Chapter One

Rascal stood staring at the small memorial he, War, Roam, Bear, Baron, Locks, and Speedy had worked on together. His MC brothers had gotten on board with the project from the moment he'd mentioned it, but then, they'd always had his back.

Had it really been over forty years since they'd come home from serving and formed the MC? Some days, he felt like it was yesterday. But then when he had to use a heating pad on his lower back or his knees creaked when he stepped out of bed in the morning, he felt every year. He envied Baron having a woman to come home to. Regina had been by his side for years. He hadn't been quite so lucky. His adult son's mother had been a piece of work. He regretted he hadn't realized how evil she was until later. If he could go back and save his son the heartache he'd experienced, he would in a second. There were few things he regretted but not taking Bear away from her earlier was his biggest.

It had all worked out now and he was a granddad, three times over. They were the light of his life. He'd imagine his oldest would turn her eyes and beautiful face to him and he'd be buying whatever she wanted at the weekend commemoration festivities.

They'd finished the metal sculpture two days ago and then set it in the cement yesterday. A large metal plane was suspended from a metal frame with paratroopers and their parachutes coming out of the plane. A metal flag flew in the wind at the upper corner of the frame. The cement in front of the structure was etched with WWII June 6, 1944. At the side of the sculpture was a sign with the words etched into the wood and filled with resin from Franklin D. Roosevelt's address when he announced the invasion.

They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate.

After serving himself, Rascal could understand the fear they faced, not knowing if they would come home. But they served because if Germany, Japan, and Italy weren't stopped, he would be living in a different world today. Even at sixty-nine, almost seventy, and being out of the military since 1977, there were still times when some of the things he'd experienced invaded his dreams. The Army prepared him as best as they could. It didn't adequately explain how the sights and smells of losing his brothers would affect him later.

"Are you here for the commemoration this weekend?" The sweet, husky voice had Rascal holding back a shiver. He'd never had this type of reaction to a woman's voice. Turning to put a face with the voice, he was speechless at first glance.

Standing before him was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. At six foot three, Rascal usually towered over most women, but not this one. She was a tad under six feet because he only had to look down a little into her eyes, which were a dark color that reminded him of chocolate, deep, dark chocolate that he wanted to drown in. Her shoulder-length black hair was liberally sprinkled with gray and was blowing lightly in the wind. Her jeans hugged her curvy figure, and her collared shirt highlighted every bit of her impressive bustline. He adored all figures, but he enjoyed a woman with a little weight on her. He was a big guy and didn't want to feel like he'd break the woman he was with.

"Yes. My club is organizing it." Rascal worked to not trip over his tongue. He'd never had trouble talking with women, but this one seemed to tie him in knots.

She walked closer, holding out her hand and smiling. "I'm Dr. Margaret Jamison. I'm giving one of the speeches tomorrow afternoon."

He took her hand to shake but found himself bringing it to his lips and placing a kiss on her knuckles. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Rascal Carter." The blush on her cheeks had him smiling despite feeling like an idiot.

It's a pleasure to meet her. What the heck was he saying and who had invaded his body?

"I was supposed to arrive tomorrow. But when the college I used to work for decided they didn't require a single, fifty-nine-year-old woman to be a professor, I couldn't stay in town another minute." She shook her head. "I can't believe I just blurted that out. I think I'm still in shock. I walked into a staff meeting and walked out with a letter saying my department would not be needed next year. I tossed stuff in a bag and got on the road. I hadn't even planned on being away from the college overnight because there's always something that someone needs the older, unmarried professor to cover there."

Rascal found her talking without even taking a breath as she told him everything that had happened absolutely adorable. Normally, women who weren't a part of the MC annoyed him with their talking about their Botox or their clothes. He couldn't think of the last time a woman intrigued him where he wanted to hear more.

"It seems like you've had a spectacularly crappy day. How about we walk down the block and I'll buy you lunch? I can guarantee the food there will make any day better."

Her lips parted into a grin, and she nodded. "What is this place that will fix my day?"

"Regina's Roadside Refuge. It's run by my club and the food is fantastic with great portion size."

He held out his arm and let Margaret slip her arm through his. He couldn't say what they talked about on the short walk, but he did know that each step closer had him trying to figure out how to keep her around. He'd given Baron so much crap when he'd found Regina years ago and had immediately fallen in love. He was positive in the coming days he'd be eating his words because hell would freeze over before he let this woman go who had him fighting to not sport a hard-on in public.

