Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Shadow
“Where are we going?” Della asks, joining me outside the ranch house, dressed casually in a pair of jeans and a pale pink shirt that molds to her body perfectly.
I texted her before making my way out here to let her know she could dress casually. Where we’re going, I want her to be comfortable. My plan was to spend time with her and only her. I stopped at The Hideaway and got us dinner.
“You’ll see.” I grin and pull her to me. “You look beautiful.”
“Well, it’s a good thing you texted me because I honestly didn’t know what I was going to wear.
I brought a lot of clothes with me, though not much isn’t business attire.
I hate to think about it, but eventually, I’m going to need to go back to my place in Copper Run to get the rest of my things,” Della rambles, her brows creasing.
“Actually, there’s not much left I need to go get.
I wasn’t really there often enough to accumulate more than necessities.
It’s mostly furniture that I could even sell. My life has been nothing but boring.”
“There’s nothing boring about you, little mouse.” I grin, giving her a squeeze before letting her go and taking her hand. “Come on. Let’s get going.”
“How come you won’t tell me where we’re going?” she asks, walking at my side to my truck.
I thought about taking her out on my bike at first when I went back to the clubhouse to talk to Lucifer and show him the file she let me borrow, but I wanted us to have as much time to talk as possible.
Plus, for what I have planned, my truck is the better transportation. Everything I need is in the back.
Honestly, I don’t remember the last time I wanted to take a woman out on a date. Think the last time was high school, and it doesn't really count. I’ve been with a lot of women, though none like this. I want more than Della’s body. I want her time, her conversation, and her attention.
Della Meadows intrigues me and has since I saw her again, not including the funeral. I hadn’t even talked to her there.
“Where we’re going is a surprise,” I explain and help her into the passenger seat, something I’ve not done for any woman, period. “You wouldn’t want to ruin it by continuing to pry it out of me, would you?”
“I highly doubt anyone could pry anything out of you that you don’t want to spill.” Della huffs.
I can’t help but grin, close the passenger door, and round the hood of my truck, like my bike, this beauty is special to me.
It’s not a new vehicle. I bought it as a junker and restored it myself.
I’ve got a thing for the late eighties and early nineties models.
Mine is a 1987 Chevy Silverado that I painted cherry red and have the lights on the top of the roll bar.
Making the truck perfect for things we’ve got to do at night in the middle of nowhere and dealing with things I won’t speak of.
Besides the few times Amelia has ridden with me, no other woman has been in this truck.
I have the same rule as I do with my bike, and I have a feeling that when it comes to Della, that’s gonna change in a lot of ways.
Hopping in behind the wheel, I turn the key, and the engine starts up with a purr that I absolutely love hearing every time it comes to life.
Putting the truck in reverse, I back up enough to be able to swing around without hitting her car. Once I shift into drive, I reach for Della’s hand and pull it over to my lap.
The silence between us isn’t awkward or filled with tension. In fact, it’s peaceful. Della seems relaxed, and that’s good. I want her to feel she can be herself with me.
“Did you show Lucifer the file?” she asks, looking in my direction.
I glance at her, grinning, before focusing on the road. We’re not going far, which is good. I don’t want the food in the back to get cold, not to mention get us to where we’re going before the sun goes down.
“Yeah, I actually left it with him to look over. He wanted to look more into it, check what the numbers would be now. We’re anything if not efficient in checking anything that could become a potential business deal for the club.
” I knew my President. I had no doubt that he would want to add it to the deal.
We were gonna meet as a club before the meeting with Della and Maddox to vote on it, which I’m sure my brothers would all agree to.
“I completely get that. I would have done it myself, but you asked to take it. You did tell him those numbers were correct back when it was done, right?”
Grinning, I give her hand a squeeze. “I told him, little mouse.”
“Why do you keep calling me that?” she asks.
Taking the turn to Willow’s Bluff, I smile over at Della. “Used to call you a little mousey thing,” I tell her. “You’re so damn small, like a mouse. It suits you.”
“I’m not a mouse.” She huffs and tries to pull her hand away, only I don’t let her.
“You’re not, but I like calling you my little mouse, and that’s what I’m gonna keep doing.”
“It’s not a nice name,” she mutters.
