Sparkle (Lock & Key MC #11)

Chapter 1

CHAPTER

ONE

“Dinner’s at eight tonight. We’ll meet there, okay?” Ronny handed me a mug of freshly brewed coffee.

“Ooo, thank you.” Sitting up in bed, I took the hot steamy mug, a smile curling my lips. “You made a reservation?”

“Three weeks ago.” Chuckling, he kissed my forehead and went to the dresser.

“Of course you did.” I took in the dark caramel-ish roasted aroma and smiled at him. Five years into our relationship and Ronny still behaved like every day was special. Date night was every night with him.

He pulled out a pair of jeans from a drawer, his bulky arm muscles covered in tats flexing with the movement. “You know, you blush like a shy young thing every time I hand you a cup of my coffee.”

“Do I?” My skin heated as his tongue licked at his generous bottom lip. I adored that tongue. “You love it don’t you?”

“Fuckin’ hard-on every time, babe.”

I let out a giggle. “Must be magic in those beans then.” I swallowed down the delicious first sip of the day. “Mmm.”

He let out a short laugh. “You won’t admit it, will you?”

“Admit what?”

He tugged his jeans up his muscular legs. “You love me making you coffee.”

He was right. I loved it because I’d never had that before. My mate doing small nice wonderful things for me. Making me coffee. Replacing the empty toilet paper roll. Cleaning out his own ashtray. Putting his dish in the dishwasher, not just leaving it in the sink.

“Why don’t you come back to bed?” I put down the coffee, and the sheet fell from my bare body as I moved my long hair over my shoulder, revealing my breasts.

A growl rolled from his lips. “My little temptress. I would, but I got to get on the road. The traffic is insane this time of day, and I’m late as it is.” He pulled on a tee.

I got out of bed, slipped on my short silky robe, and followed Ronny out of the bedroom and into the kitchen, where he slid on his boots by the door. From the fridge, I grabbed a mason jar of his overnight oats with blueberries, chia seeds, and Greek yogurt that I’d prepped for him last night, and packed it in the thermal carry bag along with a couple of napkins and a spoon. “Here you go, baby.”

“Thanks, sweetheart.” He kissed me gently, cupping a breast through the silky fabric. “Call me after the contractor gets back to you with his estimate.”

“I will. He said he’d email me by noon.”

“Let’s see what he says.” His lips pressed together as grabbed his truck keys from the bowl on the counter. His thick dark hair peppered with gray fell in his face.

I swiped the hair behind his ear. “We’ll go over it together. We’ll make it work.”

Ronny was headed to his tattoo shop in Deadwood, and I managed the new shop in Meager, which he wanted to renovate, but his budget was tight at the moment, so he wanted to plan carefully. He was concerned. The shops did well, but he was a practical man and committed to sticking to his original budget, and I respected that enormously.

His warm hand slid under my robe, kneading my bare ass. “Nothing like being woken up with your tongue on my cock, babe.”

Wrapping my arms around his neck, I kissed him. “That cock treats me so good, he deserves my devotion, especially today.” I brushed his lips with mine. “Happy Valentine’s Day.”

“Happy Valentine’s Day, darlin’.” He kissed me once more and slid on his leather jacket.

“Wait!” I grabbed his scarf and tied it around his neck. “You always forget your scarf.”

“See, I need you.”

“You do.”

He winked at me and left the house. His hair and jacket gleamed in the sunshine. It was bitterly cold, of course, but blue skies and sunshine ruled the day. No snow, no ice—a treat here in the Black Hills in February. I waved as Ronny pulled out of the driveway.

Like I used to wave at my former husband when he’d leave on this same driveway. Only in those final years, when Jump would leave, I didn’t get that knot in my chest of missing him.

When he’d leave more often than not, a sense of dread would lift off of me. Those handful of years before Jump got killed were not good ones.

My body shivered in the icy cold, and I went back inside and locked the kitchen door behind me. I headed to the bathroom and took a hot shower, my thoughts going back to Jump.

The differences in my relationship with Ronny and my marriage were startling. Jump. He’d gotten his road name from his terrible temper and impatience. Ironic. All through our marriage, I was the one who jumped through hoops to win anything from that man. Attention. An expression of emotion. Honesty. I got them on occasion. But that only made me want them more, made me keep hoping for more.

And I did whatever I could think of to get them.

Swapping? You bet.

Three ways? Sure (and mostly it was me with another woman or me with a man or two as Jump sat back and watched, calling the shots).

Games, roles, toys, positions, lingerie, the perfect hot woman at all times? All of it, and any combination of the heretofore mentioned to make him blink. Do a double take and grin. To make a dent.

All of it my idea, my dare to me. And I enjoyed myself, I did. It was fun, freeing. But my endgame was always the same: to burrow in there, to be his unique and precious.

I wrapped the bath towel around my body and stared at my bare face in the steamy mirror. Had I been, ever, to him?

I got dressed and put my makeup on, covering up the fine lines and playing up my high cheekbones and big eyes. Jump and I had been together for over twenty-five years, and yet I didn’t know the answer to that fucking question. I gave new meaning to the phrase “good ol’ college try” didn’t I?

I knew Jump relied on me as his old lady, and that had always made me proud. Frankly, it had carved my adult identity. But had it been enough for me? Now that I was no longer a Jacks old lady, the truth that it hadn’t been enough had settled over me like a shell of ice.

Managing Ronny’s new store in Meager had been a lifeline. I’d managed the MC’s strip club for several years when the men’s management skills had gotten sloppy, especially my old man’s. Sure, it had all started when I figured out Jump had a steady mistress, a dancer at the club. She left Meager fast once I took over the reins.

Now, working at Meager’s brand-new tattoo shop was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed making the business a success. Ronny’s original shop in Deadwood was an iconic hotspot in the Black Hills. He had done most of my and the Jacks’s ink. To be a part of his expansion was a thrill for me. Of course, I knew everyone in town and they knew me, and the shop had gotten very popular very quickly.

Things were good.

I headed downstairs to the kitchen with my empty coffee mug, and my gaze landed on the framed photo of me, Jump, and a ten-year-old Wes at a club barbecue.

Our family.

Our once upon a time family.

A roaring rumble exploded in the air and my breath cut. A cold prickle raced down my spine. I knew that sound in my soul.

But it wasn’t Jump.

My heart swelled. It was our son on his dad’s bike.