by Bijou Hunter
SEE YOU SMILE
BIJOU HUNTER
Copyright © 2021 Bijou Hunter
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmosphere purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.
For more information about this series and author, please visit her website.
Cover
Photographer: HayDmitriy
Source: Depositphotos
Cover Copyright © 2021 Bijou Hunter
Dedication
To SaMiJaMaLu
My lovely betas—Sarah, Debbie, Cynthia, Sheri, and Carina
&
Judy’s Proofreading
Book Summary
Nevaeh Majors isn’t looking for love, especially with a recently released biker, dad of two, and man twice her age. Samson “Handsome Sam” Donner is freshly released into a world he doesn’t recognize anymore. Neither Nevaeh nor Sam wants a relationship. But sometimes, there’s no denying what the heart needs.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
NOTE TO READERS
CHARACTER LIST
THE CHAPTER WHERE THE STORY BEGINS
“HANDSOME SAM” DONNER, AKA THE CHARMER
NEVAEH MAJORS, AKA THE CRACKERJACK
THE CHARMER
THE CRACKERJACK
THE CHAPTER WHERE THE CRACKERJACK SPEAKS TO GOD
THE CHARMER
THE CRACKERJACK
THE CHARMER
THE CHAPTER WHERE DRAMA ISN’T A DEALBREAKER
THE CRACKERJACK
THE CHARMER
THE CRACKERJACK
THE CHARMER
THE CRACKERJACK
THE CHARMER
THE CRACKERJACK
THE CHARMER
THE CHAPTER WHERE BLISS BLOWS INTO TOWN
THE CRACKERJACK
THE CHARMER
THE CRACKERJACK
THE CHAPTER WHERE THE PAST BURNS BRIGHT
THE CHARMER
THE CRACKERJACK
THE CHARMER
THE CRACKERJACK
THE CHAPTER WHERE IDYLLWILD KNEELS
THE CHARMER
THE CHAPTER WHERE THE CRACKERJACK SETTLES HER BRITCHES
THE CRACKERJACK
THE CHARMER
THE CRACKERJACK
THE CHAPTER WHERE BADASSES SUFFER SENIOR MOMENTS
THE CHARMER
THE CRACKERJACK
THE CHARMER
THE CRACKERJACK
THE CHARMER
THE CHAPTER WHERE THE STORY ENDS
THE CRACKERJACK
THE CHARMER
OH, BY THE WAY, FROM THE CRACKERJACK
A FINAL WORD FROM THE CRACKERJACK
A FINAL WORD FROM THE CHARMER
“STRAIGHT UP BADASS” SNEAK PEEK
BIJOU READING ORDER
ABOUT BIJOU
NOTE TO READERS
“See You Smile” is the final book in the Reapers MC: Pema Chapter.
The Road to Pema
There was once a great man who founded a motorcycle club, the Reapers, and built up a town, Ellsberg, for his young bride (Sunday Morning).
One of the club members was an enforcer named Vaughn Majors (Damaged and the Outlaw).
Four of his children—Maverick, Avery, Savannah, and Nevaeh—moved to the Reapers-run town of Pema.
This is Nev’s story.
