12. Chapter Twelve
Chapter Twelve
Tack had wanted to stay in bed with his woman, but she’d planned on being up at six a.m., and he’d wanted to have her day start off perfectly.
He’d set his watch alarm to wake him at five-thirty so he’d have time to brew her coffee and bring her breakfast. It was five ‘til six a.m., and time to wake her up. He’d left the door open a crack so it wouldn’t make a sound when he walked back in.
He paused because he heard talking from her room.
“What’s it mean that he left before I woke up?
I mean, was I so horrible snuggling in bed that he had to get away?
Did my smelly morning breath turn him away?
I thought our kiss yesterday was the start of something, but now, waking up alone—was it all an act?
Oh, I don’t have time for this. I need to shower and get ready. ”
He needed to put a stop to this because he wasn’t going to allow Sophia to have any doubts about how he felt about her. He pushed the door open, spotting Sophia sitting on the side of the bed, despondent.
“Hey, babe, I wanted your day to start perfectly. I set my alarm so I could brew you coffee,” he reported, placing the steaming cup on the bedside table.
He knelt in front of her. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here when you woke up.
I thought I’d be back in plenty of time, but we need to talk.
Our first kiss yesterday was the last first kiss either of us will ever have because, babe, you’re it for me.
In biker speak, you’re mine. I’m not going anywhere, and I don’t care about morning breath.
My mouth, when we have time, will be all over your body.
Now, let’s start this day off right,” he proposed, sliding his hand into her hair to pull her closer.
She slid her hand over her mouth, glaring at him. He chuckled. He loved her sassiness and strength.
“So you’re not going to let me kiss you until you brush your teeth?” he questioned.
She shook her head. Oh, she was hysterical, not even speaking because she didn’t want him smelling her breath.
“I’ll agree on one condition—that I can kiss you anytime I want, even today. Deal?” he asked. She stared at him, not answering while she thought it through. He could see he’d have his hands full bargaining with her the rest of their lives, and he was here for it.
She nodded, agreeing.
“All right. Do you want me to stick around, or do you want to get ready on your own to get in the right headspace for the event?” he asked.
She pointed to the door, making him chuckle again. “You got it, babe. I’m yours to command today.”
He stood up, waiting until she headed into the bathroom before heading downstairs, chuckling. Life with Sophia would never be boring.
He joined his mom in the kitchen, slipping an arm around her waist and giving her a hug.
“Thanks for being here, Mom,” he replied warmly.
She stirred the gravy, hugging him back. His mom was the queen of multi-tasking. “I’m happy to. She’s perfect for you.”
“I agree. I’ve got this itch that I need to make a quick walk around the property after I check with Cuffs how last night went,” he admitted.
“He’s already sleeping in the room I slept in. He left a note, but he said no activity besides a couple of deer,” she informed him.
“Will you tell Sophia where I am when she comes down?”
His mom nodded. He poured a coffee and headed through the hallway toward the front door. Once on the front porch, he allowed himself a little smirk. The huge sign his friend had brought was perfect. He couldn’t see any of Jolene’s house, so he knew she couldn’t see them.
He headed out through the gate in the front yard, but instead of taking the driveway, he decided to walk on the sidewalk until he got to the edge of Sophia’s property. Her house and Jolene’s were the last on the street before the wooded area started.
On Jolene’s side of the street, the land was farmed, so there weren’t any trees to hide anything.
On Sophia’s side, her dad had left the front of the property natural.
Trees dotted the area with natural grasses filling the open spaces.
He’d had Shield mow the area yesterday after Sophia asked if they could use it for extra parking.
When he reached the edge of Sophia’s property, he turned to walk back.
Her property had a nice wooden fence with posts every eight feet.
Between the two posts, there was a bottom and top fence rail and another two pieces forming an X.
It was more decorative than a barbed wire fence would be, but it wouldn’t hurt animals that came onto the property like barbed wire could.
The area on the other side of Sophia’s was tall natural grasses. He wondered who it belonged to.
He stopped when he saw a place where the top fence rail had been removed with the grass stamped down as if someone had worked here for a while before going over.
The removed fence rail was lying on her property.
He hopped the fence and headed over toward her house from where the fence had been taken down.
He wished he was better at tracking, but it wasn’t his specialty. He headed in a straight line toward the house and ended up back near the spot where he’d assumed someone had been watching Sophia. Looking around at the trees, he spotted the cameras that had been added.
How was he going to keep her safe when he didn’t know what he was keeping her safe from? Rufus would be the easy suspect, and he was on the list, but Tack didn’t want to focus only on Rufus and miss a threat from somewhere else.
He’d head back and help today. Hopefully, some of the people searching would find something.
Sophia glanced at how many people were still looking. She’d estimate around fifty but most of them were with families. She still had a lot of animals who needed fosters.
She’d been watching how the MC men and women interacted with the animals all day. She had a couple ideas now about where some of her fosters might go.
She had a break, so she walked over to Shield, who had been such a help. “Thank you so much for all you’re doing,” she praised.
Shield nodded. “I like animals, so it wasn’t any trouble,” he muttered.
