Page 25 of At Last

8.

Caitlin

In the morning, Duke and I wake at the same time to Princess Jade jumping on our bed.

“Shit, Peaches. Thought Tennessee was having an earthquake.” Then he looks at me. “And we don’t get earthquakes in these parts. Not ones that register, anyhow.”

I laugh, about to admonish him for cursing in front of Jade when first, I remember Duke is a biker president. It doesn’t make sense to take up withany manintending to change him, but especially not a biker, so especially, especially, not a bikerpresident.

Then second, Jade blindsides Duke with a pertinent little girl question. “Why you sweeping in the bed wiff my mama?”

His eyes go wide, to the point it would be comical if she weren’t standing on the bed, hands to her hips, waiting on a reply.

“Well,” he says, low and grumbly, because even in a good mood, Duke grumbles, and looks over at me for help. Maybe it’s bitchy for me not to offer a hand, but he instigated this adventure, so I feel the need to see how he handles himself in the face of a curious four-year-old, because four-year-olds tend to be curious by nature. I bite my bottom lip, waiting expectantly.

When I offer no help, Duke continues. “Your mom’s my wo—” He stops himself, and sucks in a breath. It looks like he’s thinking. Then goes with, “my girlfriend.” Giving Jade an answer she can understand.

My daughter nods, though she waits like she wants him to give her more. So he gives her more. “See, there are two kinds ’a girlfriends, Peaches. The first is a girlfriend a man likes to spend time with, but not one who’ll stay around for a long time. Shedoesn’tshare a bed. She sleeps in her own bed. Then there’s a girlfriend a man likes to spend time with, so much that he knows she’s gonna be around, be his girlfriend for a good, long time. Maybe forever. She’s the kind to share a bed, because letting her go, even for a night, is an unbearable thought.”

I—I almost can’t breathe. Swallow. Think. We’ve known each other for months, close to a year. That whole time he acted like he couldn’t stand me. Now in the span of a week, I’m the kind of girlfriend who will be around for a good, long time? And this, after he told me just last night that he didn’t know how to feel about the blowjob I’d given him, which in essence, meantme.

“Well, she’s a good mama. So I bet she’s a good gurlfwiend.” Jade answers him.

I still don’t know that I’ve breathed.

And Duke must notice. “Breathe, Doc,” he whispers with a little laugh.

That’s when I take in a breath I’m aware of taking.

Duke pulls my girl down onto his blanket-covered lap. “We had a tradition growing up. Whenever we spent the night out ’a town, we’d get delicious, but not good for you fast food breakfast the next morning. The only day my mom would let me and my brother have it.” He turns to me. “What do you think, Doc?”

“The only time?” I ask suspiciously.

“Promise. The only time. But—” He sneaks in. “Every Sunday, Mom, Rex, and I would eat doughnuts and orange juice for breakfast. Sundays were the only days all three of us could be together growing up, and even after we’d grown. Did it right up ’til Rex died. And that was after Mom passed.”

My heart falls for him and all he’s lost. So without thinking first, I ask a question on a subject we haven’t discussed yet. “You didn’t—uh—do doughnuts with your wife?”

He wraps one arm around Jade to pull her closer, kissing the top of her forehead. The other, he wraps around my middle. “No. Dawna took her treatments Sunday mornings. She didn’t want me at the hospital while they happened. Only to pick her up after. So I went for doughnuts. Just me, my brother and my mom. That was our tradition.”

How could I say no? Sharing his family tradition with me and my daughter.

We lay in the bed like a real family. And again, logic tells me it’s too soon to think that way. Letting him close to Jade is probably a severely stupid parenting move. But the way he moved one arm around her and one arm around me, to hold the both of us like we’re something precious to him, I realize that we are. At least for now. This morning means something to him.

“So, what do you say we get up and go find some delicious, not good for you breakfast?” Duke asks as he sits up.

“Yeah.” Jade giggle-screeches.

“The greasier the better,” he says as he tickles my girl causing her to giggle-screech even louder.

Great.

As none of us brought a change of clothing, there’s really no need for any of us to shower seeing as we’d be putting days-old clothes on our bodies. But I do rake a comb that I pull from my purse through Princess Jade’s curls and pull it back in a quick French braid, secured with a rubber band from a different pocket of my purse. Then rake the comb through my hair, leaving the curls to bounce around my shoulders.

Duke gives his hair a simple finger comb, and he’s ready to go.

He holds us, a hand in Jade’s and one to my back until we hit checkout, then he drops the hand from my back to hand off the key card and take his receipt. The hand goes right back as he leads us outside. Although morning, it’s already hot and humid out, making me regret the choice to leave my hair down. We walk to where he’d parked the truck yesterday. He stops to pay the attendant the additional fee while Jade and I continue on. We’re both buckled in when he joins us. Even before he climbs in, Duke walks to my daughter’s door, opens it, leans in to drop a quick kiss to the top of her head and then folds himself behind the wheel.

I’m occupied watching Jade and her giddy, little girl smile when in a sneak attack, he wraps his large hand around the back of my neck and draws my head to his. He kisses me deep and long. The kind of kiss to leave me breathless. The kind of kiss no man has ever given me in front of my daughter before. Not even her father.

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