Chapter Thirteen
The first time I woke up in bed with Maverick, he’d been fully clothed, watching over me.
The first time I woke up in bed with Kade, he was naked at my back and curled around me.
They both had their merits, but waking up with Kade was better.
Way better.
I couldn’t say what time it was when I finally opened my eyes and pressed myself back against his chest in a stretch, but I knew I felt incredibly well rested and blissfully relaxed. We’d gone to bed late, Kade and his magnificent body keeping me up longer than I would have been able to manage on my own, and I was glad I had the day off to sleep in.
I smiled when I looked down at the arm draped over me, his outer forearm bare, save the rosary beads inked below his elbow. Except, it wasn’t his familiar ink that caught my attention and caused my smile to slip—it was the hair ties he had around his wrist. There were four of them, one burgundy, one mint- green, and two pink bands identical to the ones missing from my shrinking collection.
I thought about every time he’d pulled my hair free before sex. Never had I found one of my ties on the floor or the couch or the bed. Considering this, I reached down and traced my fingertips between two of the four bands. As I did, I paused when I noticed the skin beneath the second and third tie was lighter than the skin on his hand or forearm.
It struck me then how, before the previous night, he would have had three of my ties—only, it had been nearly three weeks since he’d been in the position to pull down my hair, which meant he’d been wearing at least one of my ties for almost a month without taking it off.
'I’m into you. Have been for a while now.'
A multitude of tiny butterfly wings flapped to life inside of me as I rolled over in order to see my man. I found he was already awake, his face relaxed and his eyes warm as I took him in.
I didn’t bother with good morning . I just kissed him.
It was then I learned Kade was not deterred by morning breath.
We made use of another condom.
When I came, I did it hard, spurred on by the knowledge that Kade was into me and had been for a while now .
My orgasm brought forth his, and then it was him who kissed me.
“Got places to be today. You have plans?” he asked when he lifted his face away from mine.
“No,” I replied with a small shake of my head.
“Now you do.”
“Okay.”
I barely got the word out before I lost him from inside of me, eliciting my whispered moan.
He smiled and said, “Come on. Think we both could use a shower.”
He wasn’t wrong. Plus, showering with Kade was exactly what I wanted to do. I didn’t hesitate before following him naked down the hall.
I’d never showered with a man who was equally intent on not getting his hair wet while bathing as I was. I found this to be amusing and endearing in equal measure.
A while later—I still hadn’t looked at a clock that morning—Kade was donning yesterday’s clothes as I pulled on a pair of high-waisted distressed jeans and a loose, olive green, V-neck tee I wore tucked in. Very aware I was going to be on a motorcycle that day, I skipped sandals and opted for a pair of my non-work, slip-on sneakers.
“You good?” asked Kade from where he sat waiting, seemingly not-so-patiently, on my bench at the foot of the bed.
“I was going to throw on a little makeup.”
“You’re good. Let’s roll. We’re gettin’ a late start, and we still need to pick up your car.”
“Okay,” I conceded, in no mood to argue.
I wasn’t sure what we were getting up to, but I didn’t bother asking. I didn’t much care. I simply wanted to spend the day with Kade. Seeing as he wanted the same thing, I was happy to ride along.
Twenty minutes later, we were back at my house, dropping off my car. It was nearly noon when I snapped on Kade’s helmet and returned to my spot behind him on his Harley. Admittedly, every time he took off down the road, I was a little less afraid. He told me once I couldn’t be in safer hands, and I was starting to believe that.
It took us about ten minutes to reach our next stop, and I was instantly curious when we pulled into the driveway of an old house. The lawn was in need of mowing, and it looked like the siding could use a fresh coat of paint, but the rest of the property appeared fairly well maintained. There were a couple of beautiful giant trees out front, providing a great amount of shade, and flower boxes hung from the small, front porch railing.
“Where are we?” I asked, removing the helmet.
Kade dismounted, then took my head protection as he casually replied, “This is Gran’s place.”
My eyes widened and I gaped at his back while he stowed the helmet and extracted my purse. I then glanced down at myself, quickly running my fingers through my hair, suddenly mortified.
“You brought me to your grandmother’s house?” I cried in a whisper.
“Yeah, babe. What’s the big deal?” he asked, handing over my bag.
I yanked it from his grasp and shook my head at him, appalled.
“What’s the big deal? Honey, I’m wearing a tee-shirt and jeans with holes in them. I’ve done nothing to my face, I don’t have any fragrance on—you didn’t tell me I’d be meeting the woman who raised you today.”
Even in the midst of my minor-panic, when he grinned at me, my chest grew tight, and I forgot to breathe for a second as I admired him. He was accurate when he told me he wasn’t a knight in shining armor, but that didn’t mean he was without charm, and he had the smile to prove it.
