As soon as we put away the coloring books and crayons, we sat around the kitchen table. “Smells great, Mom.”
“Thanks, baby. Do you want to do the honors?”
“Yes.” When Collins offered me her small hand and Conleigh offered me hers, I was dumbfounded.
“We give thanks this night for what we have. We give thanks that my cancer was caught early. We give thanks that Gage is here to enjoy supper with us. And I give thanks because I’m now his apprentice.”
“His apprentice, you say?” Conleigh looked at Collins with a raised brow.
Collins did nothing but grin when she said, “Yep.”
When Collins said no more, Conleigh turned her head to look at me with a raised brow. “Told her she was my apprentice because she was a great helper.”
“Ahh, I see.” Conleigh nodded with apprehension in her eyes, why I wasn’t sure.
“Yeah, even though I can’t have a leather ve… I mean a leather kutte like his, but he did say he would be getting me some t-shirts and things.”
“Yeah? That would be cool. Think, Gage will like my tamales so much I’ll get a t-shirt too?”
“Oh yes, Momma, how could he not? Then we could all match.”
What came over me, I wasn’t sure, but what I did know was that even though I had walked into Conleigh’s house I had felt at home. I have never felt like I belonged anywhere other than the clubhouse until this very moment, so I threw caution to the wind and said, “Long as we are matching for family photos, I’m good.”
“That would be super cool. We can take some on your bike.”
“I’m game.” I smiled conspiratorially at Collins.
“Let’s eat,” Conleigh said in a high tone.
Collins was giggling, which caused a small laugh to bubble up out of me before I could stop it.
And to my shock, Collins had been right. The moment the burst of flavor hit my tongue, I moaned.
Looking up, I saw Conleigh’s eyes flare with heat. Yeah, Baby girl, I’m not the only one feeling this connection.
“Is yours that good?” She smirked.
Winking at her, just to see how she would react, and damn if she didn’t squirm in her chair.
Plans started to form in my head about how I could lock this girl down. There were no if’s or but’s about it. She is going to be mine.
After we ate everything and nothing was left in the pan, I got a little sad about that. I wanted more.
That was when an all-knowing look graced Conleigh’s face. “You want more, don’t you?”
Looking down at my empty plate, I laughed, “Yeah, how’d you know?”
“Because when Collins grabbed the last one, you frowned.”
Standing, I shook my head as I gathered up the dishes.
Walking them over to her kitchen counter, I said, “Hadn’t realized I had even done that, to be honest. They were really fucking good. Can’t say that I’ve ever had anything better than that.”
“Thank you.” She beamed up at me the moment she reached me.
Smiling, I winked at her and started to fill the sink up with water and grabbed the dish soap she had sitting there behind the sink when she asked, “What are you doing?”
Shrugging, “You cooked, I’ll clean.”