CHARACTER LIST
TO AVOID SPOILERS, THIS LIST ONLY INCLUDES CHARACTERS MENTIONED IN PREVIOUS BOOKS
(Beast) Cooper Johansson – Reapers club president, oldest son of Kirk Johansson (Reapers MC founder), wife: Farah, children: Lily, Miranda, Colton, Audrey
(Outlaw) Vaughn Majors –Ellsberg chapter enforcer, wife: Raven, children: River, Savannah, Avery, Maverick, Nevaeh, Cavalry, Denver, Sylvie
Nevaeh Majors — manager of Whiskey Kirk’s, father/mother: Vaughn/Raven, brother: Maverick
(Handsome Sam) Donner — Pema Reapers member, formerly member of Silver Swords Motorcycle Club, son: Caesar, daughter: Raimi, parents: Fred and Pricilla Donner
(Sentinel) Maverick Majors – Pema chapter VP, wife: Violet
(Brick) Kiefer Northam — Pema Reapers member, formerly member of Silver Swords Motorcycle Club; son: Jett
Avery Majors – daughter: Io (pronounced Eye-Oh), twin sister: Savannah, father/mother: Vaughn/Raven, brother: Maverick
Savannah Majors – son: Pollux, twin sister: Avery, husband: Bjorn, father/mother: Vaughn/Raven
(Colt 45) Colton Johansson – Pema chapter president, wife: Stella
(Knight) Judd O’Keefe – Ellsberg chapter enforcer, wife: Tawny, children: Gunnar, Heidi
(Go-Go) River Majors – Shasta chapter president, wife: Max
(Ogre) Gunnar O’Keefe – Pema enforcer, wife: Vidalia
Heidi O’Keefe – Civilian manager of Pema chapter, husband: Jox, children: Axe, Onyx
Bufford Cosgrove – mayor of Pema/Idyllwild
THE CHAPTER WHERE THE STORY BEGINS
“HANDSOME SAM” DONNER, AKA THE CHARMER
I’ve spent more time locked up than my daughter’s been alive. Of course, those eight years were spread out over several decades. Yet, I’m still startled by this realization as I end my latest stint in prison. Even so, I never harp on dramatic aha moments. No reason to get wound up on how life’s cards have fallen.
Kiefer “Brick” Northam picks me up from prison and drives us back to my hometown. Back when we met, he was an angry boy. The last time I breathed free air, Brick was a pissed man. These days, he wears a calmer shell around his heart. A good woman can fix a lot in a messed-up man.
I worried the often-stressed Brick would go gray or bald while I was in prison. He takes everything too damn personally. But his hair remains dark and full. He did get rid of his beard a-ways back after hooking up with Avery Majors. Today, he’s sporting some stubble, making him seem younger than when I went into prison.
Brick and I are wired differently. He’s forever searching for righteousness in a world unwilling to offer any. I’m just trying to enjoy my time on this planet. I long ago accepted how my life didn’t matter for nothing. I’m not looking to leave a big footprint. Sure, I hope folks will remember me fondly after I’m gone, but my main goal in life is to feel good while I’m alive.
The old Acorn Steakhouse is now a club-owned restaurant called Whiskey Kirk’s. I follow Brick inside, where he gestures toward a picture of the Reapers Motorcycle Club’s founder. In the photo, Kirk Johansson stands with his wife, Jodi. When the Reapers took over years ago, lore about the guy spread through my old club. These days, his grandson is calling the shots in Pema.
At my side, Brick seems nervous over me meeting his woman for the first time in the flesh. The guy’s always been squirrely. Some people can roll along fine with miserable parents. Others let that stink infect them. Brick is squarely in the second group.
I can’t imagine he thinks I’ll make eyes at his woman or her twin sister. I’m not a man who chases gals. Hell, I’ve never needed to. I’ve spent my life hearing how damn handsome I am. That’s how I got my road name. Even as a teen boy with zero skills, I was tripping over will
ing pussy.
Avery and Savannah Majors are sexy women with identical faces. Avery looks sporty in black leggings, a surfer T-shirt, and tennis shoes. Her pregnant sister is decked out in a flowery dress. They watch me with relaxed green eyes.
Brick looks so damn proud of his woman, and I don’t blame him. He’s a good guy who deserves more than he ever let himself take. Avery’s been a solid influence on him. On account of her, he wears a whole different kind of vibe these days.
The twins are making small talk with me when a vision of beauty turns around and enters my life. Whoa, boy. This sexy gal makes a snarky comment to the twins, and I’m certain she’s another one of the Majors women. The same green eyes and blonde hair.
Wearing a baby blue sleeveless shirt, she reveals a whole ton of tanned skin. She’s young but not just out of high school. Women hold themselves differently as they get older. This one has reached her twenties, but she isn’t facing thirty yet.
When she sees me, the world falls out from under us. We can’t look away.
