“Saginaw County Chapter meetings for B.A.C.A are on Wednesdays,” Lucas said. “I can’t go this week, and I’m looking for a replacement.” He automatically looked to Maverick, who nodded subtly toward the two boys who’d been joyriding last week. Prospects, Julian and Ryder had just set themselves back several months from becoming full patches in the club.
“Julian,” Lucas said. “It starts at six-thirty in Saginaw.”
It was a couple of hours to Saginaw, but Maverick felt it important to keep their affiliation with an organization that helped children. After all, he’d been a child who’d needed help once, and without the support of Gus and Gentleman Sid, Maverick wasn’t even sure he’d still be alive.
“Take Ryder with you,” Lucas added, and the two prospects nodded. “I’m organizing a family event for the summer as well, but I don’t have all the details yet.” He nodded at Maverick and sat down.
Davis got up again, and Maverick hoped he wouldn’t be talking long. The meeting was up to forty-five minutes, and he was ready for ice cream…and maybe he’d disappear upstairs a little early tonight. See what Karly Lydell was doing.
He’d heard the distinct click of the lock after she went into the bedroom, and he knew he scared her. She probably should be scared of him. Their lives were so different, and he couldn’t even imagine how they could get along.
And yet, something inside him wanted to find out if they could. Find out if she’d learn to love his tattoos, and riding his motorcycle with him, and kissing him.
He jerked himself out of the fantasy, his whole body filling with heat. Had he not learned anything when Ruby had taken his heart and left town? He gave himself a mental shake and ducked out of the room as Davis started the final procedures to end church.
All the boys would mingle for hours, and music would play, and some of them would tinker with their bikes. Everyone got ice cream and hot coffee or chocolate, and Maverick enjoyed being with his club.
He busied himself with setting mugs on the counter for the patches, and then he armed himself with an ice cream scoop, his thoughts still a floor above with the pretty brunette who’d stumbled out of the rain and into his life for the second time that day.
* * *
The next morning, Maverick woke from his spot on the couch when he heard footsteps. He’d been a light sleeper since his mother had gotten remarried, when he’d learned he needed to be able to wake quickly to defend himself or Brandon.
“Hey,” he said, sitting up though his eyes felt like someone had rubbed sand in them. “What time is it?”
Karly yelped as she turned toward him, her eyes wide and both hands pressed to her chest.
“Sorry,” he said. He stood and stretched, a yawn coming from his gut before he could stop it. The clock in the kitchen behind her said it was barely seven. Holy mother of early. He’d maybe been asleep for three hours, as the beauty in front of him had kept him awake longer than usual after the club festivities had broken up.
King jumped off the other couch and trotted over to Karly, who surprisingly didn’t flinch away from the dog. She patted him almost absently, still mute. Gorgeous, but mute.
“Did it stop raining?” he asked.
Her gaze migrated to the window, and she finally said, “Yes.”
“Great,” he said. “Let’s go fix your car, and you’ll be on your way home.” He reached for his jacket draped over the back of the armchair nearby. He’d slept in yesterday’s clothes too, because he normally slept in nothing, and he didn’t want to tuck himself away, naked, in his bedroom and miss Karly in the morning.
He was well-aware that normal people like her lived on a very different schedule than he did. “Who watched your daughter last night?” he asked. “You have a lot of family around, right?”
“Yes,” she said, her eyes growing an edge he didn’t like. “How do you know that?”
“I’m really good friends with Declan,” he said. “I helped your sister Mia a lot last year after….” He lifted his chin, because this woman would not make him weak. Not the way Ruby had done. “After your husband died.”
She looked like he’d slapped her, and then she softened. “Oh, right.”
“I’m sorry about that,” he said, making his voice as tender as possible.
“Thank you,” she murmured, glancing around. “Can we have coffee before we go fix my car?”
“Of course.” He moved into the kitchen, glad when she came with him. She hadn’t seemed timid at the wedding yesterday. Just stressed, and Maverick could understand that.
“This is a beautiful apartment,” she said. “Did you pick out all the furniture and art and everything?”
“Yes,” he said, turning his back to her to fill the coffee pot with water. The lie felt thick on his tongue. “Well, kind of. My ex helped a lot.” He pulled down two mugs and set them on the counter, his eyes finding Karly’s again. “Her name was Ruby.”
