Bourbon and bikers, p.1
Bourbon & Bikers, page 1
Bourbon & Bikers
The Boozy Book Club Series
By
Rose Bak
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
About This Book
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Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Epilogue
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Copyright
BOURBON & BIKERS
© 2022 by Rose Bak
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No portion of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage retrieval system in any form by any means without express permission from the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. For permissions contact the publisher at rosebakenterprises@msn.com.
Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, organizations, or locals is entirely coincidental. Trademark names are used editorially with no infringement of the respective owner’s trademark. All activities depicted occur between consenting characters 18 years or older who are not blood related.
Cover Design by Paper or Pixels
About This Book
She’s not interested in a second chance romance, so he’ll have to convince her that he’s really changed...
Twenty-five years after Dawn’s husband abandoned her and their baby daughter, Griffin is back in town. He’s older, buffer, part of a motorcycle club, and nothing like he was in his youth. He says he wants to get his family back, but Dawn’s been burned by him before. No matter what her friends say, she’s determined to stay away from him. Besides their “friends with benefits” arrangement, that is.
After his father’s death, Griff is facing his mortality and ready to make things right with his daughter and ex-wife. He’s going to do whatever it takes to earn their trust back. If only there wasn’t another accidental pregnancy to deal with...
They were each other’s first loves, can they be each other’s last one too?
“Bourbon & Bikers” is book four in the “Boozy Book Club” series. Each story in the series is a steamy standalone featuring a couple in their forties and fifties, a nosy group of book club friends, matchmaking family members, and a sweet happily ever after that proves anyone can find love later in life.
Author’s Note: An earlier version of this story was originally published in the limited edition anthology “Sinfully Wicked”. That anthology is no longer available and is out of publication.
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Dedication
For everyone who was surprised with an unexpected pregnancy and had to figure out a plan that works best for them.
Chapter 1
Prologue—Dawn
Two weeks ago...
I rushed up the stairs of Boozy Books, my e-reader under my arm, and jogged into the upstairs café. The book club meeting had already started, and my friend Emma waved me over to her table where she’d saved me a seat. I slid into the chair and sent her a grateful smile.
“You’re late,” she whispered.
“Got hung up at the restaurant,” I whispered back. “Busy day.”
We both joined the discussion of this month’s book, ‘The Mystery of Cedar Cove’ and sipped on icy cold martinis. Our friend Evie, who owned this bookstore, had the genius idea of combining a book club with alcohol. Every month had a theme. This month was “Martinis & Mysteries”, so we were drinking martinis as we discussed the cozy mystery we’d read. It wasn’t something that I normally read, but I’d enjoyed it more than I thought I would.
Of course Emma and I had also helped Evie solve her own mystery. We’d pulled off a Scooby Doo caper and caught the guy who’d been vandalizing Evie’s store, much to the chagrin of the local police department. But it all worked out. We’d nabbed the vandal, and Evie had nabbed the police chief. None of us had seen that coming, not with how much she hated cops.
After years of being single, Emma and Evie had both found love recently, leaving me the only single woman standing. Not that I minded. I preferred it that way.
Evie whistled from the front of the room, catching everyone’s attention.
“I hope you all enjoyed our Martinis & Mysteries selection. Our next book has had a lot of requests. I’m pleased to announce that next month we will be reading “The Biker’s Bride” by Janet Oliver. The theme will be Bourbon & Bikers, with a selection of bourbon available to try at our next meeting. Thank you all for coming, and please stop by the front table if you’d like to purchase next month’s book.”
Emma and I waited until all the ladies had filed out, then began helping Evie collect glasses and trash. As we cleaned up the café area, we chatted.
“How are things with you and Chief Hottie?” Emma asked.
Evie turned a little pink. “Good. We’ve been together pretty much every night since we nabbed Brian Peterson.”
“Hmm, no wonder you’ve been quieter than normal on the group chat,” I teased. “You’ve been having crazy monkey sex with the police chief.”
Evie gave me a cocky smile. “You know it, sister.”
Evie was the most outrageous one in our little best friend trio. Emma was practical and thoughtful and me, well, I was somewhere in the middle.
“You know,” Emma started, “I’ve got Wyatt, and now Evie’s got Jake, and—.”
“Nope!” I interrupted. “Don’t even say it. I do not want a relationship. I’m too old to deal with some idiot man. I like my life just as it is.”
“You’re only forty-five, you’re five years younger than both of us,” Emma protested.
“I’m an old soul. And honestly, I’m disappointed in both of you. You were always so happy to be single until you met Wyatt and Jake.”
