3. Chapter Three
Chapter Three
B ooker had made a reservation for himself, Compass, and Twist. Because he’d worried that more of the Bluff Creek guys might show up, he’d made the reservation for eight people. When he’d realized Lexi and Ms. Maureen were coming to supper, he’d texted Twist that their reservation only allowed for three extra people from Cider Creek. When Twist had questioned Booker, he’d had to let him know his crush from high school and her mom were joining them.
He'd had time to go up to his room and change. He slid on a clean shirt. His shirt had smelled of all the different perfumes of the people he’d hugged today. He wanted a fresh, clean one to be around Lexi. He slid his cut on and headed downstairs. Twist said he was in the lobby and Compass had just walked in.
He wanted everything to go perfect tonight with Lexi, but he did also need to catch up with Compass, even though he’d never met the man. Baron, War’s dad, had spoken highly of him. Just from his tone, Booker could tell Baron missed his brother.
The elevator doors opened, and Booker headed toward the restaurant. Twist and Compass were standing by the hostess stand with Twist leaning toward her. Of course, he was turning on the charm. Booker walked up.
“Compass, I’m Booker. I’m glad we could meet.”
“I’m always up for good food. But I suppose I should have been answering Baron’s texts, and he wouldn’t have sent someone to check up on me,” Compass replied.
Booker nodded, chuckling. “Well, it came at the perfect time. I actually had an event I needed to go to here. And I love Bluff Creek but just wasn’t able to settle there.”
“Yeah, what exactly was your event today?” Twist asked.
“So, besides reading books, I’m actually a cover model for romance books.”
Booker waited to see how they responded.
“You get paid for that?” Twist asked incredulously.
“Yeah, a decent amount too.”
“Where do I sign up?” Twist asked.
“Now Twist said we have some ladies joining us. Who is it?” Compass asked. Booker appreciated him moving the conversation away from modeling. He’d talk about it, but he was already nervous having dinner with the girl from his dreams.
“Yes, Lexi, the girl I was head over heels for in high school. We were going to junior prom together until her dad was unexpectedly transferred. They moved within a couple of days. I ended up just skipping it because it wasn’t the same without Lexi. Her mom is also joining us. Ms. Maureen is just as sweet now as she was then.”
Booker caught Twist’s eyes looking behind him, and he turned. Lexi had changed into a body-hugging shirt that had sleeves that belled out. Tight jeans highlighted every curve of her thighs, and she had the cutest motorcycle boots on. He walked forward and kissed Lexi’s cheek.
“You look beautiful, and may I say, Ms. Maureen, you look gorgeous too.”
Maureen laughed, and he turned to introduce the guys, but they beat him to it.
“I’m Compass. It’s very nice to meet you.”
Twist stepped forward. “I’m Twist. The one who keeps Booker in line.”
“Who’s Booker?” Lexi asked.
Twist pointed at Booker. “He is.”
“Oh, is that your road name? Alex told me you were in an MC. Is it like Sons, or is that rude to ask?” Maureen questioned.
Compass chuckled, and Booker thought it sounded almost like he hadn’t laughed in forever. Compass held out his arm.
“Let’s go get seated and ordered and then we’ll fill you in on all things Bluff Creek Brotherhood MC.”
Alex giggled and laughed listening to the guys. Twist had shared some hilarious stories that she was sure Drew didn’t appreciate him sharing from their time in the military. Drew had then ratted out Twist with a couple too. Her mom and Compass had chatted a lot. Halfway through dinner, three more men from the Bluff Creek Brotherhood MC, Cider Creek Chapter had joined them: Dodge, Bootstrap, and Brew. Their names were interesting.
Bootstrap had called her and her mom Baby girl . She had to admit he had a very sexy voice. She’d giggled when Drew, no, she had to remember to call him Booker around these guys, had slid his arm around her and said Mine . She’d read it in books, but the flames scorching through her from having it in real life had been almost too much. She’d smiled but kept the shiver that wanted to run through her from happening.
“Do you prefer Alex or Lexi?” Compass asked.
“I’m good with either. Booker was the only one who ever called me Lexi.”
“I think we’ve talked about all of us. Where do you live now, Lexi?” Booker asked.
“Well, that’s a long story. Let’s save that for tomorrow because I really don’t want to get into it tonight.”
Tonight was perfect, and she wasn’t ruining it with all the things she’d gone through lately. Maybe later.
“Do we need to beat someone up?” Booker questioned.
Lexi slid her hand onto Booker’s tense arm. “Let’s enjoy our evening. Everything is wonderful here. If somebody does eventually need to be beat up, I’ll make sure you get to be in charge of it.”
Booker nodded and stared into her eyes. Lexi mouthed please because she really wanted him to drop it.
“So what’s next tonight?” Compass asked.
“Well, if Lexi agrees, I was going to take her on a short bike ride so we could take a walk.”
Oh man . He remembered their walks and then set up one for them. It wasn’t too cold, just a tad chilly, but if she had to have his arm around her to keep warm while they walked, she wasn’t going to complain.
“I think that would be perfect.”
“We thought you might have plans. Bootstrap brought poker chips. How about a poker party in my room?” Twist suggested.
“I’m in. Maureen, are you joining us?” Compass asked.
At least Lexi wouldn’t need to worry about her mom tonight. The fact her mom and some of her friends had their own poker group when she was home meant her mom would have a great evening.
“I’d love to,” Maureen said.
In minutes, they’d paid the bill, and the group heading to Twist’s room for poker had left. It was just her and Booker.
“I thought the parks closed after sunset?” Lexi asked.
“One of the Bluff Creek guys’ cousins works for the park system. He’s letting us in after hours. He has some maintenance to do, and he said it would take him about two hours. I figured you wouldn’t want longer than that with the day you had.”
