Chapter Seventeen
Maverick
One Week Later
He could tell by what his Gran was wearing she was looking forward to their dinner plans. The cream blouse and pressed, navy slacks she had on was an outfit the likes of which she’d wear to church. She’d also taken the time to put on her makeup. Maverick couldn’t remember when he’d last seen Gran in lipstick, but he was pleased Jenna had given the woman a reason to put some on.
Pleased enough that he wasn’t even annoyed to be in his truck rather than on his hog as the two of them made their way across town.
It had taken years for Gran to get used to the fact that his desired mode of transportation had only two wheels and no doors. She’d never taken him up on his offer for a ride, and he suspected she wouldn’t ever change her mind.
“Been a long time since I’ve met someone new,” she commented. “When you get to be as old as me, livin’ in the same town where you grew up, newcomers are few and far between. Most of them are babies. This’ll be nice.”
Maverick hadn’t put a lot of forethought into how dinner would go. He was showing up with his Gran at the request of his lady. Even though he’d never done a meet the parents dinner, he wasn’t nervous or overthinking it. They weren’t the ones he was taking to bed every night.
He knew very well what he looked like with his tattoos, his long hair, his collection of rings, and the kutte he was never without. In his world, he wasn’t much different than anyone else. In Jenna’s world, he stuck out like the rebel he was. He still wasn’t wholly convinced he was worthy of her, but she wasn’t without her flaws, and she’d chosen him anyway. More than that, she hadn’t asked him to put on a show for her folks, so he didn’t intend to.
“Now, what I want to know is—do you go anywhere without that dang vest anymore? Honestly, must you wear it all the time?”
Maverick chuckled as he replied, “It’s a part of me, Gran. No sense in hiddin’ it.”
“I’ll tell you one thing, if you get lucky and one day that sweet woman marries you, I will tan your hide if you try wearin’ that vest at the altar of the Lord,” she declared.
Grinning, Maverick took his eyes off the road to look at Gran. He didn’t need to see her face to know she was serious, but it amused him all the same.
“Gran,” he began to say as he shifted his focus back out onto the road. “We get that far, she says yes, and she tells me she wants to do it up right, I’ll wear whatever she tells me to. How ‘bout that?”
“ That , my dear, sounds a lot like love.”
Maverick’s grin faded as he let himself wonder whether or not he was in love with Jenna Hayes. He wasn’t sure he’d ever been in love—not because it didn’t appeal to him, but because he’d never met a woman he wanted enough to go that deep.
But Jenna was different. He’d known it since the beginning.
One night at the bar, and he was convinced she was the kind of woman who would make life better than good.
He’d underestimated her.
She made life fucking great.
He thought back to the beginning of the week. Jenna had crawled into his bed as the sun was coming up, like she’d done all weekend. He hated to leave her when it was time for him to go to work. He hadn’t fucked her in days, her exhaustion getting the better of her, another item on his list of reasons why he hated her night shift rotation. He left placated by the knowledge she wouldn’t have to work again until Wednesday, a promise in and of itself.
On a whim, he’d decided to take his lunch break at home. When he arrived, he’d found Jenna in his kitchen—hair wet from a shower, her body adorned in nothing but his Def Leppard tee. She was at the stove, making French toast. He was half hard the moment she glanced over her shoulder, smiled, and hit him with a, “ Hi, honey. ”
She’d had a craving, he had most of the ingredients, so she’d made it work.
They ate the French toast. He’d made a mental note to buy vanilla extract and powdered sugar the next time he went to the store. Then he satisfied his own craving and fucked her hard against his fridge before he went back to work.
His dick jerked at the memory.
Yeah. She made life fuckin’ great , he thought as he turned into her neighborhood.
She was sassy and sweet, strong but soft, and he liked that a whole lot.
Was that love?
He wasn’t sure.
But he wouldn’t deny he was falling.
Her parent’s SUV was parked along the curb in front of her house, so Maverick pulled his truck into the driveway. He helped Gran navigate the distance between the passenger seat and the ground before they both made their way to the front stoop. He smirked when he rang the doorbell, having never done it before.
When Jenna filled the doorway a few seconds later, a knowing smile tugging at her lips and silent laughter lighting up her pretty hazel-green eyes, he knew they were thinking the same thing.
He winked, she giggled softly, then dropped her gaze to find Gran’s.
“Hi, Barb. It’s good to see you again,” she greeted, stepping out for a hug.
“You too, dear.” Gran returned the embrace. “I sure do appreciate the invite.”
“Of course. Please, come in.” She let go of Gran and stepped back into her entryway, swinging the door open wide. “My folks are just up the stairs. Dinner’s almost ready.”
