by Wilder, L.
“Well, if you must know…I like making up with you too.” Her expression grew serious as she whispered, “I’m sorry about earlier. I just wasn’t thinking.”
“I get why you did it.” I glanced over at Scout, who was now on the floor glaring at me like I was encroaching on his territory. “And I’m sure they were both relieved when they saw you coming through that front door. I know Thelma and Louise were.”
“Yes, they were.” Darcy shook her head. “I bet they asked me a million questions about where I’d been.”
“You know earlier, when you said you weren’t used to having people who cared about you or what you did…that wasn’t exactly true.” I reached for her and pulled her close. “Hell, you have a trailer park full of people who care a great deal about you.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right about that.”
“But there’s not a soul around who’ll ever love you the way I do.”
Her eyes met mine, and I could see the emotion building inside her as she whispered, “I’ve spent most of my life loving you, Caleb. I loved you back when we were kids, and I love you now.”
Darcy looked at me with a soul-searching stare, and I have no idea who moved first, but the next thing I knew, we were connected with her mouth pressed against mine. A light moan vibrated from her throat when my hand gripped the back of her neck as I delved deeper into her mouth. She hooked a leg over mine, arching her hips towards me, and the moment her hands started slowly drifting down my chest, I was done. I had to have her once again. We spent the next few hours tangled in each other’s arms, and I still wanted more. Unfortunately, we were both exhausted, and since neither of us had eaten a bite all day, we were starving. Darcy was lying in the bed with just a sheet covering her as I rolled over and said, “I’m going to go fix us something to eat.”
With a playful smirk, she replied, “Good luck with that. I don’t have many groceries in there.”
“I’m sure I can come up with something.” I eased out of bed, and after I threw on my boxers, I headed into the kitchen. I opened the fridge and found it almost bare. Other than a half-gallon of milk, a few eggs, bacon, and a can of biscuits, there was little to be found. “You weren’t kidding about the groceries.”
“I tried to warn you,” she called from the bedroom. “There’s a pizza place around the corner that delivers.”
“I’ve got it covered.”
With her cat watching my every move, I grabbed the bacon, eggs, and biscuits, and after twenty minutes of working my magic, I’d managed to pull together a pretty decent little dinner. I was making our plates when Darcy walked up behind me. As she peered over my shoulder, she smiled and said, “It looks great.”
“It’ll do in a pinch.”
She swiped a piece of bacon off one of the plates as she said, “I think I might like having you around.”
“Is that right?”
“Great make-up sex and dinner with the man I love?” she teased. “It’s pretty hard to beat that.”
“Baby, I’m just getting started.”
CHAPTER 20
Darcy
It had been just under a month since the club’s encounter with the Disciples, and things at the garage were finally starting to get back to normal. The guys were back at work, talking and joking around like usual, and even Blaze had returned. He started stopping by a few days after Kenadee was released from the hospital, trying his best to balance his time between work and home, but it wasn’t easy. Even though they’d only gotten positive feedback from the doctors, we could all see that he was still worried about her and their baby. Something told me that even after the baby was born happy and healthy, he’d continue to worry about them both. It was just his nature. Blaze was a man who liked to be in control, and from the looks of it, he wasn’t likely to change any time soon.
He was looking over one of my invoices as he stepped into my paint room and asked, “This says you charged an extra four-fifty for the gold overlay on the Cunningham bike.”
“Yeah. Is there a problem?”
“No. I just wasn’t aware that you were going to hike the price up like that,” he replied with a condescending tone. “If I had been, I would’ve touched base with Mike to make sure he was okay with it.”
“I checked in with him.” Under different circumstances, I might’ve been aggravated by Blaze’s overstep, but I knew he was just trying to stay on top of things in hopes of keeping his customers happy. “When I started the design and saw what a difference the overlay would make, I called him. Told him what I was thinking and how much it would cost, and he was cool with the upcharge.”
“So, he knows about the extra four-fifty?”
“Yep,” I answered. “Agreed to it before I ever started working on it.”
A pleased look crossed his face as he turned and headed back to his office. “I knew hiring you was a smart thing to do.”
I couldn’t help but smile as I returned my focus to the project I’d been working on. I’d spent the entire morning painting bright yellow and orange flames on the hood of a cherry-red 1971 Chevy Cheyenne, and I was about to start stenciling the front fenders when Caleb stepped into the paint room. “Hey. You got plans after work?”
“Just the usual. Why?”
“I’m heading out to Oakland this afternoon.”
“Why Oakland?” The words had barely left my mouth when it hit me. “Wait…Are you seriously thinking about going to see them?”
“I am.”
I couldn’t believe he was actually gonna do it. Caleb had been trying to convince me to move in with him for weeks. He had a two-bedroom house downtown, just a few minutes from the garage. We’d stayed there several times over the past couple of weeks, and it was a beautiful place. It was also in a great neighborhood with plenty of room for us both, but I’d been resisting. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to move in with him, because I did. I wanted nothing more than to start my future with him, but before that could happen, he needed to face his past. I knew it bothered him that he’d lost ties with his folks, so I made a deal with him—I’d move in with him as soon as he reached out to his parents. I felt guilty giving him an ultimatum, but deep down I knew it was something he needed to do. At the time, I thought it would take him weeks, maybe months, before he’d give in, but clearly, I was wrong. “I wasn’t sure you’d go through with it.”
