“You okay?” I ask when I place the helmet on her head.
“Yeah.” She nods but I can see a small amount of unease in her.
“You look fuckin’ beautiful.” I kiss her hard and her hands come around my waist, pulling me closer.
“You look sexy.” She bites at my lip, sending pain from my mouth straight to my dick.
Fuck, I forgot about the fucking pill. “You ready?” I cut the kiss short, pulling back to help her on my bike.
“Where we going?”
“Got us a table at Moda.”
“You got a table at Moda?” Shock laces her voice as a smile graces her face. I can’t blame her for being shocked. A man like me, eating at fucking Moda. I wouldn’t normally, but my woman deserves a special night out, so I’ll eat at the stupid over-priced place.
“Yeah, baby.” I place a kiss on her lips and tap her helmet. She doesn’t reply. The huge grin is enough to tell me I did good.
“Do you think the kids will be okay?’ She looks back at the house. I don’t have to see her face to know she’s freaking a little.
“Yeah, baby. You know I give Jesse shit, but I trust him with my life.”
“Yeah, me too.” She turns back and gives me one of her smiles.
“Let’s go.” I straddle the bike in front of her, reaching my arm back to move her closer.
“Is it weird that I’m nervous?” she whispers close to my ear. I turn my body to face her. Her worries are my worries. Her nerves are mine.
“Baby, you haven’t been on the back of my bike in over a year. I’d say it’s normal.” I try to reassure her, but my words do the opposite.
“Has it been that long?”
“Yeah,” I nod, hating the truth of that one word.
“Damn.” She looks down at her hands. I twist further around, forcing her chin up with my finger.
“There’s been a lot of things we haven’t done this year, baby, and that’s okay. We don’t have to rush. We’ve got forever.” I lean in and kiss her.
“I just wish our journey was different.” She doesn’t look me in the eyes, and it guts me that she thinks that.
“It might have been a tough year, Kadence, but it’s been the best one of my life. You gave me Low, gave Z a mom, and made us a family again. We might have lost ourselves along the way, but we’re findin’ those people again, and I don’t think anythin’ could take that away.”
Her eyes shine with unshed tears so I kiss her again, stopping with the mushy shit.
“Let’s go.” I smile, turn back and start the bike. The engine roars to life as Kadence’s fingers dig into my cut and I’m thrown back to the first night I had her on the back of my bike. The Kadence from that night, only slightly resembles the woman now sitting behind me, but I don’t let it get to me. Instead, I focus on giving my wife one hell of a date. Later, I will worry about bringing the sassy, fiery woman back to me.
***
“What do you mean you don’t have me down?” My voice rises and Kadence’s grip in my hand gets tighter.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t have your reservation here, sir.” The young blonde standing in front of me tells me for the second time.
“Well, I called and booked it. So I suggest you find a table for my wife and me. Now,” I grind out as she nods carefully.
“Give me a moment, sir.” She turns and leaves us standing there.
We walked in two minutes ago, after a quick detour to the clubhouse to pick up the pill Brooks left me. I didn’t tell Kadence what I was doing. She waited outside while I raced in to get it. I didn’t ask Brooks when to take it, so instead of calling him, I quickly googled it on my phone. Some people said to take it a few hours before you planned on needing it, so I quickly slipped it down without any water and met Kadence at the front.
“It’s okay, Nix. We don’t have to eat here.” She pulls on my arm, but I don’t give a shit what the waitress is saying. I booked it.
“Yes, we do. I fuckin’ booked it.” I keep my eye on the girl as she moves through the restaurant back to us.
“I’m sorry, sir, but we can’t help you.”
My fist comes down on the front desk causing her to step back.
“Damn it,” I curse, watching a man walk forward.
“I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
“This is bullshit,” I begin, but Kadence steps in between me and the fucking punk.
“Let’s go, baby.”
“Kadence.”
“No, let’s go to the bar. It will be like our first date.”
“You kicked me in the balls our first date, baby,” I remind her, still eyeing off the fucker who thinks he’s tough.
“Well, if you don’t move your ass from here, I’ll kick you again.”
I smirk at her sass. “You sure?” I look down at her to get a read on what she’s thinking.
“Please, it will be fun,” she responds, so I don’t argue. I take her hand and walk out. The club bar is only a block down on Main, so we decide to walk.
“You always act like this on a date?” she jokes, nestling closer to me under the warmth of my arm.
“Only with girls I like.” I try to be smooth and it gets me an eye roll. My favorite kind.
“You really want to eat here?” I ask again, when we get to the front door.
“Yesss.” She drags it out and pulls me inside.
The bar is busy. The table we sit at every time we come in is occupied, but as soon as Hunter sees us, he clears them out.
“Hunter doesn’t have a date tonight?” Kadence asks, sliding into the booth.
“Don’t give a fuck if Hunter has a date.” I slide in after her. She shakes her head but doesn’t reply.
“So not what I was expecting when I wanted to take you out.” I lean down and run my nose along her hairline.
“I think this place is fine, Nix.”
I nod to Hunter as he brings us both our usual drinks and a menu.
“You hungry?” she asks, looking over the menu. I don’t know why she bothers. She orders the same thing every time we come.
“Starved.” My hand moves down to her thigh and my cock stirs in my jeans. This is what I miss, just being with each other. Comfortable and in the moment.
“You keep groping me and you’ll end up like the first time we met here,” she sasses, and I can’t help but grin.
“You mean in my bed, with your pussy milking my cock?” The hiss of her breath stirs my dick, and I hold in the groan at seeing her nostrils flare. Fuck, this woman has no idea what she does to me.
“No, I meant the scene where you got kneed in the balls.” She smirks when the waitress comes to take our order. I remember that night clearly. The night I fell in love with my wife. I don’t know if it was the knee to my balls, or the way I watched her eyes light up after going on her first ride on the back of my bike. I knew that night, when I held her in my arms, I was going to love her. I knew then it wouldn’t be easy. With a woman like Kadence, you wouldn’t want love to be easy. I knew going in it would be fierce, raw, and by fucking God, this woman has given me everything and then more.
“I fuckin’ love you. Do you know that?” I stop our playful banter and turn serious on her. “You still ruin me, woman, fuckin’ sittin’ here with your sexy self. I still can’t believe you’re mine, you know that? You’re fuckin’ mine.”
“Stop it.” She smiles but it’s an awkward one, as if the compliment makes her uncomfortable.
“I know we have a long way to go, baby, fuck I do. But I’m tellin’ you now, your man tells you you’re sexy, you don’t fuckin’ smile like you don’t believe it. You hear me?” The air between us changes, like a switch has been flipped, and her eyes come back to life. And fuck me if it ain’t the most amazing fucking thing I’ve ever seen. “You do that shit again, I’ll fuckin’ bend you over the nearest surface and spank your hot little ass. You hear me?” I watch as her lips quiver at my tone. “Kadence,” I push when she doesn’t answer.