Duke(108)
The two had fallen into a comfortable pattern in the months they’d been seeing each other. Duke’s things were in one of her guest room closets, and two of his bikes were in her garage. Amy now shopped for the two of them, not just Gen, and her pantry was stocked with possibly more beer than wine.
Duke stayed over three or four nights a week, and spent the other nights at the compound. Gen opted to sleep in her own bed most of the time, but spent enough of her days and evenings at the clubhouse to keep up her role as Duchess.
Duke had won her mother over, though Gen wouldn’t have believed it. The first time her mom went to her bathroom to snoop, Duke followed her and told her, “Yeah, I stay over, and I’ve claimed your daughter in every way a man can take a woman. I love her, and I think I make her happy. I know you love her, too, and want what’s best for her. All I ask is that you look to see how happy she is before you make a decision about me. I’ll never do anything to hurt her. She’s the world to me.”
Gen’s mother now made his favorite food and brought it over, just because. And when there were family dinners, Duke received a personal text from her mom to make sure he knew when to show up.
And yet, Gen felt as if she and Duke were in a holding pattern, waiting for something to happen.
When she arrived home, Duke was there along with five of his top MC guys. They were seated in her kitchen, drinking beer, and after Duke’s hello kiss, he poured her a glass of wine as he explained, “The guys needed to put eyeballs on me to make sure I’m okay after running with the Pack Alpha last night.”
Gen took a sip of her wine, and grabbed cheese, crackers, chips, and dip from the pantry and fridge. “My guess is you’re also seriously considering his offer of letting all of you run with the Pack on a full moon?”
“No,” Brain said as he reached for the chips, “because we think the weakest from both groups won’t be able to resist jockeying for dominance. However, it could work to let his top people and our top people go for a run together.”
She nodded and looked to Duke. “I know the two of you have responsibilities greater than yourselves, but for now maybe you and Randall should focus on nurturing your relationship one-on-one. Bringing in your top people can be good, as it’ll let you meet the people important to each other, but take it slow. No need to rush, yeah?”
Gen’s phone buzzed to let her know someone pulled into the driveway, and she looked to see a picture of a car she didn’t recognize. Duke had the same picture, but she stopped him before he could leave the kitchen.
“It’s okay. Bethany’s gonna stop by with the guy she’s been seeing, it’s probably them. I’ll get them and bring them back.”
Gen knew this guy was a professional football player out of Atlanta, but hadn’t been prepared for how big he’d be. He wasn’t big like Ethan, because he wasn’t extremely tall. Not short, either, perhaps right around six feet tall. But his arms bulged, and even his thighs inside his jeans were obviously muscled. Gen’s eyes went to the man’s muscled hand and forearm as he helped Bethany out of the car, and when her gaze met her best friend’s, the two of them grinned like silly school girls.
“Gen, this is Blake. I take it from all the bikes in your driveway, he’s going to get to meet a good portion of the club?”
“A half-dozen of them, yeah.” Gen looked to the large man with a smile. “Fair warning, Blake — some of the guys are big football fans. I hope you don’t mind?”
His grin told her his ego was huge and he’d eat it up. “Don’t mind a bit. I’ve never had a chance to sit down and talk to a real life biker gang before.”
“Club,” Gen corrected, “they’re a motorcycle club, not a gang. Everyone’s in the kitchen, come on back.”
* * * *
Gen wasn’t alone with Duke until nearly two in the morning. Once the MC guys left, Gen and Duke went on a double date, bar hopping with Bethany and Blake.
On the way home, a police officer pulled Duke over, and he got off the bike to talk to the officer, but told Gen to stay put.
Gen sat still, knowing Duke was right. She was pretty drunk, and if the officer wanted to be an ass he could arrest her for public drunkenness.
She turned to see the officer making Duke do the breathalyzer, and crossed her arms and looked down as they both stepped to her.
“Can I see some ID, ma’am?”
Gen looked to Duke, who pulled her license from his pocket and handed it to the officer.
He walked back to his car, and when he returned, he told them, “It looks like you’re both a person of interest in the missing person investigation of Detective Mike McPherson.”