My first stop inside the club was the kitchen, where I knew I could find coffee. Tara was a tea drinker. Not me. I could drink coffee all day. Later today, I’d send a prospect out to buy a Keurig and some high-octane coffee pods to keep at her place.
“Well, look at you smiling like a fool. How are you, honey? Everything good?” Tina gave me one of her famous bear hugs while Raul kept a close eye on her. He was a possessive fucker. Couldn’t say I blamed him. Tina was beautiful. I wouldn’t want my woman hugging my brothers either.
“He looks like a man who made up with his girl.” Sugar nudged my arm, popped up on her tiptoes, and planted a kiss on my cheek. “How’s Roja doing? I assume she forgave you since you didn’t come back last night.”
“What’s with you ladies and all the questions?” I accepted the mug of joe Tina passed me and took the barstool next to Raul.
Sugar leaned on the kitchen island with a mischievous smile. “We love you, is all. And we like Tara. She’s a good woman.” She pushed a plate of caramel rolls toward me. “You gonna claim her? Inquiring minds want to know.”
“You trying to sweeten me up, Sugar?”
Raul snorted. “It’s what these women do to get intel, brother. They talk sweet to us and feed us sugar, thinking they’ll make us talk like babbling fools.” He rose from his seat, looped his arm around Tina, and kissed her. After he broke away, he eyed me. “Storm’s waiting for you in his office.”
“Dang it, Raul. Always ruining our fun,” Sugar chided him, then waved him off. “When are you bringing your girl over?”
“She’ll be here for Storm’s party. Maybe before.” I collected my mug and a roll as I stood. The only people I’d share Roja with were her students. After that, she was all mine.
Art entered the kitchen. “Hey, brother, good to see you.” His gaze traveled the room and stopped on Sugar.
“Art. How’s it going as secretary?” He’d been voted into Justin’s position. I still couldn’t believe my brother turned in his cut and took his daughter Emilee away from the club after the Hunters debacle. I disagreed with Justin leaving the way he did. Especially given the fact that Emilee was an adult and pregnant with Dodge’s baby. But then, I probably would’ve beaten the crap out of Dodge for knocking up my daughter. Leaving the club was so extreme. A good beating would’ve made me feel better, then I could’ve gotten over it.
“It’s going. I like being around the clubhouse more.” Art flicked his gaze at Sugar again. What was that all about?
Sugar brought him a cup of coffee. “And we like having you around more.”
Okay, this was weird as fuck. Were my eyes and ears playing tricks on me, or were Art and Sugar flirting? Christ, a lot had happened during the time I’d been gone. Funny Storm never mentioned his aunt hooking up with Art. Art, who was at least fourteen years younger than Sugar. Not that I cared about their age difference. Age was just a number, and Sugar didn’t look a day over thirty. She was sassy, sweet, and oh-so-sexy. And from what I thought,off-limits. Not that I ever considered her. She wasn’t my type, but I could appreciate her beauty.
My only concern was her boys and how they felt seeing their mom with one of the brothers. After all, Sugar was the original queen of the Knight’s Legion MC. Her husband, Matt, Storm’s uncle, was the founder of the Minnesota chapter. He’d saved me from self-destructing. Got me clean and sober then sponsored me to prospect. And as the saying goes, the rest was history. So it was weird even for me to see Sugar with one of the brothers in the club. It felt like a betrayal to Matt.
Whatever. It wasn’t my business, so I’d leave it alone.
Raul jerked his chin toward the exit. “Let’s go.”
“I’ll be seeing ya, Art. Ladies.” I winked at Sugar and Tina.
“It’s good to have you home, honey!” Tina hollered.
“Yeah, we missed you,” Sugar added.
“Damn, you’d think I’d been in the slammer for decades,” I told Raul as we strolled down the hallway.
“You’re family, brother. We all missed you.”
I gave Raul a look of appreciation. No words. Most of us weren’t talkative in the club. Track and Lynx were the big talkers. Boxer joked on occasion.
Stopping at Storm’s office door, I rapped my knuckles on it.
“Enter,” Prez shouted.
I opened the door, motioning for Raul to go before me, and closed it.
“Prez,” I took the seat next to Raul.
Storm rocked in his chair with a smirk. “Your woman was late for school. Already a bad influence on her, aren’t you?”
Raul chuckled.
“She wasn’t late. I got her there five minutes before the bell rang.” I couldn’t resist taking her a second time up against the tile wall. It wasn’t the easiest thing to do in her small shower, so it took a little longer.