Chapter 4 MAGGIE
MAGGIE
Taking the helmet from Dog, I buckled the chin strap. “What about you?”
“I’ll be careful,” he replies. “Got precious cargo. I won’t be cutting up.”
“You’d better not,” I warn and get on behind him, wrapping my arms around his waist. I hadn’t lied when I said I liked to ride.
I did. There was no better feeling than the rush of wind as you sped down a lane.
I wasn’t a fan of busy roads, but our quiet country lanes on the back of a bike? Yeah, this I loved.
Better still, I was wrapped around the man who’d taken my day by storm.
He wasn’t what I expected when I woke up this morning, and I still wasn’t sure how to feel about the emotions he’d evoked in me over the past few hours.
He’d seemed sincere enough, and that kiss …
yep, that kiss. I wouldn’t mind doing that again.
I mean, a girl had to make sure that it wasn’t a fluke.
Sadly, the ride home wasn’t a long one, and not twenty minutes later we were riding into the covered garage and Dog was helping me off.
Unstrapping the helmet, I handed it to him, aware that I had a wide smile on my face.
What can I say? My riding on the back of a bike with a dreamy man may not have been how I expected to end my day, but I wasn’t complaining.
Dog takes his helmet and rests it on the bike’s seat. “You really do enjoy riding?”
“I told you I did. I don’t lie Robert, it causes complications.”
“That’s good to know gorgeous. I’m going to kiss you again,” he warns, and I laugh.
Then his lips are on mine, and all laughter flees as he gathers me close, parting my lips.
I gasp as he slides his tongue against mine.
A low moan escapes as I raise my arms, curling them around his neck, threading my fingers into his hair.
I curl closer and allow him to take the lead as he devours my mouth until we need to take a breath.
“Wow,” I mutter, my eyes fluttering open to look into Robert’s.
“Fuck, gorgeous,” he presses his forehead to mine. “You make it hard to take things slowly.”
“Sorry,” I murmur. “In my defence I wasn’t expecting you to sweep into my life like you have.”
“It’s all good, Maggie. Come on let’s get you into the house and we can see what the rest are up to,” he says.
Taking my hand, he leads me into the kitchen.
I’d taken it over since I’d moved in. Not that Katie couldn’t cook, because she could, but it wasn’t her favourite thing in the world to do, whereas I loved it.
When she’d told me that the men would be home tonight, I’d got up early and made a pie that only needed to be put in the oven.
I greet Thor and Gunny, who are sitting at the kitchen table, a pot of tea between them.
There’s no sign of Shep and Kate. Not that I expected there to be.
I’d be surprised if they made it back down this evening.
Leaving Dog at the back door, I slip an apron over my head and go to the fridge.
I take the pie out of the fridge and slide it into the oven before starting on the vegetables.
I’m content listening to the men’s conversations as I work.
“Tea, Maggie?” Gunny asks.
“Please, milk with no sugar. Supper will be another half hour unless you want to eat later?”
“Half-hour’s good. Come sit and drink your tea Maggie, you’ve been on your feet all day. We can get supper when it’s ready.” Robert says, pulling out a chair. Opening the oven door, I check on the pie before taking a seat next to Robert.
I thought it would be weird. I mean, the men didn’t know me, but instead what I found was a friendship that spanned decades. A support system that at the time we didn’t realise we’d need, but it was there through losses, births, marriages, break-ups and starting over.
***
These men, along with Kate and Shep, became my constants, and Robert?
Well … Robert became my rock.
From the day we said ‘I do’ he was my first in everything. The one who was always there no matter what. He was my hero even when he irritated the hell out of me, and I wouldn’t change him for all the world.
And he was right; he wore me down. Not that it took much work on his part. He never shied away from letting me know how much I meant to him. Three months after we met, we got married at the local registry office.
Shep and Kate stood up with us as witnesses. Afterwards, we went to the pub that Shep had just bought and partied until we had to close. Our wedding picture was the only picture we had of all the men and the two of us original old ladies.
If we’d known we’d lose Roman and Jones, I’d have insisted on more photos, but life got busy, babies arrived, Gunny got married, and we lost his wife not long after she had Drake.
Then, Thor and Silvie blew up, and Kate and I took on Noni and Marcus along with our own children and Drake.
To say we were busy was an understatement, but that’s life, and somehow, we all managed.
I’d do it all again in a heartbeat as long as it meant I had Robert at my side and our best friends at our backs.