“Then let’s go.”
Lexi followed Booker to his bike. He handed her his helmet and helped her put it on.
“What about you?”
“I want you safe. The park is only about an eight-minute ride. Have you ridden before?”
Lexi shook her head. She’d always wanted to ride on a motorcycle.
“So let me get on, and I’ll help you on. Then your feet go on the pegs. Hold on to me.”
Lexi felt like the most awkward female on the earth trying to swing her leg over the bike, keep her balance, and not look stupid. Once she was situated behind Booker, he had her slide a little closer. She tried to figure out where to put her hands and finally decided she’d have one on his shoulder and one right under his arm. Her little seat was a tad higher than his. She didn’t remember anyone else in her romance books having these issues.
Booker started up the bike, and the bike shook a little. He patted her knee and then moved forward. Once she got used to the bike, she loved it. In fact, the short ride could have been longer. Booker pulled around to an entrance and helped her off, then got off. He grabbed a couple things from his saddlebags.
He grasped her hand, intertwining their fingers, and led her to the gate. A man opened it and let them through.
“Appreciate it, man.”
“No problem. Dodge said it was fate that you ended up in the same place as your girl from high school. I’m happy to do my part.”
Booker chuckled and led her into the park. She breathed in deep. How many nights had they gone to their neighborhood park, spending their time walking and talking about their dreams and everything else? Sometimes they’d play on the equipment like kids, and other times, they’d just talk. The air wasn’t too chilly by her standards. It had been a high of seventy-eight today and was just barely dropping now.
They walked slowly, not saying anything at first. She was surprised how comfortable she was with the man, even though she’d only known him as a boy.
“How did you end up with the MC?” Lexi asked. The question had been plaguing her.
“After high school, I joined the Army. There wasn’t any reason for me to stay around, and being around your dad made me want to serve. I know he was Air Force, but I visited the different offices. The Army recruiter was the one I felt saw what I wanted. I stayed in until 2022. Twist, myself, and another friend got out and wandered on our bikes for a while. We checked out different places until I was at a tattoo convention and loved the tattoo the competitor gave me. When I wanted to go to her shop, I found out she was going to a shop in Kansas. Her boss was a veteran and in an MC. He offered to have us come check out the Chapter. Bluff Creek is almost all former military or first responders. But something was still missing.”
She waited to see if he’d go on.
“How about you tell me about how you ended up at the signing.”
She smiled. “It’s a long story, but I’ll give you the abbreviated version. So we moved, and Dad was stationed overseas. I completed high school there, then attended college. You know I loved the business and the money aspect, so I thought management was for me. I’d helped teach a couple of summer groups for kids and decided that teaching wasn’t for me.”
She chuckled. “Turned out that people can be really whiny, and I didn’t enjoy enforcing a company’s rules. So I started looking at other things to do. For a while, I worked in accounting, which at least made sense to me. Then when ebooks and independent publishing became a thing, I let an author I liked know how much I loved her books. From there, it changed to helping with her social media. Within a couple years, I realized that I could do things for authors and get paid for it. And the rest is history, with a couple of bumps along the way. Now I travel in my RV most of the signing season and then hang out with Mom from around Thanksgiving through January or thereabouts, depending on the first signing and weather. Then I go back on the road again.”
He led her over to a bench and then slid his arm around her when they were situated.
“I can tell from your voice that you love it. Does your mom travel with you?”
Lexi shook her head. “That’s part of the let’s talk about it tomorrow. She usually only does a couple signings a year, but she might be with me a little longer.”
She shivered, and Booker turned toward her with the small backpack he’d been carrying. He pulled out a sweatshirt with his club logo on the front and helped her slide it on. It was warm from being in the saddlebags and smelled faintly of Booker’s scent. She wasn’t sure if it was his soap or a cologne, but it was comforting.
Once he finished, he stared into her eyes and then brushed his finger against her cheek.
“I didn’t realize until I spent time with you how much I’ve missed being around you. When you had to leave and we were both in high school, I just assumed I’d never see you again. But somehow, you’re here with me. I can’t believe I didn’t recognize you immediately.”
She smiled at his rueful tone. “We’ve both changed, and you weren’t expecting to see me. I didn’t recognize you either, but then you’ve definitely filled out in the muscles area.”
She loved hearing Booker chuckle.
“I was still a growing boy when you last saw me at sixteen. I hit a huge growth spurt at nineteen and bulked up while I was serving. I might have to up my workout regimen for the covers because Bluff Creek has filling, delicious food down to an art form.”
He was absolutely delicious. He was a man now. A man who had seen so much. She wondered if it was rude to ask about his service.
“Okay, ask away. I know that look on your face. Your should I ask this or not face has not changed one bit.”
He kept his arm around her but turned a little closer.
“C’mon. I can tell you’re dying to know something.”
“I don’t want to bring back bad memories if you have them.”
He dropped a kiss on her nose. “Not bad memories per se but things I wish could have turned out differently. You plan, plan, plan, but you can’t account for every eventuality. I lost friends. And crap soldiers that shouldn’t have ever made it survived. Sometimes nothing makes sense. But I did my duty to my country. I still believe in fighting for what is right. I just wish so many didn’t have to pay the ultimate cost.”
He breathed deeply and settled back against the bench. There were so many things to talk about, but he was probably tired. He’d been on today for all the readers and authors. She’d seen multiple times how he smiled and made the person he was talking to feel special.
“It’s almost time for us to head out. What would you say about heading to IHOP for breakfast and more talking?”
She smiled. She wasn’t quite ready for the night to end yet either. She was tired and invigorated. Her feet hurt from standing all day, but each minute with Booker was a gift.