He cocked his eyebrow and replied. “It’s not like I have much choice in the matter.”
“Oh,” I mumbled. “So, you’re only going because I said I wouldn’t move in with you unless you did?”
“Why else would I go?”
“I don’t know.” I placed my hand on my hip and huffed. “I’d hoped you would see that it was the right thing to do.”
“If that was the case, then you wouldn’t have made an ultimatum.”
“It wasn’t an ultimatum, Caleb.” I loved him more every day, but there were times when he could drive me to the point of insanity. “I was just negotiating with you.”
“Um-hmm.” His eyes narrowed, and if I didn’t know him better, I would’ve thought he was getting angry with me. Instead, he was simply calling me out, not letting me get away with my usual antics. “That’s bullshit and you know it. You knew what you were doing when you made that deal with me.”
“Okay, fine. The deal’s off the table.” I threw my hands up in the air with all the dramatics and sarcasm I could muster. “If you don’t want to go, then don’t go. I don’t care what you do.”
His expression softened as he stepped towards me and said, “We both know you care. That’s why I wanted you to go with me to see my folks.”
“Go with you?” The thought caught me by surprise. Caleb and I grew up in two different worlds, but I had no doubt that his parents knew exactly who I was. Hell, everyone in town knew about those poor Harrington kids. I knew that his first visit home would be difficult, and I didn’t want to make it worse by being there. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”
&
nbsp; Pretending like he had no idea what I was talking about, he asked, “Why not?”
“Because your parents know me. They know everything about me.”
“I don’t give a fuck.” He placed his hand on my cheek and whispered, “I’m proud to say that you’re mine.”
“Something tells me your parents won’t feel the same.”
“You are beautiful, unbelievably smart, and out-of-this-world talented, and not only that, you’ve got a heart of gold. If my folks can’t see that I have a hotshot girlfriend, then that’s their fucking loss.”
“But they—”
“I’m not going unless you go with me, babe, so there’s no sense in being stubborn about this,” he cut me off. “You’re going.”
“Fine, I’ll go.”
Caleb leaned forward and gave me a quick kiss before saying, “Now, that’s my kind of negotiating.”
“Why? Because you got your way?”
“Absolutely.” He snickered as he popped me on the ass. “We’ll leave right after work, so be ready, hotshot.”
“Hold up! Wait a cotton-pickin’ minute!” T-Bone started charging in our direction as he demanded, “Tell me I didn’t just hear that!”
“Hear what?”
“You just called her babe, brother…and hotshot after that! What the hell is that all about?” I had a feeling he wasn’t being completely serious about his whole scorned act, but I had to give it to him. He was pretty damn convincing. “Here at the garage? Seriously?”
“What the fuck are you talking about, brother?”
“You know damn well what I’m talking about!” He huffed. “I took an ass chewing just because I called her doll.”
“And?” Caleb answered like it was no big deal.
“And that shit ain’t right,” T-Bone pouted like a kid. “You just did the same damn thing.”
“So.” Making no apologies, Caleb declared, “She’s my ol’ lady.”
“Not here, she’s not. That ol’ lady shit don’t fly while we’re at the garage,” T-Bone fussed. “I’ve done right. I played by the rules and treated her like one of us. We all have, just like she wanted. But now, you come in and change the rules. Hell, naw. That shit ain’t cool.”
Caleb shrugged. “It is what it is.”
“Fuck that.” He was putting on quite a show with his arms flailing in the air and his voice several octaves higher than normal. “What’s next? You gonna start calling us ‘babe’ and ‘hotshot’ too?”
A mischievous look crossed his face as Clay stepped forward and said, “Damn, T-Bone. I didn’t know your door swung that way.”
Since the day Gus offered him the opportunity to prospect for the club, Clay has been doing everything he could to meet the brothers’ expectations without complaint—even when he was the one they chose to do all their grunt work. It was clear that he didn’t want to do anything to screw it up, so it came as a surprise to us all that he’d go head to head with T-Bone—the mouthiest brother in the club. Everyone within earshot turned to see how their brother would respond. T-Bone’s face turned red and with his voice even higher than before, he spat, “What the fuck did you just say?”
“Nothing, brother,” he answered mockingly. “I just never pictured you as the jealous type.”
The entire garage erupted into laughter, which only pissed off T-Bone even more. “Shut the fuck up and mind your place, Prospect.”
“Easy, brother.” Caleb gave me a quick wink as he continued, “No need to getting riled up. There’s enough of me to go around.”
“Fuck you, Rider. Just…just…fuck you,” he stammered in frustration.
I felt a little guilty that I was the reason behind his tantrum, but that didn’t stop me from walking over to T-Bone and placing my hand on his shoulder. My lips curled into a smirk as I told him, “If it means that much to you, you can call me hotshot, too.”
“The hell he can,” Caleb protested.
“You know what…fuck it. I don’t give a rat’s ass about any of it.” He shook his head as he marched back over to the ’57 Chevy he’d been working on. “Damn, I never learn.”
