“It’s – I look – ummm…”
“You look hot!” Kenleigh exclaimed. “Who knew you had all this to show off, Gabi? Why do you live in baggy clothes, again?”
“I – because I – I’m a cleaning woman,” Gabi mumbled. “Just a cleaning woman.”
“A damn beautiful cleaning woman,” Tessa piped up. “I mean – look at you!”
The three women stared at her reflection some more, then Kenleigh smiled at her.
“So… hair and makeup, yeah?”
“Oh,” Gabi protested. “Oh, no.”
“Oh, yes,” Tessa said, digging in to her purse. “We came prepared so just relax. We got this.”
“Are you sure?” Gabi trailed behind them, out of the bathroom and back in to the room she was staying in. “It’s not too much trouble?”
“Are you kidding?” Kenleigh said. “I’m having a blast.”
“Me too,” Tessa said. “Come on, Gabi, just sit. Let us make you look great. OK?”
“OK,” she said. “What are you going to do?”
“Just wait and see,” Kenleigh told her. “Trust us. You? Are going to be a damn knock-out.”
“Yep,” Tessa agreed. “And that’s putting it mildly.”
**
“So where’s Sarah?” Shane ‘Mac’ MacIntyre asked Jax. “I thought she was going to be here tonight.”
“Nope.” Jax drank some beer. “Noah’s taking her to dinner. His treat.”
“Yeah? How’s he doing, anyway?”
“Oh, great. Got his girlfriend, got his painting, got his own money. The man is a force of nature, I swear.”
“That’s great,” Mac said. “Thank God for Naomi’s art program, huh?”
“Yep.” Jax grinned. “And thank God for King’s niece… Callie’s the best thing to walk in to Noah’s life in some ways.”
Matt ‘King’ Kingston nodded his dark head. “The feeling is mutual, believe me. We had to suffer through quite a few assholes trying to take advantage of Callie. Noah’s the real deal, we know that.”
“Wait, what?” Aidan said. “Who took advantage of Callie?”
King shrugged and took a drink of beer. “Guys who thought that just because she’s autistic she’s dumb, or vulnerable, or easy to talk in to something.”
The other men stared at him, appalled.
“Fuck right off,” Jax said.
“No, it’s true,” King said. “In some ways, she’s a sixteen-year-old in a twenty-one-year-old woman’s body – and that makes her an easy target for a certain kind of guy. And she’s not all that street-wise, you know, so she didn’t always understand what they were angling for.”
“I had no idea,” Mac said.
“Yeah, well, me and her Mom worked for years to get Callie to recognize trouble when it came at her, but it hasn’t been easy.” He sighed. “Noah’s great, though. We trust him and I mean totally.”
“Are they – what if they…” Mac said tentatively. “Have you thought about what happens if they want to get… you know. Physical?”
“Oh, yeah. Me and Lori and Sarah have talked to them, together and individually, about the responsibility of that kind of decision. It’s tough, you know, because legally they’re adults, but they do need some guidance because of their autism and all the challenges that brings.” He turned to Jax. “By the way? Noah said something about asking you for help with kissing, so get ready for that.”
“Oh, yeah?” Jax said. “That will be – weird.”
“Uh-huh. Talking about kissing with your girlfriend’s twin brother? The potential for awkward is kinda huge. Also?” King glowered, his gray eyes stormy. “Tell him to keep his tongue in his mouth and his hands on the sofa, man.”
“Christ.” Jax ran his hands through his dark hair. “I swear, these ain’t even our kids and we’re acting like lunatic fathers.”
“Yeah.” King sighed. “Tell me about it.”
“And the thing is, knowing Noah, he’ll want as much detail as possible,” Jax said. “I may need a drink before we have the talk.”
“A kissing talk!” Mac said. “From a former womanizing bastard… God, I’d pay to hear that one.”
“I’d pay double if Jax gave him a demonstration,” Aidan said and Mac laughed, delighted.
Jax scowled at his bartender. “Don’t you have customers to serve?”
