Embracing Series Box Set #1-6

by Delisa Lynn

  “I’m glad to hear that. Now quit calling me.” I turn the phone off. Climbing off my bike, I stretch my neck and stroll inside.

  Storms isn’t normally busy. It’s a nice, quiet bar, for the most part. I like to come here, have a few drinks, and shoot a couple rounds of pool. I see Storm at the bar. She’s an older lady, maybe mid-forties. She must’ve been one hot biker chick back in her day. She’s still feisty. I can only imagine how she was back then.

  “Well, if it isn’t my favorite Ellis. How are you? You didn’t bring any trouble with you tonight, did ya?” Storm asks, hugging me.

  I throw my head back and groan. “Not tonight, doll. I hope that check covered all the damage my ex-wife caused,” I say with a wink. Christa saw my bike here the last time I came and caused a scene. She broke some tables and trashed the place. I know she was high. It took Kade and Liam hours to calm my beast ass down.

  “Yes, you didn’t owe me that much, Ashton. Drinks are on the house tonight. Have fun, boys.” She smiles at Kade, Toom, Taz and Liam, who all just walked in.

  We sit at our normal table and wait for the waitress to take our drink order. I’m ready for a few beers. Work has been busy. I’ve had more clients this week than I’ve had the last two months. It’s summer, though. Everyone wants new ink. One of my clients wanted a back piece that took me six hours just to do the outline. I know it’ll take days to finish, but that’s okay. I love doing large pieces like that.

  “Guys, drinks are on the house tonight. Do you want a round of bottles?” The small blonde asks as she approaches us. She’s pretty hot. She has legs that go on for days. Her ass is perfect.

  We all look at each other and nod. I speak up and say, “That’s fine. We’ll take a round of shots too.” I need to let loose.

  “Okay, I’ll be right back.” She smiles.

  “Man, she has a nice ass.” Kade whistles. I smile because I was thinking the same thing. I need a piece of ass. I’ve been banging one of Megan’s friends, Lacy. Her husband died last year. We met at a get together. Our relationship is strictly sex and she knows it. For me to settle down again, it’s going to take someone perfect in every way. She also has to meet the expectations of my son.

  “Dude, Megan would have your balls if she saw you checking someone else out,” Liam jokes.

  “She hasn’t put a ring on this hand,” Kade says, holding his hand up. “Until she does, I can look. No harm in checking out a nice ass.”

  “See what I have to deal with all day long, every day?” I motion toward Kade. “This dude never stops. Last week, he and Megan had a quickie in his office at Ellis Investigations.” I see the waitress round the corner with our drinks. “And I heard every moan and thrust.”

  “Let me know if y’all need anything else.” She winks as she sets the drinks down.

  “Kade, you have some drool right there.” Toom points to Kade’s mouth.

  “Screw you all. I’m going to shoot some pool. Ashton, I owe you an ass kicking.” He pushes his chair back and heads to the pool table.

  Laughing, I look around the room until my eyes land on a tanned hottie with the deepest sea-blue eyes I’ve ever seen. Her long black hair sparkles in the light. I feel my heart skip a beat. She looks tired. She’s sitting at the bar alone.

  Our eyes lock. She licks her lips and I swear I feel my dick twitch. I take a sip of my beer and watch her. I’ve never been a shy guy, but something in me wants to run the other way while the real me wants to check her out, find out who she is.

  Her hair is flowing down her back. She’s wearing a pair of skinny jeans and a tight, black tank top with red heels. Red fuck me heels. Fuck it, I’m going to get this beauty’s name. Those heels would look great hanging over my shoulder tonight.

  “I’ll be back,” I say to the guys. They all nod and laugh. “I can’t pass that hot ass up.”

  I sit next to beautiful eyes and grab a few of the peanuts from the bowl in front of me. She looks over and smiles. I don’t see a ring on her hand. The freckles across her nose are so light you can barely see them. Her blue eyes are bloodshot. I need to find out who she is. She is definitely worth getting to know. I wink when she catches me staring.

  “What’s a pretty girl like you doing in this bar all alone?” I ask as I lean closer to her.

