an elastic that he’d taken from the hairbrush I bought yesterday. I had bought a pack of hair ties, too.
“We’re getting … married?”
“That’s what I said, babe. Let’s go.” He grabbed the bag from me and leaned over to kiss me on the neck.
I gave my head a shake. “You’re asking me to marry you?”
“No. I’m telling you that we’re gettin’ married. Might as well do it now. Go home hitched. That way, no one’ll have a doubt that you’re mine and that I’m fuckin’ serious as a heart attack about that fact.”
I blinked. Go back home married and maybe even knocked up? Holy shit. I wanted to be claimed by an alpha biker. And I truly understood in this moment the very overused saying about being careful what you wish for.
“Wait... Hold up, baby,” I requested.
He was by the door. He turned around and looked at me with a concerned look on his face.
“I uh… I want my daddy walking me down the aisle. My brothers to be your ushers. Ella, Pip, and Jenna as my bridesmaids.”
I couldn’t believe this was happening.
He stared a minute and then he looked relieved. “Fine,” he said.
“Fine? We’ll wait? Get married later?”
“Nope. Not waitin’. We’ll tell them to meet us there. They can come to terms with it on the way. Let’s go.”
“You’ll call them? Or you want me to do that, or…call together?”
What if they didn’t come?
He stopped and pondered things. “We’ll head back. I’ll stop in and see my Prez. Really oughta show the respect and ask him for your hand, so that’s what I’ll do. Well, I ain’t askin’, since you’re already mine --- I’ll be tellin’. Anyway, we’ll go home and park my truck and take the hog. We’ll drive to Vegas. They can fly out and meet us there if they wanna come.”
“Did you just equate getting married to having a heart attack?” I asked, smirking.
He laughed and shrugged. “You know, I guess I did.”
“You don’t wanna fly to Vegas?
He smiled. “I wanna take my woman on a honeymoon and the way I see it, our honeymoon should be a road trip, her on the back of my bike. Figure we’ll take a scenic route, hit route 66 for a stretch, and hopefully catch the tail end of the rally at Sturgis on our way home. Sound good?”
“Like in Easy Rider!” I got excited.
He smiled. “Life’s an open highway ahead of us, baby. I’m drivin’ but we can take turns navigating.”
“Um…” I scratched my head. My head that was sort of spinning.
He dropped to one knee and grabbed my hand.
“Will you marry me, Jojo Valentine?”
My heart took flight and I nodded.
“Yes. I will.”
Holy shit. Is this real?
“Was that better?” he asked. “Askin’ instead of tellin’?”
“It doesn’t matter how you asked or told. It only matters that you did.”
Holy shit. I’m engaged.
“Christian?” I grabbed his hand as he headed toward the door.
He stopped and turned around.
“If I’m dreaming, please don’t let anybody wake me up. Ever.”
“Gimme that mouth,” he ordered and then he pressed me up against the wall and laid a hot and heavy movie-style kiss on me.
***
Dad was growling. Christian was bleeding. And I was engaged to be married. So not a typical bended-knee proposal. It was the epitome of a biker proposal, getting told I was getting married. And I wanted a biker so really, it was just what I always wanted. How did Christian wind up bleeding? Let me back up a bit…
We pulled into the parking lot in front of Deke’s Roadhouse.
“You go on up and pack a bag. Don’t forget your ID. I’ll bang on your door after I talk to him and grab some jeans from my room.”
“Maybe I should come with you,” I said.
“You two! The fuck?” Dad appeared from somewhere, stalking over as Christian was opening his door.
Christian got out and Dad pulled his fist back and punched Christian right in the face before the door got closed.
I screamed. “Dad, no!”
Blood was gushing from Christian’s nose!
“Prez. I’d like to ask your permission to marry Jojo,” he said, not even reaching to wipe his nose.
Dad bared his teeth and snarled right in Christian’s face. I dove across the seats and climbed out the driver’s side.
Deacon was running over from the garage. So were Rider and Jesse.
“You fucker,” Dad roared.
I was trying to get between them, but Christian hooked an arm around me and put me behind him instead.
“Prez, your daughter set her sights on me. It was like a siren’s call