He held open the door, letting Margaret brush against him as she walked in. He fought leaning over to sniff the sweet fragrance coming from her. He placed his hand along her back and then led her to one of the empty tables. He smiled and waved as people said hello but didn't linger. He didn't want to be a jerk, but he wasn't sharing Margaret with anyone yet.

Even though the table was a little larger than they needed, he sat them at one of the tables reserved for his MC family. Since the MC owned the diner and store, there were always a couple tables reserved for them. He seated them close to the wall so they could have some privacy. He held Margaret's chair for her, then helped her slide it closer before sitting himself.

"Everything is good here," he said, handing her a menu.

"What's your favorite?"

"Everything. There isn't anything here I don't love. The burgers are juicy. The French fries or beer battered onion rings are fantastic."

"It's so hard to decide."

Rascal grinned at her being so excited for the food, especially after he'd seen the sadness in her eyes.

"Pick your two favorites. We'll get them both and share if it's okay with you. That way, you can try more than one thing."

Her smile and the light that filled her eyes when he stared at her had him wondering what it would take to convince her to give him a chance. Sure, he was ten years older than her, but at their age, did it really matter?

After the fiasco with Bear's mom, he'd vowed he wouldn't get serious about anyone unless he loved them. His son had gone through so much that he hadn't known about. He'd had club girls and a couple years ago he and a widow in Dodge City had filled a need for each other for a while, but he'd never loved a woman. Heck, he hadn't even found one that he enjoyed being around. He'd given up hope on finding anyone because if he couldn't have what his club brother Baron had with his wife Regina and what his MC brothers had been finding lately, then he didn't want a relationship.

He was loyal to his MC. He spent his days tattooing and enjoying his grandkids, but the feelings he had for Margaret were unexpected.

Their waitress brought their meals. They cut the burger and the barbecued beef sandwich in half and traded them along with dividing the fries and onion rings.

He waited until she took her first bite. Her slight groan at the taste of the hamburger had him surreptitiously adjusting himself under the table. He hadn't popped a stiff dick in public in the last twenty years. He busied himself with taking a bite of his burger to keep his mind off the woman in front of him.

"So if the subject's not too sore, what classes did you teach at the college?"

Margaret realized that although the subject made her blood boil, Rascal's whole demeanor invited her to share. It had been ages since she'd been attracted to a man. Although she worked in academia, she wasn't attracted to any of the men she worked with. Part of that was probably a professor she'd been out on one date with bad-mouthing her to other staff. She'd walked around a corner to hear him saying with her size and age, she should be grateful anyone was willing to screw her, and he'd been irritated she hadn't put out on their date. She hadn't put out because the thought of his soft, doughy hands touching her had made her want to throw up. Plus, he freaking chewed with his mouth open. If he couldn't keep his mouth closed while he chewed, did he even have a clue what he'd need to do with his tongue to please a woman? She was thankful she hadn't fallen for anyone because she wasn't leaving anyone behind.

Of course, her whole life was changing because she didn't own her house. It had been provided by the college as an incentive. She wasn't going to worry about that right now. She was going to enjoy some time with this tattooed sexy man in a vest who had everything inside her humming.

"I teach, I mean taught history, specifically relating to wars like the Civil War, WWI and II and Vietnam up to and including our current ones. Part of my class is how wars happen, if they can be avoided or are they inevitable. WWII D-Day is one of my favorite classes to teach on which is why Remington and Winchester contacted me."

Rascal's hand reached over and grasped hers. "I'm sorry they cut your program. I know if I'd ever gone to college that your lectures would have interested me. So they just called you in to a meeting with zero warning and cut your program?"

Margaret let her fingers curl around Rascal's and nodded. "I'd heard rumors that our admission numbers were down, but admission numbers at colleges are down across the state. We had a faculty meeting with the president of the college two weeks ago. One of the professors in the English graduate program asked if their program was in danger. The president answered that he promised no programs were being cut. The English grad program was cut along with mine."

Rascal shook his head. "Sounds like your president's a dick. You know, some of the boys and I could ride up and scare him a little. We wouldn't do anything illegal, but I bet we could make him piss his pants."

Margaret chuckled. Oh my, this man had her imagining where things might go with him. "Let's wait a little. I'm looking forward to this weekend and I'm sure you are too. But I'll keep that in my back pocket to consider once I get over this initial shock."

"Papa Wascal, whys you hewe?"

A young boy had asked the question. He was holding the hand of a girl who was a little older. Rascal scooted back and made room on his lap for both the kids.

