by Blair Grey
“I hope so!” the lady snipped as she looked at her husband for support. Only he was no support at all as he stuffed half a taco into his mouth all at once.
I wasn’t sure if he’d done that, so he didn’t have to come to her aid, or if he really ate that much all at once on a normal basis. His thick waistline attested to the latter. But he did manage to give me angry eyes to appease her.
Sandra caught the couple’s actions too. “You should watch what you say, Tequila. There are kids around. Little ears, you know.”
Gasping, I quipped, “You’re the one who was talking about getting your pussy ate out.”
Another set of angry parent’s eyes came at me. This time I didn’t even bother to apologize. I knew I’d been wrong, no reason to advertise it.
When we got back to the table, I found the guys getting up. “I paid the bill,” Clyde let me know. “We should get going. We’ve got to get to both our places to get our things. And I want to drive my truck back too.” With a slinky move, his arm wrapped around my waist. “You can ride with me.”
“Alone?” I could see that he wasn’t a man who wasted time. I’d expected as much out of him.
“You scared?” His deep chuckle made my body vibrate, he held me so close.
I wasn’t scared at all. I knew how to handle myself. “I’m not. Maybe you should be.”
Weaving us through the tables they’d crammed into the small space, he pulled me even closer to his side. “Maybe I am.” He pushed the door open and we stepped outside into the cold air. “It got cold out here while we were inside.”
Hurrying to my car, he went to the back, passenger door as we would be taking the backseat so Sandra could drive. Moving me so that my back was against the door, he pressed his body against mine. The pulse of his cock against my stomach sent hot blood rushing through my body and the cold no longer affected me at all. His eyes met mine for only an instant before his mouth crashed down on mine.
Wrapping my arms around his neck, I fought the urge to wrap my legs around his waist too. It was apparent that he thought the night would end with us in a compromising position. Which it would not.
His muscular body felt good, molded to mine. The way his tongue moved with mine left me with stars floating around in my head. Gentle hands moved through my hair, making me melt into him in a way I hadn’t done with anyone ever before.
The sound of the car doors unlocking pulled us out of the moment. His big hand cupped my face as he pulled hip lips off mine. Opening the door, he held my hand as I slid onto the bench seat. “Nice backseat.”
Sliding all the way over, I put on my seatbelt before he could push me onto my back. “Not in here.”
His deep laugh made me shudder, it sounded so sexy. “Yeah, we don’t want any witnesses to what I’m going to do to you, do we?”
“You’ve got a wild imagination.” Rubbing my jaw, I had to ease the tension that he’d aroused in it. “And a firm kiss.”
“That’s not all that’s firm.” He slid all the way over to me, giving me no room at all. His lips pressed against my ear. “I’ve got a firm hand too. Would you like to feel it?”
“I thought you weren’t going to do that,” Garrett said as he got into the front passenger seat. “That’s what you said, Clyde.”
Placing my hands against his chest, I pushed him back with a gentle but firm motion. “You weren’t going to do what?”
His green eyes darted back and forth quickly as he seemed to be caught off guard by what his friend had said. “We can talk about it later.” Clyde gave Garrett a glare. “When we’re alone. In my truck. Without nosy people around.”
Turning to face the front, Garrett muttered, “Just trying to do you a favor, bro. She’ll eat you alive.”
He’s not wrong. I had to smile as I thought about how right Garrett was about me. And how Clyde couldn’t seem to see that about me at all. “Who me?”
“I’m beginning to think that I wouldn’t mind that a bit if she did,” Clyde growled near my ear.
Sandra got in then started the car. “Okay, so let’s drop these two off at Clyde’s. Then I’ll take you to your place, Garrett. Are you going to want to drive your car back to D.C. too?”
“I probably should.” He looked back at me. “We will be there for a few months or so. I don’t want to depend on Clyde for rides if the weather gets too bad to ride my hog. It looks like he might be busy with other things. Or people.”
“If I have my way, he will.” Clyde’s beard felt good as my palm brushed over it.
