She didn’t look convinced but let it drop. “Anyway, after I made it clear we were just friends and would never be anything more, Jonathan and I got into a huge fight, and I drove out here.”
“And he was fine with you leaving?” I needed to know more about this Jonathan guy.
“He didn’t get a say in it. However, he has texted me a few times since I moved. At first, he tried to apologize, but lately, he’s been saying things like we are meant to be together, and he’s tired of waiting for me to come to my senses. I’ve started to ignore his texts.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. Desperate guys did stupid shit. “You’ll tell me if he keeps bothering you?”
“Mac, I appreciate it, but I can handle Jonathan.”
“I know you can, but it doesn’t mean you don’t want or need help, Kate.”
She regarded me for a long second before nodding. “You know, I just realized I’ve been pouring out my heart to you, and I don’t even know your real name.”
“No one uses my name anymore, but since you shared, I’ll tell you. It’s Ryan MacIntyre.”
“Well, that explains the road name.”
Since I wanted to end this day on a better note than last time we were alone together, I stood and pulled her up along with me.
“Where we going now?”
“For a ride in the desert.”
Her eyes brightened. “I’d like that.”
I took her hand and led her to my bike. At some point, I needed to start thinking about the consequences of making Kate mine. It was inevitable, but I didn’t relish the anger Viking would unleash on me.
14
Mac
It had been a long week. Shit with the Phantoms was getting worse. They hadn’t made their way to Las Vegas or the immediate surrounding areas, but they were definitely too close for comfort.
Viper and Hawk had a run-in with them at a bar about an hour north of Las Vegas. It had cost the club a pretty penny to keep the two of them out of jail for assault. Hopefully, the ass kicking the two of them handed out sent a message that we weren’t going to back down.
We were probably going to be calling in some favors from some of the Desert Sinner charters soon to help deal with them, but that brought its own set of issues. Needless to say, I was looking forward to spending some time with Kate, away from the stress of things out of my control.
I hadn’t seen her since the day I took her for a ride. I didn’t know what the plan was tonight, but I liked the idea of watching Kate let loose. On the other hand, I wasn’t looking forward to hanging out in some club, watching a bunch of lame guys hitting on anything that looked their way. I was going to need to make it clear that Kate wasn’t available for the taking.
I knocked on her door and waited for what seemed like forever before Kate answered. When she finally did, I didn’t even recognize her. Instead of the usual jeans and sweatshirts she wore, or her ridiculous waitress uniform, she was wearing a skintight, black dress that barely covered her ass. The V in the front went down past her tits, and I couldn’t seem to pull my eyes away from her perfect breasts.
“Hello, Mac,” she said. Her grin told me she knew exactly what she was doing to me.
“Hey, happy birthday.”
“Thank you.” Her smile was now sincere instead of teasing, and I liked that one even more.
“Your dad is going to be pissed when he finds out what you’re wearing.”
“So, you’re going to tell on me now? I didn’t think big, bad bikers liked snitches,” she joked as she pulled on a tight, short leather jacket.
She was trying to rile me up, and it was working. “No, but if he finds out, it’s your ass.” That wasn’t true. If Viking found out what she was wearing, he would kick my ass for letting her out of the house dressed like that. “So, what’s the plan for tonight?” I asked, looking for anything to get my attention off how sexy she looked and how I wanted nothing more than to bend her over and fuck her right there in the living room.
“I’m going to drive over to Evelyn’s house to pick her up. We’re definitely drinking and dancing. She even managed to get us some VIP passes, but I don’t know where to yet. Who knows what else we’ll decide to do.” She finished touching up her makeup in the mirror by the front door, and I sat there, mesmerized like a fucking idiot. “You know, this is completely unnecessary. I don’t need a babysitter.”
“Too bad. Your dad asked Wolf and me to go with you, so that’s what’s happening.” I was a little annoyed she didn’t want me to go with her.
“Where is Wolf, anyway?” she asked, just now realizing he wasn’t with me.
I tried to tamp down the possessiveness I felt. Wolf had already stated he had no interest in Kate when I questioned him recently. Then he spent the next twenty minutes telling me what an idiot I was for even thinking about hooking up with her. What he didn’t understand was there was no longer a question of if I was going to fuck Kate, but rather a matter of when.
“He’s going to meet us wherever we end up. He had some shit to handle.”
The shit he was handling had to do with our ever-present problem. I couldn’t share that with Kate since it was club business, but it was the reason Viking was insistent that Wolf and I go out with her tonight. The Desert Sinners never targeted women or children, but the Phantoms didn’t share the same code.
We walked out of her house together toward her driveway.
“Are you going to ride with me?” she asked.
I laughed at that. “No, babe. You’d never catch me in a cage unless I’m dying.”
She rolled her eyes at me, and I wanted nothing more than to grab her by her long ponytail and crash my lips on hers. Her sassy attitude was definitely a turn-on.
She walked to her car, and I climbed on my bike that was parked directly behind her. I followed her to her friend’s house and waited outside while she went to get her.
