Ride the Wind (Devil's Knights 2nd Generation, #8), page 11
Meg smiled brightly and wrapped me up in a hug. “The Jollies are here to make everything better, honey.”
“The Jollies?” Zig asked. “What in the fuck is that?”
Meg flitted her hand at Zig. “None of your business. Go out front and help back in the truck.”
Zig saluted Meg and walked out the back door.
“Truck?” I asked. What did we need a truck for?
“I have a friend,” Meg explained. “They normally sell hot dogs and nachos at the race track every weekend, but they were nice enough to let me borrow their truck for a couple of days until you are back on your feet.”
“Mr. Weiner?” Blain asked. How in the hell did he know what Meg was talking about? I was utterly clueless.
Meg pointed at Blain. “Bingo, bread man.”
Blain tipped his head to the side. “How do you know I do the bread?”
She motioned to his apron. “You’re covered in flour, man. Bread man all the way.”
Blain hitched his thumb at Meg. “She’s pretty damn observant. Stick with whatever plan she’s cooking up.”
Meg beamed proudly. “I know it’s not ideal to be selling out of a truck that says Mr. Weiner on it, but you can’t have people traipsing in and out of a busted door.”
“But how?” I asked. How were we going to get everything in a small truck? I was glad that Meg was more than willing to help, but I didn’t know how it would work in the end.
“Don’t stand there and stress about it, just do, honey. It’ll all work out in the end.” Meg motioned to Paige and Luna. “Start grabbing any trays of pastries and bread that are ready to be sold. Load them into the truck, and I’ll start selling.”
“Meg,” I called. “You don’t need to do this. I know you have your own job and life to worry about.”
Meg laid her hand on my shoulder. “Honey, I know you don’t get it, but you are part of my life now. And you’re gonna learn really quick that if you’re in my life, I’m gonna make it the best and craziest ride ever.”
The next few hours Blain and I kept baking and decorating while Meg and the rest of the girls helped haul and sell everything.
“Some guy named Mark ordered, paid, and then refused to take what he ordered.”
I looked up from the tray of cupcakes in front of me. “Was he about ninety years old and have red glasses?” I asked Luna.
Luna nodded and set another empty tray in the sink. “Yeah. If he would have been younger, I thought maybe he had the hots for you, but I figured he was a regular.”
“Mark has been coming to Layers Bakery every day since Reese opened her doors.” Blain laughed and wiped down a bread tray. “Coffee black with two croissants?”
Luna nodded. “Yup. He said he’s sorry about the store, and to keep the money.”
I had some of the best regular customers. Baked goods always seemed to bring the good out in everyone.
Maybe the person who had smashed my shop windows should eat a cupcake or twenty to sweeten them up.
“That was sweet of him, but I’ll make sure he gets a double order tomorrow.”
Blain pulled out the last tray of bread and shut down the oven. “How many days do you think we are going to have to do this?”
I really had no idea. Zig and the guys had boarded up the window and door, but we were still waiting for the glass guys to come. I was hoping it would only be one more day or so, but it really all depended how long it took to install new glass and windows. “I don’t know. Hopefully just a day or two more.”
“Whoa,” Meg called. She held up an empty tray with a huge smile on her face. “I just sold seventeen croissants to some guy in a suit who then took one bite and said he would like to make a standing order of four dozen every week.”
“What?” I gasped. I had regular customers who came in most days, but to have an order that big every week was amazing. “You’re amazing!”
“I know!” Meg agreed. “I’ve always had a knack for selling things. All those years I spent at the factory tooling around on a forklift were wasted years.”
“I need more cookies,” Paige called. “Whatever you have!”
What on earth was going on? Never in all my years had I sold so many pastries and bread in so few hours. “We only have a tray of chocolate chip and half a tray of mint chip left.”
“I’ll take them all,” Paige laughed. “Meg is catcalling all of these guys in, shaming them into buying treats for their wives or girlfriends. I tell you; it is a sight to see.”
I smiled wide. “Well, whatever she is doing, don’t stop her.” We would be sold out within the hour at the pace we were going.
I handed Paige the trays, and she gave me the sweetest smile. “Thank you,” she whispered.
She thanked me for a hell of a lot more than just giving her two trays of cookies. Before I had walked into Zig’s life, he hadn’t even been talking to his mom. Now she was back in his life, and things looked good between them.
I grabbed a bottle of water and wandered outside around the building.
Mr. Weiner’s bright red and yellow food truck sat smack dab in front of Layers Bakery, and there was a line down the block.
“Wow,” I whispered. If Kerry were here, she would be peeing her pants with excitement.
“There you are,” Zig called. “I was going to come and tell you to see what Meg and the girls are doing.” He walked toward me, and I tipped my head back to look at him.
“This is insane. You would think we were just giving away donuts with our line.”
“Pfft,” Zig scoffed. “If anything, Meg is charging more than she should. The till in the truck is overflowing.”
I smiled wide. “I don’t know how I will ever be able to repay you guys for this.”
Zig shook his head. “Nothing you need to repay us for. This is what the Knights do.”
I reached up and cupped his cheek. “Are you a Knight again?”
