Chapter Nine

Rascal and Meg walked into the clubhouse. With the addition of brothers from out of town, the sound was a lot louder than the last time. Rascal had his hand on the back of Meg's waist and led her to the food line. As she put items on her plate, he kept track of what she liked. He had a lot to learn about Meg. He wanted to know everything about her.

If he could find the assholes who hadn't cherished her, he'd probably thank them. Meg catching fire in his arms last night was more than he'd hoped for. It really was different when you were making love with the woman you adored as opposed to relieving a need.

A tug at his jeans had him looking down. David was motioning him to lean down. He crouched down, hearing his knees pop as he bent down.

"Papa Wascal, is Meg your giwlfwiend?"

Giggles from one of the tables had him glancing over. Winnie, Bear and the people surrounding them were laughing.

"David, did someone offer you something for asking me that question?"

David nodded, then whispered, "Mommy said Daddy would take me on his bike."

He dropped a kiss on David's forehead and laid his plate down. Turning to Meg, he slipped his arm around her. "Sorry, Meg, but they'll keep bugging us until I set the record straight," he whispered.

Raising his voice, he looked around the room. "Meg is not my girlfriend. She's the woman I love and has agreed to be mine forever. And if any of you upset her, you'll have to deal with me."

Laughter and yells filled the clubhouse as his family celebrated with them. Remington and Winnie walked around the room collecting cash. He finished filling his plate and led Meg over to the two open seats beside Winnie and Bear. Once they were settled, he stared at Winnie.

"What's the money for?"

"Remi and I bet the guys a month ago that you'd fall in love before the end of June."

He stared at the girls and then looked at Meg, cocking his eyebrow. "They contacted me a month ago about coming to speak."

He looked back at his daughter and bonus daughter, then shoveled a bite of French toast in before replying. He wasn't sure what he should say.

"Winnie, I think he's speechless. I'm not sure I've ever seen that my whole life."

"Dad always has an opinion. I'm stunned."

Rascal glared at Bear.

"How?" he asked when he couldn't keep quiet any longer.

"I told you when we were out on Christmas Eve that you needed a woman because you deserve someone who loves you deeply. When we talked with Meg the first time, I hoped she'd be someone you were interested in. Her showing up early was just a wonderful coincidence. If she'd come on time, we'd planned to manufacture a crisis that you had to take care of with her."

Rascal gazed at Meg, wondering what she was thinking. She slowly smiled.

"Well, I'm thrilled you invited me, and I found Rascal. I love to quilt and have gotten tired of making them only for myself. I guess I know who will be getting the first quilts I make after I move to Bluff Creek."

Screams of congratulations had Rascal sliding his arm around Meg. Those meddling bonus daughters had given him everything he'd ever hoped for, but it didn't mean he wasn't going to do a little meddling in their lives too.

Meg smiled at the hugs, shouts of congratulations and merriment with the family she'd found at Bluff Creek.

Rascal had work this morning, and she planned on tagging along. She was fascinated with tattoos and had wanted one for years. The only thing holding her back was the college's dress code, which hadn't been updated in the last fifty years. Women were required to wear skirts and blouses, and the men were required to wear slacks and dress shirts. No tattoos were allowed nor facial hair on the men. She hadn't agreed with it, but until the last couple of months, the positives had outweighed the negatives.

Now she could get a tattoo. Maybe she could get inspiration hanging with Rascal today. She finished her French toast and bacon, realizing she'd need to figure out an exercise program here. She didn't enjoy cooking and many times just had a frozen dinner. The food she'd had since she'd come to Bluff Creek had been tasty, and if she ate on normal weeks the way she had this weekend, she'd need to walk or something to keep the pounds from piling on. Her clothes fit just the way she wanted, and after Rascal worshipped every inch of her body last night, she didn't worry about being too big, but she wasn't going to put on pounds and not have her clothes fit.

She followed Rascal to put their plates in the dishwasher and then thanking Regina and the kitchen crew for the lovely meal. Rascal led her to a pickup.

She paused at the door. "Why the pickup?"

"You dressed in shorts and sandals, so I thought we'd take the truck."

"I can change."

"I take the truck a lot just in case I need to take any of the grandkids home from somewhere. I don't mind taking one of them as long as they have a helmet, but most times, if I'm needed, I have Joey too. Now, let's get in so I can show you my work."

Meg let Rascal help her into the truck, then he shut her door before going around the truck. She hadn't really looked at the area of the compound. Rascal had kept all her attention, but now she looked around at the place she'd be living. The compound sat on a hill above the town. The road was steep going down. She wouldn't want to be driving up or down the hill in an ice storm.