Gran went up ahead of them, and Maverick lingered behind long enough to greet his lady with a kiss.
She smelled good— elegant , like always—and she looked even better. The spaghetti strap, yellow sundress she had on was one he’d never seen before. Her feet were bare, her hair was loose, and—not for the first time—he wondered how a man like him had managed to stumble upon a woman like her.
Luck. Providence. Whatever it was, he was grateful.
“Hey, foxy,” he mumbled against her lips. “Anything I outta know before I go up there?”
She shook her head as she reached for his hand. “No. Just be you. Oh, but I forgot to tell you, I told them your name is Kade. Hope that’s okay.”
“It’s your world, babe. Kade it is.” He nodded toward the stairs, and she started the climb, holding onto him as they went.
Mr. Hayes stood from where he sat on the couch as they reached the landing, while Mrs. Hayes came bustling from the kitchen, drying her hands on a tea towel.
“Mom, I was gone for two seconds. I told you to relax. I’ve got it,” Jenna insisted.
Mrs. Hayes shrugged sheepishly. “It’s not every day you host a whole crowd, sweetie. I was only going to help with the salad.”
Jenna drew in a deep breath then forced a smile up at Maverick. He gave her fingers a squeeze, her smile softened into a genuine one, then she exhaled and began introductions.
“Kade, Barb, these are my parents—Pete and Stacey. Mom, dad—meet Kade and his grandma, Barb.”
In one glance, Maverick saw what Jenna could look like in another twenty-to-thirty years. Aside from a shorter haircut, a lot more freckles—likely due to the hours she spent out in the sun—and a few wrinkles, mother and daughter resembled two versions of the same person from different decades. It was almost uncanny.
Pete was average height with a stocky build, and he certainly wasn’t lacking in confidence. He had to look up to meet Maverick’s eye, but he shook his hand with an unyielding grip that sent a message. His daughter was a grown woman capable of making her own decisions, but that didn’t mean her father had abandoned his post at her back.
Maverick knew a real man when he saw one. He respected him, too.
“Kade,” Pete muttered with a dip of his chin.
“Pete. Good to meet you,” Maverick said in reply.
“My goodness. That hair .” He looked over as Stacey rested a hand on Gran’s shoulder and asked, “Do you just envy those curls, or what?”
“I know, I do,” chimed in Jenna. “I don’t think my stubbornly straight hair would do that even if I permed it,” she teased.
“I used to give him grief about it. My George was always clean-cut, and I prefer short hair to long on a man. But by the time it passed his shoulders, I couldn’t deny its beauty.”
“Kade, I’m sorry. We’re going on and on about your hair, and I haven’t even shaken your hand.”
“Not a problem,” said Maverick through a smile.
Her hand wrapped around his, she stared up at him and murmured, “I can see how that smile could win you my girl.”
“Okay! Well, mom—how about that salad?” Jenna wrapped her arm around Stacey’s shoulders and began to guide her toward the kitchen. Over her own shoulder, she asked, “Barb, could I get you something to drink? Honey, you want a beer?”
Fifteen minutes later, they were squeezed around Jenna’s kitchen table with plates full of chicken pesto pasta, freshly tossed salad, and toasted garlic bread. Like every meal Maverick had eaten at her table, it was good.
Gran, in her excitement at the opportunity to get to know new people, steered the conversation for most of dinner. This, Maverick surmised, had been the reason Jenna had extended the invite. Not to distract her parents from the reality of the biker he was, or to showcase he’d been raised by a good woman and not wolves—but because in no world would he sit at a table with her parents and carry the conversation the way Gran did.
Even though Jenna had told him repeatedly all she wanted that night was for him to be himself, it wasn’t until after he sat through dinner that he truly believed his lady was not the least bit ashamed of him.
They’d had a bumpy start, but she’d come around to accept him for who he was. Except, it was one thing for her to claim him as her man when they were in his world, with his brothers, their ol’ ladies, and his Gran. It was another thing entirely for her to claim him in her world.
Every time she’d reach over and rest her hand on his thigh underneath the table, he felt her staking her claim, and he fell a little harder.
“This is what happens when you get a bunch of old people together. We’ll talk about anything,” said Stacey.
“Who you callin’ old?” Pete asked with a playful scowl.
She waved him off and focused her attention on Maverick. “What I mean is, we’ve hardly given you a chance to tell us about yourself. What is you do for a living, Kade?”
“I’m an auto mechanic at Stallion Motors, a garage not far from here.”
“Man who works with his hands,” Pete commented with a nod of approval. “I respect that.”