“I didn’t say a thing,” Evie protested. “Be single, I don’t care, as long as you’re happy. Just don’t shut yourself off to the possibility of meeting someone special. Now how about we finish up these leftover martinis?
Chapter 2
Dawn
I walked around the dining room, examining the space with a critical eye. We’d just finished the lunch rush, and we’d be quiet for a few hours until dinner service began. As always, I felt a surge of pride as I looked around Dawn’s. I’d worked hard to make my self-named restaurant successful and the fact that I’d done it completely on my own made it sweeter.
Of course, it was also a bit lonely sometimes.
Chloe, my daughter and the assistant manager of the restaurant, was in the break room with the rest of the team, eating lunch while I kept an eye on the front. Chloe was twenty-seven, and after working at the restaurant all the way through school, had surprised me when she told me she wanted to put her business degree to work right here at home. I loved that this would be my legacy to my daughter, a business that I’d built through hard work and determination. After growing up without a father, she deserved that.
I heard the roar of a motorcycle engine and frowned. Why did those damn things have to be so loud?
The door opened and I turned to greet the new customer. With the sun at his back, I could only see his shadow. Tall, well over six feet, with broad shoulders covered by a leather motorcycle jacket, and muscular thighs lovingly hugged by faded jeans. Yum.
I walked closer, getting a better look at him. The man pulled off his helmet, shoving it underneath one muscled arm. He had dark hair that was peppered with streaks of gray, a square jaw covered in dark scruff, and bright blue eyes. I’d only seen that shade of blue on two people: my daughter and my ex-husband.
My eyes widened as I looked the man over again. It had been twenty-five years, but I still recognized him. He was older and much more muscular than I remembered, but it was him. Griff. Griffin Anderson. My ex-husband and Chloe’s absentee father.
“Griffin?” I gasped in shock.
He gave me that crooked smile that made me fall in love with him way back when we were assigned as lab partners junior year of high school. My traitorous heart sped up.
“Hey Dawn,” he said casually. “How have you been?”
I stormed over and smacked him on the chest. A chest that was much harder than it used to be. I couldn’t believe he’d just walked in here and greeted me like we saw each other last week or something.
“How have I been? How have I been? How dare you ask me that after being gone for twenty-five years? What are you even doing here?”
Before he could answer I heard Chloe behind me.
“Mom? Is everything okay?”
I closed my eyes and opened t hem again, hoping this was just a dream. Nope. The husband who’d abandoned me and our two-year-old child never to be seen again was standing here in my restaurant, looking at our daughter with a face filled with conflicting emotions.
“Chloe?” he whispered, his voice like ground glass. Even after all this time, I knew him well enough to know he was trying to choke down his emotions.
Chloe looked between us curiously, then adopted the professional voice she used with customers.
“Yes, I’m Chloe. Have we met?”
Griffin flinched, then looked at me for help. I ignored him. He’d made this mess, he could deal with the consequences. He cleared his throat.
“I’m Griffin.” He cleared his throat again. “Your father.”
Chloe’s face turned white, and she started to sway. Griff and I leapt into action, easing her into the nearest chair. He kneeled in front of her, watching her carefully as I kept my hand on her shoulder in a show of support.
“I’m sorry Chloe, I guess I shouldn’t have just blurted that out without any warning.”
Our daughter shook her head. “It was just a shock. I mean, we haven’t seen you for as long as I can remember.”
Since she was two, to be precise.
Griffin had been my first great love. Well, if I was being totally honest, he’d been my only great love. Until it all fell apart...
After meeting in chemistry lab, Griff and I had dated all the way through junior and senior year. I’d been a social butterfly, playing softball and cheerleading and writing on the yearbook team, while Griff was tall, lanky, and quiet. We couldn’t be more opposite, but somehow we’d worked.
We’d been each other’s first, and while we’d been careful, thanks to a condom malfunction I’d found myself pregnant at eighteen. Our parents had been furious, and we’d wound up getting married the week after graduation, succumbing to their pressure to “do the right thing”. My dreams of college out the window, I’d worked as a waitress at a local restaurant, and Griff had gotten a job at the hardware store. It was hard, but we made enough to afford a tiny studio apartment where we lived with Chloe.
I’d thought we were a team, until one day when we were twenty. Griff came home from work and told me he was leaving.
“I love you Dawn, but I’m dying here. I can’t spend the rest of my life in this boring town working retail and struggling to afford a crappy apartment. We’re too young to live like this. I want to be free. I want to see the world and have adventures.”
“What are you saying?” I’d felt the blood rushing in my ears.
“I’m saying I want a divorce. I’m sorry, Dawn, really I am.”