The ride to Rascal's shop took less than ten minutes. He'd parked and was already around her side before she'd gotten through looking at the Bluff Creek Ink building. A stylish sign along with a large awning kept the direct sunlight off the glass front window set in the red brick building. It was the same brick the diner building was built with since they shared a common wall. Rascal held the door open for her. A bell rang as they walked in.

"Be with you in a minute," a voice called from the back.

"It's me, Roam."

"Hey, can you check messages? Someone called, and I couldn't answer."

Rascal paused at the reception desk and picked up the phone. Meg walked over to the walls. They were covered with framed art of what she assumed were tattoos they'd done. One of Rascal's tattoos was on the wall. It was the gray and black one stating: Assuming I was just an old man was your first mistake with US Veteran underneath it.

There was also a listing for piercings, including intimate ones. She wondered if Rascal or Roam did those. She wasn't letting anyone with a needle anywhere near her down there. She'd lived this long without one and didn't think she needed to experience that in her lifetime.

Rascal came up behind her and slid his arms around her. "You considering a piercing, Meg? I'll warn you they take time to heal and would curtail some of the activities we've been participating in."

She shook her head and giggled. "Nope, nada, not me. They just caught my eye. Do you and Roam both do those?"

"I don't. Roam takes care of them."

Roam and his client walked to the reception desk. Roam accepted his payment and said goodbye while she enjoyed Rascal's arms around her.

"You have a ten-thirty, correct?" Roam asked.

"That was the message. They cancelled. What about you?"

"I don't have anyone else. I'll clean up, and then I can stick around for walk-ins for a while and update the books, then close. I don't think we'll be busy."

"How about you give me a tattoo, and I'll do the books later this week?"

Roam walked over closer. "Whatcha thinking, old man? Gonna ink something about this amazing woman you trapped?"

Rascal scowled at Roam's laughter, but Meg thought it was a little funny how they all gave each other crap.

"I had a couple ideas but was going to let Meg decide. I want it in the open space over my heart. I was thinking either Meg's Rascal or something along those lines."

"Remington said she originally wanted a "property" of patch on War's forehead. I don't want to go that far but I like the idea of Property of Meg over your heart or Meg's Rascal. I'm good with whatever you like better," Meg replied.

Rascal handed the piece of paper with his drawing to Roam. Roam glanced at it. Rascal had drawn a motorcycle with a woman and man, who resembled them with the words Meg's Rascal over it.

"I like it, but what if we did this?" Roam asked as he sketched around the motorcycle, adding a paratrooper and his open chute right above the woman's head, and then changed the words to Property of Meg.

"Meg, what do you think?" Rascal asked, not rushing her.

"I like it with the additions and the Property of Meg. Could you do the same design on me, only change it to Property of Rascal?"

"Nope, not happening. The only person touching your virgin skin to add ink is me. I'd hate to have to break Roam's hands for touching my woman."

Meg chuckled and shook her head at her caveman. "Okay, how about once we've finished at the college this week, you can schedule me in for you to ink my virgin skin?"

Rascal shuddered at her words.

"Hey, none of that. Let's get this done."

Meg kept her eyes on Roam and all the things he did. He prepped the area then situated the transfer, having Rascal okay that he approved of the tilt of the motorcycle. Then it was watching Roam tattoo her name into her man.

She could see why Rascal had problems with his lower back and shoulders, the way Roam was hunched over Rascal. They took a couple breaks before Roam got the outline done.

"Let me know when you want the coloring done. I can fit you in."

Rascal nodded as Roam covered it with some kind of clear wrap.

"It will be later. As soon as we check with some of the guys, we'll know if we're heading to her house tomorrow or the next day. Meg wants her stuff, and I don't trust her former boss to not do something with how his texts were sounding."

Roam nodded and pulled off his gloves. "Has he texted anymore?"

"Sarah and Scoop let us know that it was more of the same last night, but it doesn't sound like he was coming to Bluff Creek."

"Well, let me know if I can do anything to help you."

Meg nodded at Roam and thanked him. Everyone had pulled her into the family immediately because she was Rascal's and that made her theirs too. She wanted to get this stuff with her former boss done because she wanted a clean slate to start her life with Rascal. She had grandkids to get to know and to figure out what was next. She considered writing a book or two on American History. She now had time, and she was positive Rascal would support whatever she wanted to do. She'd also noticed that there was a community college in Dodge City she might check into about being an adjunct professor.