"David, I am eating lunch with my new friend, Miss Margeret. Miss Margeret, I'd like you to meet two of my grandchildren, David, who is almost four years old and Phoebe who is almost nine years old. We have some birthdays coming up."

Margaret smiled at the children. Rascal's face glowed talking with the kids. You could tell so much about a person with how they treated kids. Watching Rascal interact with his grandkids let her know he was a good man. David tugged on Rascal's beard, getting his attention.

"Papa, I's really hung'y. Ice cweam would help my tummy not be hung'y. You know my tummy starts huwting if it gets too hung'y."

Phoebe was shaking her head. "Papa, tell him no. Mama is picking up lunch from here and she said no desserts until later at the thingy at the park."

David stuck his tongue out at his sister. "Tattletale."

A woman walked up to the table and picked up David off Rascal's lap. "David, do we need to have a chat about name calling?"

"No, Mama. I's won't." He laid his head on his mom's shoulder, then turned his head and stuck out his tongue at Phoebe again. She hadn't been around young ones for a while. Her parents were gone, and she was an only child. The family atmosphere here was a comfort to be around.

"Mama, he's sticking his tongue out at me again."

"You're not a nice sissy. I need Gwant. Code Wachel right now."

Rascal and the woman started chuckling and Margaret wondered what a Code Rachel was.

"Daddy, Code Wachel," David yelled when his mom didn't say anything.

A tattooed, bearded man walked out of the kitchen wearing a vest similar to Rascal's. His had a Vice President patch on the front. He took David out of the woman's arms.

"Was that your outside voice or your inside voice?" he asked.

"Sowwy, Daddy, but Phoebe makes me want to scweam."

"I don't believe we've met. I'm Rascal's son Bear."

She shook the man's hand. "I'm Margaret Jamison. I'm speaking tomorrow."

"Oh, I'm Winchester. We spoke on the phone. I thought you weren't going to be able to come until tomorrow. I apologize for my crazy children interrupting your lunch. I'd promise it wouldn't happen again but then I'd be lying."

Winchester was just as nice in person as she'd been on the phone. "My plans changed, so I came early. I'll need to find somewhere to stay. I'm guessing with the commemoration festivities rooms are at a premium."

"They are but you've met Rascal. He has a guest bedroom that we're not using yet. The clubhouse rooms are all full. If you don't want to stay at Rascal's house, I could check and see if Locks, who is another MC brother, has room at his house."

"Margaret can stay in my spare room if it's all right with her."

Rascal's gruff voice had her deciding maybe it was time to take a chance.

"I'd be delighted to stay in your spare room. I appreciate it."

Winnie smiled. "Perfect. Now, I think I'll take my brood home and drop David off for a Code Rachel with Grant. It was so nice to meet you. I'm sure we'll get to talk more later."

As quickly as they'd invaded, Rascal's family left.

She had to ask. "What's a Code Rachel?"

Rascal grinned. His beard, which was liberally sprinkled with gray, framed perfect lips.

"Winnie and her sisters run the bail bonds and security company with their dad. They are also major fans of Friends . When they re-did the codes for the bail bonds a couple years ago, they used Friends references. A Code Rachel is emotional backup needed. No questions asked."

Margaret giggled. "Your grandkids are precious."

"I agree, but then I'm a little biased. I vote we finish our lunch and then we could move your stuff to my house and unload. I'm supposed to help at the clubhouse later this afternoon with prep work, and we can always use another set of hands if you'd like."

Margaret felt more at home in this small town than she'd felt at the college she'd been at for years. She wasn't sure how what she'd considered her worst day could turn around and become one of the days she'd enjoyed the most. And it was only lunchtime.

"It sounds perfect. My bag was packed for tomorrow and I just grabbed it. Now that I think about it, I might not have enough clothes."

Rascal nodded and added a couple more onion rings from his plate to hers. She'd finished all hers because she liked them better than the French fries. He'd not only noticed but given her his. Rascal was more interesting by the minute.

"Not a problem. I have plenty of T-shirts you could sleep in. We have club T-shirts that I can get you in our store, along with jeans."

Margaret tried not to show the shiver that went through her at wearing Rascal's T-shirt to bed. His scent had been entirely too enticing as she brushed against him. She wasn't sure she'd keep from jumping this sexy man if she was enveloped in his shirt. It had been at least five years since she'd been naked in front of a man, and she honestly wasn't sure she'd have the courage to share her body with him.

Extra wrinkles and everything sagging more than it used to didn't give her confidence to initiate anything. For now, she'd enjoy his company and help with the commemoration. At least for a couple days, she could forget she was now unemployed.