“Sounds good to me,” Clyde whispered, his hand gripping my leg just above my knee.
He had no idea how much of his time I would take up. With a heavy sigh, I gazed into his eyes. “Green eyes. My absolute favorite.”
“Glad I have them.” His grin was infectious I found as my lips curved as well. Tracing my lips with one finger, he pressed it into my mouth, his eyes going wide as I sucked it a bit. “Oh, yeah. You and I will get along just fine.”
He has no idea.
Garret pointed the way to Clyde’s house and in no time we were pulling into the parking lot of his apartment complex. Before I got out, I gave Sandra instructions about my car. “Park it in my space in the garage, them leave my keys on the table in the conference room, please. I’ll have Clyde drop me off.” Snapping my fingers, I forgot that we had to set the men up in a hotel. “Shit. I’ll have to get with Phillip to see where he’s put you guys up at.”
Sandra, being the great secretary she was, took that chore. “I’ll call him and get him to text everything the guys need to know to them.” She looked at Garrett as she handed him her cell. “Add both you and Clyde to my contacts’ list so I can forward them to Phillip, please.”
Clyde grabbed my hand, pulling me out of the car. “Come on. The faster I pack, the faster we can get back. Unless you want to hang here for a bit. My roommate is probably already drunk and passed out by now.”
“I’ve gotta get back. So, let’s hurry.” Closing the door, I let him take me away with him, the way I was sure he’d done to lots of other women in his thirty-something years.
“I’m hoping we can keep this date going once we get back to D.C.” He unlocked the apartment, pushing the door open.
The place was dark, and it looked like no one was home. “Seems your roommate is out.”
Some shuffling sounds came from the hallway. “Clyde, is that you?”
“Your roommate is a female?” I should’ve known.
“No. That’s Blaine’s old lady.” He kissed my cheek. “But that jealousy I heard in your voice is nice.”
Jealousy? “It was a simple question. No jealousy was intended.”
“Yet, there it was, laced throughout your sweet voice.” Tugging me inside with him, the overhead light in the living room came on.
My voice had never been called sweet. “I don’t know what angle you’re going for but calling my rather deep voice for a female, sweet, is way off.”
The girl in the hall rubbed her eyes as she stood there in shorts and a t-shirt. “Blaine’s not home yet. He’s still at the bar.” With bleary eyes, she looked at me. “Tasha. And you are?”
“Tequila. Nice to meet you. I’m stealing Clyde away for a few months or so - taking him to Washington D.C. for a while. Are you and your man going to be okay without him here?” I knew they would most likely love having the place to themselves.
“I’m sure we’ll be fine.” Stumbling back to the bedroom she kissed her palm then blew across it. “See you when you get back, handsome.”
I found it odd that another’s man’s woman would say such a thing. But this was Clyde Thomas, so nothing should’ve surprised me where he was concerned.
His small bedroom was neat as a pin. “You certainly do keep a tidy place here, Clyde.”
“It’s leftover from my military days.” Opening his closet, he pulled out three black duffle bags and unzipped them all. Pushing one toward me, he jerked his head at the dresser behind
me. “Can you fill that up with all the stuff in that dresser?”
Turning to do as he’d asked, I had to ask, “Aren’t you afraid I might find something in here that will tarnish your stellar reputation?”
“Steller rep? Me?” He laughed as he took down most of the clothes that hung in his closet then placed them into one of the bags. “You must have me mixed up with some other guy.”
As I cleaned out each drawer, finding nothing more than underwear, t-shirts, and socks, it seemed Clyde was a normal man. I wasn’t sure what I’d thought I would find. Maybe something that spoke of how many women he’d defiled in his lifetime.
It took less than ten minutes to pack him up, thanks to how well he kept his things in order. Just as we walked outside, his cell made a zapping sound, scaring the crap out of me. “Shit! That’s a horrible sound.”
“It draws my attention though.” He took the phone out of his pocket, checking the message. “It’s from Phillip. It’s the information about our rooms at the hotel.” Wiggling his dark brows at me, he asked, “Wanna have a sleep over?”