Zig glanced to the side and sighed. “I’ve always been one, darlin’. Even when I was with the Sons of Sin. I lost sight of what the Knights really stand for.”
“And now you remember?” I whispered.
“They stand for family. They stand for doing whatever it takes to keep the ones you love safe.” He sighed heavily. “I need to remember that when shit goes off the rails with them. They might not always follow the plan, but in the end they always win.”
“The Sons of Sin aren’t like that?” I already knew the answer, but I wanted to hear it from Zig.
“The Sons of Sin are a bunch of idiots. Brain had painted some grand picture of what it would be like to be a member, and they were all fucking lies.” Zig shook his head. “Everything I told him about the Knights I didn’t like, he told me the Sons were different.”
“But why would he do that?” I asked. Did they know what a good guy Zig was, and want him to be in their club?
Zig shrugged. “A fucking mystery I’ll never know the answer to, darlin’.” He reached up and tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear. “Maybe a mystery that’s better left in the grave with Brain.”
I sighed and stretched up on my tiptoes. “I can’t be too mad at him. If you hadn’t of joined the Sons of Sin, I never would have met you.” I pressed a kiss to his lips, and he wrapped his arms around my waist.
“You are right about that, darlin’. Neither of us were looking for each other, but we still managed to find each other. I was just looking to ride the wind, and–.”
“And I was just looking to bake all the cake.”
Zig cracked a smile and chuckled. “Yeah, Reese. I guess that is one way to put it.”
“So now we can ride the wind together, and when we’re done riding, we can have a cupcake or Bismarck. You provide the entertainment, and I’ll bring the sustenance.”
Zig closed one eye and winced. “Will ride for donuts?”
“Stop,” I laughed. “I’m the one who is supposed to make the lame jokes. Remember, I think cup holders on a motorcycle are cool.”
“Right, right,” Zig drawled. “I don’t think I will ever be able to forget that.”
I sighed and laid my hands on his chest. “How did you turn my horrible day into one that I will never forget?”
He shrugged and gave me a wink. “It’s just what I do, darlin’. Take care of you and turn shit days into good days.” He bowed slightly. “At your service.”
“A service you weren’t too willing to give me when we first me,” I laughed.
He grabbed my hand and raised it to his lips. He pressed a kiss to the back of my hand. “A mistake on my part. I was selfish and thought only of myself.”
“And now?”
“And now I think about my family, and you.”
I pressed a soft, gentle kiss to his lips. “I like the way you think.”
A smirk spread across his lips. “That’s because you’re mine, remember?”
I tapped my finger to my chin. “I think I might need some reminding.”
He quirked his eyebrow. “Tonight?” he asked.
I nodded and stepped back from him. “Tonight.”
*
Chapter Twenty
Zig
“You know, it was pretty fucking cool when Pie hooked up with Bristol, but now it’s fucking great that you managed to land a chick who owns her bakery.” Easy leaned against Mr. Weiner and folded his arms over his chest. “Now Bristol can cook us a kickass meal, and then Reese can have a huge mound of desserts for us.”
“Oh yeah?” I laughed. “You’re pretty sure that Bristol is going to cook for you and that Reese will bake for you?”
Easy held up the half-eaten cookie in his hand. “So far, so good.”
I pulled out a cigarette and popped it in the corner of my mouth. “How did your time with Ransom go yesterday?” I asked.
Easy shrugged. “I got a solid alibi, man. There isn’t a way in hell they can pin Kerry disappearing on me.”
“What’s your alibi?” I asked.
Easy smirked. “I was working the door at Sultry Knights until eleven, and then I hung around until the place closed at three thirty. I went back to the clubhouse and passed out until morning. King has twenty-four-seven surveillance on the clubhouse, and I hit about five different security cameras on the way home from the strip club. I would have to be The Flash for me to be able to kidnap Kerry, and still end up on all of the surveillance that I did.”
“So how in the hell did your prints get in her car.”
“That’s what’s fucking weird about it, Zig. I don’t know how it happened. I can tell you right now I have never in my life met this Kerry chick. I can remember every chick I have been with, and she is not one of them. Fuck, you can bet your ass I would remember driving her car or something. Someone is trying to make me take the blame for her disappearance, mark my word.”
Someone had to be pinning it on Easy, but why?
“You piss anyone off, lately?”
Easy shook his head. “Not anyone so bad that they would kill someone and then try to frame me for it.”
“You sleep with some ones ol’ lady?”
Easy chuckled. “Not that I know of.”
“You’re a fucking dog, man. You always gotta check that shit before you take them home.”
Easy shrugged. “I know, I know. But I don’t think this is some gilted boyfriend of something. You don’t kill someone, and then try to frame someone else when your girlfriend cheats on you.”
But it was someone.
“So what happens now?” I asked. “You still a person of interest, or did they clear you?” I asked.
“They say I’m cleared, but you and I both know if they get even a whiff of me being the guy kidnapped Kerry, my ass is going to be in a cell without one question.”
“Then I guess we better figure out who took Kerry before the wind picks up, and they get a whiff, brother.”
