Page 43 of Deuce

Rylie nodded her head.“It only takes once, you know.”

“I can’t believe I’m having this conversation,” I muttered.

“What conversation?”An older woman, her gray hair trapped in a long braid down her back, strode in and dropped two grocery bags on the table.“Damn, those things are heavier than they look!”

“We were discussing Deuce and Sophia having kids.”

“Really?I thought you guys just met.”She held out a hand.“I’m Mom, by the way, and you must be Sophia.”She looked down.“And this charming little bundle of fur must be Willow.Joe told us all about you.”

I felt a little overwhelmed.“Yes, I’m Sophia, yes, that’s Willow.I take it by Joe you mean my dad and no, Deuce and I haven’t even talked about kids.We’ve been on one date.”

“Aw, that’s sweet.Love at first sight.”

Seriously?These people only heard what they wanted to, and apparently, they wanted a fairy tale romance.Between a prepper’s daughter and a biker accountant?

“I brought you some clothes.The thrift store stuff doesn’t always have labels still attached so hopefully most of it fits.Sweaters are easy.I just went for big and loose.”She dug into one bag and produced a pink hoodie with a big pawprint on the front.“I thought you’d like this.Wasn’t so sure about the jeans though, so I grabbed a couple pairs of yoga pants as well.Those things stretch like rubber so you should be fine.”She paused and looked up.“Darn.I totally forgot shoes.What size are you?”

“An eight, but I can get by with the ones I have on.Luckily, they’re runners, so they’ll be comfortable.”

“I take size eight, so you can borrow some of mine if you need to.”Two teenagers wandered into the kitchen, one pausing to lift the lid on the pot and sniff.“Oh, chili!Nice!”

The other came over and squatted down to pet Willow.Like the suck up she was, Willow rolled over to get her belly rubbed.“We’re the twins, in case you haven’t figured that out.Beast is our dad, and we live here with him.”

“Jasmine and Jewel.”The one petting Willow pointed to herself and her sister.

Deuce entered the room and came over to wrap an arm around me.“Looks like you’ve met some of the club.”

I nodded.“Yes.And Mom brought me some clothes.”

Deuce inclined his head.“Thanks, Mom.”

She shrugged.“No problem.”

He nuzzled my neck.“Let’s go get you settled in our room.”

I raised a brow.Things were moving at light speed here.“Our room?”

Both teenagers giggled, and I realized we had an audience that wasn’t even pretending not to listen.I blushed and grabbed one of the bags off the table.“Let’s go.”I looked at Mom.“Thanks again, I really appreciate it.”

She held up a hand.“You might want to let me wash those first.No telling how many people pawed that stuff when it was in the thrift store.”

“Oh.Right.”I put the bag down.

Mom nodded.“It won’t take long.I’ll run them up when they’re ready.I can leave them outside the door in case you two want to grab a nap.Should be done before supper.”

“Thank you.I mean it.You have all been amazing to me.”

Deuce grabbed my hand mumbling something about women and gossip.He led the way out of the kitchen, with me and Willow trailing behind.His room was on the second floor and had an ensuite bathroom, for which I was grateful.I hadn’t considered what bathroom schedules might look like in a house full of bikers.

I took the plastic yogurt container I’d snagged in the kitchen and filled it with water for Willow, placing it beside the counter in the bathroom where it was less likely to get accidentally knocked over.

Deuce sat down on the bed and regarded me with a serious expression.“Come sit down for a minute.Catch your breath.You haven’t stopped since that guy tried to run you off the road.”

I walked to the bed and sat down straddling his lap so that I was staring straight into his eyes.I kept my expression serious.“Things have been pretty crazy since about two hours before we met.Do you think it has something to do with me and you?”

He cupped his hands on my ass and pulled me a little further onto his lap.“How do you mean?”

“I have this theory that there’s a bunch of creatures up there somewhere.”I gestured at the ceiling.“And they got bored so they’re playing around with us.”

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