Laughing, I come to a stop in the clearing for the bluff and park.
I let Della’s hand go in order to get out.
I round the front of the truck as she’s opening her door.
Her eyes come to mine as I help her get out.
With the height of the truck being lifted, she would have to jump in and out of it.
Fine with me if it means I get to have my hands on her.
I hold Della’s gaze as I set her on her feet, holding her close.
With her so close and smelling the floral scent of her, I crave more.
My cock wants to take things further. Only with Della, I need to take things slow, especially with what she revealed to me.
The very fact she even let that come out has me wanting to protect her at all costs from anything that would dare be a threat to her.
“Come on.” I drop my hands from her hips, take her hand, and guide her to the back of the truck.
I let her go in order to put the tailgate down and haul myself up into the bed. I set out the blankets I’d gotten from my room at the clubhouse. The cooler holding the drinks and the bag with our food is at the front of the bed.
With the blanket set out, I step to the tailgate, bend down, and lift Della, making her gasp.
Once her feet clear the edge of the tailgate, I make sure she’s firmly on her feet before nodding for her to stretch out on the blanket set up.
“So, we’re having a picnic?” she asks, pointing out the obvious.
“That’s what we’re doing,” I tell her, grabbing the bag out of the cooler and joining her. “Could have taken you to town, gone to dinner, but this, well, it seemed a better option so we could have time without the whole town watching us.”
“Does that mean you intend to keep our relationship a secret?”
“Fuck no,” I bite out harsher than I mean to.
“We’re not a secret, Della. It is my first time doing something like this.
I didn’t want us to have to deal with people in town gawking and gossiping.
This, tonight, it’s about you and me. Us.
Learning about each other. Trust me when I say, we’ll be seen and not some dirty little secret. ”
No way in hell I would do that to her. Della Meadows isn’t the type of woman you keep from the world.
Della nods and sucks in a breath. “I have one request of you with us dating.”
“What’s that?” I’ll do anything she asks of me so long as it’s something I can do.
“If at any time you don’t want me. Tell me. I don’t want a relationship that is volatile. I won’t look the other way if you want someone else.”
“With you, Della, there can be no other woman for me. I’ve thought about it since the hospital. I can’t get you out of my head, and that is a dangerous thing. Especially with the shit that was going on.”
“What was going on?” she whispers, holding my gaze with those deep, dark eyes of hers that haunted my dreams the past few nights.
“I told you about Marcy and the bullshit she tried.”
Della nods.
“I’m not going to go through all the details, but I’m gonna ask that if she comes near you, you tell me.”
“Why would she do that?” Della’s brows furrow, obvious confusion written all over her face.
“Because the bitch is crazy.” There’s no other way to put it.
I dig into the cooler, hand her a beer, only for her to shake her head.
“I don’t drink.”
“Baby, I watched you drink at Rodeo Roundup,” I point out, cocking a brow, grinning.
“Yeah, and I kept my hand over the top of it the whole time when I wasn’t drinking from the glass,” she whispers, pink tinting her cheeks.
Fuck.
I get what she’s not saying.
“You know, when you’re with me, you’re safe, right?” I need her to understand that she’ll always be safe with me and can trust that I wouldn’t do anything to hurt her.
“I feel safe. However, this . . . between us . . . it’s just starting. I don’t want to piss you off by saying this, but I don’t know you enough to trust you yet.”
Damn those words, as right as she is to say them, feel like a sucker punch to the gut.
I set both beers back in the cooler and pull out two bottles of water instead, handing one to her. “Just so you know, little mouse, I’ll earn your trust, and you’ll see that you can trust me.”
“I hope so.” Della smiles and looks at the bag holding our food. “What did you get for us to eat?”
Giving her a smirk, I pull out her favorite mac and a sandwich, handing them to her, then my sandwich and fries for me. Together we sit back, eat, talk, and enjoy each other’s company.
Right now, that’s all I need from her. To get to know her all over again. She’s setting the pace for something more later on when she can fully trust me.
When that day comes, I’ll know it will be worth it. Since seeing her again at Rodeo Roundup, she’s consumed me, and I’m getting now what it means for it to fill my head. Damn if it doesn’t feel good.