When the two of them walked out, it was clear I was going to get in a fight tonight. They both looked hot, and I just knew some douchebags were going to act like fools around them. I followed them as they headed to the Strip. I always hated driving down here. There were too many cars and pedestrians.
Finally, they pulled into one of the casinos and followed the signs to self-parking. “We’re going to go check in,” Kate announced as she grabbed a small overnight bag I hadn’t noticed before from her trunk.
“You’re staying here tonight?” Viking hadn’t mentioned that to us.
“Yeah, we both wanted to drink and figured it would be better to stay here than try to figure out rides later.”
It made sense, but I hadn’t made plans to stay overnight. I walked up with her to check in. After she gave the hotel clerk her information, I informed him I needed a room as well, preferably one next to hers.
She looked at me with questioning eyes, but I just shrugged my shoulders. “Viking said we needed to stay with you all night.”
That earned me another eye roll, which just made me chuckle.
“I don’t have any connecting rooms left, but we do have two rooms next to each other,” the clerk informed us.
I handed over my credit card. “That’ll work.”
I sent a quick text to Wolf to let him know about the change of plans and asked him to grab a few things for me from the clubhouse.
Wolf: The two of you staying at the hotel together? Sounds like trouble.
Me: Don’t I know it.
15
Kate
“Tonight is going to be so much fun!” Evelyn squealed as soon as we entered our hotel room. “And now that we got a hot bodyguard to watch our every move, things will be even more interesting.”
“You can say that again,” I muttered to myself as she headed to the bathroom.
Evelyn and I had hit it off on my first day working at the diner, and I instantly knew we were going to be friends. She was as sweet as could be and made every shift we worked together fun. She was a couple of years older than me, b
ut we meshed well. She was one of the few people I’d actually felt close with, even telling her about some of the stuff in my past. I had Viking, and even Mac and Meredith, to thank for that. Before them, I would’ve never opened up to anyone or felt comfortable letting people see the real me.
One of the things I admired most about Evelyn was not only did she work at the diner to support herself, but she did it while going to nursing school full-time. Her schedule made it difficult for us to spend time together outside of work, which made tonight all the more special. However, I hadn’t told her we’d have not one, but two babysitters the whole night. But, from the sound of things, she seemed totally okay with that.
Me? I was both excited and anxious that Mac was here for my birthday, even though Viking had ordered him to be here. I’d even saved some money to buy this dress specifically because I knew he was going out with us. Based on his reaction, he’d liked what he’d seen.
Mac had been busy with club business all week, so I’d hardly seen him. I wanted him to take me on a ride again, but just when things were starting to go somewhere, he was unavailable. Maybe I was reading too much into the moments we had shared recently.
I’d been spending more time at the clubhouse during the day, but I continued to avoid their nighttime activities. I was enjoying getting to know everyone, and I really liked Wolf and Viper; their laid-back vibe made them the easiest to get along with. The club girls were a different story. They seemed to be around all the time, especially Michelle, who gave me dirty looks whenever I was there. I wasn’t entirely sure I believed Mac when he said he and Michelle were done. She was the type of girl Mac probably went after, and I was nothing like that. But sometimes, when he was teasing and flirting or being sweet to me, I forgot about that.
Then there was Viking, always calling or texting or stopping by to make sure I was doing okay, and I was starting to get used to someone caring about the smallest things in my life. He was gone for the week, on a “run,” and had promised to celebrate my birthday with me and the family when he got back.
“What do we want to do first?” I asked when Evelyn came back into our room. I checked the alarm clock on the table between our queen-sized beds. It was still too early to hit up any clubs, but I didn’t want to stay in our room.
“It’s your birthday, you decide,” she said.
Evelyn had her own unique style. Her black hair was styled in a cute pixie cut, and her makeup was always soft and natural, except for the vibrant red lipstick she wore. I didn’t think she realized just how gorgeous she was, but everyone who came into the diner sure noticed. Guys were always asking to sit in her section, and she always made a ton in tips.
“We could walk around downstairs for a little bit,” I suggested.
“Sounds good to me. Let’s go!” She was full of energy tonight, and I knew we were going to have a great time.
“Let me go next door and tell Mac what we were doing.”
“Fine by me. Maybe Mac can escort us instead of just being your bodyguard?” she said, winking at me. “Then again, since I can tell Mac’s got his eye on you, I’ll just have to find my own guy tonight.”
I felt my face heat up. “It’s not what you think,” I said. “We’re...friends.”
“Ha! Yeah right,” she retorted. “You two were eye-banging each other in the elevator all the way up to our floor.” She gave me a look. “The walls were mirrored, Kate, and I have eyes.”
If my face got any hotter, it’d start melting off. “Whatever. So I think he’s hot. He’s never even tried to make a move on me!”
“You should take it as a compliment,” she said, rummaging through her purse. “He’s not treating you like a random hookup.”
“Maybe,” I demurred.
“This is how I see it—he must really like you if he’s not rushing you into bed…yet.” Her wolfish grin had my insides all tied up at the idea of Mac and me. “It is your birthday, bet he’d be more than willing to give you a present: himself, naked-style.”
