Page 36 of Walker

“Yeah. Do you know what’s going on?”

“There’s a little shakeup in leadership between our two clubs right now. It should all sort itself out soon enough, but there’s a little bit of pushback on the matter. I’m guessing that might be why they shut everything down for a bit.”

“Hopefully, they don’t take too long to figure it out. I can’t go without a job indefinitely.”

“If they don’t get shit up and running in a couple days, you can come work for me. I have to check with Spike, but I don’t think he’d have a problem with it. We need someone to answer phones and do the ordering anyway.”

“Would that be during the day? Like school hours?”

“Yeah, it would.”

“If you really need someone, I’d be willing to do that. I used to work for Adrian’s Auto doing exactly those things years ago. Lost the job because he met a woman who lived across the country and decided to close up shop and follow her there.”

“Perfect. I’ll talk to Spike.”

“You don’t think it will be awkward to work with someone you’re sort of dating?”

His eyes met mine and I could see the amusement there. “Reesa, let’s get something straight, we aren’t ‘sort of’ dating. We are dating. We are only dating each other, no other people. Monogamous. If there’s another way to say that, then add it in there.” I laughed as he carried on. “And secondly, I figure it probably works better for you with kids in school during that time. That way, you aren’t having to leave them at night to go to work. Might pay less in babysitting too, which will impact your bottom line a bit and maybe make up for the fact that you aren’t getting big tips some weeks.”

“Yeah, I imagine it would equal out.”

“Plus, you won’t have to worry about creeps fucking around at night in that parking lot when you get off work.”

“Speaking of creeps,” I mentioned. “There was a strange man outside my house for the longest time tonight. He only left after my sister pulled up, but Shaina said he was out there when she got to my house, too.”

“You know what he looked like?”

“I took pictures.”

“Good girl. Show me.” I pulled my phone out and showed him the pictures I took. “This is good, baby. I want you to do the same thing if you ever see him, or anyone else, lurking around your place again. Don’t hesitate and then send them to me immediately.”

He took my phone and sent the images to himself and then handed it back. “Good on you and Shaina for noticing and doing what needed to be done. I take it my ex-wife didn’t manage to talk you out of dating me.”

I grinned at him as I shook my head. “She was really nice, Walker. In fact, she encouraged me to be with you because she said you deserved to be happy.”

“She said that?” He asked. There was no mistaken how shocked he was.

“That was the gist of our conversation. She doesn’t wish you any ill will and said you’ve suffered enough for your mistakes anyway.”

“Didn’t think she gave a damn or kept track.”

“You guys spent a decade together, right?” He agreed. “It’s hard to turn off the part of you that cares for another person, even when they do you wrong.” Walker winced at that last bit. “They also know you better than most and can see the changes you’ve made.”

He blew out a breath. “Honestly, never thought we’d all be able to be in the same room, let alone that close, and not have a huge blowout.”

“Would you want her back if she wasn’t with Smoke?”

He shook his head. “No. Our time has well and truly passed. There was a moment, when I regretted everything and tried every way imaginable to win her back, including some underhanded bullshit that blew up in my face.” He chuckled, obviously amused with his past self. “Even then, I knew it wouldn’t have worked, but I had to try anyway for the sake of… I don’t know… Making myself feel better about how I destroyed everything, I guess.”

“I understand that.”

“I don’t still have feelings for her, other than to say she’s a great person and I loved her once. Seeing her tonight, it was like a glimpse of my past and one that belongs as only that. It feels like you got stuck re-living too much of my past with my ex-wife, though. I feel like one of those assholes who keeps bringing it up.”

I laughed. “If that’s true, then we’re both guilty of the same thing. We are older and have baggage. Some of it is on display for various reasons right now and it can’t just be ignored and swept under the rug. I’d rather we don’t make a big deal of it, and just handle what gets thrown at us. It would be worse if, for instance, I hadn’t been here tonight, and you didn’t bring up the fact that Poppy was here at all.”

He shook his head vigorously. “I’ve been in meetings all day with the club about shit that’s going down and we don’t take cell phones in with us. That’s why Poppy was here, in case something happened with her or the baby, so a prospect could knock on the door and get Smoke. I planned to see if you could get here tonight but wasn’t sure about your work schedule. I can promise you this now, I will never keep shit like that from you. I hope you respect me enough to do the same.”

“I wouldn’t keep it from you either. I think it’s better if we deal with things together.” It still felt weird to say that, like we weren’t a real couple yet that should be making those claims. It still felt right at the same time, and I couldn’t for the life of me explain the incongruity or why I felt those opposing things.

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