Chapter Twenty Seven

Riley was deliriously happy with his life. Sure, once he’d imagined making it to the board in the biker’s club, but now he had different goals in his mind. Once Tania was in his life, he didn’t want anything else but to make her his, and now that they were working together, everything was great.

 

Nothing excited him more than to wake up next to the woman whom he loved and go to work alongside her. They were already working enough hours and making a good pile of money despite it just being the beginning of their business. The good thing was that they complimented each other; her strengths were his weaknesses and his strengths were her weaknesses, so, together, they covered each other well.

 

As they walked into the restaurant to celebrate their latest win in the dog-eat-dog real estate world, Riley felt good about a lot of things. Sure, it took them a lot of time to come to this state but now that they were here, he felt on top of the world. Nothing could beat his happiness. He drew out a chair and helped her sit and took a seat opposite her.

 

“This feels good,” he declared.

 

She accepted the menu from the waiter. “What? The restaurant?”

 

“No, being here with you, working with you, celebrating our successes together. That’s what life is all about.”

 

“So gone are the days of the dangerous rider, the biker dude,” she teased.

 

He pulled a face. “Misspent youth. Well, not youth, exactly. Actually…I’ve located another biker’s club.”

 

“No, Riley.” She shook her head. “Please, no.”

 

He held her hand while she tried to tug it free. “Listen to me. It’s not what you’re thinking. I’ve questioned them at length, and they’ve assured me they’re not involved in any illegal activities. All they do is meet on the weekend and go for long rides.”

 

“They don’t have plans to blow up warehouses and collect insurance money?”

 

“No, I asked them point blank and their chief informed me that they wouldn’t even know where to begin.”

 

“I hope you didn’t give him blow by blow account of how it could be done.”

 

He paused, looked away, and then smiled. “No, I didn’t. Do you think I learnt nothing from that experience? Trust me, these guys are legit. They love to ride, and best of all…there are as many women as men in the club.”

 

She puckered her lips as she considered his words. “So I can join?”

 

“Oh, obviously. It would be something we could do together.”

 

He could see the temptation in her eyes. If there were one thing he was absolutely grateful for – apart from, of course, the entire package that was Tania – it was that she loved to ride. He was the one who introduced her to it, and she took to it as if she were born on a bike. She gazed at him as if seeing how serious he was about the whole proposal and he kept his face appropriately somber. Just because he got into trouble with one biker’s club didn’t mean he intended to ban them from his life until the end of his days. It would be good if she agreed because he wanted to enjoy this activity with her.

 

“Okay, sure. We’ll give it a trial run and see how it goes.”

 

He didn’t pump his arm in the air even though he wanted to. “Wonderful.”

 

The waiter came to take their order and they placed their requests. She chose pasta while he went for snow fish. Life was settling back into a good pattern. He loved the work they did together and took a great amount of pride in it.

 

“I’ve to go back to pick up some things from the apartment,” he told her after the waiter brought their food.

 

She pulled a face. “Going back to that place gives me the creeps. You nearly died in there.”

 

“We nearly died in there,” he corrected her. “It was just plain dumb luck that we got away…but you don’t have to go with me. In and out, it will take me fifteen minutes. Now that Raymond is behind bars, I don’t think we would have any trouble.”

 

Tania ate. “I’ve been thinking…”

 

“What?”

 

“It’s just that your apartment has been sitting empty for a long time. You’re always over at my place.”

 

“Already bored of me?”

 

She glared at him and then resumed eating. “Don’t be silly. You’re the love of my life.”

 

“A man could never tire of hearing that.” She smiled and her beauty hit him in the gut like a punch. He took a breath to calm his mind.

 

“Yeah, well. It’s true. So since we’re working together and practically living together, I think it might be a good idea to live together.”

 

It was his turn to stare at her. Although his heart was doing somersaults inside his chest, Riley didn’t give away his emotions. “You’re asking me to move in with you?”

 

She frowned. “You don’t have to make a big production out of it. It just seems practical to get rid of that apartment. Why pay rent on it when you’re not even living there anymore?”

 

“You’re absolutely, positively right.” He held her hand and squeezed it. “Thank you for that interesting offer, Tania. I’m really touched and grateful that you’d consider me for such an honor.” Her lips carved in a smile and she tugged her hand away. “I love you.”

 

“I love you, too.”

 

Riley ate his food in a thoughtful manner. “Now that we’re planning to live together, it will take me some more time to wind up things in that place. There is the furniture that would have to be placed in storage or sold off, and I’d need some more time to clean my cabinets and bring some of my stuff over. We should do it over the weekend.”

 

She gazed at him, and he saw the calculating gleam in her eyes. Busted! Riley had a moment to remove his hand before hers came down hard on it. “You bastard. Well played.”

 

He tried to act innocent, but it was impossible to fool her. “I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.”

 

“Oh, I bet you do. You’ve given this some thought. That’s why you started this conversation. You were actually aiming to go there, and I just jumped the gun. Damn it. Why the hell did I have to say it first?”

 

Riley couldn’t help the laughter that sputtered out of him. Of course, that was the reason why he began the conversation in the first place. He’d been thinking about it for some weeks now. For all intents and purposes, they were already living together so might as well make it official. She just made the whole thing easier for him. “Too late now. It’s gone on our personal record that you’re the one who wanted me to move in.”

 

“You’re a piece of work.”

 

He pretended to dab his eyes. “Please, sweetheart. No more compliments or you’ll make me cry.” Tania shook her head as she continued to eat. “You have to admit that we’re always on the same page.”