“Nope. Not at the moment.” Aidan glanced up, looked around the room. “Where are the ladies, anyway? It’s getting busy and we need some table service.”
Bang on cue, they came around the corner from the crash rooms, strolled on in to the bar area. The men looked over at them, wondering about the looks on Kenleigh and Tessa’s faces. Then they stepped aside to reveal the woman behind them and the men knew what those satisfied expressions meant.
“Gabriela?” Aidan gasped. “What – how – what…”
“Wow,” Mac said, his blue eyes taking her in. “Sweet thing, you look incredible.”
“I do?” Gabi said. “It’s not too much?”
“Nope,” King said, grinning. “It’s just right, believe me.”
“Just right?” Aidan choked out. “It’s – Gabriela…”
“What?” she said, shy and uncertain. “Do I look bad?”
Aidan stared at her, trying to put his thoughts in to words. Did she look bad? God, no. No way. Quite the opposite, actually: the woman looked totally delectable and completely fuckable and he had a hard-on raging in his pants right now.
She was wearing the tightest black jeans known to man – goddamn, those things looked painted on. Her legs were curved and toned and went on forever and the waist on the jeans was low, so he saw her perfect little belly button peeking out. He wanted to kiss it, work his way down, dip his tongue in to her pussy until she moaned and begged. But maybe he’d have to start the kissing and teasing with her breasts, because in that cropped top? They were totally on display, and they were surprisingly full and tempting.
Aidan had worked with Gabi for almost three years and God knows he’d spent hours looking at her, talking to her, getting to know her. He’d always known that a heartstoppingly gorgeous woman was hidden under all that exhaustion and those oversized clothes – but seeing her revealed in all her glory was an overwhelming experience.
She turned a bit now to scan the room nervously and he caught a glimpse of her bare lower back. For some reason, that was his undoing. Not the deep cleavage, not the jeans cupping her pert ass, not her wild, tousled hair tumbling over her shoulders, not even the way the makeup made her eyes huge in her beautiful face and brought out those kissable lips. Nope – her lower back. That sweet, achingly vulnerable spot on her lean, athletic body.
Fuck, I want to see her naked on her stomach, lying on my bed, that perfect curve of her back all mine to touch with my fingers and my tongue.
“Bad?” His voice was hoarse. “No, not bad. The boys at your tables won’t have a clue what hit them.”
She grinned. “So… shall we get to work?”
“Go on,” Jax said in a mock-stern voice. “I don’t pay you to stand around and look gorgeous, ladies.”
Kenleigh rolled her blue eyes. “You totally do, Jax.”
“Hush up,” Jax growled. “Serve.”
“Well, yes sir.” Tessa gave a little bow that ended in a shimmy. “We’re off to do your bidding.”
The four men watched the women head off to their assigned tables, watched the reactions of the male patrons. All three of them were stunning in their own ways, and that hadn’t escaped the attention of the men in the room for even one second.
Aidan couldn’t take his eyes off Gabriela. She was smiling and laughing with some guys from the Road Devils MC, all confident and sexy as hell, and those fuckers were right in to it. Even Wolf Connor, the President who was famous for his wild sexual explo
its, was eating her up with his dark eyes. His hot gaze was running up and down her far-too-exposed body hungrily, and he was leaning towards her as he talked.
Aidan gave Jax a furious glare. “What the hell are you doing, letting her work in this place?”
“You work in this place,” Jax pointed out.
“It’s not the same thing and you damn well know it.”
“No?”
“Nuh-uh.”
“Because she’s a gorgeous woman being ogled by customers?”
“Yes,” Aidan hissed. “She isn’t up for the kind of bullshit that goes on in here, the crap that the girls put up with.”
“Come on, man, chill out,” Mac said. “That’s what Curtis and Alex are for, yeah? And us too… you know we don’t let the guys touch the ladies.”
“But sometimes they still do before one of us can get over and help! That’s what happens with these dickheads! Gabriela shouldn’t be working in a place like this!”
