Page 18 of Cannon

”I want to learn self-defense and weapons training. If I’m going to be at risk, I want to be able to help myself, worst-case scenario.”

“Hmm, I like that idea. I’ll send them to you, and you can sort it out amongst yourselves. That goes for all of you. Marci, get Pattie on board with it, too. I’ll bet she’ll kick all your asses by the end of it.”

Seeing that we are dismissed, we all leave and head for the kitchen. I don’t know about the others, but I need caffeine.

Molly and Jamie decided it was best for me to stay away from the practice for the time being. I’m not happy about that, but don’t get a say in the matter. Sitting in the area they refer to as the rec room, I nurse a bottle of water and wonder exactly what MC life entails. Maybe it’s not for me, though I can’t say I’ve heard a bad word about it from Molly or Jamie. They both seem a lot more content with their lives since they corralled their men. Jamie went through a tough time at one point, I know that, but it seemed more like relationship crap than anything to do with the MC as such. I’ll have time to do some digging, I’m sure.

A man comes in who gives me an appraising look, then throws me a sort of nod, but with his chin. He disappears towards the offices, and I’m alone again. Well, apart from a young man doing stuff behind a bar, who introduced himself as Mateo when he brought me the bottle of water. He seems a nice young man.

There are a couple of women in the kitchen preparing food, one who I thought was Jamie at first glance. From my earlier conversation with the old ladies' club, that’s just my term for them at the moment, she must be Pattie, queen of the shotgun. Knowing what else they do for the brothers, I may not eat the evening meal here. Getting caught staring at them, they both come over and introduce themselves.

“I’m Pattie, this is Anya. You must be Barbara from the practice. Cannon’s old lady, isn’t that right?”

“Yes, I’m Barbara.” I don’t know how to carry on a conversation from this point. ‘Gobbled anyone lately’, ‘How’s the hand jobs working for you?’ What exactly am I supposed to say?

“Oh my God. That’s so fucking rude. Funny as fuck, but so rude!” Pattie is laughing hard, and Anya just looks shocked. “She doesn’t know she said it out loud! Oh, that’s so hilarious.” Pattie has tears running down her cheeks and Anya is at least smirking.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to be so rude. I’ve just never spoken to…erm…I didn’t know what to say.” Trying to redeem myself I throw out, “You’re not going to shoot me with your shotgun the next time we meet, are you?”

Pattie stops, looks closely at me, and then bursts into very loud laughter once again. Anya joins her this time.

Mateo must have overheard all this, as he’s laughing too. I feel so bad, and my face is so hot I must be blushing to my hair roots. Whack, the president, and the guy who walked in a few moments ago, come rushing in to see what’s causing all the noise. I blush even harder as Mateo tells them what I said. They shake their heads as they laugh and head back to the office they came from.

I wait for Pattie and Anya to get their breath back and wipe the tears from their cheeks. “I’m so sorry.”

“Hey, it’s fine. We’ve had worse things than that said to us, Barbara.” Anya grins and offers her hand. “It’s okay. It’s been washed. Let’s try again. I’m Anya.”

Taking her hand, I say, “Pleased to meet you, Anya. I’m Barbara. Apparently, I’m Cannon’s old lady, though I’m still not one hundred percent sure what that is, other than maybe his unofficial wife.”

Pattie offers her hand, and she has one hell of a grip. “Pattie, at your service. If you ever need someone wasted, I’m your woman.”

“Yes, I understand you specialize in fathers. Is that right?”

She looks at me shocked again, but then bursts into peals of laughter. “We are so going to get along like a fuckin’ house on fire. I love your sense of humor, girl.”

The guy who had been with Pres walks back into the rec room and makes a beeline for our table. “Hi, Barbara. Pres told me you wanted to speak to me about some training?”

“Erm, and you are?” I ask, not knowing who I’m talking to.

“Sorry. I’m Ghost.” He tips his head in what I suppose is a very old-fashioned gesture, but I like it.

Anya and Pattie get up to leave, but I stop them in their tracks. “Hold on ladies, this might interest you too.”

Pattie grins at Anya, then me. “Now we’re ladies. She can’t make her freaking mind up about us, can she, Anya?”

This has me blushing again. “Well, it’s never going to be boring with me around, I’ll give you that, lady.”

I discuss self-defense training with Ghost, and Pattie is on board from the get-go. Anya takes a while to warm up to the idea. Neither thinks that the other club women, as I’m told they are referred to, Julia and Mella will want to be involved.

When I ask Ghost if he thinks Hellion will do weapons training with us, Pattie gets so excited I blurt something about her having an orgasm. This sets her off again and then she has her ‘air-shotgun’ out and is blowing away imaginary bad guys. She looks extremely sheepish when Ghost points to a repair in the ceiling, and they all have a good laugh when he explains how she got Fury into trouble for blowing a hole in it. Jamie handed Pattie a loaded shotgun, and Fury took it off her, pointed it at the ceiling, and pulled the trigger on what he thought was an empty shotgun. The women ran out and left Fury to take the rap when Pres ran into the room to see what the fuck was going on.

Ghost tells us he is sure that Hellion will take on weapons training, but if for any reason he can’t, Ghost will do that as well as the self-defense.

Pattie grabs me first and then Ghost into a hug, and her excitement is so infectious, I give Ghost a hug too.

Chapter 11

*~* Cannon *~*