Page 46 of Hard Corps (Selected Sinners MC 7)

CHAPTER TWENTY

Summer 2014, Austin, Texas, USA

I quickly found myself in a place I hadn’t expected to be, feeling in a way I hadn’t anticipated feeling, and confronted with a situation I was awkwardly excited about. For a man who planned everything from the exact moment I got up in the morning to what my meals were going to be a week in advance, and everything in between – including how many of my tee shirts were in each stack in my dresser – I felt a strange sense of comfort.

Katie talked to Ripp about her desire to have me take her on a date, and although I wish she would have let me be the first to talk to him, I accepted not everything in life would always be in my control. I did talk to Ripp at length following their discussion, and was relieved to find out he trusted me with his sister.

One more stop and I was home free to take her on an actual date.

I took a breath and knocked on the door twice. I had always looked at a doorbell as a lazy way of knocking, and I was far from being a lazy man. I waited nervously with my hands at my sides for the door to open.

He opened the door slightly, recognized me, and smiled. “Alec, how are you?”

“I am well, Sir, thank you,” I responded.

“Come in,” he said as he opened the door fully.

As I followed him into the house I realized this was something I had only done a few times in my life. As simple as a date may seem to most men, to me it was a tremendous commitment, and something I certainly didn’t take lightly. For me to ask a woman on a date, I had to see the possibility of a future relationship with her. I realized a date was simply that – an event on a specific day where two people chose to spend time together – and that there were no assurances, but if I didn’t feel the potential existed for a long-term relationship, I wouldn’t even ask.

“So, what’s the occasion,” he said over his shoulder as he walked toward the living room.

“Well, Sir, I’d like to speak to you about your daughter,” I responded as I followed him into the room.

“Have a seat,” he said as he sat down in the recliner positioned in the corner of the room.

He wasn’t as big of a man as Ripp, but he was close. It was easy to see that in his prime he would have been an intimidating figure. Although he wasn’t attempting to terrorize me, he was doing a good job of making me nervous. As I chose the seat next to him, I placed my hands in my lap, turned to face him, and smiled.

Smiling was something that I did infrequently, and many people often assumed I was angry at all times. My face permanently etched with a stern look and my walk filled with Marine Corps attitude, it was easy to assume I was a man who was rarely happy.

Most of the time I was happy, just not happy enough to share my feelings with the outside world.

He fixed his eyes on mine and chuckled a light laugh. “I’m guessing when you all went out the other night you had fun. The girls said it was a pretty good time. Hell, you never know with girls, they’ll tell you whatever you want to hear, won’t they, Son?”

“Yes, Sir, I’m sure that’s a true statement,” I nodded.

He raised his hand to his chin and rubbed the slight growth of beard on his face. “So what’s the problem? Did one of them act up the other night?”

I rubbed my palms along the thighs of my jeans and shook my head lightly. “No sir, certainly not. It’s not anything like that. I wanted to ask your permission for something, Sir.”

I’d walk into a firefight with a dozen insurgents without question, but talking to Katie’s father made me a nervous wreck. Sitting there knowing I now needed to continue caused my throat to constrict and my palms to sweat. I swallowed the lump in my throat and forced a dry grin as he looked at me with a face filled with confusion.

“Permission? Hell you don’t need my permission for anything, Son. What the hell you needin’?” he asked as he lowered his hand from his chin.

“Sir, we went out the other night, and I was able to spend a considerable amount of time with the entire group, your daughters included. We had a really nice time. In doing so, Sir, I was able to get to know Katie a little better…”

I paused, took a shallow breath, and allowed him to digest what I had said before I continued.

“In getting to understand her more, I realized a few things. One, she wants a man in her life. Two, she needs a man in her life. And three, I believe, Sir, I can be that man. I’d like to ask your permission, Sir, to take her on a date,” I said.

His mouth curled into a smile. “You called and came here to ask my permission to take my daughter on a date? Bug?”

“Yes, Sir, that is correct,” I responded with a nod of my head.

He coughed a light laugh and glanced beyond me for a moment. “Well, normally I suppose I’d have a lot of shit to say. You know, to be respectful. Or remind you that she’s been through a lot lately, and she doesn’t need a guy trying to get in her pants right now. Hell, maybe I’d offer a few choice words about wearing protection, birth control, and how there’s plenty of kids in this country that don’t have parents...”

“But with you, I don’t think I need to say any of those things directly. Instead, I’ll say this; Mike and I have talked about you. At length, I might add. He thinks the world of you. If Mike thinks the world of you, I believe him. He’s a hard man to impress. I’ve formed my own opinions about you, and I’ll admit you easily rise to the top of the pool of men that I’d choose for Katie. Suppose it brings me to this,” he raised his hand in the air and extended his index finger.

“Two things. First one is this. You’re not from here. And I ain’t lookin’ to have my daughter taken from me, Mr. Jacob. Not now or ever. As far as I’m concerned, she can leave Texas when I’m dead, but not before. Now, before I get to number two, what do you have to say about that?”