sure. Kiss Mom from us.”

  “Will do,” he said.

  Then he helped Mimi dry her tears, watched them disappear up the walkway, and leaned on the wall as they passed through security. They waved, and then they were gone.

  Four goddamned weeks and they’d gotten under his skin in a way that felt fucking fantastic. He’d miss them so he’d give Dante a call. No, he decided. He’d ask Sissy to give Dante a call, and then he’d have a follow-up conversation. And make a call to Raz. They’d figure something out.

  Sissy and Tug were behind the bar when he walked in, and Mac stood to the side with a beer. The place wasn’t crowded, and everything seemed to be like it always was. Laid-back and comfortable in a way that soothed him.

  “Hey,” he said, leaned over the bar to give Sissy a kiss and added, “They got there okay.”

  “I know,” she said with a grin. “They both texted me. Did you really tell them to say howdy-doody to Dante?”

  Mac chuckled, which he ignored and took the beer Tug handed him.

  “Babe. Tears. Had to do something.”

  “Babe,” she imitated his deep voice. “Quick thinking.”

  She walked off with a grin, and he watched her.

  “Fucking smartass,” he muttered.

  Then a shitstorm blew through the door with absolutely no warning at all.

  A young couple walked in, talking excitedly and wiggling their phones. They caught sight of Joke and rushed toward him.