“Man who will make sure our girl doesn’t forget to change her oil,” added Stacey with a cheeky grin. “I like that.”
“He’s been tinkerin’ with motors more than half his life,” said Gran.
“Careful, Barb. Talk him up too much, and dad’ll be calling me wondering when we’re coming for a visit only to put Kade to work on one of his bum tractors.”
Pete shrugged. “Smart man knows how to use his network.”
Stacey rolled her eyes. “Kade, you’re welcome anytime. If you come our way, I promise I will not let him work you to the bone.”
“I don’t mind helpin’ out where I can,” he offered.
“See, there? Man’s not afraid of a little work,” Pete replied.
Jenna stood, drawing all attention her way as she began to clear dinner plates. “Lucky for all of us, there are no tractors here, so—who’s interested in dessert?”
Stacey got up to help, but Pete remained seated as he asked, “Stallion Motors, you say? Is that somehow affiliated with that biker vest you’re wearing?”
Maverick could feel Jenna’s eyes on him, but he didn’t look toward the kitchen, instead focusing his gaze on Pete. He nodded and explained, “Yes, sir. The club I belong to owns the garage and the auto parts store next to it. Not everyone at the garage or the shop rides, but all of us who ride work on the compound.”
“How long have you been riding?”
“Seventeen years. Fifteen with the club.”
Pete raised his eyebrows, seemingly impressed.
“Do you two ride on his motorcycle together?” asked Stacey.
He could hear the way she tried to hide her apprehension at the thought, and it brought a smile to his face as he glanced at his lady. She and her mother really were so much alike.
“Yeah, mom,” Jenna answered. “I let him take me around town. But, don’t worry, he’s always sure to have a helmet for me.”
“Oh. Good,” she said, sounding relieved. “You can never be too careful.”
It was nearly nine by the time the night began to draw to a close. Gran wanted to know how she could help clean up, but neither Jenna nor Stacey would allow her to lift a finger. They exchanged goodbyes and nice-to-meet-yous before Jenna walked Maverick and Gran to the door.
“Stay put,” he told her as she stepped out onto the front stoop.
Jenna did as she was told, and Maverick helped his Gran into his truck.
“Be right back,” he said as he closed her inside.
He returned to his lady, reaching for her as soon as he came to a stop. She went willingly into his arms, tilting her head back as he descended for a kiss. Maverick knew his Gran was watching, but he didn’t care. He took what he wanted before he pulled away enough to look into Jenna’s eyes.
“That go how you hoped?” he asked.
Leaning into him a bit more, she replied, “Yeah. I think it went really well.”
“I was on my best behavior,” he teased.
“For real, though—do you like them?”
He jerked his head back, scowling slightly in confusion. He hadn’t expected the question. At least, not aimed at him.
Accurately interpreting his expression, she explained, “I told you about my sister-in-law. Ashlynn doesn’t like them. She played nice until she and Seth got married, but as soon as the ink had dried on their marriage license, all masks were off. We hardly ever see them.”
She took hold of either side of his kutte, dropping her gaze to his chest as she murmured, “I don’t know if you and I will go the distance. I don’t know what that even looks like in your head. I do know you make me happy, and I’m not ready for this to end. But if you don’t like my parents…”
“Babe?” He tightened his hold around her, and she sucked in a quiet gasp as she lifted her head and gave him her eyes once more. “They love you. Can see that love is what made you. What’s not to like, foxy?”
Rather than speak her reply, she pressed up onto her tiptoes, circled her arms around his shoulders, and held him close. He knew then their night wasn’t over.
“Droppin’ Gran off. Grabbin’ my hog. Comin’ back.”
“You’re coming back?”
This time, it was she who jerked her head in disbelief.
“You sayin’ I’m not welcome in your bed because your parents are here?”
“What? No. I mean—chances are good they’ll be asleep in the next thirty minutes. Their internal clocks are set for life. It’s just…” Her voice dropped to a whisper as she continued, “I’ve never had sex under the same roof as my parents.”
Maverick’s mouth spread wide in a grin.
“First time for everything.”
“Kade!”
He knew she’d meant to chide him, but she was smiling, too.
“Gotta go, babe. I’ll see you in a bit,” he said, pulling away from her.
“Kade!” she called after him as he made his way back to his truck.
He didn’t respond, and he was still grinning when he closed himself in his seat behind the wheel. Jenna remained on her front stoop—hands on her hips, her porch light casting a halo atop her shiny, honey-brown hair as the last remnants of the sun clung to the horizon.
That was his lady. Gorgeous and sassy.
“Smile like that? Now that’s love, my boy,” said Gran. “Looks good on you. Real good.”