Joker: Great Wolves M.C. - Ohio Chapter Read online

  Joker

  Great Wolves M.C. - Ohio Chapter

  Jayne Blue

  Nokay Press LLC

  Copyright © 2019 by Jayne Blue/Nokay Press LLC

  All Rights Reserved

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the author or publisher, except where permitted by law or for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Contents

  Don’t Miss a Thing!

  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

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Epilogue

  Up Next for the Ohio Great Wolves M.C.

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  Chapter One

  Joker

  “Well, I suppose there’re two ways to go about this. You can be a man about it and go in quietly. Keep your dignity. Or you can go in kicking and screaming. But either way, you’re going in.”

  I tried to keep the smirk off my face but only managed it by hiding my mouth with my hand.

  Toby stared straight ahead, his eyes narrowed to a scowl. He kicked the back of the car seat. One of his tennis shoes had come undone; the laces flopped around. He had a scraped knee from where he fell off his bike the other day. The thing was too big for him and he hadn’t yet learned how to ride without training wheels. But one of the jackass neighborhood kids had dared him to try it anyway. Sometimes being the son of a member of the G.W.M.C. worked against him.

  Toby kept his scowl in place as he finally let his eyes come up to meet mine.

  He crossed his arms hard over his chest. “It’s stupid,” he said. “I don’t wanna be a tater tot.”

  “Tiny tot,” I said. “Not tater tot. And it’s a good place. The best in town. I promise. You’ll have fun. It’s time you had the chance to hang out with some kids your age anyway.”

  He looked out the window. He still had a little bit of jelly sticking to the corner of his mouth from his toast this morning. I made him his favorite breakfast. Toast and cereal. Given the chance, the kid would eat nothing but.

  “I hate this place,” he said. His bottom lip quivered and it tore at my guts.

  “Buddy, I know,” I said. “It’s just for a few hours a day.”

  “I wanna stay with Mrs. Loomis!” He raised his voice and kicked the back of my seat hard.

  I got out of the car. The bright sun nearly blinded me. I slid on my sunglasses and opened Toby’s door. He turned his head away. His lip was still quivering and I knew he was two seconds from crying.

  I couldn’t tell him that I hated this as much as he did. In the four and a half years of his young life, my son had barely ever had a babysitter other than my neighbor, Mrs. Loomis. She’d been like a grandmother to him.

  “Mrs. Loomis is not as young as she used to be,” I said. “You’re getting older and you deserve to be able to play hard and run around. She can’t keep up with you.”

  The second I said it, I regretted it. I’d just made it sound like this whole thing was Toby’s fault. Damn.

  “You know Mrs. Loomis took that fall,” I said. “She has to go get it fixed in the hospital.”

  “Like a cyborg,” Toby said. “She told me.”

  I smiled. “It’s a hip replacement. They’re not turning her into a robot, buddy. But she’ll be good as new in no time. It’s just she’s gonna need some time to heal.”

  “Then when she’s better I don’t hafta come here anymore?”

  Toby’s big green eyes filled with hope. God. I hated this. I’d been through hell and back riding with the Great Wolves M.C. The people of this town respected and feared the patch I wore. But right now, I felt cut off at the knees at having to drop my four-year-old son off at daycare for the first time.

  Voices behind me drew my attention. A group of young moms walked together, dragging their own preschoolers in by the hands. The kids were laughing. Two of the little girls were busy dancing and had to be scolded to watch where they were walking.

  “See?” I said to Toby. “Think of all the new kids you’re going to get to play with today.”

  “I wanna play with Cam and Jody. Like I always do.”

  Cam and Jody were the sons of my prez, Colt, and our V.P., Kellan. Good kids, but they were seven and six years old respectively. A few years from now, that wouldn’t be a big deal. But Cam and Jody were in school full time. Toby had a ways to go before that happened.

  “Come on,” I said. “Don’t want to be late on your first day.”

  I reached over and grabbed Toby’s new superhero backpack. He’d been stoked picking it out, but now even that didn’t improve his mood. But he was a good boy and he took my hand as I lifted him out of the car and started walking toward the front door of the Tiny Tots Preschool and Daycare.

  I kept my back straight. Toby did the same. Watching him squeezed at my heart as he put on a brave face and kept on going.

  “Fine,” he said. “I’ll keep my dingity.”

  “Dignity,” I said. “Good choice.”

  I pushed through the front door. My senses were assaulted by the smell of crayons, clay, disinfectant, and that unmistakable little-kid smell. It wasn’t bad, by any means. What I’d told Toby was the truth. I did my research. Tiny Tots was the place for kids his age in Lincolnshire. I knew he’d be fine. I just wasn’t sure I would be. I followed the signs to the classrooms for the four-year-olds. The hallway was painted bright yellow with smiling cartoon figures pointing the way.