He handed me a manilla envelope. I looked at it blankly, completely in shock. I’d had no idea this was coming. I knew things were hard, but wasn’t that how it was for all new parents? I’d naively thought our love was enough to get us through the hard times.
“I took care of the papers.”
“Papers?” I’d asked blankly.
“The divorce papers.”
His words were a stab to the heart. I felt my eyes fill with tears as I struggled to take a breath.
“What...what about Chloe?”
“I’m signing over full custody. Those papers are in there too. But I promise I’ll send you money for her care every month. I’ll live up to my responsibilities.”
“Live up to your responsibilities?” I’d screeched. “Gallivanting around the world while I raise our child alone is not living up to your responsibilities.”
“I’m sorry Dawn. I’m so sorry, but I can’t do this anymore. If I stay here I’ll die.”
He’d walked over to the bed and slid out a full duffel bag from underneath. The bastard had already packed to leave. He threw it over his shoulder and gave me a sad smile.
“I know you hate me right now Dawn, but I promise you that this is for the best. For all of us. There’s a stamped envelope in with those papers. You just need to mail them back to the lawyer and he’ll take care of everything. There’s also a thousand dollars in there to get you by until I find a new job and can start sending you money.”
“A thousand dollars? Where did you get a thousand dollars? You know we’re behind on the electric bill.”
He didn’t answer, just gave me a long look, determined look. Chloe made a gurgling noise from her crib and Griff leaned over the side, kissing her cheek.
“Goodbye baby Chloe, I love you.”
And then he was gone. A month later a check came. There was no return address, but the postmark was from some place in Texas. The checks continued every month without fail, long after Chloe was grown up and out of school. The post mark changed every few years, and the amount he sent increased as well. I didn’t have any way to contact Griffin to tell him to stop sending child support, so I just socked the money away into a savings account. I figured Chloe could use it if she ever got married or bought a house.
Griff might have been a deadbeat father, but he was a generous one. With his money anyway.
Other than those checks, the only other contact we’d had with him was the cards that came on both of our birthdays and Christmas. He’d never called, emailed, or visited. Hell, we’d never even had an address or phone number for him. A couple of times when Chloe was sick I’d had the thought that if something serious ever happened, I would have no way to tell him. But then I assumed that’s what he wanted.
With the benefit of hindsight, I understood how miserable and trapped he’d felt when we were married. How miserable and trapped we’d both felt. We’d loved each other, but we were too young for the responsibilities we were handed. The difference was that Griffin ran away, while I soldiered on. I’d had no choice; my daughter needed me.
And if Griffin thought he was going to waltz back into our lives after twenty-five years like nothing had happened, he was crazy.
Chapter 3
Griffin
I stared at my daughter in amazement. Other than her eyes, she was a carbon copy of Dawn. Looking at them together, there was no doubt they were mother and daughter. They both had dark blonde hair, pale white skin, little bow mouths, and slightly upturned noses. They had similar builds, both around five six, with curves for days, although Chloe was leaner.
Dawn had grown a little softer over the years, but she looked fit and healthy. She was still beautiful. I’d seen her the minute I’d walked into the restaurant and had a deja vu moment. Just like the day I walked into chemistry class when I was seventeen, I had been struck with a jolt of excitement, a sense of rightness, and a strong desire to take her into my arms and never let her go. One word rumbled through my mind, just as it had way back then: mine.
I’d only been back around her for five minutes, but one thing was clear: I was still in love with my ex-wife. Staying away had been a huge mistake and I could tell from the look on her face that Dawn hated me. God, I was so fucked.
“What are you doing here, Dad?”
My daughter’s question drew me out of my reverie. She seemed more curious than angry, and I took that as a good sign.
“I wanted to see you.” I glanced at Dawn, who was glaring at me over Chloe’s head. “Both of you.”
“And you don’t have a phone? You couldn’t have sent us an email, a message, a carrier pigeon? Anything to prepare us for this unexpected visit?” Dawn asked.
Her brown eyes sparked with anger and resentment, and I knew I deserved it.
“I was afraid if I contacted you ahead of time, you’d refuse to see me.”
“You were right,” Dawn snapped.
Chloe stood up and started pacing behind her chair.
“Why now, Dad? We haven’t seen or heard from you since I was a baby.”
I nodded. “I know. I was hoping we could talk, and I could explain. I have some things I’d like to tell you both. I know I don’t deserve your time, but I’m hoping you’ll give it to me anyway.”
“There’s nothing you have to say that I want to hear,” Dawn retorted.
Chloe looked conflicted. “Mom, Dad came all this way, from...?” She looked at me curiously.
