Sinful Duo: Lost Angels MC, page 3
It doesn't take long to get settled. This is my kind of home, little to fuss with, and everything in plain sight. The bedroom doesn’t have a closet, but it does have a set of dresser drawers. Toiletries are put up quickly, and most go into the tub anyways. I’m a minimalist even with my looks.
My auburn hair does its own thing, and I’ve learned to embrace the wavy mess that it is. I only ever coat my lashes to bring out my green eyes, and chapstick to make my lips shine, also to not have them chapped. My nose not all that small on my round face still bears the scar of a nose ring I thought would look cool. The small smattering of freckles deters the eyes from the scar so most don’t notice. The rest of me I understate with off the shoulder tees or the baggy kind and jeans that hug my curves, because I can never seem to find any that are loose enough about my hips. Either way, I am a full-figured woman and I can’t hide that no matter what I wear, but I try anyway.
Heading out to the living room I realize one thing that I can’t do without...television, at the very least a TV and a way to watch some movies. I know Ric said to call if I needed anything, but it may be a good thing to get a walk in and familiarize myself with the area on my way to see him. Maybe he can put me to work. After all, I can’t possibly stay here for free, and if I work for him, he may not need the payment in actual cold hard cash. I need what money I have to make a quick getaway if need be. That reminds me.
Going back into the bedroom for the cash, I take it from the side pocket of my bag and go to the bathroom. I get the twenty and fit it in my back pocket before I grab the empty shampoo bottle in the shower that I've used for this purpose for years and stuff the rest of the cash in for safe keeping. The twenty should be more than enough if I run into trouble and need a ride home from a cab, and to be perfectly honest I’m starving. I could use some lunch while I’m out.
It takes me about twenty minutes to get to the club, but it gives me plenty of time to realize not much happens in this town. Maybe it's just the part of town I’m in. I remember where Ric lives there’s more action, though I think that's closer to the middle of town. I remember it being near that little restaurant...what's its name again? Franny’s? Danny’s? Something like that. This side of Chillowakie is mostly residential, filled with older couples. I saw a few kids, but there weren’t many.
As I move closer to the club there’s nothing else in sight. It just looks like an old warehouse, and from what Ric told me about it years ago, that’s exactly what it was at one time. You couldn't mistake it for a warehouse now since about a quarter mile out music hits your ears. It’s just a small buzz of noise, but now that I’m closer I can tell it’s Smoke on the Water by Deep Purple. Haven’t heard that one in a while, but sometimes I forget that most of the men in this club are older. This club is nothing like the Scavengers, and I couldn’t be happier by that fact.
There’s a rumble coming down the road from the other direction, but I know from the style of bike they were on it isn’t here for me. I didn’t know anyone with a BMW 1150 GS in a color you don’t see often together, brown and black. I wouldn’t ever think those colors go together and this bike isn’t convincing me otherwise. However, the man riding the bike could maybe convince me if he were to put his mind to it while on his knees between my thighs.
He’s pretty to look at. It could have been that hard jawline that made me brush off the fact his blonde hair is long enough to put in a bun...or maybe it’s those “lose your soul” eyes. I doubt I could care for anything besides getting lost in them. He doesn’t even look my way as he jumps off his bike and walks into the club.
Someone that pretty I can’t even blame not looking my way, but I’m not here for him or his fuck-me-any-which-way body. Reminding myself that I just literally jumped out of a window to get away from my last relationship there is no way I’ll be jumping into a new one any time soon.
Chapter 4
Since it's only a bit after three, the atmosphere in the club is mellow and there aren't too many people. Just the way I like it. So when she walks in with those swaying hips, every available eye is on her. I’ve never seen her before and looking around at the others faces, they haven’t either. I’m about to call up to Ric when she spots me behind the bar and walks my way.
“Hey, is Ric around?”
I raise an eyebrow. She’s caught me off guard. I thought when she walked in she was lost, but it appears she knows exactly what she walked herself into. Taking her in, I can’t help but compare her to every other woman that I know to hang around bikers, and she just doesn’t seem like the type. So, why is she here?
“Why?” I grunt.
She raises her own brow, and scrunches up her freckled nose, “Because I asked. Need there be another reason?”
Crossing my arms in front of my chest I stare as if I may be the last thing she sees if she doesn’t answer my question. She doesn’t even blink, and it turns me on, to my surprise. I like my woman subservient, and easily moldable. To have just that spark of defiance twinkle back at me in her eyes and her sharp tongue, my body is more than up to the challenge to show her how good it could be to do what I say for a while. However, I don’t trust her, and I can’t just walk her up there without knowing what’s going on.
“Look…” I start to say.
She cuts me off with a scowl, “No you look, doesn’t Ric tell you motorheads anything?” She sighs and rolls her eyes and I have an urge to put her over my knee, “I’m a friend of Emmeline’s.” When I don’t show recognition which I wouldn’t since Emmeline doesn’t ring any bells, she throws her hands up in the air and starts to look around the room, most likely for someone else to convince she’s welcome here.
I clear my throat, “What's your business?”