When he started back to work, it was clear that he was done with his theatrics. I watched as Blaze went over to Clay and patted him on the shoulder. He whispered something in his ear, and Clay simply nodded and went back to taking out the trash. Caleb had also gone back to work, so I took that as my cue to head back to my paint room. I got busy stenciling the flame design on each of the front fenders, and it wasn’t long before the workday came to an end. Knowing it wouldn’t be long before Caleb was ready to go, I quickly removed my paint suit and rushed to the bathroom to try to fix myself up a bit. Even though today was about him seeing his parents for the first time since the day he’d left, I was nervous about meeting them. I was worried that my being there would only make things more difficult for him, but he didn’t seem to care. He wanted me to be there with him, so I decided to suck it up and try to make the best of it.
I’d just finished touching up my makeup when Caleb tapped on the bathroom room. “You about ready to go?”
“Yep.” I opened the door and smiled. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”
“Then, let’s roll. I want to get there before dark.”
I nodded and followed him out to the parking lot. When he got over to his Harley, he acted like it was nothing out of the norm as he threw his leg over the seat and waited for me to get on behind him. While we’d talked about it, I’d never actually ridden with him anywhere. We’d always ridden separately or taken my truck, so I was feeling a little skeptical as I slipped on my helmet and got on behind him. He started his engine, and after he put on his helmet, I placed my hands on his hips, bracing myself as he whipped out of the parking lot and onto the main road.
We hadn’t been riding long when I suddenly realized why the other ol’ ladies enjoyed riding with their men. While he was the one in control, riding in and out of traffic, I felt completely safe being there behind him. It was almost like we were one as we both leaned into a big curve, and I never once worried that he might put us in harm’s way. I could just sit back and enjoy the ride, letting the wind whip around me as I took in the beautiful view, and I had no doubt that I would be riding with him again very soon. When we came up on a red light, he turned back to me and said, “You know, it feels good having you on the back of my bike.”
“Yes, it does.” Remembering the story of how he’d gotten his road name, I smiled as I teased, “Just be careful not to tip us over. I wouldn’t want us to become a spot on the pavement.”
“Hush, woman. You’re safe with me.”
Deciding not to torment him any further, I nodded. “Never doubted that for a minute.”
As soon as the light changed, we were on our way again, and in no time, we were driving into Oakland. I knew we were getting closer to his folks’ place and started to get nervous when we passed a few familiar hotspots of our old hometown. While I’d never been inside Caleb’s house, I knew exactly where it was. I’d driven by the beautiful ranch-style house a million times when I was younger. It was nestled back in the middle of his father’s cotton field with a driveway that seemed to go on for miles. I tried taking a deep breath to settle my nerves, but it was pointless. My heart started racing the second his house finally came into view. When he started down the long driveway, I felt Caleb’s back stiffen, and I knew he was feeling just as nervous I was—if not more. I couldn’t imagine what was going through his head as he parked next to the garage and got off his bike. It didn’t help that he remained completely silent as he took off his helmet and waited for me to do the same.
My fingers trembled as I unlatched the chin strip and slipped it off my head. I quickly ran my fingers through my hair and smiled as I asked, “You ready?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be.”
He took my hand, and I followed as he started towards the front porch. We’d barely made it up the steps when the front door opened and his mother stepped outside. Her eye
s widened in surprise as she stood there staring at Caleb in complete disbelief. After several long moments, tears started to fill her eyes as she muttered, “Caleb?”
“Hey, Mom.” I could hear the strain in his voice as he continued, “I’m sorry to just show up unannounced like this, but I—”
Before he could finish his sentence, she rushed over and wrapped her arms around him as she cried, “I can’t believe you’re really here!”
He didn’t speak. Instead, he just stood there holding her as she sobbed. He was still hugging her when his father suddenly appeared in the doorway. “Caleb?”
His mother quickly released her hold on Caleb and turned to her husband. “Can you believe it? He’s really here.”
Mr. Hughes didn’t seem as pleased. In fact, he seemed downright disgusted as he stood there staring down at his son. He studied him for a moment, then turned and shook his head with repulsion when he spotted Caleb’s Harley parked in the drive. He turned back to Caleb as he glared at his leather Satan’s Fury cut. “So, you’re what? A biker now? That’s what you’ve chosen to do with your life?”
“Stan, please,” Mrs. Hughes pleaded. “Don’t.”
“It’s fine, Mom.” Caleb looked up at his father as he told her, “I never expected him to understand.”
“You’re damn right, I don’t understand!” He stepped out onto the porch and motioned his hand out to the cotton fields behind him. “I spent my entire life busting my ass, morning, noon, and night, to provide for this family. I wanted you to have something you could be proud of. I wanted this land to be yours, and what did you do? You went and shit all over it!”
“I never wanted your land, Pop.” I could see the emotion building behind his eyes as Caleb said, “Farming was never my thing. It was yours. I wanted something different.”
“That’s right. The big football star was too damn good to be a farmer.” Anger flashed through his eyes as he glanced over at me. “Well, look at you now. A drug-addict biker who runs around with trash.”