  She turns my way and smiles. “Drinking my sorrows away. I just moved here. I was looking for a place to have a good cold drink. It’s hotter here than I thought it would be.” She smiles. “Ansley. I’m from Little Rock.”

  “Yeah, it gets pretty hot here. June isn’t as bad as August, though.” I take a swig of my beer and reach my hand out. “Ashton.” I place her small hand in mine and kiss the top of it. “I’m from here.”

  “Nice to meet you, Ashton. Maybe you can show me around sometime?” she asks, nervously peeling the label from her beer.

  “Yes, ma’am, born and raised. I grew up about an hour away, in the valley.” I chuckle. “But it’s home,” I say, popping peanuts in my mouth. I watch her mouth as she speaks. Her lips are perfect. They are painted with red lipstick.

  “I needed a fresh start and this seemed like it would be the best place to start over. So, you’re a valley man?”

  I nod and smile. “Kids?” I ask.

  “Nope, a dog.” She wiggles a little. “He thinks he’s human.”

  “Most of them do. I need to get my son one. I have a seven-year-old. He thinks he’s sixteen.” I laugh and see something in her eyes change.

  Her smile completely fades and her eyes dip. “Please excuse me for a second. I need to go to the ladies room.” Looking for the restroom, she hops to her feet and disappears. I’ve never seen red heels move so fast.

  While waiting to see if she’ll return, I watch the guys shoot some pool and try to think of what I said that could’ve possibly bothered her. A few minutes later, a smiling Ansley sits next to me.

  “Sorry about that. You shoot pool?” she asks, nodding to the pool area.

  “Yes, you?” I ask, sitting my beer down.

  “Hell yeah, I love pool.” Her smile is back. “Wanna play?”

  “Sure.” I lead her to the pool table. The guys don’t take their eyes off of us. I just flash them a shit-eating grin. This woman is fucking gorgeous.

  “I’m pretty good, ya know.” She giggles. Her laugh is cute. “In college, I was a pro.”

  “What kind of work do you do? Please don’t tell me you’re a pool hustler.” I raise my eyebrow as I grab a pool cue and chalk it. I watch as she does the same. I pull some quarters from my pocket and insert them into the slot on the table. I lay a few more on the ledge.

  She’s short. Even with her heels, she only comes up to my breast bone. I’m huge compared to her tiny frame. I sit the chalk back on the ledge and watch her closely. She adds a little chalk to her cue. She stumbles a little, then leans in toward me.

  Placing her polished nail into my chest, she looks up into my eyes. “Nope, a teacher.” She winks and says, “I’m going to teach you that short girls can play pool.”

  I scratch the scruff on my face and reach for the triangle to rack the balls. I give it a twirl around my pointy finger. “Let’s see what you got, shorty,” I say, racking the balls.

  “Green ball, corner pocket.” She winks.

  “Go for it.” As soon as the words leave my mouth, she knocks the green ball in the corner pocket.

  Ansley: 1, Ashton: 0

  I motion for Kade to bring us more drinks. He sits two beers in front of me. I watch as Ansley concentrates on the game. All I can think about is those sea-blue eyes. I know they can’t be contacts. No way.

  “You’re up, big boy,” she says, hitting her hip into mine.

  I sit my beer down and lean into her ear. I can feel her tense up a little. I place my hand on her hip and she molds into me. “I think we both know I’m going to win.”

  I place my cue stick on the edge of the table and look at the blue-eyed beauty watching my every move. “Six in left corne
r,” I say. I shoot my cue toward the striped ball. And I miss. Fuck.

  Ansley tilts her head and pokes me in the chest. “You suck!” she taunts. “I think it’s cute that you thought you’d beat me. After this, you can show me your dance moves.”

  “Darling, I’ll show you any move you want,” I tease as I lean into her.

  This goes on for a good two hours. She beats my ass every time. She also drinks a lot. She seems to be pretty steady on her feet. I’ve never been so interested in a stranger. By now, all the guys have met her and are giving me shit because she has kicked my ass in not one, but three fucking games of pool.

  “Dance with me.” She grabs my hand. We walk over to a corner of the bar. It isn’t very large, so there’s no dance floor. The lyrics of ‘3 am’ by Matchbox Twenty are playing. “I love this band.” She leans against my chest.