Tessa wandered over with her drinks order and she overheard Aidan’s comment. She grinned at him, her green eyes dancing. “Um. I work in a place like this. Should I not be here? Should I take my delicate flower ass home and do some knitting?”
“Sorry, darlin’,” Aidan mumbled. “I didn’t mean to insult you…”
“Also?” Jax said. “What do you mean ‘a place like this’?” Something wrong with my place, man?”
Aidan saw that he was quickly losing this battle and he scowled. “Shut up, y’all.”
“Why are you so interested, anyway?” Mac said innocently, knowing the answer perfectly well. “You seem overly invested in Gabi’s welfare. Any particular reason?”
“So what do you need?” Aidan asked Tessa, ignoring Mac.
“Four beers and eight Alabama Slammers.”
“Slammers, huh?” Jax glanced over at the table. “These boys partying tonight?”
“Yep. Looks like it,” she said. “Something about a successful run.”
“Say no more,” King warned her. “Keep your ears closed around that table, OK?”
“You know it,” Tessa said. “I don’t hear anything except drinks orders.”
“Good girl,” Mac said, nodding; his long blond hair fell over his handsome face and he pushed it back. “You need any help, you let us know. Yeah?”
“Yeah.” She set the first round of shots on her tray. “Thanks. But I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
The men watched her walk back to the table, watched the four men lean back to leer at her.
“Yeah. No,” Jax said to his friends. “I’m not so sure about that.”
**
Gabi smiled at the two men who had just come in and sat in the booth closest to the door. They gave her the creeps for some reason, but hey, a paying customer got drinks, no matter how much she disliked being within ten feet of their stalkery vibe.
“Hi, guys,” she said. “How are you doing?”
“Good, honey,” the one guy with the heavily-lidded gray eyes said. “Bring me a double shot of whisky, OK? Neat.”
“Sure thing. And for you?” she asked his friend.
“The same.”
“OK. I’ll be right back.”
They watched her go and give their order to a blond man glaring at them from behind the bar. They exchanged glances.
“Well, that’s her,” Don said. “But damn, man… she’s way fucking hotter than the picture that Trigger showed us.”
“Yep,” Lenny agreed. His eyes were cold and light gray and they were the reason everyone called him Lizard. “So let’s have a few drinks and then go tell Trigger she’s here.”
“Sure.” Don looked around Curves, spotted Kenleigh and Tessa. “The view is fucking great here, huh?”
“No shit.” Lizard stared at one especially cheap-looking piece of ass at a table of scantily-clad women. “I wonder if we should visit those famous crash rooms with one of these bitches?”
Don followed his gaze. “Yeah. Why the hell not, yeah? Might as well enjoy our night out.”
“Damn right.”
Over at the bar, Aidan was barely holding on to his cool. He’d spent the past three hours watching Gabriela move around the room, serving customers, laughing and flirting, deftly avoiding grasping hands. She was the brightest thing he’d ever seen and he was having trouble staying focused on what he was doing. All he wanted to do was watch her.
“How’s it going?” he asked her now as he poured out the whisky. “You doing OK?”
The smile she gave him stunned him with its brilliance. “Honestly? I’m having so much fun.”
“Yeah?” He was slightly disbelieving. Fun?
“Yeah.” She leaned her elbows on the bar. “It’s kind of nice to talk to people at work, you know? When I’m cleaning, it’s me and the vacuum and the mop and all I’m thinking about is finishing on time so I can get to my next shift. But this is great.”
“Huh.” Aidan found himself grinning at her delight and enthusiasm. “Maybe you’ve found your professional calling.”
“You think so?”
“Sure. Maybe you want to work here more often.” With me keeping an eye on your every move. And please wear those jeans every shift, yeah?
“No, I don’t think so. This is just a time-out from my real life. An – an escape.”
Something in her voice made him look up sharply. “Escape from what?”
She jumped. “What?”
“You need an escape from something?”
“Oh. Oh, no. It’s just an – just an expression.” She grabbed the full tray and he saw her hands were shaking. “I’d better get these served.”