Wow, he just goes right for it.
“Do you take me for some fast woman?” I saw the lights of his truck flash as he unlocked it. “Nice truck. It’s a Ford like mine is. You’ve got good taste.”
“So do you.” Throwing his bags into the back of the truck, he opened the passenger side door for me. “My lady.”
Stepping on the running board, I climbed up to take a seat inside, inhaling the leathery scent. “Nice. Is it four-wheel-drive?”
“I wouldn’t have a truck that wasn’t.” He closed the door then came around to get into the driver’s seat.
The ride back didn’t take long at all, as there was barely any traffic with the late hour. Taking my cell out of my pocket, I looked to see if I’d missed any messages or calls as I’d put it on silent. “It’s nearly three in the morning. Time has flown by tonight.” I saw I’d missed some messages from my brother. Opening them, I couldn’t believe what I read. “Shit. Why tonight? He never gets into trouble.” I tapped a text to Sandra to make sure my car was back in the MC’s garage.
“Who is in trouble?” Clyde asked.
Sandra texted back that she’d dropped my car off already and I texted back a thank you. “Take me straight to the MC’s headquarters. I’ve got to deal with something right away.” I texted my brother that I would be there as soon as I could.
“So, something came up?” His frown said it all. He wasn’t happy that our night was going to end.
“Yeah, something came up. I’ve got to leave as soon as we get back.” I had to make sure he knew I’d had a good time. I didn’t want to throw him off at this point. Reaching over, I ran my hand over his. “This was fun. I hope we can do it again sometime.”
“Uh - damn straight we can.” Flipping his hand over, he took mine, pulling it to his lips, then kissing it. “We can do it lots and lots of times.”
My stomach fluttered and I knew that was a bad thing for it to do. “We’ll see.” I wasn’t going to play that easy to get.
Ebb and flow is the only way to go.
Chapter Seven
Clyde
So not how I thought tonight would end.
Sitting in front of The Keepers’ MC headquarters, I watched Tequila hurry inside the front entrance as I sat in my truck, wondering what had happened that had her running off and why she’d felt like she couldn’t tell me about it.
The gate nearest to me began to open and I saw Garrett there, on his bike. With a wave, he came out of the gate, then pulled up beside me on the empty street. “Hey, you got here fast.”
“I thought you were bringing your car back?”
“I did. It’s at the hotel already. I got Sandra to bring me back here with her so I could get my bike and take it to the hotel too. It’s got a parking garage and I’d rather have my baby near me than way over here.” Looking at the bed of my truck, a light flashed in his eyes. “Hey, why don’t we both load up our bikes in the back of your truck so we can get both of them and your truck to where we’ll be staying?”
Seemed like a good idea to me. “Let’s load up yours, then I’ll go get mine.” But the gates had all closed, so I had no idea how we were going to do that. “Shit. No one’s here to let us in. I guess that idea’s out.”
“Nah, it’s still good. Sandra gave me the access code to all the gates and the doors so we can get into the building any time we want as well.” He’d made some definite headway with the secretary of The Keepers.
Half an hour later, we’d gotten our bikes loaded and strapped down tight then headed to the hotel. Garrett had to ask, “So, did you get some?”
“No.” It’s not like I would’ve told him if I had. “Tequila got a message that had her leaving me as soon as we got back. She wouldn’t even tell me what had her hurrying off. It was like she was hiding something. Which makes no sense. Right now, the only thing that would bother me would be some man she was messing with or living with or who was otherwise going to be a problem between us.”
“I thought we’d established early on how we’re all single and loving it,” he said with a grin.
“Me too.” And for all I knew, we still were all single and loving it. “So, what did you and Sandra talk about on the way back?”
“Not much. I mean, nothing sexual. She’s kind of not into me, I think.” He shrugged. “Which doesn’t make sense, since I am the complete package and all.”
A laugh erupted out of me. “Ha! Oh, sorry, bro. Sure, you’re the complete package. She’s the one who is losing out if she doesn’t see that.”
