Reckless Love (Satan's Prophets MC, Book 2) (Satan's Prophets MC Series) (22 page)

Robert headed over to see Jenny. He liked her a lot and promised he would keep in touch, so he did.

Jenny was surprised when she opened the door and saw him standing there. She gave him a hug and invited him in. When Robert told her he had quit his job, Jenny didn’t bat an eye. She was hoping that meant he would hang around town for a long while.

“You can stay here until you figure out what you’re going to do now,” she told him. Robert still had a hard time coping with her being his birthmother but she was so warm and genuinely happy being with him, he did hang around for a few days.

* * *

Jenny invited Mick and Renee over for supper the night before Robert was leaving. Once again, she was sad to see him go, but they had become closer and she was glad for that. She made stuffed shells, one of her specialties, and had a huge bowl of garden salad and garlic bread to go with it. When Robert mentioned his future plans were still up in the air, an idea popped into Mick’s head.

“I have a job idea for you and it’s right up your alley. Go into the bounty hunting profession. You’ve all the necessary training behind you and the money is fantastic. Much more than you’ll ever make starting a new job somewhere. Plus, with me managing The Den and married now, I’ve been turning down jobs and leaving Tom in a lurch. Truth is, I’m planning on giving it up for a while. It’ll give me more time to spend with my family.”

Robert was undecided. “I’m going back home tomorrow and I’ll give it some serious thought. I’m thinking of selling my house, so maybe, we’ll see.”

* * *

Robert came back two months later. He drove straight over to Mick’s house. Mick was out back watching the workers build his garage. “‘Bout time you got your ass back here, man. Did you sell your house?”

“Yep. Didn’t take long. Some family wanted it cause it was close to their daughter and grandkids who lived down the street. They didn’t even squabble over the price. Quite a project you got going on here. What’s it gonna be?”

“A body shop for bikes. I figure my brothers can hang here and work on their bikes if they want to. Plus, I am having a painting stall added in the rear. I’m not going big; just enough to keep me busy during the day. Speaking of that, did you give any more thought to becoming a bounty hunter?”

“Yeah. That’s why I came over now. I want to try it out. Like you said, I have all the experience. I got my license before I came back here and am bonded now too, so I’m good to go.”

“Great. That takes a lot of pressure off of me taking a break from it. I think you’ll do good, and the money is well worth it.”

Renee called out that lunch was ready. Mick invited Robert to stay and eat.

Mick washed his hands in the little washroom off of the back door entrance. He turned and walked into the kitchen and saw Michael strapped into his highchair. Michael giggled excitedly as his daddy lifted him up.

Renee asked Robert where he was staying and Robert mentioned he was getting a room at the motel in town. He didn’t want to stay with Jenny and Charlie, explaining that Jenny meant well, but he had no privacy with her wanting to talk with him all the time.

“Oh, that is so good. Wait ‘til you meet Lori. She owns the motel with Jaz. I’m sure she will take good care of you,” Renee added with a smile.

Robert smiled back, thinking maybe the motel wasn’t such a good idea. He’d already met Lori last summer when he’d checked into the motel while working undercover. She undoubtedly will still think he was the bad guy.

* * *

Robert pulled into the motel parking spot and walked into the office. A pretty girl was sitting behind the desk with her head bent down doing paperwork. She looked up when the little bell on the door chimed. “Hi. If I remember correctly, you’re Lori?”

Lori blinked her eyes twice. “You! What are you doing here?” She grabbed the phone and started dialing. Robert put his hand over hers and hung it up.

“Last time I was here, I was working undercover. You have nothing to fear from me. I’m one of the good guys, I swear. Call Mick if you don’t believe me.”

Mick walked in two seconds later. “Mick, thank God you’re here.” Lori looked frantic.

“I figured I’d better follow you here, Robert. Lori gets skittish renting a room to men, especially if they’re traveling alone. Lori, Robert used to be a federal agent. You have nothing to worry about, giving him a room.”

Lori was happy to hear that. She eyed Robert up like she was going to devour him. She also gave him the room next to hers.

* * *

Robert was sitting in the diner enjoying the special of the day, a hot roast beef sandwich with mashed potatoes smothered in gravy. His mind wandered back to that morning when he woke up early and walked into the office to find it was empty. He went to the apartment next door and knocked. Lori had obviously overslept and was still half asleep or she would have realized she was standing there in her skimpy baby doll pajamas. They were a little sheer and he feasted his eyes. She had a killer body and Robert couldn’t get the picture of it out of his mind. He didn’t notice a wedding band on her finger and that pleased him. Maybe when he was settled in more, he would ask her out.

* * *

After lunch, Robert decided he wasn’t going to wait; he might as well dig right in and get back to work sooner than he planned. He headed over to Mick’s house to get the ball rolling about his new job. Mick opened the door to see Robert standing there.

“I was wondering if you could hook me up with your bail bondsman today or tomorrow. I’m anxious to get on the road.”

“Sure thing. Come on in. I didn’t think you’d want to get back to work so fast. I thought you’d want to hang around and get some rec time in before you got down to business.”

Robert choked out a laugh. “Rec time? In this town? Are you kidding me? No offense, man, but what do they do in this town besides count the cows in the fields?”

