“I’ll get your coffee, Gwen, how do you take it?” she asked, taking me by surprise.
“Um, no, it’s okay I can—” I started to reply, but Cade interrupted me.
“Black, two sugars, I’ll have one too,” he told her, barely looking up.
She nodded at him and turned to get our coffees.
I spun to Cade. “I have legs, Cade. I’m quite capable of getting my own coffee,” I informed him snippily.
“That ain’t the point, babe, it’s a respect thing. You’re my Old Lady, they need to know their place, which is below you. Libby was doing what she should, showing you respect.”
I eyed at him disbelievingly but his face was serious. “That’s ridiculous.”
Cade’s gaze turned hard. “That’s how the club works, babe, get used to it.” His tone communicated that the subject was closed.
I pursed my lips, itching to argue, clearly I had a lot to learn.
Libby came back with our coffees, placing them in front of us, obviously knowing how Cade took his.
I smiled at her. “Thank you, Libby,” I said sincerely. If I had to let them run around after me, at least I could be nice.
“That’s okay, Gwen.” She smiled nervously and walked away.
I leaned into Cade, who was in the process of piling his plate. “So do many of the men have Old Ladies?” I asked genuinely interested.
“Nope,” Cade replied. “Me, Steg, and Ranger.” He nodded towards an attractive man in his mid-forties who I hadn’t met yet. He was sitting at another table, one arm around a very pretty woman, probably early thirties with long blonde hair. Their position was similar to the way Cade and I were sitting. The blonde caught me looking and grinned, I gave her a friendly smile back.
“I’ll introduce you later. Ranger and Lizzie have been off on some school trip with their kids or some shit, that’s why you haven’t seen them round,” he explained through mouthfuls.
Well, at least my man didn’t talk with his mouth open.
“How come there are so few?” I questioned, looking around at the men, at least fifteen of them were milling around, three was not a very high number of men with women.
Cade regarded at me intensely. “Takes a special kind of woman to be able to handle this life. Also takes a special kind of woman to make us want to settle down. Got more than enough bitches willing to offer up their pussy, none of them Old Lady material.”
A crude explanation, but still kind of sweet. I leaned in and kissed Cade on the cheek. An intense gaze passed between us, and I wondered if he was thinking about what I said last night. He couldn’t verbalize an “I love you” but at least I knew he cared about me a lot. I tried to convince myself that was enough.
“I’m going to use the ladies room,” I informed him, standing.
“I’ll take you.”
“It’s okay, Cade, I think I can manage on my own.” I gave him a look before turning to walk into the clubhouse.
After using the facilities – they even had a specific ladies room – I checked my reflection to make sure I didn’t look like a total disaster. Surprisingly I didn’t. I just looked…happy. Even though I wasn’t covered in makeup or clad in my designer clothes, I felt confident. Cade did that to me. I turned to walk out, coming face to face with Evie.
“Shit!” I jumped, hand on my chest.
She directed a scathing look at me.
“You scared me,” I told her, choosing to ignore the glare.
“You should be scared, darlin’, you don’t belong here, doubt you’ll be able to handle this life. Sooner you figure that out the better.” She stepped closer, trying to intimidate me. I refused to move, refused to let her make me feel inferior.
I leaned into her. “With all due respect, you don’t have a goddamned idea what I can and can’t handle. I’m here to stay, so you can give up on your scare tactic bullshit. You’re not getting rid of me that easy,” I replied, voice hard and confident.
She arched a well-manicured eyebrow, looking me up and down. “Well shit, the little princess has a backbone.” She sounded almost impressed. “Evie.” She held out her hand. I took it.
“Gwen.”
“Well, Gwen, you’re not what I expected, but you do anything to fuck with the club, I’ll rip your head off,” she told me conversationally.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I replied dryly.
She smirked at me. “Let’s get a drink, I’ve got mimosas in the kitchen, that’s if the Sweetbutts haven’t been sneaking any. Which they wouldn’t, if they knew what was good for them.”
She seized my arm and pulled me towards the kitchen. I guessed Queen Biker approved of me, and it would be rude to say no to a mimosa. We entered the kitchen, and to my surprise, Steg was leaning against the counter. My stomach dropped, I so did not like this man, but I had to make an effort and I couldn’t be disrespectful.
I smiled at him, head held high. He gave me a chin lift, “Gwen,” he murmured, voice rough.
Evie sidled up to him, stroking his chest. “Baby, what you doin’ in the kitchen? One of the Sweetbutts could’ve got you whatever you needed,” she purred.
Steg rubbed her ass, eyes on me, I struggled not to squirm under his gaze.
“Nah, sunshine, was after a word with Gwen. Knew you’d bring her in here for your stash.” He gave Evie a look and without a word, she nodded.
“See yah outside, sweetheart.” She kissed him, then strutted out the door.
I gulped, feeling mighty uncomfortable being alone with this man, but still not wanting to show it. Steg gazed at me a second, then gestured to a small table with some chairs.
“Sit, Gwen. This won’t take long.”
It didn’t escape me that this was not a question. I sat down, palms sweating. I couldn’t shake the first impression that I had of this guy. Steg sat across from me, hands clasped in front of him, smiling big at me.
“So I just thought we could have a chat, since we weren’t properly introduced when we last crossed paths.” He leaned back in his chair, reminding me of some sort of sleazy businessman.
I didn’t know what to say so I just nodded, he took this as a cue to continue.
“I’ll admit, Gwen, first impression, I thought you were just Cade’s latest piece. Thought he might’ve wanted a taste of some high class pussy. But by the looks of it, my VP has it bad for that pussy.” His tone was official, which totally contradicted the crudeness of his words.
I gritted my teeth. “If what you mean is Cade and I are serious about each other, we are.”
He smiled again, like some sort of predator. I would say it was more a show of teeth than a smile, but whatever.
“Yeah, that’s what I’m trying to say. I just wanted to get a few things straight.” He leaned back in now, eyes focused on mine. “Firstly, I wanted to thank you for what you did for Bull, you tipping Cade off saved a brother’s life. The club owes you for that.”
I inspected my hands, feeling uncomfortable. “It was nothing, I don’t expect anything in return,” I murmured.
“No, but that’s the way our world works, you saved a member. That’s a big deal, accept it.”