He activated the butterflies in my stomach when he hooked his arm around my neck and pulled me into his side, pressing a kiss against my temple. His lips grazed my skin when he told me, “Not that I don’t appreciate it when you put in the extra effort, foxy, but those freckles are all you need.”
I wrapped an arm around his back as I melted into his side, unable to help myself.
I wasn’t sure how it was possible, but I’d forgotten he thought the freckles across my nose were cute.
Miraculously, I was no longer worried about what I was wearing.
As he led me toward the front door, I admitted being Maverick’s lady was way better than being friends-with-benefits.
He didn’t bother knocking, and I continued to cling to him as we entered the house. It felt as though our connection was my only real invitation to be inside a residence which didn’t belong to either of us.
“Gran, brought company,” Kade hollered from the middle of the small living room.
The space was large enough to fit her dark green, floral print sofa, a coffee table and matching side table, along with a narrow entertainment center for her television and a well-used reclining chair. It wasn’t quite big enough for the coordinating loveseat and the China cabinet, but she’d crammed it in there anyway.
“Company? Now, you know I need a warning if you’re plannin’ on bringin’ over any of your brothers. Feedin’ more than one of you requires an extra trip to the store and— oh! ”
She stopped short as she emerged from the kitchen and saw the two of us standing there.
I smiled, partly because I felt nervous yet thrilled to meet her; but mostly because she was beautiful, and not at all what I expected. In complete contrast to her grandson, she was shorter than I was, with bangs and cropped hair that stopped at her chin. She had a pair of reading glasses dangling from her neck, and she wore a blue, button-up linen blouse with striped cotton pants, her feet tucked into a pair of house shoes.
“Kade Daughtry, I cannot believe you’d just show up with your sweetheart without givin’ me a lick of warning. I haven’t curled my hair, I’ve got on not a hint of makeup, and I’m in my house shoes, for cryin’ out loud.”
My smile was suddenly a grin, and I aimed it up at Kade. “See? She gets it,” I told him before I extracted myself from under his arm. Closing the short distance between us, I held out my hand and assured her, “I was equally as unprepared. Hi. I’m Jenna, and I hope you won’t rush off to change a thing. We can be totally casual together.”
She took my hand in both of hers, her whole face going soft as she said, “You’ve got yourself a deal. It’s so lovely to meet you, Jenna. I’m Barb, or Gran—I’ll answer to either.”
“Now that you two are acquainted, Gran, you mind a little company while I work?”
“What a ridiculous question. Of course, I don’t mind.” She hooked her thumb over her shoulder and asked me, “Do you like lemonade? I was just making a fresh batch. I like to have it around for when Kade is finished mowin’. He gets so hot out there in the sun.”
She was perfect.
“I’d love to try it.”
“Well, come on back,” she insisted with a wave, headed that way. “Now, are you two stayin’ for lunch? Wasn’t plannin’ on makin’ anything fancy, but I’m sure I’ve got enough of somethin’ to throw together a proper meal.”
“Don’t knock yourself out, but we’ll stay for lunch,” Kade answered.
“So long as I can help,” I added, glancing back at him as I followed Barb toward the kitchen.
He winked, and I watched him turn and disappear through a side door I assume led to the garage.
Kade had said and done plenty in the last twelve hours to indicate he was all in, and we were doing this—for real. But bringing me into the house in which he’d grown up and leaving me alone with his Gran topped the cake.
“You know, I think we’ll toss together a taco salad,” Barb said contemplatively. “Take a seat, dear. Tell me about yourself while I finish up this lemonade. We’ll get started on lunch in a minute.”
I did as instructed, sitting at the four-top she’d managed to squeeze into her little kitchen, all the while wondering how Kade, in all his height, had fit comfortably in any of the rooms in the house.
Then I looked at Barb, as she continued to squeeze fresh lemons, and I had my answer.
“Well, I’m a nurse. I work in the ER over at Campbell County.”
“Oh, wow. How wonderful,” she gushed, peering back at me. “That’s no easy job.”
Speaking through a smile, I agreed, “No, it’s not. But I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.”
“Are you from Gillette?”
“I actually grew up in Cody. My parents own a farm there.”
“Ah, a girl who truly knows how to work. I like that.”
My smile stretched wide. I loved Barb’s welcoming demeanor. Remembering what Kade told me on our first date, how he’d never met his father and was abandoned by his mother before he’d even reached double digits, I was glad he’d had Barb. The longer I was in her presence, the more I understood. Maverick had been born from pain and brotherhood—but Kade had been loved and nurtured by a woman who still made her thirty-seven-year-old grandson lemonade on a warm day after he finished mowing her lawn.