Mick had to agree. “It does take some getting used to. Everything is very laidback and, well, just plain quiet. Another thing is on my mind, though. I thought maybe you’d want to come and hang over at the club with me sometime. Did you ever think of joining up with my club? It’s a good life, free and easy, just like you said you wanted. I could introduce you to my brothers and sponsor you if you decide you want to prospect.”

Robert shook his head. “No. That’s not the life for me, but thanks anyway. I’ve still got a sense of obeying the law stuck in my brain,” he explained to Mick. “Anyway, that would cause big problems with me and your club. You know as well as I, the men would never trust me, being that I used to work for the feds.”

“I hear ya.” Mick nodded his understanding. “I’ll make a call to Tom and see what he’s got.”

Tom was happy to hear there was another bail recovery agent interested in working for him. And with Mick assuring him that Robert was well-experienced in apprehending fugitives, he handed out a job that had just come in. Robert offered to share it with Mick, but Mick declined.

“Nah, I told ya, I need a break from that shit. Maybe someday I’ll have to take on a few bounty hunting jobs for the extra cash, but I’m doing good for right now.”

“I’m glad for you then.” Robert shook Mick’s hand and thanked him for getting him hooked up with Tom. “See you when I get back.”

“Stay safe, you prick,” Mick replied.

Mick had to head over to the clubhouse for a special meeting before the regular one later that night. Striker brought his fist down on the table to start the meeting.

“You know we’ve got two prospects getting patched in tonight, Jock and Lefty.” He looked around the table at all the serious faces. “If anyone has any reservations about patching them in, now is the time to speak up.”

Roach answered, “Hell, I have no problem with them getting their colors. They’ve worked hard and always put the club first.” He continued on, “And let’s face it, some of their duties were pretty gross, but they didn’t complain.”

Striker saw all the brothers nodding in agreement. “Okay then, if no one has any complaints about either of them, that settles it.”

Striker walked over to the picture hanging on the wall and moved it aside. He opened up the safe and pulled out patches that had Satan’s Prophets MC on them and two small red diamond patches that had the one percent symbol on them. Their patches were sacred to the members and could not be out of their presence for a minute.

“Mick, you and JD take their vests to the tailor in town. He’s waiting to sew these patches on.” Mick was honored to be one of the chosen brothers to stand guard over their colors. They took the vests and patches and loaded them into a duffel bag, then headed for the tailor’s shop. The tailor had an industrial sewing machine and did them up pretty quick. They headed back to the clubhouse where Striker was waiting and he took over guarding them until they held the ceremony later that evening.

Renee looked up from the red-and-blue plastic sliding board she was putting together for Michael when Mick got home.

He sat down on the floor next to Renee. “Here, let me put this together.” He wiggled his eyebrows at her. “I can do it much faster, which means we have more time to shower together.”

Renee handed over the screw driver and was all smiles. Five minutes later, Mick was carrying a giddy Renee up the stairs and into their bedroom. Mick lowered Renee to her feet and leaned over to kiss her when he heard it on the monitor.
Not now!
he thought to himself.

Michael was grunting in his crib, then he began crying. Mick leaned his forehead against Renee’s, trying to calm down his racing pulse. “I swear that kid has a built in radar that picks up on heavy breathing or something. That’s four times this week, Renee,” Mick pouted.

Renee had to share in Mick’s disappointment. “We should be used to it by now. But look on the bright side: just think if we’d had twins.”

Mick shuddered at the thought.

“You know he’s teething, the poor thing. I’ll go bring him here so you can amuse him while I bathe. I‘ll be right back. I have to get his Baby Orajel and teething ring from the fridge first.”

* * *

Later when Michael was settled down and sitting in his activity chair playing, Mick decided he had better warn Renee about later that night.

“I don’t know if you coming to the clubhouse tonight is such a good idea, babe. We’ve got some serious shit going on and it usually gets pretty rowdy afterwards.” Mick looked at her hopefully. “Maybe you should wait for another time.”

Renee didn’t want to wait. She’d made up her mind to support Mick and if that meant going with him to his club, she would. She figured she might as well see the worst with the good.

“I’m ready.” She smiled. “Bring it on!”

Mick kissed Renee. “That’s my girl, but don’t say I didn’t warn ya. This isn’t a knitting club you’re going to. Just remember that. I have to be there early, so you’ll have to come with Jaz and Holly later.”

“That’s fine. I’ll just stay close to them until you find me.”
“That reminds me.” Mick ran back out to his bike. Renee watched as he pulled a piece of clothing out of his saddlebag.

“This is for you.” Mick handed Renee her “property of Mick” vest. “Make sure you’re wearing this when you get there. As long as you have this vest on, no one will bother you.”

Renee tried the vest on and felt a rush of warmth run through her body. She loved belonging to Mick and wanted the whole world to know it, too.

* * *

They dropped Michael off at Renee’s dad’s house. Charlie and Jenny were only too happy to babysit whenever they were asked. Renee handed Michael to Aunt Jenny, then ran back to the truck for his diaper bag. Mick carried in the portable playpen among other things Michael would need.

“I swear, Renee, tomorrow I’m going out and buying duplicates of this stuff so we don’t have to keep moving all this shit back and forth. Pretty soon we’re gonna need a U-Haul.”

Renee smiled. As much as Mick complained, she knew he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Aunt Jenny told them to leave Michael overnight so they could enjoy a night out for a change. Renee was thrilled to hear that. They kissed Michael goodnight, then Mick dropped Renee off at Jaz’s house and drove back home to get his bike.