Page 22 of Tack’s Bounty

“I’d be happy to set her straight,” the man insisted.

“Oh, is this the lady from the great Kansas City Squirrel Abduction? I want in,” one of the guys in uniform called. Three more officers followed Tack’s boss. Jolene was probably getting more than she bargained for.

Freedom had taken a seat and was humming as she kept an eye on Jolene. Sophia watched as Jolene tried to explain her point, but the officers weren’t sympathetic. Tack’s boss walked over.

“My suggestion is that you put her and her son on a no-trespass order. If they violate it, then they can be arrested for criminal trespass,” Tack’s boss suggested.

“I’d like to do that,” Sophia insisted. She was tired of dealing with all this nonsense from Jolene.

"We’ll take care of it,” he confirmed, walking back over to Jolene.

Sophia watched as he took care of it. Freedom slipped her arm around Sophia’s waist.

“I told you. We need a couple pigs. Boom! Problem solved,” Freedom mused.

Sophia knew Freedom was joking, but she did wish Jolene would just go on her way.

Chapter Thirteen

Sophia snickered at Ruthy whacking Justice’s hand with a spatula when he tried to steal a bite of the baked beans.

“Mom,” he whined.

“Justice, you are an adult. Get those grimy paws washed before you get near my food,” Ruthy warned.

“I thought Pit provided all the food and you were just reheating it,” he smarted off.

“Oh, you’re in trouble now,” Tack crowed, sitting down beside her. “Mom, I, however, showered and made sure I wasn’t grimy before I came to the table.”

“Do you have to be such a suck-up?” Justice whined, glaring at Tack.

“Mom, do you need help with anything?” Tack asked.

“Seriously? I’m going to go clean up before Tack makes me throw up,” Justice shot back, walking out of the room.

Sophia enjoyed the comradery of the group and how much it felt like a family. It made her miss hers a little less.

Tack’s finger touched her chin, turning her toward him before he kissed her. Why was his kiss so much better than any she’d ever had? He made her tingle from her lips down to her core. She was glad she had her overalls on today, or her hard nipples would be showing through her shirt, and thank goodness, Tack was kissing her. She didn’t need to worry that she’d said that out loud.

Hooting and hollering had Tack finally pulling back from her lips, but after he’d kissed her so many times today, she wasn’t embarrassed. She was wishing she could take him upstairs, climb the man like a tree as Lake had suggested, and man, she hoped he had her screaming his name. She wondered which one he’d rather she scream: his club name, Tack, or his given name, Ryder.

“Ryder, and I can definitely take you upstairs after we fuel up,” Tack offered softly into the quiet of the kitchen.

The quiet laughter rolling through the room warmed Sophia’s heart because they weren’t laughing at her but with her.

“Fuel up, Tack. It sounds like Rufus was an asshole, so you’ll need to make it spectacular,” Ruthy quipped.

Sophia giggled, leaning closer to Tack. “Did she just give you advice on how to please me?”

Tack nodded, reaching across the table for the large platter of meat. He tilted the platter and covered half his plate with meat, then dumped some on Sophia’s plate.

“Happy, Mom?” he questioned.

Her answer was stopped by pounding on the back door. “Open up, Sophia. We need to talk,” the voice she’d hoped to never, ever hear again yelled.

“We do not need to talk, Rufus, but if you really need to speak to someone, I’ll be sending my man out to chat with you,” Sophia yelled back.

She shook her head, and Tack rubbed his knuckles across his cut with a smug look on his face.