I wondered what he meant by the last part, but decided I didn’t want to ask anymore questions. He’d named his car after me. That was crazy. I definitely hadn’t been the only one to feel our ridiculous connection then.
Chapter 7
(Lucy – age 20, Double-D – age 23)
We pulled up outside the clubhouse, and immediately I went on alert. This was where he was bringing me for our date? That couldn’t be right. Could it?
He turned and grinned at me, obviously not sensing that there was anything wrong. “Forgot something. I’m just going to run in real quick and grab it before we head out, okay?”
Immediate relief flooded through me and I quickly nodded my agreement as I continued to sit in the passenger side of his Camaro and watch the various people who came and went. There weren’t many as it was sort of an hour of the day and I expected most people were busy with their day jobs still. I found myself wondering if they even had day jobs. Suddenly, a thousand questions wrestled within my mind. I had no clue who Double-D really was at this stage. Sure, I’d known a little about him back when we talked the night away, but it had been a little over three years since then. I didn’t even know if he had a real job or if his club was a criminal organization. Worse, I didn’t even know how I felt about that. Would it change my desire for him? I didn’t think so since I was here with him and truthfully this hadn’t been the first time I’d asked myself what the club was involved in other than motorcycle rides, hard partying, and fast women.
“You’ll never keep him,” a voice called out to me. It was a warm day and the windows had been down in the car. For the first time since we pulled up I took my eyes off of the door to the clubhouse and turned to my right where there was a red head sitting on a chair in the shade of a large magnolia tree. I didn’t bother to respond. I just took her in as she puffed away on a cigarette while narrowing her eyes on me. She pulled the cigarette away from her lips and I could see the stain of her too-bright pink lipstick all around the filter. “We’ve all had a taste of him, and there’s no way he’ll be happy with your uptight pussy.”
I just continued to stare. What could I really say to that? I knew he hadn’t been a saint before we met, and there was no telling how long this woman had been around. It might have been true. He may have been with her before. I didn’t honestly know.
“You too good to speak to me, because you think you’re special? I was blowing him in that car just last week.”
“Yeah?” I asked, taking my eyes off of her to glance around the car then. “So what color are the floor mats then? You must have gotten close enough to see.”
“I wasn’t looking at no damn floor mats. I was looking at that giant dick of his,” she sneered.
“Surely, you at least noticed that they were red,” I asked her. She shrugged her shoulders before taking another puff of her cigarette.
“Of course I’d notice red floor mats, you stupid twit,” she spat out. “There might be some light stains on them now though, if you know what I mean.”
I nodded my head; having noticed a man walking up beside the car, but still didn’t bother to stop the words coming out of my mouth. “So, what you’re saying is that you’re color blind and you can’t handle a load that one of these guys delivers for you, huh?”
Booming male laughter clapped out beside me then. “Damn, Holly, she just told you!” He remarked before leaning down and grinning in the window. “Don’t worry, I’ll get rid of her ass for you,” he offered with a wink. He turned then to address the woman. “You know Double-D doesn’t let a soul in his cage or on the back of his bike. Well, no one but her, so go fuck off somewhere before you get yourself in trouble and can’t come back.”
“You don’t know, Merc.”
“Oh, I really fuckin’ do. You’ve never had that man get within five feet of you. Not for lack of trying on your part, but I’m not going to sit back and have you lie to a brother’s old lady, so get your ass gone.”
“She ain’t no old lady,” the woman spouted. “She’s just some dumb cunt he’s hooking up with until he realizes she don’t fit here.”
“Last time I tell you, because she’s right, you don’t know how to handle the load you’re delivered so I can’t think of reason to keep you around here.” He pointed a finger in the direction of the clubhouse. “Get gone doing what you’re here for or just get gone.” The woman, Holly, stomped off on too-high, sparkling red spiked heels that didn’t quite go well with the short denim shorts and ripped all to hell t-shirt she was wearing. It definitely didn’t mix with the pink lipstick she’d been sporting. Aside from the color clash, she appeared to have gotten confused as to whether she was about to attend a rock concert or a prom. It was really an odd look.
“Sorry about that, darlin’. Don’t take any of that shit to heart. She’s a liar, and she’s pissed that Double-D is just about the only brother here she hasn’t been able to get to spend any time with her. He’s the one she had her sights set on when she was first brought here to hang out.”
“Not my business,” I muttered.
“Nah, that’s not true. She made it your business by approaching you with that shit. I have to hand it to you, that was one hell of a way to call her bluff though. How did you know she wouldn’t know?”
“Double-D said he never let anyone in this car except a guy named Merc,” I explained before smiling at him widely. “I’m guessing that would be you?”
His slip of a smile grew wide and lit up his chiseled features that had long since lost the softness some men and boys still had at his age. “ Your guess would be correct. You trusted that he told you the truth,” He added, and then gave me a nod and slapped the top of the car before sauntering off toward the clubhouse door. Just as he was opening it I could see another person standing there. It was obvious it was Double-D. He appeared to be fussing at the red head. I sighed. The man who Holly had referred to as Merc said something and then Double-D roared at the woman to go tell Prez what she’d just done.
