Chapter Nine
Sophia
“I’m right here.” I scooped Willow up and dropped her in Deuce’s lap before facing my dad. “What’s up?
He looked confused. “I went to your place to say hi to Willow, and the young guy there said you’d had some trouble with a guy trying to run you off the road. That’s all he knew. I was worried.”
“That’s sweet.” I gave him a big hug. “But you knew Deuce was looking after me. He just didn’t update the prospects yet.
” I looked at Willow who was now snuggled down contentedly in Deuce’s lap.
“That takes care of one concern. Ace and the others want me to stay here but I was worried about Willow. Deuce suggested we ask if you could go get her.”
“Well, I beat them to the punch on that one.” He looked around. I could tell the minute he realized this was a private conversation. “You are going to stay here, aren’t you? It will be safer.”
I nodded. “Yes. Not overly enthusiastic about the idea, but it makes sense.”
“Good girl.” He frowned. “You’re going to be bunking with Deuce?”
I lifted my brows. “I’m not having this conversation with you, Dad.
I’m an adult.” Out of the corner of my eye I could see Deuce trying not to laugh.
He wouldn’t think it so funny if he knew how Dad used to sit on the front step sharpening his hunting knife when I was a teenager and a boy came to call.
Not really a surprise that I was still single.
Hell, if I hadn’t moved a couple of hours away, I’d probably still be a virgin as well.
“No problem.” He looked from Ace to Deuce, giving them a crisp salute. “I’ll go see how Jake’s making out with that carburetor he’s rebuilding.”
“You do that.” Ace sat down slowly and watched the old guy back out, closing the door behind him.
“He’s a little overprotective sometimes.” I gave Ace an apologetic look.
He shook his head. “Can’t imagine I’ll be much better when I have a daughter.”
I tried not to laugh. “Poor thing. Nothing like having an armed and dangerous dad.”
He smiled. “I’m sure you know all about that.”
I nodded. “Yeah. Just to change the subject, any chance Mom could pick up some dog food for Willow while she’s out? She’ll eat just about anything as long as it doesn’t have rabbit in it. For some reason she won’t touch rabbit.”
“No problem.” He picked up his phone and paused to look at me. “Does she need any special dishes or anything?”
I shook my head, looking down at the little scamp. “Considering she’s just as happy drinking out of a puddle as drinking out of fine crystal, I think we can find something here. We were using an ice cream bucket for a water dish over at my place.”
“That’s settled then.” Ace fired off another text to Mom. “It was nice to meet you. Wish it had happened under better circumstances, but things are what they are.”
I felt like we’d been politely dismissed, so I headed for the door. Willow jumped off Deuce’s lap and followed me, with Deuce right behind.
Ace chuckled. “I can see where you fit in the pecking order, Deuce.”
I looked back and saw Deuce raise one brow. “You do know I control the finances, right?” His phone pinged and he pulled it out and glanced down. “Gotta take this.” He kicked the office door closed and leaned on the wall. “Details?”
I wasn’t sure what to do. It seemed rude to eavesdrop, so I wandered to the kitchen with Willow in tow. A woman I’d never met stood at the stove, stirring something in a big pot. She looked up when she heard me come in.
“You must be Sophia!” She smiled and kept stirring. “And that would be Willow.”
“I suppose I must.” I sighed. “I take it everyone has heard about me?”
“No secrets in the clubhouse. Everyone wants to meet the girl Deuce is drooling over.”
I felt my cheeks go red. “Drooling over?”
“That’s the gossip, and let me tell you, your dad is not happy about that part. I’m Rylie, by the way.”
“Hi, Rylie. I don’t think Deuce has mentioned you.” I snapped my fingers. “Wait. Do you own the coffee shop we were at the night this whole mess started?”
She nodded. “I’m impressed you remembered.
You looked pretty shell-shocked when you came in there.
I’m Cyclone’s other half and we usually stay at his condo, not the clubhouse, but Cyclone is worried that whoever is behind the trafficking ring might decide to grab someone else.
Either as a hostage, or just because. He’s a little overprotective. ”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m getting the impression all these biker guys are.”
“They mean well. It just comes across as a little smothering at times.” She lifted the spoon to her lips and took a taste. Wrinkling her nose, she added more salt. “It sounds like you’ll be staying with us for a bit.”
“Yeah. I guess so.”
“Oh, don’t sound so upset. I’m here for the duration as well.” She adjusted the heat and put a lid on the pot. “And I like to cook, so you won’t go hungry.” She turned and grinned at me. “And then there’s the other thing.”
I tilted my head, not understanding. “What other thing?”
“You get to sleep with Deuce every night!”
“With my dad in the same house? That should be fun.”
“Ah, forget your dad. He’ll get over it.” She patted her stomach suggestively. “Especially if you give him some grandbabies.”
“We’re not having babies! We’ve been on like one date!”
Rylie nodded her head. “It only takes once, you know.”
“I can’t believe I’m having this conversation,” I muttered.
“What conversation?” An older woman, her gray hair trapped in a long braid down her back, strode in and dropped two grocery bags on the table. “Damn, those things are heavier than they look!”
“We were discussing Deuce and Sophia having kids.”
“Really? I thought you guys just met.” She held out a hand. “I’m Mom, by the way, and you must be Sophia.” She looked down. “And this charming little bundle of fur must be Willow. Joe told us all about you.”
I felt a little overwhelmed. “Yes, I’m Sophia, yes, that’s Willow. I take it by Joe you mean my dad and no, Deuce and I haven’t even talked about kids. We’ve been on one date.”
“Aw, that’s sweet. Love at first sight.”