“I’ve got a killer sense of humor and she laughed at all my jokes.” He looked out the window as we turned a corner. “Maybe she liked my jokes but wanted more of a sexy man.”
“Well, she’s got that toothache she’s taking meds for,” I felt I should remind him. “Maybe she just wasn’t up for romance.”
“Yeah. Maybe.” He pointed at a big, black SUV in the parking area of the emergency room on the corner. “That looks like Tequila’s car.”
The stoplight turned red, so I put on the brakes and looked at the car he’d pointed out. “Yeah. But I don’t think it’s hers. Like, why wouldn’t she tell me if she had to go to the hospital?”
When the sliding glass doors of the ER opened, I saw Tequila walking out with her arm around a boy. “That is her,” Garrett said. “She’s got a kid. A son.”
“Why wouldn’t she say anything about him to me?” I watched as she let the boy go so she and he could separate, he went to the passenger side, and she got into the driver’s side.
She’s got a baby-daddy she doesn’t want me to know about!
Garrett watched them as he asked, “She didn’t give you a hint about what she had to do when she got back here? She didn’t freak out when she saw the message about her kid being in the hospital?” Turning his head, he looked at me. “Most moms would’ve freaked out that their kid got hurt while they were out, partying the night away.”
“We went out to dinner. I wouldn’t call it partying the night away.” I didn’t want what we’d done to seem inappropriate. I’d never dated a woman with a kid, I didn’t know what protocol was for that, but I assumed that partying of any kind was frowned upon. “But no, she didn’t freak out. She seemed a little agitated though. And she did say something about that he never got into trouble. I wonder what happened to the poor kid.”
The light changed from red to green and I moved forward, not wanting Tequila to see me and know that I’d seen her and her kid. Moving along, I saw the next light turn red too. I had to stop and the next thing I knew, Tequila had pulled up right next to me.
Only she wasn’t looking our way at all as she threw her hands around while her mouth moved, and the boy leaned his head against the passenger window.
Garrett hissed, “Shit. She’s right there.”
“Yep.” I couldn’t take my eyes off the boy. “Man, he’s beat up. He must’ve gotten in
to a fight. That must be why she said he doesn’t get into trouble.”
The boy had one black eye and his upper lip had two stitches in it. His expression was grim as he stared out the window at the pavement just beneath my truck. My windows were tinted so dark that even if he or Tequila looked my way, they wouldn’t have seen me.
The light changed and Tequila hit the gas, speeding off as I sat there. “Um, you can go,” Garrett said.
“Yeah, I know.” Moving forward, I tried to go slow so that I didn’t catch up to her again at the next light that had turned red too. “We’re going to hit every damn red light on this street.”
“Seems like we are.” He smiled. “Maybe it’s the forces of nature trying to get Tequila to see you. Maybe the gods of fate want her to know that you know she’s got a kid.” He snapped his fingers. “She might have more than one kid. She’s around thirty, you said so yourself. She could have more than one kid.”
“She could.” He was right. The light didn’t change, and I ended up slipping up next to them. Tequila’s hands still moved around as her mouth kept moving too. And the boy’s forehead was pressed against the window as he seemed like he would love to be out of that car. “Hey, look at this kid, Garrett. Are his eyes green or am I seeing things?”
Looking around me, he nodded. “They look green to me too. He’s a nice-looking kid even with the banged-up face.”
“She’d said she had a thing for green eyes. I should’ve read more into that.” I sat there again as the light changed as they drove off first. “How old do you think the boy is? I’ve never been around kids that much to be able to judge.”
“Me neither.” Waving his hand as they’d stopped at another light, he said, “Hurry up and get next to them again so I can see if I can figure out his age.”
“What? No.” I didn’t want her to catch me looking. “I’ll just ask her tomorrow. Or maybe I won’t.” I had no idea if I should bring up what I’d seen or not. “Hell, I don’t know.”
“Yeah, I don’t know either.” Pointing at the next street, he directed me. “You’re going to turn there.”