She turns with hands on her hips, her lip puckered out, and I can hardly concentrate on her answer since blood is rushing quickly elsewhere, “To tell Ric that he set me up in a house with no TV.”
Raising another eyebrow, I can’t help but be even more confused by this exchange. She saunters in here, sexy bedhead, freckles on that cute nose, lips made to be around my swelling cock, and she comes at me about a TV. I’d be happy to show her there's more entertainment to be had right in front of her.
There's just something that doesn't add up here. What could she possibly have to do with Ric? Then as if in slow motion, it all fits together like the perfect puzzle.
I take the bar towel off my shoulder and walk around the counter. Motioning her to follow, she does surprisingly quiet. When we reach his door, I point to it. I’m not going to be in the middle of a lover’s quarrel. Though I thought Ric wasn’t the type to cheat on his old lady, it seems I don’t know anything when it comes to people. I can’t help the bitter taste in my mouth to know she is beyond my reach either. I can’t tell which is more biting.
“You better hope Martha doesn’t find out, she’s a fearsome woman even on a good day,” I’m not sure what compelled me to say it out loud since most times I don’t voice what travels through my head.
Chapter 5
I thought the front was nice to look at, but his butt fills those jeans way better than even what my imagination could conjure up. I’m still a little stumped about what he said as he walked away. Why would Martha care that I’m here? I’m sure Ric has called to tell her all about it. He is right about one thing, if she has a problem with it, I would have known right away.
Deciding to brush it off for now, I knock on the door he pointed to. Ric’s gruff voice tells me to come in.
Even before I open the door all the way I call out, “Hey, old man!”
“Lidia!” my name a curse, “What are you doing here?” He picks up his phone, “It hasn’t even been an hour since I dropped you off.”
I shut the door and take the chair that’s in front of his desk, “Well I have a problem that I needed to come see you about right away.”
He raises an eyebrow and lifts his phone between us, “That’s what cell phones are for. So tell me, what’s the issue that you walked here for?”
“Well the house is great, you just left out one crucial item that in this day and age I can’t possibly go without.”
He growls my name before sitting back in his chair, “Are you kidding me right now?!” when I say nothing to this he continues, “Alright, tell me so you can leave.”
“It’s two letters...or ten depending on how you spell it,” I say with a wicked grin.
He scrubs his hands down his face, “I don’t have time for this or your riddles.”
“TV, Ric, I need a television and lunch but I intend to procure the second myself before I head back to the house. Is there anywhere good around here to eat within walking distance?”
When he removes his hands he’s got murder in his eyes, but the parent kind where you know there is no real threat, “You walked here to tell me that there isn’t a TV in the house that I freely without favors gave you to stay in to save your ass?!”
“Yes, oh and about that…” I wave my hands in the air as if to brush away the TV issue for now because we both know I won't be letting it go, “I don’t feel right about living in the house unless I’m doing something to repay you. Maybe you’ve got a job that you can give me? Help with the bar downstairs even?” I ask on a whim, or not really a whim since seeing that completely hot, frustrating man I met; seeing him on a somewhat daily basis would be worth getting my bum out of bed in the morning for.
Ric seems to have taken a breather since I told him about my TV, his cheeks less red and eyes less murderous, “I am short a guy since Vince left to be a cop.”
I gasp, “Vince as in The Kid? I thought he would have stayed forever!” I remember the day he was sworn in.
“Well he was never really cut out for this life, we all knew that, and I’m proud to know he’s found a better place for himself. We only see him for club rides now. He met a nice ballsy girl, they’re having a baby soon.” He’s beaming as if Vince is his own son, and I suppose in a lot of ways he is. I’ve almost forgotten how truly generous Ric is.
“Wow, that is great to hear. Maybe I’ll run into him while I’m in town.” Gosh I remember when him, Emmy, and I used to hang out since we were roughly around the same age. Those were good times, and we got in a lot of fun trouble together.
“Probably, or at least Sara, his wife. She’s the teacher up at the school, and she is pretty active in the community.”
“He married a good doer?”
“You’ll see if you meet her.”
“So...how about this job thing?” I ask to try and bring the conversation back to the now. My stomach is practically eating itself and I’ll need to feed its insatiable hunger soon before it gets out of hand.
He strokes his trimmed beard before he starts nodding, “Yeah alright, how about three days during the week? It’s slow enough around here earlier in the day and there shouldn’t be any club business going on in those hours. Have you tended bar before?”
“In more ways than I care to admit,” I say.
“Well alright, there are only two others that are regulars. Echo, who should be downstairs, he’ll be showing you the ropes. Then there is Tank, who will be coming in later. You’ll get a small wage.”
I hold up a hand, “I don’t need that much charity.”
He raises an eyebrow, “This isn’t a charity. If you work, you get paid. It’s half of what I’m giving the other two since I’m considering the other half as rent. The money you hocked from your boy toy will only last you so long and as you pointed out, you gotta eat.”
As if answering for me, my tummy growls in agreement, and we both look down. I sigh, “Alright fine. Speaking about that eating thing, do you serve food here?”