  I pull her hips into me as far as I can. She smells good, like a mixture of peaches and flowers. You’d think she smelled like cigarettes and booze. Her head is resting on my chest. I sit my chin on top of it. I’m trying like hell to keep my dick in my pants.

  “You’re beautiful, you know,” I whisper. The song stops and she doesn’t move. Her hands are still wrapped around my neck.

  “It’s three in the morning. Can you please make me forget, just tonight,” she says meekly.

  “Forget what, shorty?” I ask, a little confused.

  “All of it.” Without moving her head, she continues. “I normally don’t do this. There’s a lot of stuff I want to forget and one night with you will help. Take me, fuck me until my brain is so cloudy I forget my name but remember yours. Just tonight, please.”

  “I think you’ve had a lot to drink. I wouldn’t feel right. Now, trust me, I’ve done that plenty of times. But you, I can’t do that to you.”

  She lifts her head and I see tears in her eyes. The blue has been replaced with red. “I better go,” she whispers.

  I try to pull her closer to me. “I’ll take you home. You’ve had way too much to drink.”

  “I’ll take a cab.” She stumbles back and disappears. I need to find her. Standing here like a goddamn idiot certainly isn’t helping.

  I rush to the door and don’t see her anywhere outside. The parking lot is fairly empty. I look around at what few cars are here and still see no sign of Ansley. I lean up against my bike and run my hand through my hair.

  “Fuck,” I mumble.

  ***

  “I can’t believe you didn’t get her number. She seemed very interested in you.” Toom smacks me in the back of the head. “You’re a fucking P.I., dude. Look her ass up!”

  “I know. She didn’t ask me for mine and I was so blown away by that damn pool game, I forgot. I don’t even know her last name, but I’m sure there aren’t many Ansley’s here,” I say, raking my hands over my face. “She asked me to help her forget and I lost my thoughts.”

  “You haven’t seen her the last two nights you’ve been there? And you shot her down? Dude, no wonder she ran out so fast. Seriously, when we get back, look her up.”

  “Nope, I even asked Storm and she said she’d only seen her the one time. I couldn’t have sex with her. She seemed broken, like something happened. She was so sad.”

  “That sucks, man. Come on, we’re going to be late,” he says, locking the door.

  I pull my phone out of my pocket. “I’ll text Kade and see if he can locate her for me.”

  “Good thinking, brother.”

  We’re headed to Vegas for the weekend. It’s bike fest. I’m meeting Lacy as soon as I get back. I need some ass.

  My mind goes back to Ansley as soon as I climb on my bike. I can still hear her laugh and the way my name rolled off her tongue when she said it. When we danced, I saw the lust in her eyes. She wanted me, but I held back. After three games of pool and two dances, she walked out and I was so hung up on her words, I didn’t get her damn number. Focusing back on the road, I follow Toom as we head out to meet the rest of the guys.

  ***

  Ansley

  I’ve been in Cali less than two weeks and I miss Nina already. A few nights ago, I needed a drink. I went to a bar and I ended up having an amazing time. I met a guy and he was hot. God, was he hot. I’ve never been so attracted to someone like him. He had colorful ink that shadowed his tanned arms, light brown hair, green eyes that sparkled in the light and dimples that would make a nun come.

  He shot me down. I asked him to come home with me and he wouldn’t. I was shocked at my words and that he actually said no. I ran out of the bar so damn fast. I called the cab that had dropped me off and the same lady picked me up.

  I went for my vibrator as soon as my feet hit my bedroom floor. I haven’t had sex since Morris left me, and I hadn’t really thought of it until the other night, when I saw Ashton. He set everything in me on fire. His laugh made me feel warm and fuzzy. When he mentioned how old his son is, I freaked a little. I had to step away and clear my thoughts. After that, the night was amazing. He didn’t ask for my number, so I’m assuming he didn’t have as good of a time as I did.

  I learned my lesson. Never try to pick up sexy men from a biker bar. He thought I was insane, I’m sure. There was just something about him, something that I wanted more of. I blew it. I’m sure I’ll never see him again.

