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CHAPTER NINE

RiffRaff

I called Jilly once I was in the truck and found out she was almost home with Kimber, so I offered to grab food for an early dinner. I’m sure since I used the phrase ‘we’ve gotta talk’ that she’s probably worried that I’m going to end it with her, but that is so far from the truth it’s not even funny. After pulling into her driveway and parking the truck, I see the curtain move slightly and know either she or Kimber are watching.

Once I have the bags in my hand, I walk to the steps that lead to her porch, then can’t help the grin that crosses my face when I see her standing in the open doorway. “Hey, sweetheart,” I say as I make my way to her and lean down for a kiss.

“Oh, Kimber’s going to be so happy,” she says once I pull back. “She loves this chicken. And I am over the moon because I don’t have to cook tonight, thanks to you.”

“Glad I’m making your day easier, darlin’,” I reply as I close the door behind us and follow her into the kitchen.

“I wasn’t sure what you were getting so I didn’t get out any plates yet. Kimber!” she hollers. “Come set the table, sweetie.”

“Okay, Mom,” she yells back, already flying down the stairs.

A brief spasm of pain hits me, wondering if when Ryleigh was a teenager she was like this, all long legs and gawky angles. She’s beginning to lose her childish appearance, which Jilly has lamented about a few times, but still has a wide-eyed wonder about her and I mentally vow to protect her from everything that goes bump in the night. Because my beautiful daughter-in-law wasn’t protected, and neither was Kracken’s Moira.

Granted, Ryleigh was still innocent and hadn’t been assaulted like Moira was, but she was beyond naive about life and the world itself. I thought my boy was going to go crazy waiting for her to ‘grow up’ a little so she could decide what she wanted, because he was willing to claim her practically sight unseen once he was given the vision that she was foretold to be his.

“Hey, RiffRaff,” Kimber says as she passes me and heads into the butler’s pantry. “Paper plates okay tonight, Mom?”

“That works for me, no major cleanup then,” Jilly teases. “I must’ve been good today or something, not having to cook dinner and no dishes. I best write this down in my journal.”

I chuckle while Kimber giggles as Jilly pours iced tea for me and Kimber and water for herself. I’ve noticed that while she enjoys the occasional glass of wine or mixed drink, she mostly drinks water, which is probably why her skin is so soft and clear. Shrugging, I sit at the table when she motions for me to do so and grab the napkins to put at each of our places.

Our places.

Those two words resonate inside of me while Jilly and Kimber make their plates before I finally make mine. Not for the first time, I feel like I’m part of this tiny family and can’t wait until the time I can make it even more permanent by asking Jilly to marry me.

“Soon,” my mind whispers.

“So, what’s going on that you called so early?” Jilly asks before taking a bite out of her biscuit. This particular restaurant uses honey butter when the biscuits are baking, and the flavors practically explode on my taste buds as I finish chewing the bite I just took so I can answer her.

“Gotta head out of town for a bit,” I reply.

“Is everything okay?” She looks puzzled but doesn’t ask a lot of questions, probably because I’ve told her if I do have to make an out-of-town trip, it’ll be due to a club run and I won’t be able to tell her anything outside of the basic facts.

It’s more for her protection than anything, even though we’re not into anything too illegal. On paper, we’re upstanding taxpayers, and despite the public’s common misconception about bikers, believing we’re nothing less than murderous outlaws, and while we frequently get stopped and sometimes hassled by cops when we’re out of our area, we’ve been lucky during those traffic stops because none of the brothers have ever been arrested. That’s not to say that there weren’t close calls before Brick got us fully out of the ‘dark ages’ as he calls them. Still, she can’t talk under duress about what she doesn’t know. Sometimes, ignorance is bliss.

“Yeah, club business, Jilly. I just hate that I won’t be around to help y’all decorate for Christmas since I promised I would take y’all to get a tree,” I admit. Plus, I’m going to miss being in her bed since Kimber was okay with me spending the night. Not just for the sex, which just keeps getting better and better each time we reach for each other, but because I enjoy being with her. It’s as simple as that. She makes me feel young and vigorous again. We have similar taste in tv shows, movies, and even books, although I won’t read a romance novel despite her constant begging. Still, she enjoys the occasional true crime story, which I prefer, so we’ve had some rather lively conversations.

“It’s okay, RiffRaff. You’ll see it when you come home,” Kimber says, drawing my attention to her.

“Let me give you Brick’s number, Jilly, in case anything comes up while I’m gone. I told him about y’all today, and he’s looking forward to meeting both of you.”

“Who’s Brick?” Kimber asks.

