“Thank you, darlin’, that makes my old heart happy that they had someone looking out for them.”
“We’ll give it three months to see how it works out and then we’ll re-evaluate,” I tell him.
He grins at me and I shake my head because this man is gorgeous and I have a feeling I’m going to have a hard time protecting my heart from him.
“Leave it with me darlin’. You go and pack what you want. Poppy and I’ll go and tell Maestro to get another truck and prospect down here. You’ve made an old man very happy.”
Snorting out a laugh, “Stop with the old bullshit.” I roll my eyes. “You’re probably in better shape than men half your age.”
Deck smirks as he stands and runs his hands over his waist that's maybe not as trim as someone in their thirties but he’s by no means fat. “Thanks for noticing, darlin’. I’ll have to up my workout now that I’ve got a younger woman,” he grins and winks at me before bending and scooping Poppy into his arms and sauntering away.
“Holy shit,” I mutter, resting my head back on my chair. The man was a whirlwind.
When he wanted shit done, he wasted no time in doing it either. Three hours later, with my trailer packed up, I was in my car following behind trucks and bikes to my new home.
This morning I’d got up with my only intention being to get through the day spending time with Ford and Poppy until work tonight. Then all our lives were derailed and here we were. All of us are starting new lives.
Maybe I should have been worried but all I felt was flutters of anticipation on what life was to bring. Deck had been right; we’d reached an age where we should grab life by the hands and ride that fucker until we couldn’t anymore.
I fully intended to do just that. It was like I’d been sleepwalking for however long and I’d suddenly woken up and realised that life had been passing me by.
Well, no more. I had a new family to get to know, a new home to set up and a man that was determined to drive me to the brink of insanity with every little touch.
And my libido…that sucker that I’d thought long gone. Well, she seemed to have woken up with a vengeance.
I wasn’t altogether sure what to do with all these new feelings running though me but I was going to have fun finding out.
CHAPTER 3
RED
It had been a full-on few weeks since we’d moved Emily, Ford, and Poppy to the clubhouse. I was doing my best to be patient and let Emily settle in.
She’d asked for three months and I was determined to give it to her.
That didn’t mean that we didn’t spend time together, but mostly it was with the family as buffers. I’d slept last weekend at the cottage with her and Poppy, not wanting them to be alone while the kids were doing what they had to do. I’d hoped that once we got clean, the shit would die down. I should have known better.It made me wonder if Emily was having second thoughts about hitching herself to me. She hadn’t mentioned any concerns, but that didn’t mean that she didn’t have them.
I also knew that I was being a weak-assed little bitch, which wasn’t like me. Instead of flat-out asking her, I was beating around the bush. This wasn’t like me, but in my defence, I hadn’t had to worry about this with Ruthie. We’d been young, dumb, and in love. We’d thought we were invincible. This time around I was older, and Emily wasn’t the type of woman to sit on the side-lines if shit was going down. She’d been exposed to more in the MC that her ex had been in than I’d ever allowed Ruthie to be exposed to. While that meant that I didn’t have to protect her from the harsher side of MC life, it also meant that she could use that knowledge to leave me.
‘Fucking hell.’I needed to grow a pair of balls and just ask the woman what she wanted to do.
Instead, I’d retreated to the garage attached to my home, pretending that I needed to make some adjustments to my sled. That’s where I was when I heard Maestro walking up. I knew it was him because the boy never walked anywhere; he always stomped. Heavy-footed fucker. He’d never been stealthy. I looked up as his shadow fell over me. Taking note of the concern on his face, I stood.
“What’s wrong?” I demand, ready to go to battle.
“Shit,” Maestro said, flapping a hand at me and wiping his hand down his face. “Sorry, Pops. Didn’t mean to make you thinksomething was wrong. Just got a lot on my mind and I need to ask you something.”
Wiping my greasy hands on the rag I take from my pocket, I go to the fridge I keep in the garage and take out a couple of drinks for us. Waving Maestro to the camp chairs I’ve got set up in the corner. We take a seat, pop open our drinks and take a few sips. I wait Maestro out. He’ll tell me when he’s good and ready.
Although the question he levels at me isn’t the one that I was expecting.
“Are you serious about Emily?”
Surprised, I looked over at him. “I am, son. Why?”
“You haven’t officially made her your Old Lady yet, so I wasn’t sure. I need to ask you something but I wanted to know first if she was going to be staying around.”
Like I’d been thinking earlier, I was being a pansy-assed bitch, and it wasn’t like me.