“I’m Nev,” she says after guiding me away from her sisters’ prying eyes and toward the bar top. “Everyone calls me Nevaeh, but I’m doing something different these days with my name. Don’t listen to them. Just do what I want.”
“I can see the benefit in submitting to your whims.”
Nev rewards me with a dazzling smile. Yet, though she’s clearly accustomed to running shit, I sense she might be in over her head here. I’ve always made gals loopy. No harm in her falling into the same trap. I’m a nice guy, after all.
“Should I call you Handsome Sam?” she asks after regaining the ability to speak.
“Parents named me Samson after the guy in the Bible. No one’s called me that since the day I was born. Sam will be fine.”
Nev loops her shiny blonde hair behind her ear and glances around before focusing her green-eyed gaze on me.
“You just got released.”
“That I did.”
“You need to be fed and returned to your family for a heartwarming reunion.”
“That I do.”
“I know about your old lady.”
“I’m sure you know plenty, Nev.”
Smiling wider when I use her preferred name, she erases the pesky space between our bodies. Nearly against me, Nev licks her lips and breathes a little faster.
“But I hope once you’re reunited with your kids and parents, you’ll come out with me. Being that you don’t have anyone to keep your bed warm,” she says and then adds, “Besides, Colton wants you happy.”
Though the Reapers have been running Pema for years, my new chapter president took over when I was locked up this last time. Colton Johansson is younger than the men he leads. The new VP—Nev’s brother, Maverick—is on the youthful side, too. Both men video chatted with me while I was in prison.
From what I can tell, Colton has a big mouth and a fun personality. Maverick says little and doesn’t smile unless he has to. Both men made clear how they appreciated me doing time to keep Brick and Gunnar O’Keefe out of prison.
The latter is the son of a top dog back in Ellsberg, where the Reapers started. I heard Judd O’Keefe rode with Kirk Johansson. Yep, keeping his son out of prison was a big deal. Now, I’m the old dog they want to pat on the head for being a good boy.
Apparently, I can order whatever I want here at Whiskey Kirk’s without worrying about the bill. Is Nev’s friendliness part of my welcome home package? My old lady died while I was gone, leaving my kids without any parents for two years. Did my club president think shoving this sexy woman at me would fix coming home to an empty bed?
“Was cozying up to me Colton’s idea?” I ask, noticing the twins and Brick watching us. “I don’t know him well. I just want to make sure he didn’t force your hand.”
Before I speak up, Nev’s humming with flirty heat. My words short-wire her sexual energy. The gal snorts and gives me an eye roll.
“Colton Johannsson can’t force me to do a damn thing,” she says, smirking as she somehow manages to erase what doesn’t look like a lick of space between us. “I do like how you’re worried about my well-being.”
Flashing a smile, I think I break her for a minute. This sexy woman just stares at me. Finally, she blinks and steps back.
“Let me get your order in,” she says, reaching for the menu even if it means she has to lean across the front of me to do it.
I get myself a steak, a pile of potatoes, a beer, and a slice of apple pie. That right there is the perfect meal for my life—simple and satisfying. Nothing complicated ever made shit better.
Nev grudgingly leaves me to eat with Brick and her sisters. The twins keep sharing snarky little glances and whispering to each other. Watching them razz their little sister, I’m not one to get in the way of a family’s hierarchy.
“Heidi is throwing a party for you once you get settled in,” Brick says as I dig into my food.
“Welp, that’s real fine of her,” I say, thinking of her older brother, who I kept from going to prison and leaving his little ones.
“Will you be living with your parents?” Avery asks me.
“For now, I suppose. No reason to live anywhere else.”
“Your kids are wonderful, by the way,” Savannah adds.
Smiling, I think of Caesar and Raimi. They look like a mix of their mama and me. They lean toward easygoing like all the Donners. Teigh was a lot of things, but laid-back wasn’t one of them.
“Thank you. Their mama and my parents deserve most of the praise.”
During my absence, Brick’s been keeping an eye on my kids. Some time back, people were hassling them over having me as their daddy. Never got the full picture on that situation.