“My son. He’s married to a woman named Ryleigh and they have a little girl plus two cats,” I tell her.

“What’s the little girl’s name?” Kimber persists. “Oh, and the cats?”

I start chuckling at her enthusiasm which soon has Jilly joining me. “The baby’s name is Aubree, and the cats are Calvin and Hobbes.”

“Oh, I bet they’re cute!” Kimber squeals. “But not as cute as Chloe, of course.”

“My brother’s ol’ lady, Rory, has a cat too whose name is Sassy. When I’m back, I’ll take y’all to the clubhouse and introduce you around and you’ll probably see them on the huge cat tree the brothers built along one of the walls. They’ve all got air tags on them in case they slip outside, but for the most part, unless we’re having a huge family thing, they stay at their houses. Still, Brick won’t take down the cat tree because if all three are on it, he added a screen that comes down in front of it to ‘lock’ them in so to speak. They have everything they need but we don’t have to worry about them if a lot of others are roaming around.”

By this point, Kimber’s eyes are huge as she listens to me talk about the set up that my son put up for his ol’ lady’s cats. “That sounds awesome!” she exclaims. “I can’t wait to see it!”

“Well, we’ll have a huge dinner on Christmas so you’ll be seeing it then,” I promise, crossing my fingers that Dragon and Wrecker were right when they predicted that this will be a quick turnaround trip.

It doesn’t take long before we’re finished eating and Kimber quickly clears the table before she heads back upstairs to finish her homework. She shocks the hell out of me when she stops, throws her arms around me and gives me a hug before she says, “Be safe, RiffRaff. We’ll see you when you come home.” Then she flies up the stairs while I give Jilly wide eyes.

“I definitely wasn’t expecting anything like that,” I whisper against my woman’s lips.

“She really likes you, handsome,” she replies. “Plus, while she doesn’t know all the hidden details about her father’s accident, she does get anxious when it comes to long trips since he was on one when he was struck and killed, and his passenger was injured. I didn’t know initially, but after you and I talked, I did a little bit of investigating and she wasn’t killed, just badly injured. Kimber’s therapist says she’s got a form of PTSD because she’s worried that someone else she loves and cares about will be hurt the way her father was all those years ago.”

“I’m really sorry I’ve gotta go, Jilly. I’m gonna miss both of y’all so fucking much it already hurts. Plus, I hate breaking a promise,” I tell her, gazing into her beautiful eyes.

“Well, if it’s any consolation, I’ll miss you as well, RiffRaff,” she softly whispers. “I’ve honestly never felt the way I do with you in my life.”

“I’ve fallen in love with you, Jilly, something this old man wasn’t expecting he’d do in this lifetime,” I admit. “When I get back home, I hope you’re ready for this to go into warp speed. But in the meantime, I have to head out so I can get a few hours of driving in before I find somewhere to crash for the night.”

I wince when I realize the words I used have her paling. “Not like that, babe. A place to sleep for a few hours is what I meant. I don’t know how the weather’s gonna be either and it’s roughly sixteen hours of driving straight through.”

“You should’ve just called and told me, RiffRaff, and not taken the time to come by. I’d have understood!” she says, her hands on her hips as she blows out a frustrated breath.

“If I did that, I would’ve gone longer before I was able to taste your sweet lips, sweetheart,” I tell her, leaning further into her and capturing her lips with my own.

Long minutes pass as I pour all of the things I’m feeling into the action, and by the time we pull apart, we’re both gasping and breathing hard, and my cock’s as hard as a railroad spike. Still, heading out with her taste on my lips and tongue makes it worth the discomfort to me.

“I’ll text you when I stop for the night, Jilly,” I vow. “And call when I get on the road tomorrow, okay?”

“You text or call whenever you want, handsome. If I’m tied up at work, I’ll take the time to let you know that, so you won’t worry.”

“I’d appreciate that,” I confess.

We make our way to the front porch where I thoroughly kiss her again and as I walk to the truck she calls out, “RiffRaff?” When I turn to look at her, she says, “I love you too. Come home to me, to us, as soon as you’re able.”

My emotions are so high right now, all I can do is give her a chin lift before turning and getting into the truck so I can start my trip. She waves until I can no longer see her, so I use my Bluetooth to send her a text.

Me: Be sure you lock up and set the alarm, Jilly.

Jilly: Already on it because I know you usually do the walk-through when you’re here and figured you’d reach out. Be careful, handsome.

Me: I will.

I hit the ‘go’ button on the navigation system and soon, the robotic voice is leading me toward Texas and away from Virginia, thoughts of Jilly floating through my mind.