“He ain’t here. I promise I’ll let him know when he gets back. He took off on a run, man,” Merc explained.
“You make sure he knows. If that’s your thing, you better get your fill before he finds out too.”
That was weird. Double-D left them there and came over to the car, getting inside, before turning to look at me. “You okay?”
“I’m fine, just some woman running her mouth. Merc said she was just jealous.”
“He also said you didn’t believe whatever she told you.”
He started the car again and began backing it out of the lot a ways so he could turn us around. I explained to him what both Holly and myself had said. Double-D burst out laughing when I got to the part about her not being able to handle their loads.
“Oh shit, I know she never would have bothered you if I was there, but I wish I had been there to hear that. I’m sure Merc loved that.”
I shrugged. “He seemed to. He sent her away and was nice to me.”
“You let me know right away if anyone is never not nice to you, Lucy.”
“Yeah, okay,” I told him though I didn’t think I’d be dropping all my problems at his doorstep any time soon. “So where are we going?”
“I had dinner and a movie planned, but after seeing you in that dress I kind of want to take you dancing too. I guess it’s up to you and what you’re feeling.”
I laughed. “I think I’m still just a bit too young for any place we could go dancing around here,” I admitted.
He laughed it off. “Trust me, babe, no one is carding you in that get up. You’ll be in the door without having to flash much more than a smile.”
“Whatever you say, Double-D, you’re the expert,” I teased.
He cringed a little. “I hate for you to call me that, especially since you know why they started doing it.”
I just smiled at him. “What would you like me to call you then?” It was actually the first time I’d thought about the fact that I was on a date w
ith a man whose name I didn’t actually know. He glanced over at me and it was obvious something was going on in his head that I wish I could be privy too, but I didn’t think I’d get to.
“Never told you my name?”
The question was just as quick as him turning to watch the road again. “I, um, heard the women at the club call you Charles that one time, but other than that, no. You’ve never told me your name.”
He made a humming noise in the back of his throat and continued driving for another mile or so before he pulled into a restaurant. Once he parked he turned to me and took my hands in his. “I’m an ass,” he said without any hesitation. “I didn’t even think. I was 19 when we met and apparently an idiot. My name is Charles Jason Brothers. You know why the guys call me Double-D, because I already told you that story. I just can’t believe you’re the only one outside of the club who knows how I got my road name, but you didn’t know my actual name.”
He seemed so sincerely sorry that it had taken him this long to properly introduce himself. It warmed me a little to see that side of him. “You didn’t answer my question though.”
“What question was that?”
“If you don’t want me calling you Double-D what would you like me to call you? Charles? Chuck?” He was already shaking his head when I asked the questions which caused me to chuckle. “Don’t like your first name?”
“It was my grandfather’s name and he was mean as a snake. Never did like it. My friends used to call me CJ.”
“Hmm,” I thought about the fact that I’d heard those club women call him Charles and suddenly it didn’t make sense.
“What?”
“It’s just that when I heard your name before it was the two club girls that I know you went to high school with at some point. They called you Charles.”
“Yeah, because they were never my friends,” he stated in a matter of fact manner that brokered no argument.
“CJ,” I tested out in not much more than a whisper.
“Yeah, see, that sounds perfect coming from those sweet lips of yours.” He let go of my hands and then turned to get out of the car. Before I could process everything he was opening my door and holding out a hand to assist me in getting out of his car without flashing anyone who happened to be close by. I took the offered hand, and inwardly glowed at his show of gentlemanly manners. It was just so out of character for what I expected from a biker. He must have seen something in the way I expressed those feelings, because he started laughing.
“Honey, I might be a biker, but I still have manners. This is the south, after all.”
“Whatever,” I managed to huff out with a roll of my eyes. “Can we go eat now? I’m starved.”
His brows furrowed in question. “I thought you were the one complaining this morning that four in the afternoon was early?”
“Well, yeah, it was until I had to do all that running around today in order to get ready for a last minute date. You know, proper southern gentlemen give plenty of notice to a lady that they’re going to court them,” I explained to which he burst out in a raucous laughter that I couldn’t even be mad at, because it transformed his face into something far more beautiful than it normally was.
“I never said I was a southern gentleman, darlin’. I said I was biker with manners. That means I’ll wine and dine you in public, but…” He stopped himself short and shook his head. “Well, you’ll find out the rest soon enough.”
An anticipatory zing travelled through my body causing me to shiver. The cocky smirk on Double-D – CJ’s – face let me know he took notice. “Yeah,” he said as we finally made it into the restaurant’s door. “I think you’ll find you don’t want a gentleman after all.”
Our dinner date went better than expected, and I finally learned a few more things about CJ that I had been curious about for some time. “What exactly do you do for money? I know being in a motorcycle club isn’t exactly a job description.”