Seriously? These people only heard what they wanted to, and apparently, they wanted a fairy tale romance. Between a prepper’s daughter and a biker accountant?
“I brought you some clothes. The thrift store stuff doesn’t always have labels still attached so hopefully most of it fits.
Sweaters are easy. I just went for big and loose.
” She dug into one bag and produced a pink hoodie with a big pawprint on the front.
“I thought you’d like this. Wasn’t so sure about the jeans though, so I grabbed a couple pairs of yoga pants as well.
Those things stretch like rubber so you should be fine.
” She paused and looked up. “Darn. I totally forgot shoes. What size are you?”
“An eight, but I can get by with the ones I have on. Luckily, they’re runners, so they’ll be comfortable.”
“I take size eight, so you can borrow some of mine if you need to.” Two teenagers wandered into the kitchen, one pausing to lift the lid on the pot and sniff. “Oh, chili! Nice!”
The other came over and squatted down to pet Willow. Like the suck up she was, Willow rolled over to get her belly rubbed. “We’re the twins, in case you haven’t figured that out. Beast is our dad, and we live here with him.”
“Jasmine and Jewel.” The one petting Willow pointed to herself and her sister.
Deuce entered the room and came over to wrap an arm around me. “Looks like you’ve met some of the club.”
I nodded. “Yes. And Mom brought me some clothes.”
Deuce inclined his head. “Thanks, Mom.”
She shrugged. “No problem.”
He nuzzled my neck. “Let’s go get you settled in our room.”
I raised a brow. Things were moving at light speed here. “Our room?”
Both teenagers giggled, and I realized we had an audience that wasn’t even pretending not to listen. I blushed and grabbed one of the bags off the table. “Let’s go.” I looked at Mom. “Thanks again, I really appreciate it.”
She held up a hand. “You might want to let me wash those first. No telling how many people pawed that stuff when it was in the thrift store.”
“Oh. Right.” I put the bag down.
Mom nodded. “It won’t take long. I’ll run them up when they’re ready. I can leave them outside the door in case you two want to grab a nap. Should be done before supper.”
“Thank you. I mean it. You have all been amazing to me.”
Deuce grabbed my hand mumbling something about women and gossip.
He led the way out of the kitchen, with me and Willow trailing behind.
His room was on the second floor and had an ensuite bathroom, for which I was grateful.
I hadn’t considered what bathroom schedules might look like in a house full of bikers.
I took the plastic yogurt container I’d snagged in the kitchen and filled it with water for Willow, placing it beside the counter in the bathroom where it was less likely to get accidentally knocked over.
Deuce sat down on the bed and regarded me with a serious expression. “Come sit down for a minute. Catch your breath. You haven’t stopped since that guy tried to run you off the road.”
I walked to the bed and sat down straddling his lap so that I was staring straight into his eyes. I kept my expression serious. “Things have been pretty crazy since about two hours before we met. Do you think it has something to do with me and you?”
He cupped his hands on my ass and pulled me a little further onto his lap. “How do you mean?”
“I have this theory that there’s a bunch of creatures up there somewhere.” I gestured at the ceiling. “And they got bored so they’re playing around with us.”
“Interesting.” He raised one hand to tangle in the hair on the back of my head. “They’re probably making things difficult because they’re jealous.”
“Jealous?”
“Yeah. Because they don’t get to do this.” He urged my head forward so he could devour my lips.
An hour later, I was in need of another shower.
* * *
Deuce
Waking up with Sophia naked in my arms felt good. We’d made it through our first club dinner without too much drama. Of course everyone was curious, but they mostly managed to tone it down enough that she felt comfortable. Not sure if having her dad there helped or hindered.
I slipped out of bed and pulled on a pair of sweatpants before heading to the kitchen to grab us a couple of cups of coffee. I made a mental note to pick up a compact coffee maker for our room, and maybe one of those pint-sized bar fridges.
Somebody had beaten me to the kitchen. A pot of coffee was sitting on the warmer, all ready to go. I filled two cups and turned to head back upstairs.
Willow whined, placing herself between me and the door.
I looked down at the little mutt. “You hungry?”
She wagged her tail, regarding me with those sad brown eyes of hers.
I put the coffee down and opened the pantry.
Mom had picked up dry dog food as well as a few cans.
I had a feeling Willow was going to be one spoiled little mutt if we stayed here for long.
I found a bowl and poured some kibble in it, topping it off with a couple of spoonfuls of the canned food.
I placed it on the floor in front of the dog.
“There. That should keep you happy for a while.”
Willow wagged her tail as she lowered her head to eat.
Sophia was still lounging in bed when I got back to the room. She smiled as I placed the mug of coffee on the bedside table for her.
“You not coming back to bed?” She took a sip of the dark brew.
I shook my head. “Need to go down to the bar and grab some paperwork to do the IRS filings. Got to keep the government happy.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Should I come with you?”
“No, you’re probably safer here and I won’t be long. An hour, tops.”
She yawned. “I should be up and dressed by the time you get back, but no promises.”
“You sound like you’re going to enjoy the next few days being a lady of leisure.”
“I could get used to it.” She looked around the room. “Where’d Willow go?”
“She looked hungry, so I fed her some of the chow Mom picked up. She seems to like it.” I glanced down at my cup. “I’ll pick up a coffee maker while I’m out so we don’t have to get dressed before coffee in the morning.”
She eyed up my sweatpants. “That’s dressed?”
I shrugged. “It’s not naked.”
“True.”
I gulped down the last of my coffee and headed for the shower. Having Sophia around sure upped the number of showers I needed on any given day.