  ***

  I can’t believe August is here already. School is starting next week. We have open house tonight. Attending open house was always one of my favorite things to do when I lived in Arkansas. Today, I’ll get to meet my class. I’ll have twenty students. I’m teaching second grade this year. I taught first the last four years. I think the change will be good for me.

  I make name tags for all the students. One of the names stands out in my mind: ‘Ashton, but prefers AJ.’ Shaking my head, I sit a welcome back sign on each desk with the name tags and cookies I purchased this morning. I tried one of the cookies and they are absolutely delish. I glance at the clock on the wall and realize everyone will be here soon. I head to the ladies room and check my hair and make-up.

  When I come back into the classroom, I see a familiar silhouette. I’d remember the outline of that back anywhere. His broad shoulders, the ink covering his arms…My knees are so ready to knock me on my ass, I have to literally grab a chair to brace myself. It’s been two months, two long months, of pleasuring myself thinking about him, those green eyes and those dimples. I squeeze my legs together and try to gain my composure.

  “Ansley? Is that you?” he asks, approaching me with a little boy who I assume is his son. He has the same hair and eyes as Ashton. Oh, my god, that’s where I know that name from. Shit, this is going to be interesting.

  “Um, Asher, is it?” I ask, knowing damn well what the heck his name is. What am I supposed to say? I offered you to fuck me mindless and you denied me?

  Groaning, he grabs the back of his neck. “Ashton, Ashton Ellis. This is my son, AJ.” He smiles and the little boy smiles up at me.

  Bending down to the child’s level, I say, “Hi, AJ. I’m Miss Dolce. I hope you like chocolate chip cookies. I put some in your treat bag on your desk.”

  “You’re my teacher?” He grins. “Cool. I love chocolate chips. Thanks.” Then he runs toward two little blonde girls that are in one of the other classes. They’re standing next to a pregnant woman and one of the other guys that was at Storms that night.

  “So, the mystery girl is a teacher. I thought you were really a pool hustler.” He laughs.

  “Mr. Ellis, I told you I was a teacher,” I say, turning to see the room filling.

  “Call me Ashton. Mr. Ellis is my father.” He places a business card in my hand. “Here is my card. My cell number is on there.”

  “Thank you, Ashton. So, you’re a private investigator? I better—”

  My sentence is cut off by my aid, Joyce. “Miss Dolce, we need to get everyone seated,” she says.

  “I’ll see you around, Ashton.” I wink. I can feel him watching me walk away.

  Ch
apter Four

  Ashton

  I can’t believe Ansley is my son’s teacher. For two months I wanted to find her. I spent two entire months thinking of her. When we went to Bike Fest, I met a pretty little blonde that I was able to let some steam off with. She wasn’t Ansley, though. Miss Dolce has consumed my mind since that night in the bar. She has secrets, I know she does. I hope she decides to call me sooner rather than later.

  I roll out of bed, eager to start my day. It’s the first day of school and I think I’m as excited as AJ. I do my morning routine and get dressed. I look at the clock and realize we have a few hours before school starts.

  Watching my little man sleep, I wonder how I got so lucky. He’s an amazing child. Often, I think about all the times I messed up and made bad decisions. Then I look at his smile and remind myself that any decision that led to me being his father excuses all the bad decisions I’ve made over the years. I have to protect him.

  My shit is together and I own half of my family’s winery. I also work part time as a private investigator at a company I partly own as well. In my spare time, I work at a tattoo shop that I own with some buddies of mine. Any time not spent with my son or working, you can find me on my bike.

  There’s nothing like riding at night with the California breeze blowing. I just joined a local motorcycle gang. It’s legit, nothing like a street gang, and we cruise around town. We’re just a bunch of overgrown men and women having a little bit of fun.

  As I stare at my phone, I see that my ex-wife has been calling me all night. She’s a goddamn base head. I was fresh out of high school when I met her. She was a stripper at a local joint. I knocked her up and there was no way my child would be raised by anyone other than me, so I made it work with her. Was I in love with her? Nope, I never was. But I gave her everything that she could want or need because of my son.

  Obviously, it wasn’t good enough. She started cheating and using again. Once AJ got a little older, I knew he would catch on to the shit she was doing, so I axed my relationship with her real quick. My family is large enough. He doesn’t need her or what little family she does have.