I groaned, the visual of Mac naked now lodged in my brain. Instead of responding, I grabbed her arm and headed to the door. “Let’s just go downstairs.”
As soon as we stepped out of our room, Mac stepped out of his. His eyes immediately scanned my body, something he seemed to do a lot. “You finally ready to go or did you need more time to talk about me?”
Evelyn burst out laughing.
“Oh my god, you heard all that?” I asked, mortified.
“Well, you’re kinda loud,” he said, smirking.
Unable to meet his gaze, I followed Evelyn as she walked ahead of us to the elevators.
“Evelyn’s right about one thing,” he whispered in my ear.
“Oh yeah, what?” I asked, trying to regain my composure, but when I glanced over at him, the look in his eyes had me stumbling, literally.
“I definitely wouldn’t mind ending your birthday night together.” He steadied me, his hand low on my back. No smirk, no tease, only the truth. “Just say the word, Kate.”
With that, he walked ahead of me. I had to clear my head fast before he noticed I was standing in the middle of the hallway with my mouth hanging open in shock at his words.
I forced any wayward thoughts of sex and Mac out of my head, which was difficult to do when he was standing there in front of me as I stepped into the elevator. Once we reached the busy and very loud casino floor, we looked around. It didn’t take long before Evelyn and I decided we wanted to try our hand at a little gambling.
Mac laughed at us when he saw us head toward the nickel slot machines. “Don’t go spending all your money in one place.”
I rolled my eyes at him, yet again. “Don’t be mean. I have no idea how to play anything else.”
“Not even blackjack?”
“Nope,” I said, watching Evelyn take a seat and start to play.
“Well, let me show you.”
I glanced back at Evelyn, who gave me two thumbs up and a big smile from her spot at the machine. I shook my head, but followed after Mac, enjoying the view from the back as much as the one from the front.
Mac managed to find a five-dollar table and pulled out a chair for me. After we threw down some cash for chips, I listened to him as he explained the game to me. The table was full, so we were sitting pretty close to each other. I felt his leg brush against mine a few times. I wasn’t sure if it was intentional or not, but I leaned a little closer to him, needing to maintain our connection, and he certainly didn’t shy away from the contact. When we were this close, it was hard to ignore the strong pull I felt toward him.
His offer to end the night together kept playing like a loop in my head. As much as I wanted to, I didn’t believe that he meant it. While my trust in men was slowly on its way to being restored, the idea of rejection—especially from Mac—would be devastating. I could admit that I didn’t just have a girlish crush on him. I thought of him as someone who’d be there for me, and maybe something deeper could grow between us. But fear kept me from taking the next step. Hell, I didn’t even know if I was ready for him to make a real move on me. My last relationship had been with Jonathan, and while not romantic, it’d been an epic fail. Just thinking about Jonathan made me wince. I’d finally blocked him from my cell, for now, and tried to block him out of my mind on what should be a momentous day for me.
Mac and I played a couple of rounds before Lady Luck struck.
“Oh my god, I got a blackjack,” I yelled excitedly when I was dealt a matching Ace and Queen. Then I did something that shocked even me. I leaned over, wrapped my arms around him, and kissed his cheek.
“Sorry,” I mumbled, not usually one to initiate physical contact with anyone.
“I’m not,” he said, grinning and pulling me closer to him.
But just then, Evelyn came over, declaring she was bored with the nickel machine and begged us to go to the club upstairs. I pulled away from Mac. Even though I would have liked to have seen what he would’ve done next, Evelyn was my
friend and here to celebrate my birthday. I wasn’t going to ignore her in favor of Mac. But before I could take a step to follow after Evelyn, I felt Mac’s hands grab my waist.
“Soon, Kate…” he growled, pulling me into his front.
I didn’t say anything as he released me. But I couldn’t help the slow smile that spread across my face.
Happy birthday to me indeed.
16
Mac
As we headed upstairs, I got a text from Wolf letting me know he was here. He met us out front of the club, where we were moved to the front of the line, thanks to Evelyn’s VIP passes. I could see the bouncer debating whether to let us in or not, but one look at the patches on the back of our cuts and he waved us through.
The girls hurried to the bar and ordered a round of drinks. After a few minutes, with their drinks in hand, they moved to the dance floor. Wolf and I stayed at the bar, but my eyes never left Kate. I watched as a couple of guys tried to dance with them. Kate shook her head, and they reluctantly walked away. A couple of songs later, another guy approached her, and I’d finally had enough.
I walked up behind her and wrapped my arm around her waist, pulling her tightly against my chest. The guy who was trying to talk to her quickly turned around after meeting my murderous glare.
“You’re driving me crazy,” I whispered and then bit down on her earlobe hard enough that she let out a little groan. The sound shot straight down to my dick. I was tired of playing these games with her.
The beat of the next song was a tad bit slower, but instead of pulling away, Kate started to grind her ass into me. It was taking every single ounce of self-control I had not to do something stupid right there in the middle of the dance floor. She raised her arms and started to run her fingers through my hair. In response, I lowered my mouth and began to suck gently on the soft skin of her neck.
Mac (Desert Sinners MC Book 1) Page 9