 

“Yes, we are,” she admitted as they smiled at each other.

 

After they finished their food, they shared a dessert and had coffee. By the time they came out of the restaurant, it was dark outside. Cars zipped by. They walked over to the parking lot where his bike had been parked.

 

Much to Riley’s disgust, someone had taken a knife to the tires and they were slashed. This was his new bike, and he hadn’t even enjoyed it fully as yet. “Fuck!”

 

Tania gasped. “Who could’ve done it?”

 

It wasn’t a bad, dangerous neighborhood. Riley never expected something like this to happen. “My brand new bike,” he moaned as he bent to take a closer look. “Shit. I’ll have to haul it to the repair shop. Damn kids.”

 

She tapped a foot on the ground. “You think it’s kids?”

 

“Who else can it be?” He ran a hand through his hair and then grabbed her arm. “Kids just don’t have many things to do these days so they run amok. I swear if we had kids, I’d keep a tight rein on them.”

 

She gaped at him as if he’d said something silly beyond words. “What?”

 

Riley realized that the words that slipped his lips were dangerous. Sure, he wanted a life with Tania, and that included the usual package: marriage, wife, and kids. But they never talked about it and, from the horrified expression on her face, he could tell she wasn’t that excited about the prospect.

 

“It was just an expression,” he said. Before she could answer, Riley hailed a cab and opened the door for her. Visibly shaken either by his words or by the unprovoked attack on his bike, she sat in and slipped to the other side. Riley came in behind her. He called his repair guy and asked him to pick up the bike. Riley closed his eyes and leaned back. The thoughts regarding his bike were already out of his mind. He was now pondering over her reaction to his statement. Didn’t she feel that they had such a future together? Or, perhaps, she was one of those women who didn’t like the concept of marriage or kids. He’d never discussed this with her before and he wasn’t sure what she felt about this.

 

Of course, he didn’t care that much about a piece of paper that gave them permission to call each other husband and wife. And sure, he did want kids, but he loved her more. And if she were opposed to the idea, he would accept it because his first priority was to be with her. Still, it was something they needed to keep in mind.

 

“I’m sorry about your bike,” she said after a while.

 

He opened his eyes and glanced at her. She was biting on her bottom lip, a sure sign of agitation. “It wasn’t your fault. Not to worry. The repair guy said he’d fix it in three days so we should be able to meet the bikers on the weekend.”

 

“I should also buy a bike.”

 

The car came to a halt outside her house and they got out. Riley paid the driver and opened the gate for her. “We could go tomorrow after office hours to check out some. Oh! When I went to buy my bike, I saw this gorgeous beauty that had your name written all over it. I hope it hasn’t been sold as yet.”

 

“We could see it tomorrow.” She opened the door and they slipped inside. He switched on the light, took off his shoes and set them on the side as she preferred. Ever since he began to live with her, Riley had picked up a lot of her habits. Perhaps it was just the way couples worked; they learnt from each other.

 

Riley walked into the bedroom. After opening the closet, he hung his jacket and when he turned around, she was standing right behind him. There was an uncertain look in her eyes. He wasn’t sure what to say or do so Riley remained quiet.

 

“What did you say back when we found the bike?”

 

He knew exactly what she was talking about but he wasn’t a total idiot. If one sentence could put that look in her eyes, what the fuck would happen if he opened this discussion? They just agreed to live together. He didn’t have any intention of scaring her with talk of future. “The kids did it.”

 

“No, not that.” She licked her bottom lip. He could see that she was struggling with words, but he’d already put his foot in his mouth and he didn’t wish to make the situation worse. “What you said about having our own kids?”

 

Clearly, she wasn’t about to let it go. Now that he’d gone ahead and put his head on the block, he might as well finish the job. Riley walked over to the bed and sat. “I want to spend my life with you, Tania. Sure, we’re moving in now, and I’m willing to take it as slowly as you, but the truth is that I’m crazy in love with you and I want to marry you eventually and have kids eventually.”

 

She sat on the bed beside him. “Marriage? Kids?”

 

“Not now. When you’re ready,” he assured her. “And if you’re never ready, then it’s okay. I’d take any life as long as it is something with you. You don’t want kids, so we won’t have kids. If you don’t like the idea of marriage, we won’t get married. The only important thing is that we stay together and continue to love each other.”

 

Her face was blank. She didn’t twitch, didn’t move. He couldn’t tell what she was thinking. Riley prided himself on being able to read her, but, right now, he wasn’t getting anything. Had he messed this up for good? Did he ruin all chances of happily ever after by scaring her away?

 

“We love each other,” she said.

 

He held his breath. “We do, yes.”

 

“Marriage? Kids?” she repeated. He still didn’t say anything. Riley didn’t trust himself to speak. “Eventually, yes. I could live with that.”

 

The smile that lit her lips could’ve powered a hundred watts bulb. “Eventually,” he agreed.

 

She leaned towards him and he kissed her. Her lips were soft and warm. Riley lost himself in the feel of her body, the scent of her, and the touch of her hands as she put them on his arms and slid them up until she reached his shoulders. Riley felt as if his heart would split from the happiness that bloomed inside. He drew her in his arms and soon they were lying on the bed, their hands roaming over each other in a desperate bid to touch and to conquer.

 

Clothes came off. He threw hers away and kicked away his own. Soon, her naked skin was burning under the tips of his finger. This was love, and there wasn’t anything else that he wanted. It felt good to have her body vibrate under his. Nothing else was more important. Nothing else mattered. This was heaven, and he belonged here.