She strode off, curved hips swinging, long legs pumping and Aidan watched her go, his heart in his throat with lust which was now mixed with worry. Seeing her like this was doing his head in. She’d always been sweet and funny, but tonight was a whole other side of her. Sexy. Sassy. Slinky. Maybe she really just needed a break from the grind of cleaning for sixteen hours a day? Or was it more?
But Jesus Christ. Having her here looking and acting like this is actually, really, truly, going to kill me.
For fucking real.
**
Two hours later, Curtis was standing against the wall, massive arms crossed, watching Tessa serve the table of assholes their fifth round of beers and Slammers. He didn’t like the vibe that group was giving off and he was observing her carefully, watching her body language to see if she was afraid or tense around them. He always kept an eye on the female staff, of course, but Tessa was something special and he’d never even pretended otherwise.
He narrowed his hard blue eyes, his whole large body aching to just go over and get between her and the morons. He knew – he just knew – that there’d be trouble with them tonight and he glanced over at Jax. Their eyes met and he sensed his boss’ unease. So he wasn’t the only one on high alert.
He heard Tessa’s nervous laugh now and he turned his attention back to her. She was smiling at the one guy, those fucking gorgeous green eyes a bit startled, her full lips so soft and pink. His gut tightened as he watched her body move in that skirt. Fuck, what he’d give to hold her, just once… but Tessa was off-limits. Sure, she interested him like crazy but he’d just never made a move. Not once in almost a year of working with her.
She was with that dickhead Kevin now, he knew, and he’d never disrespect that relationship by hitting on her. But damn, he wanted to. She was funny and smart and sexy as hell, and it was all wrapped up in an amazing package: she was tall and curvy and luscious. She was no tiny little waif who’d blow over in a strong wind… and he liked all that just fine. He was a huge guy and he needed a woman he could get in to bed with and not worry about breaking in half when he took her hard and deep.
Hell, yeah, Tessa was the one for him – but despite the friendly way she trea
ted him, she also kept him firmly at arm’s length at the same time. Those eyes telegraphed out a silent warning and he’d picked it up, loud and clear. She’d never expressly told him to keep his distance, but then again, he’d never wanted to force the issue or make her uncomfortable around him. So he flirted lightly and watched that generous ass every time he was bouncing during her shifts, and let out all his pent-up sexual frustration at home on his own.
Tessa turned around now and that’s when it happened: one of the pricks grabbed her by her long, curly blonde hair. It happened so fast, she was jerked back and off her feet before she even finished giving a sharp cry. She hit the table with her hip, landed in the guy’s lap. The four men howled and in less than three seconds, Curtis was across the room at the table.
“Let her go,” he snarled. “Right the fuck now.”
“Aw, come on, man.” The dickhead tightened his hand in Tessa’s hair. It was a hard fist now and she made a small sound of pain. “Pussy’s for touching, right, not just looking at?”
“You got five seconds and no lie.” Even without looking behind him, Curtis sensed that he had backup. He guessed Jax was there, Alex too, and probably King and Mac and Aidan. “Let. Her. Go.”
“Fine. Fuck.” The guy released Tessa and she took a deep breath. “Take the fat bitch!” He shoved her at Curtis and he caught her as she collided with his chest. She gave a cry – a combination of shock and hurt – and Curtis caught her to him. He’d just pulled her close when the guy jumped up and took a swing at him, fast enough to actually surprise Curtis a bit. The guy missed, though, and the blow landed on the back of Tessa’s head. Curtis felt her whole body tighten at the shock, then she slumped.
Fuck. Did he knock her out?
“Hey!” That was Jax and Curtis knew that the shit had hit the fan now. “What the fuck, man?”
The four men were all standing, swaying a bit as all those whisky shots hit them full-force. Curtis looked over his shoulder at the row of solid, tattooed muscles and pissed-off faces and all he wanted was to get Tessa out of the way.
“You got this?” he asked Jax.
Killer Curves (Dangerous Curves Book 3) Page 4