Page 42 of Jack

Lily

Helping Nana in the clubhouse kitchen wasn’t as bad as it first sounded. No, I’m not a good cook. Far from it. Jack’s grandmother has made it her personal mission to help me learn. Cooking for such a large crew takes a lot of planning and preparation. Pancakes were my job today. It was the only thing I couldn’t really mess up.

The meeting with Jack’s father wasn’t comfortable. In fact, the entire clubhouse has been on edge all morning. Jack was quiet during breakfast. He left me with Nana and disappeared. It’s lunchtime. Hopefully, things will be better soon.

Nana knows what’s going on. As outgoing as she is, she’s also tight-lipped when it comes to serious matters about her family. She’s also kept me in the kitchen all morning and all the guys out.

“Hey, Nana.” A woman with sandy blonde hair walks into the kitchen. “Pops wants a cheeseburger and fries. You cooking lunch today?”

“Might as well. Got nothing else to do.” Nana gets a package of ground chuck from the fridge and sets it on the preparation table in front of me. “This is an easy one. Make us a hamburger patty.”

I’m not a total idiot in the kitchen. I can make a burger. Mine never seem to have the best flavor, though. Pops is going to be very disappointed. While I make the patty, Nana drops a basket of fries into the fryer.

“Lily, this is Kayla. She bartends for us sometimes.” Nana pulls spices from the cabinet and sprinkles them on the patty I just made. Okay. That’s what I was missing.

“Hi. Nice to meet you.” I offer Kayla my hand.

“Likewise.” Kayla’s handshake is firm. I’ve read that you can tell a lot from a handshake. “I also work at JB’s. It pays more,” she adds with a grin.

“The bar in town?” I think Maci mentioned it.

“Hello, ladies.” Jack walks in with his friend Rodeo right behind him.

“Hey, Jackie.” Nana flips the burger as Jack kisses her cheek.

He looks better than he did this morning. He’s still dressed all in black, black boots, black jeans and a black t-shirt. The man just loves black, I guess. The only thing he wears with color is his vest. No, wait. He called it a cut. Rodeo’s eyes instantly lock onto Kayla and never leave.

“See ya around, Lily.” Kayla holds her head high and goes back through the door to the bar. Rodeo follows behind her. Something’s going on with them.

“Hello, angel.” Jack leans on the counter next to me. “Wanna get out of here for a while?”

“Really? Can we?” I’m so tired of sitting around.

He lightly laughs. “Well, I did promise to show you the town.” He takes my hand and pulls me toward the side door. “Let’s go, angel.”

“What about Nana?”

“I’m fine, dear.” Nana waves and continues cooking.

He leads me to a side parking lot. This isn’t the same one Shepherd and I went to. Just how big is this place? We stop beside a motorcycle. It’s all black, too. It matches its owner’s perfectly.

“Uh, Jack. I’ve never ridden on a motorcycle.”

“Never?”

I shake my head. He leans close. His eyes practically dance as they bounce between mine. I haven’t seen this side of him. I’m instantly pulled in.

“What do you say, angel? Wanna live on the edge today?” His deep voice sends shivers all the way to my toes. His eyes move to the black Chevy truck a few feet away. “Or we can play it safe.”

“Safe,” I barely whisper the word.

Going anywhere with this man, no matter what vehicle we take, isn’t safe. I’ve never been interested in the bad boy type, and bad boy is written all over him. My attraction was for business suits. Suits turned out to be a huge mistake. Bad boys can’t be my thing, either. I need to break whatever’s pulling me to this man. I’m just not sure I want to yet. One day with him couldn’t hurt. Right?

He opens the passenger door. “In you go, angel. Maybe we can live dangerously tomorrow.”

I place my foot on the running board and climb inside. No need to wait for tomorrow. Today’s already dangerous, so so dangerous.

“Where are we going?” I ask as we drive through the front gate.

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