I was also beginning to understand why he kept the name his Gran called him close to his chest. I felt the significance of having it the moment he shared it with me, but in that kitchen, I felt it anew. The intimacy of it.
Being Kade’s woman was far greater than being friends-with-benefits.
“What about you?” I asked. “What line of work were you in?”
“I worked at the supermarket for nearly forty years.” She opened a cabinet in the corner and pulled out a bag of sugar as she continued, “I started as a cashier and did that for a little while. Then I wound up in the bakery department, and that’s where I stayed.
“We weren’t all fancy, like those cake shops they have now in the big cities, but we sure did have a lot of fun.”
“Do you still bake now?”
“I do. Anytime Kade gives me a reason to. That boy has always had a sweet tooth.”
We continued chatting as she finished the lemonade. She poured me a glass, and it was delicious, with just the right balance of tart and sweet. When she began pulling out ingredients for lunch, I got to my feet and washed my hands, ready to be put to work. I was chopping the lettuce when I heard the lawn mower as Kade pushed it along the side of the house into the backyard.
“You know, it’s been nearly twenty years since Kade has brought a woman around,” she began to say as she browned the meat at the stove.
I didn’t know , I thought as I looked over at her.
“Guess back then she would have been but a girl,” she continued without pause. “You must be somethin’ special.”
I felt her words profoundly, and it took me a second to find my own.
Wanting to offer her the same feeling she’d just given me, I said, “He’s not like anyone I’ve ever met before.”
She didn’t miss a beat as she replied, “And you won’t find another like him.”
The way she said it, with so much love and admiration, made my heart feel full.
Somehow I knew, she didn’t speak kindly behind his back because she was merely a doting grandmother who couldn’t help herself. She was more than that. Barb hadn’t seen Kade on the occasional weekend and holidays when he was growing up; she had all of him all the time. Even in the present, she wasn’t ignorant of the life he lived and his affiliation with the Wild Stallions.
I had no doubt she didn’t know the full extent of what he got up to, but Kade believed there was a God in part because Barb prayed for his soul. That told me she wasn’t willfully unaware of the significance of the kutte he wore. Still, she was proud to claim him as hers.
I’d told Tess that Maverick wasn’t the guy I was meant to bring home to my parents, but I was wrong. Sure, he was covered in tattoos with hair that hung nearly to his waist; he rode a motorcycle and probably didn’t own a single suit—but he was also the kind of guy who looked after his Gran; he was the kind of guy who checked to make sure I was okay after a first date with a stranger I’d met over the internet.
And I knew, down to my bones, he would never ask me to all but cut my parents out of my life, like my sister-in-law had done.
Barb and I had just finished throwing together a huge taco salad when Kade walked in. He wasn’t wearing his kutte, his hair was pulled into a top-knot, and his AC/DC shirt was sweaty, but he was still a sight for sore eyes. He threw back a tall glass of iced lemonade, then poured himself another before we all sat down to eat.
We stayed and kept Barb company for another hour, helping her with the dishes before we took our leave. When she told me she hoped to see me again soon, I returned the sentiment, meaning every word.
A short ride later, Kade and I arrived at another house. It was newer, but not much bigger. There was a truck parked in the driveway, with a shed a few yards beyond it in what appeared to be the side of the yard. There was no fence, but the neighboring houses were far enough away, I could see why the barrier wouldn’t be necessary.
When we were both on our feet, the helmet stowed and my purse extracted, he took my hand and lead me to the front door. I felt excitement course through me when he pulled out a set of keys in order to free the locks. We’d spent so much time at my house, and I was anxious to get a peek at his.
The front entrance led directly to his living room, which was surprisingly open—a feeling I attributed to the big double windows on the far side of the room and the open-concept floor-plan connecting the living area to the kitchen. Unlike at Barb’s house, he hadn’t tried to squeeze a ton of furniture into a small space. It appeared he had minimalistic taste—though, not entirely on purpose. My guess was he bought what he thought he needed and then stopped.
“I’m hittin’ the shower,” he told me as he made his way further into the house. He paused when he reached the kitchen, then glanced at me from over his shoulder and asked, “You gonna join me or you plan on snoopin’?”
I grinned and that was all the answer he needed.
“Right,” he said on a chuckle before he disappeared through the kitchen.
I found it curious that he had to go through his kitchen to get to the shower, but I wasn’t ready to follow after him to get the lay of the entire house. I wanted to start from the beginning.
Like a typical man, he had a big screen TV mounted to the wall. It was situated in front of a long sofa and a coffee table. His walls were otherwise bare, and the room lacked any other furniture or décor.