*
Chapter Twenty-One
Reese
“Have you heard anything from King about the Sons of Sin?”
Zig shook his head. “Nothing.”
“Have you been back to the Sons clubhouse lately?”
“Every day, darlin’.”
I scowled and reached for the bowl of salad. “I wish you wouldn’t go there.”
“I do, too, darlin’, but if I suddenly stop showing up, the more suspect they are going to get of me.”
I rolled my eyes and grabbed the bottle of French dressing. “They should be suspect of themselves. Who calls themselves a motorcycle club when they don’t even care about their own members.” I poured a blob of dressing onto the salad and twisted the cover back on. “I haven’t even seen an obituary for Brain in the newspaper. You would think they would have at least tried to pretend that they cared about him.”
“That’s because they don’t care at all.” Zig shook his head and pushed the bowl of salad away. “You need to eat more than that rabbit food, darlin’. You’re going to need your strength tonight.”
A flush heated my body, but I tried to pretend that his words didn’t affect me. “Is that your professional advice?” I joked.
“I’m hardly a professional, darlin’.” Zig pushed the plate of ravioli toward me. “Eat that. It’ll stick to your bones.”
“I kind of feel like that is an old wife’s tale moms used to tell their kids.”
Zig shrugged. “It worked on me. Though, it probably helps that Meg is such an incredible cook.”
“It was just my dad and me growing up. He was not the best cook, but he kept us both alive until I got old enough to be able to cook for us. Things got much better when that happened.”
“He still alive?” Zig asked.
I shook my head. “He passed away a couple of years ago.”
“I’m sorry, darlin.”
It sucked that my dad wasn’t here, but I knew that he would be proud of where I was headed. I forked a few raviolis onto my plate and set them in between us. “It’s okay. He was pretty sick in the end. It was hard to watch the man I always thought was so strong and smart deteriorate in front of my face.”
“Yeah,” he sighed. “I don’t know what the hell I’m going to do when my parents pass away.”
“Not think about it right now, and just enjoy your time with them.” I smiled softly. “It’s good that you seem to have mended fences with them.”
Zig shrugged. “Things are better, but I wouldn’t say things are perfect.”
I mixed my salad and took a considerable bit. “Notn evr has perf.”
“Uh, what was that, darlin’?” Zig laughed.
I chewed a few times and finally swallowed. “I said nothing ever is perfect.”
“Now that I understand.”
I rolled my eyes and stabbed a ravioli. “You totally could tell what I was trying to say.”
“Right,” Zig drawled. “I’m getting to know you, darlin’, but I don’t think I’ll ever be able to decode your mumbling like that.”
“Stick around, and I’m sure you’ll get there.”
Zig grabbed his beer and held it out to me. I grabbed my glass of milk, yes, milk, and clinked it against his. “To sticking around.”
Man, that sounded so good.
*
Zig
“Get there, darlin’.”
Reese dug her heels into the mattress and arched her back to me.
I slammed into her, and my thumb brushed back and forth over her clit. “Oh my god,” she gasped. I watched as her release washed over her, and she moaned my name.
I pounded into her, braced my hands on either side of her head, and my eyes clamped shut. “Yes,” I groaned.
Her pussy milked my dick, and my loaded exploded inside her. “Mine!” I shouted. The whole neighborhood would know that Reese was mine.
She wrapped her arms around me, and I collapsed on top of her.
“Whatever that thing was you did with your hips, don’t stop doing that,” she hummed.
I gathered her in my arms and rolled us over until I was on my back, and she was sprawled on top of me.
“I’ll remember that,” I sighed.
She laid her head on my chest and traced lazy circles with her finger. “Do you ever stop and think about how things happen?” she asked sleepily.
“Uh, what do you mean, darlin’?”
“Like you and me. How did we even happen? I couldn’t see it at the time, but if I look back now, I can see how we happened. How you were pretty grumpy and standoffish, but you came around. You were nicer and cared more. I wasn’t trying to push you away as much. We both just realized we were the right one for each other.”
“I guess you’re right, darlin’. We came into each other's lives when it was the right time. Not sooner, and not too late.” I pressed a kiss to her lips and laid my head on the pillow. “You wanna go again, or did I finally wear you out?”
Reese closed her eyes and sighed. “Give me a ten-minute nap, and then I’m all yours again. Running back and forth between the food truck and the bakery was a workout today.”
I reached for the lamp and turned it off. “Just sleep, darlin’, but know you’re mine in the morning.”
“I have to be there at six,” she mumbled.
Jesus Christ.
“You got your alarm set?”
She nodded sleepily.
“Then your ass is mine in the shower.”
She hummed softly. “Excellent.”
*
Chapter Twenty-Two
Reese
“I don’t know how I am ever going to be able to repay you.”
Paige set the empty tray on the counter and wiped her hands on her apron. “For what?” she asked. “I’m having a great time, and I get to eat all the cookies I want.” She snagged a peanut butter cookie and shoved it in her mouth. “I’m gonna be ten pounds heavier by the time you get your windows fixed.”
“Well, I really appreciated you helping, and you can have all the cookies you want for the rest of your life,” I promised. “Any pastry.”
