“Um, music.” I gestured to my guitar which was laying just behind her.
Kit’s mom nodded as though this pleased her. I wasn’t sure why my nerves were going haywire around this woman. She was petite, beautiful, and her looks seemed completely unthreatening. But the need to please her was running rampant.
She crossed her legs. “You’re part of the Athen’s chapter of the club?”
I cringed. “I suppose you could say that.” Her eyebrows lifted as if prompting me to explain what I meant by my answer. I sighed, knowing there was no way to avoid it. “I was a club girl, yes.”
Her face showed no surprise, no shock, no utter horror at my confession. Relief flooded my body and I sagged a little. She let out a light musical laugh that seemed to make the room a little brighter.
“You were expecting me to react differently to that little bit of information?”
She observed correctly.
“Yes, I guess I was.”
She shrugged, a small smile still playing on her lips. “We’ve all done things we aren’t proud of –”
“I never said I wasn’t proud of it,” I said firmly, the words leaving my mouth without a thought. “Everyone who is in the club has a part to play, whether it be small or large. I have no shame in what I do for the club…or did, I suppose.” I firmly believed every word of what I’d said. I loved the club. They had supported me, given me a family away from home and, for the most part, held me with a certain amount of respect.
Bright Eye’s smile grew larger, her perfectly white teeth now showing as she stared at me. “That’s exactly the answer I needed to hear.”
“Excuse me?”
She stood from the bed and walked toward me. “Harmony, I don’t care if you were a club whore. Just like you said, club girls serve a purpose. They keep the men happy – in more ways than one.” She tucked a strand of hair behind my ear in a motherly gesture. “Kit is president now, he needs a woman who is proud of her allegiance to the club and isn’t afraid to stand up and say that the Brothers are her family.”
I couldn’t help but grin. “Sorry, it’s just we get a bad rep sometimes.”
Bright Eyes laughed. She wandered around, straightening different things just like a mother would in her young child’s room. “No kidding. Trust me, if it had been one of the girls here that Kit had attached himself to, I would’ve had a lot more curse words to say. They just want a patch and power within the club. But you don’t want power, you already loved the club no matter what your position was in it.” She stopped and looked at me, her stunning eyes searing through me. “And now you love Kit too.”
The words struck me hard, making my heart race.Love?Love wasn’t something I had yet considered. My feelings for Kit had slowly grown over the last few weeks but did Ilovehim? I wasn’t sure.
I sat stunned as she eyed me expectantly, chewing my lip as I thought of the words to say.
“Mom, leave her alone. You’re gonna scare her off.”
I allowed myself to breathe as I saw Kit standing in the doorway, a smirk on his face.
His mother laughed, holding out her arms to him. I watched as he embraced her with such tenderness and loving, lifting her feet off of the floor. The way he watched her was with complete admiration and I’m sure once I saw him with his father, the look would be the same.
“You made Dad distract me while you came and third degreed my girl?” he accused as he stepped back, even with a smile.
His mother rolled her eyes but didn’t admit to anything.Smart woman.
“How’d she do?” he asked, smiling over at me.
She didn’t say anything but patted her son on the cheek and walked from the room, humming the tune of the wedding march.