I narrowed my eyes at him. “No one’s keeping her but me. Don’t get any ideas or I’ll have to shoot your ass,” I told him. Jocelyn laughed, thinking I was joking. Joker smirked. He knows I’m dead serious. I was already feeling possessive of Jocelyn. I’d always been protective of Kelly, but I’d never felt possessive like this. I wanted to hit any man who looked at Jocelyn. The waitress chose that moment to come back to take our orders. When she came to us, I gave her Jocelyn’s order and mine.
Talk turned to the ride and how great it had been so far. Outlaw looked at Jocelyn. “So, Jocelyn, what do you do? Do you work around town or something?” I knew why he was asking and that he would run a background check on her and Devyn. I gave him a look that said don’t you dare. He ignored me. The others were waiting to hear her answer.
“Yeah, I work for Lloyd Sanders as his paralegal. I’ve been there for a year. Before that I did it for four years in Louisville.”
“Really. I hope you don’t mind me saying this, but you seem way too damn young to have a kid Devyn’s age. What were you, ten when you had her?” Payne asked. She laughed.
“Don’t you know, you never ask a woman her age. But I can assure you, I wasn’t ten. I’m thirty-five. I had Devyn when I was sixteen.” The guys raised their brows at this. Rebel spoke next.
“Sixteen! You were a baby. Your family must have been a lot of help.” Before I could halt her having to answer him, she held up her hand to me.
“It’s all right, Bull. They want to know who you’re hanging out with. They just want to protect you. Let me tell you guys a little about me and Devyn. Bull already knows, and I’m not ashamed of it. When I got pregnant with Devyn, my parents threw me out because I refused to have an abortion. I lived in a home for unwed teenage mothers until I was eighteen. I worked shit jobs and went to school at night for years. I had some friendly neighbors, kind enough to babysit when I needed them. I finally got my degree when I was thirty. I hope one day I might go back to get my degree so I can be an actual lawyer, but not until Devyn is through her schooling.”
I could see Devyn gazing at her mom with love and admiration. The guys were looking at her with admiration and respect. I hugged her close and kissed her on the temple. “Thank you, baby. But don’t feel like you have to answer their questions. They’re a nosy bunch of bastards.” She laughed along with the guys. Slash turned to Devyn.
“Okay, we’ve interrogated your mom. Your turn now. What are you going to school for, Devyn? And why in the hell are you letting that asshole Ace sit with you. Let alone you riding on his bike?” Slash gave Ace a shitty grin, and Ace gave him the middle finger. Devyn laughed and covered Ace’s finger with her hand.
“Stop with the bird migration, Ace.” She looked at Slash and his name on his cut. “Well, Slash, I’m going to school to be a pharmacist. First, I’m in a program which will allow me to complete my bachelor’s degree to be a pharmacy assistant. Then I;ll apply to pharmacy school and it’s another four years. In total, it takes eight years. I took a lot of college-level classes in high school. When I graduated, I already had enough for my associate’s, and I’ve just finished another year. I have five years left to go. Maybe a little less if I go through without taking summers off or if I double up classes.” Everyone realized she was not only beautiful but also smart, just like her mother.
“And why are you with Ace again? Because you're way too beautiful and smart for his ass,” Slash teased.
Devyn got a twinkle in her eyes. “Oh, I like how he looks in a tight pair of jeans.” All the guys burst out laughing. Jocelyn just smiled and shook her head. She wasn’t surprised at her daughter’s sass. I wonder if she got it from her momma.
I whispered in her ear, “Hmm, maybe I should ask what you’re doing with me. I’m an old man compared to you. Is it my jeans?” I teased her.
She blushed, then whispered back, “You’re not an old man. An old man couldn’t have done what you did to me last night, Nick. Though your jeans are spectacular, that’s not the reason either. I can’t really tell you. It’s a combination of everything. Why do you want to be with me? I know it isn’t because you’re lacking female companionship. Why me?”
I nibbled on her earlobe, and she shivered. “Because I’ve never had this kind of reaction from just meeting a woman. You’ve got me crazy in knots and so damn horny, I can’t think. You’re smart, beautiful, fun, and sexy. Why wouldn’t I want to be with you?” She blushed, and I kissed her softly on the lips. This got several catcalls and whistles from the peanut gallery. Before I could say anything, she looked at them with a stern look.
“Now, any more of that, and you won’t get any meatloaf.” They all fell silent and then laughed. Demon looked at me.
“She’s fucking perfect. Don’t lose this one. She’ll keep us all on our toes.”
I nodded. “I know. Why do you think I’ve latched onto her?” We cut any more discussion short as the waitress brought our food. Everyone spent the next twenty minutes concentrating on eating. As I ate, I thought about what she’d told me about helping Devyn through school and putting off her own schooling. I didn’t want her to do that. I’d have to find a way to ease her finances, so they both could go to school. I knew she’d never take my money outright, so I’d have to be sneaky about it.
When everyone was done, I paid the bill, and we got back on the road. We took a different route back so we could enjoy different scenery. She hugged me even tighter. I knew I wanted her in my bed and under me tonight. I just needed to figure out how to accomplish it. I wondered if she’d talked to Devyn about us yet. She had seen me kiss her mom, but did she know it had gone well past that stage already? I wanted Jocelyn to be with me every night. That thought came out of nowhere. What the hell? I’d only met her two weeks ago and slept with her once, and I wanted to have her with me all the time. This had me deep in thought when we pulled back into the driveway at her house. She got off the bike. Devyn was talking to Ace. Jocelyn gave me a questioning look. Before she could say anything, several of the guys called out to her.
“We had a great time.”
“It was nice to meet you and Devyn. Don’t be a stranger.”
“Next time we’ll have something at the compound.”
She smiled and told all of them she’d enjoyed meeting them and hanging out. They all said goodbye to Devyn and took off. This left me with Jocelyn and Ace with Devyn. Those two seemed oblivious to us. They were off, sitting under a tree on a bench.
“What’s wrong? You’re awfully quiet, Nick,” she asked me with a frown on her face. I didn’t know how to tell her I was unnerved by how much she was affecting me. So, I lied to her.
“Nothing. Just recalled something I have to do at the compound. I’ll see you later. Okay?” She gave me a slight nod. I could see the hurt in her eyes and maybe some disbelief. I gave her a quick peck on the mouth and took off. I could feel her eyes following me the entire way. I knew I shouldn’t leave like this, but I needed to get my mind straight. This was more than sex, and I’d never felt like this with anyone but my late wife. When I got to the compound, I went straight to my house. I didn’t want to talk to the guys right now. I went to my office and sat down with a glass of whiskey. What was I going to do?