“Snacks mostly. I’ll need to drive you to the grocery later to pick up some things, because whatever is in that house to eat it’s no longer good.”
“Snacks right now will do. So when do I start?”
“Right now. So get the hell out of my office.”
Laughing, I turn to leave but before I open the door, I remember what Echo said to me, “Did you tell Martha I was here?”
“Yeah, I called her before I even picked you up. Why?”
“Echo said something about her that I can’t get out of my head.”
His mouth transforms instantly into a frown, and his eyes are angry when he bellows, “What did he say?”
“Nothing bad...he just warned me if she knew, she wouldn’t like that I was here.”
That throws him off. “He doesn't even know who you are. What did he say exactly?” I turn to fully face him and repeat his words. For a minute there isn’t an expression on his face, but then he starts to laugh. His cheeks are pink bordering on red as he tries to catch his breath.
My hands come up to my hips, “What?! What the heck is so funny?”
It takes him a minute to talk, “You can’t imagine why he thought you wanted to see me? I mean I’m flattered that he thinks I’ve still got it, but you’re not my type in the least, not to mention a year younger than my own daughter.” That last bit seems to sober him, and then it dawns on me.
“Ewh!” I say on reflex as my nose wrinkles.
“Hey, don’t look so offended,” but he chuckles at my reaction, “You may want to clear it up before the whole club finds out and it gets back to Martha somehow. He’s right, Martha would rip us multiple holes.”
“Yeah alright, and thanks, Ric.” He waves me out and I leave this time.
Downstairs has almost cleared out since I went up to talk to Ric. Only two guys sit at the tables against the wall nearest to the bar. The rest of the mish-mash furniture is vacant, and I suspect I’ll have plenty of time to eat before it starts to pick up. When I spot the bar again, Echo is behind it on the phone. When he crooks his finger my way I presume it’s Ric on the other end letting him know that he has a new shift buddy. Lazy gits. It makes my insides wonder what it would feel like for that finger to do that within its walls, and I smile as I walk around the counter to him. When he sets the phone back into its cradle, I interrupt whatever he’s about to say.
“First food, I’m starving. He said you had snacks.” Wordlessly he walks past me to a side-door and comes out with several single serving sized chips and cookies. A perfect palate balance.
Again, I speak as he is about to, “By the way you have me all wrong. I am nothing other than a daughter-like figure in Ric’s life. No way what you insinuated would happen between us,” I look him in the eye as I take a bite from one of the chip bags before sticking my hand in for a cookie.
His cheeks color slightly, and it makes me smile, “So, Echo, what were you going to say?”
He crosses his arms over his chest and starts briskly covering where the back room is, and the coolers. Without a beat missed, he then shows me all the liquor and the mixers, and the list of drinks we can possibly make. I make a mental note to add a few of my own on the list in case anyone with taste walks in. Lastly where the different glasses are.
“No wine?”
He just answers with a raised eyebrow and the shake of his head.
“You're right that's too girly a drink to have here,” I say for him.
He goes on as if I’ve said nothing, his rag in one hand while scrubbing a nonexistent spot off the bar. For the next two hours, it goes on like this. Me talking and vocalizing what I imagine his reply would be. He only interrupts briefly, if ever, and it is only to correct me if I’m off base, which only makes me want to say complete off the wall things so he speaks to me. I admit that I tried but he only verbalized his objection through body language. I’m not at all sure if I’ve ever met someone that spoke less.
When the three-hour mark hits, I stopped antagonizing him only because I had something else to do. There were so many people here now. As they ordered they asked questions that I could only tell half-truths too.
“Where you from?”
“Georgia,” born, just not raised there.
“What’s your business in Chillowakie?”
“Visiting family,” the only people close enough to it at least.
“What are their names, maybe I know them?”
A soft smile, “I doubt it,” that’s an outright lie obviously, but I didn’t know what to say. Though I doubt Ric would mind if I told these fibs to his members. I personally wanted to keep my stained existence from spilling into his as little as possible while I’m inconveniencing him.
I didn’t like telling lies. If I could help it, the truth all the way is the way to go, but I needed to keep my head as low as I could in order to stay safe. I don’t want to think that any of these men or women would put me in harm's way, but I didn’t survive this long only seeing the good in people. There were times to be cautious and this was one of those times. If they ever find out the things I didn’t admit to in these conversations I hope they will understand.
When another hour goes by and the crowd starts to thin out, I sit on the bar-stool behind the bar to rest my feet. As I do, I watch Echo work. He seems tenser than he was earlier in the evening. I wonder if I caused that with my useless chatter, or how sometimes as we moved around each other I had put myself intentionally in his path so that we would be forced to touch. I may be a bigger girl, but truthfully there’s plenty of room for the both of us back here. A smile tugs at my lips as I remember reaching over him and practically shoving my breasts in his face as we both tried to grab something off the shelves. He’s deliciously hard to my soft. Or when he had stiffened when I swayed a little more enthusiastically than need be when he caught me when I supposedly lost my balance. It was fun, but my intention was to be playful not to cause discomfort.