“You’re really good, especially with the dogs. Do you live at the clubhouse?” she asked.
“Why do you ask?”
“The German Shepherd puppies we found can’t be adopted yet, but I need a foster home for them.
The one healing from the wound still needs antibiotics, but they both have phenomenal personalities, even with what they’d been through.
I heard one of the guys mention you were trying to figure out what to do for the club.
You could foster the puppies and then train them as protection dogs or, if they have the right personality, as medical dogs.
There are classes and training you can take.
But you don’t have to decide that part yet.
Would you be willing to foster them?” Sophia pleaded.
She refrained from pouting, but she would if she needed to.
Shield tilted his head, gazing around the area. “Well…”
Tack walked up, slid his hand into her hair, tilting her head to the side, claiming her mouth—his tongue pressed at the seam of her mouth until she opened. Once he claimed her mouth and threw her completely off balance, he pulled away, winked, and walked off while she could barely think straight.
Shield laughed. “That’s like the sixteenth time he’s kissed you today but who’s counting? Is he making sure everyone knows you’re his?”
She blushed, her face heating. She was not telling Shield that it was part of the bargain Tack made with her.
“Hmm, when I find a woman, I’ll have to remember to use a bargain for kisses—very, very smart.”
Fuck-a-duck, she’d said that aloud again.
“To answer your question, I love animals, and I’ll consider the training part.
For fostering, how many animals can be fostered together, because I’d love to foster the German Shepherd puppies, but I also wanted to ask about this guy here to foster,” Shield inquired, pointing at the little dog whose ear had been ripped off and was missing fur in a couple places.
“You can foster as many as you like. We’d need to put the animals together in a controlled setting and make sure they get along. Thank you. Knowing they’ll be with someone who cares about them makes me feel so much better,” she concluded.
He grinned. “Gotcha, Doc. No talking about my Sgt at Arms staking his claim all day,” he deadpanned, walking off.
Sophia headed over to the adoption area where Lake was working with families to find them their perfect companion.
She had to admit the mix of people was interesting.
Tack had put the call out to all his SWAT buddies and their friends.
There were numerous first responders mixing with the Saint’s Outlaws MC.
“Everything going okay?” she asked.
“Oh yes, the eye candy today between the MC cuts and the uniforms of the first responders have made this day fly by,” Lake sighed.
“Umm, I was checking on the animal adoptions, not how you felt about the day,” Sophia teased.
“It’s going well, spoilsport. I mean, you already have your own man you can climb like a tree. What’s wrong with me viewing the manly merchandise and seeing if I can find my own man?” Lake whined.
“You get all your jobs done today, and maybe I’ll ask if one of the guys could give you a ride on his motorcycle,” Sophia suggested.
“Is ‘ride on his motorcycle’ a euphemism for ‘riding his dick’ because a motorcycle ride is all good and well, but I would like to be banged up against the wall until I’m screaming,” Lake questioned with a smile.
“Lake, we have kids. Keep it PG for a couple more hours,” Sophia ordered.
“Hey, pretty lady, if you’re just wanting a good time, come see me after the event,” Tack’s brother, Stinger, offered.
“Uh…” Lake stuttered.
“She’ll consider it,” Sophia replied, chuckling at the stunned look on her friend’s face. “While you’re recovering, I’m going to head up to the front of the drive and check in with Freedom.”
Sophia waited to see if Lake would reply, but Lake continued to stand there with her mouth hanging open until a family walked up and asked about one of the cats.
Sophia couldn’t quit chuckling as she walked around the house, smelling the barbecue that Pit’s restaurant would be setting up soon.
As she walked toward where Freedom was working, Sophia realized that for the first time since she divorced Rufus, she was happy.
The sense of peace she felt was all due to Tack.
She stopped at the edge of the front porch, waiting for Freedom to finish with a couple.
“I’m going to call the police!” Jolene screamed from the edge of the street.
“Well, let me help you out,” Sophia countered, turning around and walking back to a large group of Tack’s friends. “Hey, my ex-mother-in-law said she’s going to call the police. Do any of you want to help her?”
Tack’s boss, whom Tack had introduced her to but Sophia couldn’t remember his name, walked over.
“I’d be happy to set her straight,” the man insisted.
“Oh, is this the lady from the great Kansas City Squirrel Abduction? I want in,” one of the guys in uniform called. Three more officers followed Tack’s boss. Jolene was probably getting more than she bargained for.
Freedom had taken a seat and was humming as she kept an eye on Jolene. Sophia watched as Jolene tried to explain her point, but the officers weren’t sympathetic. Tack’s boss walked over.
“My suggestion is that you put her and her son on a no-trespass order. If they violate it, then they can be arrested for criminal trespass,” Tack’s boss suggested.
“I’d like to do that,” Sophia insisted. She was tired of dealing with all this nonsense from Jolene.
"We’ll take care of it,” he confirmed, walking back over to Jolene.
Sophia watched as he took care of it. Freedom slipped her arm around Sophia’s waist.
“I told you. We need a couple pigs. Boom! Problem solved,” Freedom mused.
Sophia knew Freedom was joking, but she did wish Jolene would just go on her way.