He laughed. “Well, it does feel like a job some days. You know the club has various businesses of its own, right?”
I just shrugged my shoulders because I honestly had no clue what the club was into.
“Okay, well, Aces Pawn in Summerville and North Charleston belong to the club. We have three strip clubs one in Charleston, one on the north side, and then another up in Santee.”
I sipped on my sweet tea trying not to think about whether or not I liked the idea of the club having those businesses, or more to the point, my man possibly frequenting strip clubs. I sighed inwardly, and covered it with another sip from my straw. I didn’t miss the look he gave me that said I wasn’t fooling anyone. “Why all the way up in Santee? Isn’t that branching out kind of far?”
“Nah, we have a couple guys that actually live up there with their families so they take on most of the duties of running the place.”
“So they drive all the way here for club stuff though?”
“Babe, it’s an hour and one more excuse to ride. Trust me they don’t mind at all.”
“I guess not.” I moved out of the way as our entrees were served and when our waiter walked away I asked what I really wanted to know. “You work at one of those places?”
CJ stopped with a piece of his steak half way to his mouth and set the fork down in order to give me his full attention. “I work for all of those places, Luce.” He blushed a little then and I wasn’t sure if the rest of what he was going to say would make me want to run out of the restaurant and call a cab to get home or not. “I do the books and the ordering for everyone.”
“You do the books? What does that mean exactly?”
“We had issues with management in a couple places last year skimming money or over ordering and costing the club. When it became a noticeable problem the club talked about hiring an accountant, but that was just one more outside person we’d have to trust with our club businesses, and that obviously wasn’t working out for us. I’m great with numbers, and have no problem sniffing out patterns like the ones the idiots were leaving behind when they thought they could skim money off the top of the club’s take each night.” He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. “I figured it out. Those people no longer work for us, and now I have a different job to do than when I first started with the club.”
“What did you do when you first started?”
“A little bit of everything. The prospects and even the younger club guys tend to float through the odd jobs that the club has to offer until they find their place in the world. Not everyone works for a club business on the regular. Everyone has to put in time, but we have guys who have day jobs that have nothing to do with the club.”
“So you’re like an accountant?”
He laughed then. “Yeah, without all the fancy degrees and bullshit,” he admitted.
“I think degrees can be overrated. Not everyone needs to go to school to understand how things work. School is for the people who don’t get it and need extra help to learn it.”
He grinned widely at me then. “I like that. Damn shame the rest of the country can’t see it like that, but it’s nice to know someone does.”
“My dad had a natural affinity for how things worked. He never went to school to be a mechanic. He just knew things and learned the rest through working on it. That’s how he taught me too. I’m not saying my degree isn’t necessary, because people should definitely have more knowledge than the average person has about the medical field and the human body when that is there chosen profession, but some things just aren’t like that.”
“So what do you plan on doing with your life, Lucy?”
“I’m looking for a nursing position, probably working with hospice for now, and then I’ll figure out what I really want to do once I have my own money and can move out of my parents’ house.”
“Why hospice?”
“Why not? Someone has to do it. I was there for my grandma, but I saw so many of her friends going through the end of their lives with no one around.” I smiled then , which may h
ave seemed odd, but it was like sitting down to dinner with CJ had set my thoughts free on what I wanted to do. Strange as it was that this was the place I finally realized it, that’s how it happened. I’d been afraid of the people who were dying around me before, but it just now hit me that while it hurt to lose them, it felt so much better that I could give them comfort before they went.
“It’s difficult when you get to that point in your life and most of your friends have a hard time getting around, or won’t come see you because they’re afraid of saying goodbye. It was sad to watch. I’d go sit with some of them when my grandma asked me to. She knew which ones would be alone until the bitter end, and always told me no one should have to go alone.”
“That’s very admirable.”
“No, it’s just being a decent human, I think.”
We quietly ate our dinner after that, and I worried that the seriousness of what I planned to do as a job for a while had killed any good vibes we had going into the date. After CJ paid and we got back outside he grinned over at me.
“Want to go see where I work?”
“Sure,” I answered, though honestly I wasn’t sure that’s really what I wanted. We hopped in his car and drove about two blocks over from the restaurant and pulled up to a nicer looking gentleman’s club. My stomach flipped when I realized he was taking me to one of the strip clubs he did the books and the ordering for. I wondered what kind of ordering he had to do? Did he have to order the strippers’ outfits? I certainly hoped not.
“Come on, honey. I promise, it’s not that bad.”
CJ took my hand and tugged. Once again he was helping me out of his Camaro, and I followed him into the den of debauchery. “I’ve never been in a place like this before,” I admitted before we hit the door.
“Why would you?” He asked as he pulled the door open and walked in like he owned the place. I guess, in a way, he did. CJ tipped his chin up to a bouncer just inside the door.
A Love So Hard (Aces High MC - Charleston Book 2) Page 8