Page 80 of Cash

“I have the day off so errands, grocery shopping, laundry and house cleaning.”

“You have time for lunch and a gym session?”

“Yeah, I’ll work it out. I’ll get things done in the morning then come to the gym. That work?” I ask.

“Yeah. After work tomorrow, I’m giving James his first riding lesson. You want to come with us to the club?”

“Yeah, I do. If you want, I can take Liam with me for the day. Then you can work without having to check in on him all the time,” I answer.

“Thanks, but no need to. Taja and Vex asked to have him for a few hours. I think they need it. Axel brought an idea to the club about turning the back rooms at the gym into a daycare center. The guys voted yes on the idea. It won’t take much to get it set up, and James has volunteered to help us with it. The clients will be able to bring their kids with them if they want, and our kids will have a playroom while we’re working. Bailey and Rex are going to do interviews to hire a few women to work there.”

“That’s actually a great idea. Some of the women I work with have trouble finding daycare so they can go to a gym. This would solve the problem for them and others,” I say.

“Axel and I like the idea too because we can keep our kids close to us. Another thing, Axel agreed to give cut rates to any of the females you work with that want better training. Even if they just want to work out, they’re welcome.”

“That’s very nice of you guys. I’ll speak with some I know when I go back to work. Thank you. I’d like to help set up the daycare too. And I might know a woman or two that would be great employees for it,” I answer as I snuggle closer.

“Yeah? Have them contact Bailey at the gym. If they can handle Axel, they can handle a half dozen kids.”

*~*~*~*

James and Cash are outside somewhere with the bikes, and I’m hanging in the clubhouse. Lucy’s here, and we’ve been chatting quite a bit. I can see why she and Chubs are together. She’s shy but super nice and very loyal to the club. She told me about how the club rescued her when her boss abducted her. My respect for the club members grew as she told the story. She also volunteers at New Horizons and that says a lot about her as a person. Keeping us both entertained is Mac.

Lucy made the mistake of telling Mac that I’m a cop. Since then, he’s walked up and down the bar making siren and gunshot sounds. He must watch a lot of TV because he can imitate several versions of each sound. When I mentioned that to Lucy, she explained that he likes to watch “Chicago P.D.” and loves to pretend he’s Hank from that show. Every few minutes he stops in front of me and asks a question or barks out an order.

“Cuff the dirtbag, Burgess!” Mac shouts.

Lucy and I laugh even though we know we’re encouraging him to continue. He shakes his whole body, ruffling his feathers and stalks away again. He’ll be back.

There’s a prospect working behind the bar keeping me and Lucy in drinks. She introduced him as Russ and said he’s brand new here. The way he keeps eyeing Mac told me that though. He backs away each time Mac gets to his area, and I think Mac’s loving the intimidation factor. The last few times that Russ has stepped back, Mac screeched loudly and extended his wings in a threatening manner. Mac would stay in that position, staring Russ down, for a moment before walking away while giving a deep, belly laugh. He’s a naughty bird.

When the main door opens, Lucy and I both look that direction. Trigger, Reeves and Horse Nuts enter with Horse carrying a small dirt bike. Spotting us, the men walk over. Horse sets the bike down, and Reeves sets a child-size helmet on its seat.

“Is that the bike you built, Trigger?” Lucy asks.

“Yep. Got it done today. Pippa and Tammy are bringing Craig here in a while. He doesn’t know about it yet. Hope he likes it,” Trigger answers.

“He’s going to love it, Trigger! That’s so cute,” I tell him while eyeing the bike.

“It’s cool, not cute, Livi. Don’t ever call a guy’s bike cute,” Trigger educates me with a grin.

It’s a bright red bike with black accents. The seat is about 23 to 25 inches high and should be a perfect fit for Craig. The helmet is painted to match the bike colors with Craig’s name on the sides. When I look closely, I notice it has a small skunk painted on the back of it. I understand why I can’t call it cute, but it is. It’s a tiny version of a man-sized dirt bike, and it’s perfect. I’m jealous that I’m too big to ride it. Reeves must be a mind reader because he turns to Lucy and instantly gets on her bad side.

“Hey, Lucy. We’re all too big to ride it but was wondering if you’d test it out for us before Craig gets here.”

“What are you saying, Reeves? That I’m as small as a child? I’m not!” Lucy says with some heat and a definite warning in her voice.

“Well, yeah. You’re not much bigger than Craig, so you’re the perfect–what the hell, Trigger?” Reeves shouts while lifting a foot off the ground.

“You need to close your flycatcher, Reeves, before Lucy disembowels you,” Trigger warns.

“Didn’t need to stomp my foot to say that,” Reeves complains.

“Better a sore foot than getting nut punched,” Trigger fires back.

“Oh, for the love of God! Show me how, and I’ll test it out for Craig. No videos though!” Lucy orders as she stands.

Horse starts moving a few tables out of the way as Reeves starts the bike. Trigger gives Lucy a few instructions while I’m looking around the room seeing all sorts of obstacles.

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