I smiled a little.
The situation might suck, but it sure was nice to see Mac with someone so sweet and pretty. I had a good feeling about this girl. She might be pretty, but she wasn’t too fancy, at second glance. She seemed real. And it was time.
Mac had held himself separate from life long enough. It was a lonely way to live, even with the club as backup. I knew from experience.
Thankfully, I’d met one fiery redhead and I’d been hooked. I couldn’t protect myself anymore. Not from her. Loving Janet had changed everything for me. It made the world infinitely brighter and also scarier. Suddenly, I had something to lose.
“I’ll call Dev. Get your lady set up. Nick and Kyle, you head over to the cabin with them. In a little bit, we’ll all go pay this piece of shit a little visit.”
And just like that, the room sprang into action.
A soft touch made me turn and look down. Suzanna’s hand was on my arm.
“Thank you.”
I nodded at her and at Mac.
“You’re one of us now.”
I strode outside to put the plan in motion.
Chapter 19
Molly
“You live out here?”
Angel nodded, giving me a secretive look. We were both wildly curious about the girl who was sitting there, petting the cranky-looking cat on her lap. Well, a woman, really, even though she was very young and pretty. She was a widow, after all.
I couldn’t imagine losing my husband. It was unthinkable to me. Callaway was my moon and my stars. But Suzanna was with Mac now, and he was one of the best people I’d ever met. I just didn’t know how serious it was yet. I liked her already though. She was resilient. She’d been through a lot.
As if on cue, the cat bit the hand that was scratching its chin and darted off. Suzanna flinched but didn’t complain. It seemed like she was used to getting chewed on.
“Are all the windows and doors shut?” Suzanna asked worriedly, rising to check. Angel shooed her back into her seat.
“I already opened them all to air the place out and checked the screens.” She smiled ruefully. “I’m kind of an expert on fresh air.”
I smiled reassuringly at Suzanna.
“She is.”
“And your name is… Angel?”
We both laughed.
“My name is Kirsten, but no one calls me that anymore.”
“Blame Lucky!” I piped up.
“And this is your house?”
We both shook our heads.
“It’s Dev and Kaylie’s place. He’s the club Prez. And she’s in charge too.”
“I guess we are kind of a gang ourselves.” I giggled. “Just no motorcycles. Well, except Janet.”
Jack had built his woman a custom bike in Megawatt Hot Pink. I didn’t see her riding it all that often anymore, but when she did, she was a sight to see.
“Yeah, we are more of a gang of moms.”
“Oh. That sounds nice.”
“It is nice,” Angel said, squeezing her hand. “Once you belong to one of the guys, it’s instant membership.”
“Belong?”
I giggled.
“You are going to freak her out, Angel!” I smiled at Suzanna. “She just means that our men are kind of possessive.” I winked at her. “But so are we!”
“I’d scratch out anyone’s eyes who dared to look at Lucky.”
I shook my head.
“You would not!”
“Well, I would think about doing it!”
We all laughed that time.
“Don’t worry. We’re all pussycats. But we protect our own. That’s you now, too.”
“Mac and I…” she said, trailing off. She bit her lip nervously, looking much younger than her age. Her huge green eyes dominated her face, and her long dark hair was so shiny, it looked like a wig. “It’s really new. I wasn’t expecting anything. I haven’t been with anyone else except my husband.”
“Oh, so that’s why you haven’t boned him,” we heard come from the doorway. Janet and Kaylie stood there. Kaylie was smiling and Janet was giving a mock-serious look. She was prone to teasing but had the biggest heart of all of us.
Suzanna was blushing bright pink.
“I–I . . .” she stammered.
Janet grinned and set down the bag of groceries. “I love that you are making his ass wait. It sets a strong precedent.”
“Only at first,” Suzanna said shyly. “After that first night…”
We all leaned forward.
“Spit it out!” Janet insisted. “After that first night, what?”
“He made me wait! Said it was too important to rush things. We did other things, though,” Suzanna added with an even darker blush.
We all exchanged wide-eyed glances.
“Oh, I can guess what that means! You lucky girl,” Janet cackled.
“The man is willingly… torturing himself?” Kaylie said in wonder.
“Is he being tortured? I don’t want him to be tortured,” she said, looking upset. I thought I liked her already, but that cinched it. She did care about Mac.
“So you have feelings for him? Real ones?”
“I think I’m in love with him, but I haven’t told him yet.”
“Good. Sit on that until he declares himself,” Janet said, patting her knee. “If he’s not getting any, that shouldn’t take too long. Now, who wants a drink?”