  I got some second glances from a few of the other parents. There weren’t too many dads dropping off. It was that, but something else as well. I had to go straight to work for the club after this. I wore my cut today. My leather motorcycle boots clomped loudly on the tile floor.

  “Whoa!” another little boy said as he turned and saw me. “Are you like …”

  “Finn, hush!” His mother pulled him to her side and slid a hand over the little boy’s mouth.

  “Yeah,” Toby said, his young voice taking a hard edge. “He is. My dad’s a wolf so you better watch it. He eats little boys for lunch!” Then Toby made claws with his hands and barked at the other little boy.

  It was my turn to pull him to my side and try to put a hand over his mouth. Too late. The other little kid’s eyes filled with tears and he dove behind his mother’s skirts.

  “Sorry,” I said. “First day.”

  She looked me up and down, her expression turning sour. She pulled her kid behind her, leaving Toby staring after them.

  I leaned down. “Not the best way to make a friend, Toby. Slow your roll, little man.”

  Toby
jerked his hand out of mine. “No! I told you. I hate this place.”

  He shouted the end of that so loud, we drew stares from the kids in the nearby classrooms. Great. Then Toby folded his arms over his chest again and jutted his chin out in a way that signaled the onset of a full-on temper tantrum.

  I rose to my full height. I matched Toby’s stare. His expression softened just a bit. He knew I wasn’t kidding around. Still, my heart sank.

  “Hey, there,” a soft, feminine voice came from behind. Toby’s eyes flicked to the source of it, then back at me.

  “I’m not going,” he said. His shoe was still untied and he stomped that foot. He had on a pair of new jeans I bought for him two days ago and a red tee-shirt with dinosaurs on it. It was his favorite. It actually went to a set of pajamas Amy, my prez’s old lady, bought for him. Toby didn’t care. He’d wear that thing every day if I let him. This morning, it was just one battle I didn’t feel like picking with him.

  “Hey,” I said, turning to the woman. The second I laid eyes on her, my heart stirred in a different way.

  The chick was drop-dead gorgeous, even without makeup and her dark hair pulled back into a ponytail. She had big brown eyes and an upturned nose. She was little though. Couldn’t be much more than five feet. She had on a pink fuzzy sweater with a bit of lace collar underneath. And she filled out a pair of rolled-up skinny jeans with the most luscious curves.

  Great. I was hot for the teacher already. She had a nametag pinned just above her left breast that read “Miss Tara.”

  “You must be Tobias,” she said. Miss Tara stuck out her hand to shake Toby’s. He kept his arms crossed.

  “Toby,” I said. “Don’t be rude, son.”

  “Toby,” Tara repeated. “I like that. Is that what you like to be called?”

  She got down to eye level with my son. He took a step back, gluing himself to my side. “First day,” I said. “First time, actually.”

  Tara smiled up at me. Her eyes went up and up and my cut registered. Her gaze faltered for a half a beat, but she found her smile again as she rose to meet me. She stuck out her hand.

  I took it. Her skin was smooth, warm; her hand was so small in mine but she gave me a firm handshake that I liked instantly.

  “Mr …”

  “Smith,” I said.

  I watched her eyes flick over my patch, reading it. Joker. Tail Gunner. She didn’t ask about either one. She simply cleared her throat and looked back down at Toby.

  “He, uh ... we’ve never done the daycare thing before. He usually stays with a family friend, but that’s just not going to work out anymore.”

  Tara kept her smile in place and her eyes locked on Toby, but she nodded to my statement.

  “Well, I think we’re real lucky to meet you then, Toby. You’re with me. I was so excited when I read my class list. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you. We have lots of fun here at Tiny Tots.”

  “Sounds like tater tot,” Toby said, still defiant.

  “Dinosaurs,” she said, unfazed by my son’s attitude. She pointed to his shirt. “You know, they’re my favorite too. In fact ... I have something really special to show you that I think you’ll like.”

  “We’re not staying,” Toby said, full-on pouting now.

  Tara’s eyes came back up to mine. She gave me a knowing smile.

  God, she even smelled good. How the hell could a woman who worked with twenty little kids all day smell so sweet?

  “You like digging for fossils?” she said to Toby.

  For the first time, he dropped his hands to his side. Tara took the opening. She offered her hand to my son. “Over there.” She pointed to a red plastic table filled with sand. “If you pick up one of those little rakes and start digging, you might find some T-Rex bones.”

  That was it. She had him. Two other little boys and a girl had already made their way to the table.

  “Laney?” Tara called out. There was another young woman in the room. She raised her chin.

  “Can you show my new friend Toby how to dig for dinosaur fossils?”

  Laney smiled and took Toby’s hand from Tara’s. He went with her willingly, never even bothering to look back at me. I took a breath, ready to tell him goodbye.