His kitchen had a small island and a workable amount of counter space. He also had a simple dining room table that sat four and fit nicely in the designated area. Opposite the table was a sliding glass door that led into the backyard and provided even more sunlight.
As I made my way into the kitchen, I saw how the rest of the house stretched behind the common area. I stumbled upon his washer and dryer, then the first of three rooms. It was empty, and I wasn’t the least bit surprised by this. The door next to it led to a bathroom that looked as though it was rarely used. There was a shower curtain hung across the bathtub, and hand soap by the sink, but it lacked any other useful essentials.
It was the next room over that beckoned me to stop and stay a while.
It was truly remarkable.
Three of the four walls were outfitted with built-in shelving units, almost like a library. The cases were obviously custom built, and he’d painted them—and the walls themselves—a dark shade of green. Only, rather than books filling the shelves, there were hundreds of vinyl records. Along the wall without any records, just beside the door, was a dark-wood, open-faced credenza which housed two record players and a sound system.
In the middle of the room, atop a round, oriental print rug, was one of those expensive, black leather Eames lounge chairs. Beside it, on a small side table, was a cordless lamp.
I hadn’t made it to his bedroom yet, but something told me this was the only room in which he’d put a significant amount of effort, and it had been worth it.
I was exploring his collection when I got a fresh whiff of him—birchwood the most prominent scent—and I turned to find him standing in the doorway. He had a towel wrapped low around his hips, and his gorgeous curls hung heavy and wet down his chest and back.
“See you found the only thing worth findin’,” he commented, a crooked smile tugging at his lips.
“Kade, this is seriously cool.”
“Yeah, babe. I know.”
I abandoned the records I’d been flipping through and closed the distance between us, placing my palms against his lower abdomen as I looked up at him and asked, “So, what now?”
“You’ve got options, foxy. We can hang out here for a bit, lay low until after dinner, then head over to Steel Mustang; or we could go to the clubhouse and see who’s around; or we could just stay in altogether.”
I’d seen enough of his house to gather he didn’t stay in altogether very often.
That said, since I had the option, I wasn’t sure I wanted to go back to the clubhouse. A night at Steel Mustang seemed like a happy compromise.
“Option one,” I told him. “But only if we stop by my house before we go so I can change. And I’m putting it out there now—pants if we’re getting there on your bike; a dress if we go in a vehicle with doors.”
I fought a smile as he folded his arms across his chest, his eyebrows knit together as he contemplated my ultimatum. He seriously thought about it before he said, “Pants. The leather ones you wore the night we met.”
My amusement vanished as my chest constricted.
I barely remembered what I wore that night.
The fact that he did was actually really sweet.
As I stared up at him, I mentally kicked myself for all the time I’d wasted running from a real relationship with the man in front of me.
Rather than dwell on it for too long, I nodded and agreed, “Pants it is. Now, are you going to play me a record, or what?”
“Pick one. I’ll put some pants on.”
I picked one, and we listened to side A as I continued to peruse his extensive collection. When we’d reached the end, he picked the next one. We did this until we both got hungry, then he chose his final selection, and we listened to it from the kitchen as we rummaged through his fridge for something to eat for dinner.
He had eggs, bacon, and a loaf of bread—so we had breakfast sandwiches.
Once we’d eaten, he went to finish getting dressed. I followed after him so I could get a glimpse of his room. It was completely uninspiring, but the bed was large and inviting, of which I made note.
It was another hour before we were headed to Steel Mustang. After we’d arrived at my place, it didn’t take much effort to throw together my outfit, half of it already chosen. I dressed up my look with a satin, burgundy halter top and my black, stiletto ankle boots.
This time, I didn’t let Kade talk me out of applying my usual amount of makeup.
When we were finally on our way, my arms wrapped tightly around his middle, I enjoyed the sunset as I willed myself to be brave and look at something other than Kade as we rode.
It was just before eight when we pulled onto the compound, and the parking lot in front of the biker bar was already more packed than it had been when I arrived the previous night. I assumed that meant there was a great lineup of bands set to hit the stage, and I was glad I’d chosen this compromise.
As we walked in, Kade threw his arm around my shoulders, tugging me into his side. I went willingly, feeling instantly safe in his hold.
We were halfway to the bar when I spotted Tess sitting beside the woman I’d met at the hospital weeks ago. Winnie, if I remembered correctly. I hadn’t thought about whether or not Tess would be at the bar that night, but I was certainly thrilled at the prospect of female company.
Both women were looking right at me as we approached.
Winnie seemed pleased, her subtle smile found mostly in her blue eyes.
But it was Tess who could hardly contain herself.
She was smiling huge .