"I'm fine."
He hooked her around the waist. "Come on. Let's sit in the living room."
He needed to get her away from his brothers. They were about to jump ship on dinner.
"We eat at the table. House rule. I want to eat before it gets cold." She frowned at him. "Why do you look like that?"
"Like what?" He flashed her a grin.
She shook her head. "You can't use your dimples on me. What's going on?"
Timber glanced at the others around the table and returned her attention to Romeo. "Is something wrong with the soup?"
He lifted his brows and laughed. "Nah—"
"Oh, God. It's bad, isn't it?" She reached for the bowl and dipped a spoon into the liquid.
He caught her wrist before she could bring the soup to her mouth. "We'll order pizza."
Her eyes welled up with unshed tears. His gut tightened. She'd tried her best. Nobody could blame her for the ruined meal. But, they were men. They needed to eat.
"Brody? Call Dominos." He never looked away from Timber.
"On it," said Brody.
Behind him, Sander whispered, "Make sure you get pepperoni."
He wanted to line up his brothers and shoot each one of them for making tonight uncomfortable for Timber. She'd poured over the recipe on her phone for the last three days and made a special trip to the store to get the right kind of potatoes. What they ate for dinner never mattered much to them as long as they had a full stomach. To Timber, it was a way for her to prove that she was worthy of being a part of the family.
An unnecessary task. He loved her. She was as much a part of the family as he was.
Chairs scraped against the hardwood floor. He held her wrist, afraid she'd bolt if he let go.
Once the room was clear, he pulled her to his chest. Her body quivered against him. He rubbed her back.
Though she never made a sound, she clung to him in despair as if her world had collapsed.
She refused to raise her head. He stood in the kitchen, rubbing her lower back and giving her time to calm down. It wasn't the end of the world.
"One time, years ago, Caleb brought home a used barbecue. He ripped it off the neighbors if I remember right." He chuckled at the memory. "He was about sixteen years old and thought he was old enough to take care of himself, so I put him on meal duty for the week."
Out of all of them, Caleb was the one who lacked any skills in the kitchen. When it was his night to cook, they usually ended up having burgers or chili dogs.
"Needless to say, he blew up the propane barbecue and fried all the hair off his arms and his eyebrows." Romeo snaked his hand underneath the back of Timber's hair and rubbed her neck. "Six months doesn't go by without someone bringing up that night and reminding Caleb of what he had done."
"He was sixteen years old, though," mumbled Timber.
Romeo grasped Timber's face, tilting her head to look into her eyes. He softened at the vulnerability staring back at him. To him, sixteen was the same as nineteen years old. Timber wasn't that much older than Caleb was then.
"Making fun of him had nothing to do with his age, doll." He stroked her cheeks with his thumbs. "It has to do with being a family and making memories together. There are things that we've all done that will be talked about within these four walls that won't go beyond the Muel family."
She blinked an extra second. "No one's mad at me?"
He shook his head.
Relief swept over her, and she pressed her cheek into his hand. He kissed her forehead. "What do you say we go sit outside on the deck in the backyard until the pizza arrives?"
"I should do the dishes."
"Let the others chip in and do them. They couldn't even manage any of the soup. At least I got half my bowl down." He chuckled.
Timber elbowed him in the side. "Not funny."
One day, they'd laugh about the night she tried to make potato soup. Not now, but in the future, and she would be glad for tonight.
Chapter Thirty Three
Timber moved out of the way of a customer while trying to see why Willow had called an impromptu meeting at the end of her shift.
"Timber?" asked Willow.
She leaned forward. "Hm?"
"Do you want to trade a Friday for a Wednesday? Vega has to do daycare that day."
"Sure." She found Vega standing in the group and smiled. "No problem."
Vega mouthed, "Thank you."
Since Romeo was always at the clubhouse, she could move her workdays around or take an extra shift. She'd still be able to see him, and thanks to him not charging her any rent, she saved all her wages and lived off the generous tips she received from the truckers.
"I also have something for everyone." Willow leaned over and opened the top of the box on the floor. "I can't wait until you see these."
Willow pulled out a waist apron. Jess nudged Timber and grinned. The new apron was fun and flirty. Black fronts with a two-inch lace ruffle around the bottom, it would hit mid-thigh, covering their shorts underneath—they'd all learned that more leg showing meant bigger tips.
"What's the occasion?" Sierra held up her apron.
Timber took one from the box and held it in her hand, not wanting to change since she got off work in less than fifteen minutes.
"Next month, we're redecorating the diner." Willow planted her hands on her hips. "The booths and chairs are going to get reupholstered. Everything blue will now be black."
"Oh, that'll look nice with the orange trim." Tawni backed away, handing her apron to Hayley. "Can you put mine in the breakroom? I need to check on my customers."
Timber turned around to follow Hayley, and Willow called her name. "Yes?"
"One of the employees who worked for the motel quit yesterday. There's room if you want to stay." Willow raised her brows. "Rent-free as long as you're working here."
Stunned at the news, she could only stand there while everyone stared at her. She hadn't given it any thought of moving out of Romeo's house since they began having a relationship. She hadn't given her future any thought about where her relationship was going. She had no idea what Romeo would think about her living at the motel instead of with him.
They'd committed and declared their love for each other. But beyond that, she had no idea what Romeo planned. So many of the men who rode for Killere were in common-law marriages or just living with their old lady. Plus, she'd seen a lot of fooling around when the men wore a wedding ring.
Because she liked how things were going and hadn't wanted to find out Romeo had different plans for their relationship, she hadn't asked him how he was feeling about the future.
"You don't have to give me an answer right now. Think about it for a few days and then get back to me. I'll be interviewing for the position at the motel next week and will have to know if the spot is available or not." Willow smiled at everyone. "Okay, that's it. I'll post the new schedule in the breakroom."
Needing to put her new apron away, she followed Willow down the hallway. She had no idea what Romeo would say about the offer for her to move out. The thought of leaving him scared her to death.