He lived about a ten minutes’ walk from the clubhouse. It was set back from the road so no one could find him easily. All of his mail was sent to the clubhouse. This was his only safe haven. The only good thing his father did was not to tell a single soul about where they lived. His old man had valued his privacy just as much as he’d valued money.
After he removed his father, he’d gotten to work on building the house from the ground up. It had taken a lot of work and man-hours.
No one but the men he invited from the club were allowed inside his home. Maddie would be the first woman he brought back. She would be the only woman allowed on his property. He already had it arranged for her physical therapist to go to the clubhouse rather than come here.
“Bull, your home is … it’s beautiful.”
The grounds still had a lot of work to be done. There was a tarmac pavement leading up to the small steps going onto the porch in front of his house.
To the side was the ramp he’d gotten installed for her wheelchair. On either side of the tarmac was grass. He didn’t fancy himself a gardener, and any spark of color came from the trees that surrounded his property and any flowers the birds brought with them.
“It’s a work in progress.”
“You need any help, Prez?” Rusty asked.
Pat merely waited for instructions.
“No, you boys head back to the clubhouse. I’ll call you if I need anything.” He pushed the wheelchair toward his home, going to the ramp and moving up toward the front door.
After pulling his key out of his jacket pocket, he slid it inside the lock, twisted, and opened the door.
He pushed her across the threshold. The first and only woman to see inside his home.
“Would you like to take a tour?” he asked.
“I’d love to. Er, not to spoil anything, but what’s happening with my apartment? I go month-by-month rental.”
Bull moved and pointed toward the corner. “I had no idea your rental payment was up for renewal. Your landlord did apologize for acting hasty, but he had a long list of people who want to rent from him, and so he had no choice but to … remove your stuff.” He wouldn’t tell Maddie that he had also paid a little visit to her landlord and paid him a hefty price to tell her that exact same story.
There was a couple who had moved into Maddie’s apartment, but the landlord hadn’t heard about her accident. He’d made an appearance at the garage, where Pat had called him and asked him what to do.
Bull already had a plan to keep her all to himself, and so, he’d simply implemented it a lot sooner.
“Oh,” Maddie said. “That … fucking sucks.” She pressed a hand to her mouth. “I can’t believe I just said that.”
He chuckled. “It’s okay, babe, you get it out of your system.”
“I’m just … that fucking asshole. I pay him on time every single month and he does this. Ugh! I could scream. I’m so sorry.”
“Go right ahead.”
She took a deep breath and shook her head. “You know what, no. I’m not going to do it. He’s not worth it. Ugh. I can’t believe him. I’m going to have to look for a place to stay.”
“Babe, why don’t you just stay here?”
Her face went bright red. “I, er, I didn’t realize that was on, er, offer.”
“Why wouldn’t it be?” he asked.
She looked down at her lap. “You’re taking care of me. Living together, it means something slightly more, and we don’t know if we can, you know, we can live together. You don’t think we’re moving a little too fast?”
She was cute when she was nervous. He pressed a kiss to her temple. “Then how about we find out?”
“I’ve never done anything like this. I’ve never lived with anyone.”
“Maddie, babe, I think I got that with the revelation that you’ve never had a decent fuck.”
She gasped. “Don’t say that.”
“What? You want me to lie? I’m only speaking the truth. We both know you’ve never had a decent fuck. Let’s be completely honest, you don’t know how good I am in bed, but believe me, these hands are pure magic. I am going to blow your mind.”
She pressed a hand to her forehead. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
He kissed her cheek. “Believe it, baby.”
Bull gave her a tour of the whole of the downstairs, pointing out the living room, dining room, and kitchen. Then he opened the door to his study and the laundry room, and they went out back. Due to how active his dogs could be around a new person, he had left them at the clubhouse until Maddie would be able to take the impact of his dogs.