Page 20 of At Last

“Being?” I grit my teeth to hold back the snicker that wants to erupt because her sayingbeingis cute as hell. But I’m still pissed that she’d even ask. “No. I know how to be monogamous—and yeah, even know your four syllable words.”

The woman starts to giggle. “Sorry, sorry… I know you’re serious. But I never thought you didn’t know multi-syllable words. Actually, you’ve always struck me as rather intelligent.”

Even pissed, that gets her another hand squeeze. I like that she thinks I’m intelligent.

“I guess I’m asking wrong,” she says. “What’s the difference between being your girl—” She bites her top lip and scrunches up her nose before we finally get to the crux of what’s crawled up her ass. “And being your old lady?”

Right. This I can work with. “Seems I gotta explain a few things. You’re part of my girls because there’s two ’a you. And one ’a you’s a little girl. But you became my old lady to the brothers, to the club, when you leaned up on your tiptoes and shoved your tongue in my mouth. And before you open that mouth again, I got more to explain. You been mine since the hospital, but the boys didn’t know. Now they know. You don’t touch or flirt with other dick. Don’t let ’em touch or flirt with you. I don’t touch other pussy.”

Predictably, she tries to talk, but ain’t through.

“So to recap,” I say. “You’re my girls when I’m talking about you and Peaches. All other times, you’re my old lady. We’re exclusive. And honey, I’ll tell you now. I know you’re a doctor so you probably make good money. But I’m not just a man, I’m an old-fashioned type of man. And that means when we’re together, I pay. I don’t get driven around bitch.—”

“Bitch?” she asks.

“Yeah, babe, bitch. The bitch seat. Where the bitches sit, front passenger.”

“Are you callingmea bitch?”

“Not right now. But woman seat sounds ridiculous, so it’s bitch. And since I don’t ride it, that means I drive. We get there, we get in as deep as I think we have the potential to get, I’ll probably tell you shit. Pillow talk that stays between us. Only us. So Doc, you gotta remember I’m the president of an MC. That means I don’t get my balls busted in front of anyone, but especially the brothers. You got issue with something I’ve done or said, you do it at home. Agreed?”

“Agreed,” she replies quicker than I thought she would, and without a lick of apprehension.

“Who are you, and what have you done with Doc?”

She pulls her hand from under mine, on my thigh, to punch me in the shoulder. “Shut up,” she orders. But it’s a half-assed punch that lacks any heat.

“Now we got that outta the way, we need to discuss something else. Gonna have to put me on the list to pick up Peaches at school. Emergencies. You might be on call. Need someone you can trust to help with her.”

“Oh, um…okay.”

“And Doc, no more trips just you and Peaches. I’ll once again reiterate, I’m the president of an MC. We got enemies. And Houdini, that fucker, is still out there. Word gets out I got an old lady, it might make you a person of interest, because I ain’t had an old lady since Dawna.”

She gasps. “We won’t be safe? Jade won’t be safe?”

“Honey, you and Peaches will be fine so long as you take a man with you when you leave town. Even to patients in the high country.”

Her back snaps straight.

“I can’t have men with meon house calls.”

“They won’t come in, won’t get in the way. Just an escort, honey.” I try to reassure her, but this is something I can’t budge on.

“Just an escort?” Caitlin repeats as a question. I nod. Then she thinks about it for a minute. “Sure. I guess I can do that.”

“Piece of mind.” I tell her.

With a chin dip, she places her hand back on my thigh. Though I scoop it up to kiss her knuckles, and then place it back, holding tight again. Then she sighs. “Peace of mind. I can give you that, Chief.” When she turns her head to face me,shit. Her smile. “Peace of mind for a new relationship,” she says. “Not too much to ask so long as the men stick to their boundaries. Maybe you can send Jesse along with us.”

“The fuck?” I bark out, louder than I mean to. My grip on the steering wheel tightens to a stranglehold.

“What? He’s cute, but he’s too young. Nothing says I can’t enjoy the view of my escort, right?”

“You just ensured the fuckwad never gets his patch.”

“No.” She gasps. “You can’t do that to him. He’s never—”

I shut her up by pulling her neck close to me and kissing her hard and deep, never taking my eyes off the road.

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