  Tara stopped me, putting a hand on my arm.

  “Shhh,” she cautioned. “Give him a few seconds and he’ll forget you’re even here. Trust me.”

  I followed her back into the hall. Sure enough, Toby had pulled up a little plastic stool and was busy digging through the sand.

  “I don’t know how the hell you did that,” I said.

  Tara put on a fake smile as two other kids brushed past us on their way into the classroom.

  “Er ... sorry,” I said. “Uh ... heck.”

  “It’s okay,” Tara said. “You’re pretty new at this.”

  Man, she was pretty. Clean. Sweet. Wholesome, probably. Or was she? I couldn’t help but wonder what Miss Tara was like behind closed doors.

  I think she saw it in my eyes. Her lips formed a little ‘o’ and a blush colored her cheeks. Miss Tara found her smile and stepped away from me.

  I shook those thoughts out of my head. Or tried to. That wasn’t me anymore. It couldn’t be. Not since Toby.

  “Thanks,” I said. “Like I said, first day. And he’s used to spending time just with my neighbor. We’ve never done the daycare thing.”

  “Lucky for you, the daycare thing is my specialty. Er ... uh ... Joker?”

  “Miss Tara,” I said. I tapped her name tag. It sat at roughly the same place as my patch did.

  “Right,” she said. “Well, in my experience, the best thing you can do is just walk away and not make a big deal out of dropping him off. I promise. Toby will fit right in. He’ll barely notice you’re gone. We’re going to have a lot of fun today.

  “We’ll see you at the end of the day Mr ... uh ... Joker.”

  “Good enough,” I said. “And thanks a lot.”

  She was good. Too good. An angel. So pure I felt like I was sullying her even standing this close to her.

  No sooner had that thought popped into my brain before another, darker one joined it. I wanted her. Oh man. I wanted to show this little angel in front of me what it would be like to dance with the devil.

  Chapter Two

  Tara

  “Tobias Joseph Smith,” he said, standing as tall as a four-year-old could. I’d only met the man for thirty seconds, but there was no mystery who this little guy’s daddy was.

  “But call me Toby or else,” he said.

  “Okay!” I said, smiling. “Toby, you’ll be in the red group today. Right over here.”

  I ushered Toby to my group of six students. They were about to go out to the playground with Miss Linda. She actually owned Tiny Tots. She cut an imposing figure at nearly six feet tall and three inches over that with her old-style bouffant hairdo. The kids called her Mrs. Doubtfire when they didn’t think she could hear. But here’s a secret: we can always hear.

  “We got this.” Linda winked at me. “Come on, young man. We’ve got some pretty cool things to show you out there.”

  Toby went, but that little scowl didn’t leave his face. If anyone could distract him, it would be Linda. I’d been at this gig long enough to know my new friend Toby would loosen up soon enough.

  I busied myself getting the supplies ready for the afternoon’s art project. Laney came in to help me. The girl had an unhealthy love for the paper cutter. She’d swing the blade down with murderous gusto when the kids weren’t around to see it.

  Shawang!

  “So,” she said. I’d known Laney since we were in junior high together. She had a pair of pale-blue eyes that she trained hard on me.

  “So,” I repeated.

  “Have you decided what you’re going to do about Em’s bachelorette party tomorrow night?”

  Oh Lord. She was starting already. “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “Puhlease. You’ve been twitchy all week and don’t
pretend that’s not why.”

  “I haven’t decided yet. That’s the honest-to-goodness truth.”

  “He’s going to show up, you know. Brian. It’s a thinly veiled surprise.”

  My heart lurched. Now I knew exactly where Laney was going with this. I’d walked right into it.

  “I don’t care what Brian does,” I said.

  “Yes, you do!” Shawang. She cut off a sheet of red construction paper and laid it out. “You know, I cannot believe the balls on Emmaline to even get you involved in this. And I still can’t believe you agreed to go along with it.”

  I turned to her. We’d had this conversation about a dozen times and it always ended the same way. Laney would call me a pushover.

  “I’m trying to make peace,” I said. “That’s all. Ever heard of taking the high road?”

  “She broke the code. That’s all I gotta say.” Except we both knew that wasn’t even close to all she had to say.

  “Laney, we’ve been through this. Brian and I were over. I had no claim on him.”

  Except, we both knew my break-up with Brian Windham was anything but clean. We’d been dating since junior prom and all through college. He’d even gone so far as to ask me to marry him. I never got the chance to give him a proper answer before things got messy.

  “I broke up with him, remember?” I said. “So you can just stop worrying about me playing the part of his jilted ex.”

  “Tara, this is nuts. Em was your friend. Your roommate, for crying out loud. She never should have even put you in the position of having to give her permission to date Brian. And you sure as heck never should have given it. Screw him. Screw her.”