WELL, THE DAY WAS officially lost to the hunt for a damn scooter, because Grease was fast, and came back with, not only footage of the theft, but also a crime carried out with it just a half hour later, when the fuckers used it to get away from trying to rob a jewellery shop. As if that wasn’t bad enough, they came off it at what was a relatively impressive speed for the little two wheeler, and it was officially trashed.
Rocket offered to close up, so we could get Leah home to her mum, but once we were outside, ready to leave, she insisted on taking a taxi. We saw her off, after I thoroughly fucking checked that the driver was the one she’d booked, and that left us standing outside, staring at each other and wondering whether we could just sneak off.
“I guess I should uh…”
“Do you have clients coming in?”
I shook my head, and Caroline smiled. “What if… what if I cook for us at my house?” I darted a quick glance inside to see what Rocket was up to, and the fucker was watching me with aknowing grin. He flicked a hand at me, telling me to get lost, and you know what? I fucking did.
As much as I wanted Caroline on the back of my ride, she insisted on riding her own, so I followed behind, keeping a close eye on her, all the way back to her house. I mean, it wasn’t the same as having her wrapped around me, but it was a pleasure to watch her take those bends and curves like a fucking professional.
As we reached her place, I grabbed my phone, which was buzzing with a call from Micro, and followed her inside as I answered it.
“Yeah, Pres?”
“I heard about your daughter’s ride. She doing okay?”
Once more I was struck by how different he was to Crusher, because that fucker would have never cared, and either told me that the club came first, or he’d have probably tried to use her to make me do shit I wasn’t willing to do.
“She’s upset, but at least she wasn’t on it when it got trashed.”
Caroline was already fussing around in the kitchen, so I joined her, getting the kettle on and mugs out while I spoke to Micro.
“I know Grease was on the case, but I stayed out of the way since it was urgent. The main thing is she’s okay, but, dude, seriously… a scooter? When are you getting her a proper ride?”
I snorted, reaching out to tuck a curl behind Caroline’s ear as she dug a covered dish out of the fridge.
“She’s not getting a proper fucking ride, and that’s something her mother and I agree on. I’m hoping she’ll go for a cage next. She’s got her licence now.”
I saw Caroline frowning at me, so I whispered ‘car’ to her, and she made an ‘oh’ face.
“Nah, once you live the two wheel life, there’s no going back, man. Just ask Grease.”
“I’m not having her on something fast enough to fucking kill her, Pres. Leave it alone.”
“Better hope she doesn’t fall for a biker then,” he barked a laugh, and spoke again before I could argue, “maybe she’ll hit it off with Rocket.”
“Over my dead fucking body!”
I hung up on the bastard, especially since his laughter was his only response. I tossed the phone on the kitchen counter, and turned to see Caroline staring at me with wide eyes.
“What did he say to get that response?”
“Suggesting that my daughter gets it on with Rocket. Fuck no!”
She shrugged a shoulder. “He’s not so bad. I’m getting used to him now.”
I grabbed one of those cute little curls and tugged it lightly, leaning closer to the woman I was pretty much ready to re-claim as mine.
“Don’t get too used to him. You’re only allowed to get used to me.”
“You’re the only one I want to get used to, Harley. Um… I’ve just put lasagne in the oven, so we’ve got about forty minutes to wait. What do you want to do with it?”
My brain was already ‘doing the math’, so I grinned widely.
“You, baby.”
Her mouth fell open and, as I grabbed her and tugged her along behind me, on the way to her bedroom, I heard her start giggling. It was my favourite fucking sound from her. Her sighs and gasps were beautiful, but when she giggled? When she did that, I knew she was feeling free and happy, and that was what I wanted to give her for the rest of her fucking life.