“Thanks for handling that issue for me,” I tell Brick and then nod at the twins. “My kids and parents don’t like troubling me with ugly details, so I don’t know who was giving them trouble.”
“Nevaeh handled it,” Avery says and glances toward her sister working at the bar.
“Did she, now?” I ask, surprised to learn I have reason to thank the sexy gal for more than her friendliness.
Nev notices our gazes focused on her. For a mere second, I think she might blush under the weight of our attention. Instead, she frowns at her sisters and flips them off.
“She’s our most fragile sister,” Savannah says while enjoying her ice tea. “Just a delicate doll, that one.”
The twins share a snicker. I feel like, well, what I am—an outsider dropped into a world where everyone already knows each other’s stories.
Normally, Brick would sit and allow the silence to stick. Today, though, he tells me about his five-year-old son, Jett, whose missing mom—Kambree—was a real piece of work. Now, Brick’s also daddy to Avery’s three-year-old daughter, Io. Talking about the kids and their new home, he’s excited for me to visit for dinner.
A lot of people seem psyched about me settling back into life in Pema. Not even a free man for two hours, and I’ve already got myself a party coming up, a dinner invitation from Brick, and a sexy romp with a gorgeous blonde. I hadn’t expected all this activity, figuring I’d spend time with my parents and kids for a while before I jumped back into club life.
As I head out, Nev slips me a card with her number. “For when you get your new phone,” she says, holding my gaze. “Or you’re free to just show up if you want to talk.”
“You’re coming on real strong there, gal.”
Nev smirks immediately. “I lack the patience to pretend I’m bashful,” she says, flashing a look that makes leaving her side real difficult.
“Welp, that’s probably good since I’ve never chased a gal in my life.”
“Why would you need to?”
Her words make me smile. Normally when a woman holds all the cards, she keeps them closer to the vest. Nev’s confidence alone is the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.
After I force my ass out of Whiskey Kirk’s, Brick drives me to my parents’ house located in P
ema’s sister city of Idyllwild.
“My hometown sure added some interesting characters while I was gone,” I tell Brick at a red light.
“We thought the O’Keefe siblings were something else,” he says, chuckling, “but the Majors family are on another level. And Colton is the cherry on fucking top.”
I smile at Brick’s enthusiasm. Back in the day, my friend—who was all of twelve when we met—often needed advice. Squirrely men are like that. Brick’s smart but lacks something. Confidence, no doubt. Nowadays, he’s got that sexy twin to help him out. Things sure changed fast for him and his boy once she took over.
Brick pulls his new truck up to the curb of my parents’ trilevel house. After I went away and Teigh died, the kids moved into the home I once shared with my mom and dad.
I don’t hesitate before exiting the truck. My heart’s steady, but my gut is having itself a little fiesta. Not nerves or even excitement. Naw, I’m feeling some serious guilt over choosing to leave my kids behind. Of course, I had no idea they’d lose their mama and need to be raised by my elderly parents.
As I stroll up the front walkway, my father opens the door and offers me the same smile I saw every day growing up. Fred Donner is a helluva man. He can’t fight, won’t even cheat on his taxes, and once cried after finding a dead cat on the front lawn. My father will never be a tough guy, but he owns the strongest heart I’ve ever known.
“There he is,” Fred says, just like he did every other time I turned up after a release.
I hug my old man and let the feel of him sink in. Not a week has gone by without talking to my kids and parents. But the prison doesn’t allow personal visits, meaning I haven’t been in the same room with my family in years. His arms around me feel like home.
Sporting more gray than brown hair these days, Fred still keeps it cut the same as when I was growing up. My father never dresses down in jeans or T-shirts. Just as I remember, he’s wearing khakis and a simple buttoned shirt.
“Come on inside and take a load off,” Fred says, guiding me to where my mom hurries down the stairs from the top level of the house.
While Dad talks up Brick and learns what I ate for lunch, I hug my crying mom. With her wavy blonde-and-gray hair hanging loose around her shoulders, she offers the warmest smile. Yet, I never remember Pricilla feeling so small against me before.