“Like the sign.”
“That’s right.”
Karly watched him for a moment, and he appreciated that she seemed to think about things before just blurting them out. “How long ago since you broke up?”
“Almost a year,” he said. “Officially. It was bad before that.”
Karly nodded, tucked her hair behind her ear, and sat down at the bar that was long enough to accommodate eight. It was absolutely ridiculous, because Maverick never had houseguests.
Until now.
“I saw you had a ton of creamers in your fridge,” she said.
“Yeah.” He stepped over to it. “I’m sort of a coffee junkie. It’s what I eat for breakfast and lunch.”
Karly trilled out a pretty laugh that made Maverick’s insides dance. “You don’t eat coffee, Maverick.”
He grinned as he pulled out the flavored creams. “Well, I don’t normally get up until noon, and I don’t see the point of doing much until dinnertime.”
A startled look crossed her face. “I woke you really early then.”
“It’s fine.” The coffee bubbled behind him, and he felt downright domestic in that moment. Here with a woman. Having an easy conversation. The scent of coffee filling the place. A crazy thought entered his mind, and he let it swirl around while he got out sugar and poured the hot brew.
“Karly,” he said as he pushed her mug toward her. “Would you ever consider going out with me?”
She sucked in a breath, those doe-eyes wide and fearful. Foolishness raced through him. He’d heard her poisonous words at the wedding yesterday, and why he’d thought he could win her over with tough-guy one-liners and then the offer to stay at his place for the night, he wasn’t sure.
Thankfully, his phone buzzed, and he was able to excuse himself without having to apologize for the date talk.
Idiot, he chastised himself as he went back into the living room to get his phone off the coffee table. He had picked this one out, thank you very much, and he loved the bleached wood with drawers on the front for his remote controls, extra batteries, and ChapSticks.
Because of the early hour, he knew the text would be from his brother, and it was. He just wanted Maverick to come to dinner tomorrow, and he quickly typed out Sure, I’ll be there. He loved spending the afternoon with Brandon and his family, as it reminded him that not all relationships had a couple that hated each other. Not all marriages ended. Not all fathers left. Not all girlfriends abandoned their clubs, their apartments, and their boyfriends.
Plus, he loved tickling his Irish twin nieces until their faces turned red. Then they’d climb into his lap and show him how good of readers they were becoming. They made him feel loved, and valuable, and important, and he went to his brother’s every chance he got.
“I’m ready,” Karly said, and Maverick stuck his phone in his back pocket.
“Great, let’s go.” The ride down the street was quick in the weak sunlight, and though Maverick’s pulse started hammering at the female touch of Karly’s arms around him, he kept the tide of emotions behind the bri
ck wall of resistance. Right where they belonged.
He left her in the car and motored into the auto supply store another several blocks away, got everything she needed, and returned to the vehicle. Twenty minutes later, the car started.
She looked at him with wonder and appreciation in her eyes. “Thank you,” she said, a genuine gratitude in her voice that had Maverick considering asking her out again.
But he would not. Oh, no. He’d made his interest quite clear, and her feelings had been obvious too. Before he could say anything, she flung her arms around him and hugged him. “Thank you,” she said again, twisting and getting in the car without letting her eyes truly settle on his.
He stood out of the way and watched her back out of the parking space and leave. Then he glanced around, as if he needed a corroborating witness to what had just happened. His cells tingled, and warmth spread through him.
His gaze landed on another motorcycle out at the gas pumps. A man stepped around the bike, and all the tingly heat in Maverick’s body ran cold.
Bulldog.
Had he seen Karly hug Maverick? Seen him fix her car?
Maverick told himself it didn’t matter. The Vice-President of the Hawks didn’t get to determine what Maverick did with his time. He’d helped a citizen of Forbidden Lake. The end. Karly wasn’t a police officer, a lawyer, or anyone important to the Hawks.
But just the fact that a Hawk was here, in Forbidden Lake, so close to Ruby’s and the Sentinels didn’t bode well.
Deciding to get the conversation started, Maverick stepped off the sidewalk and approached the pumps. “What are you doing here?” He glanced left and right, almost hoping for a cop to drive by. Pull up. Need a doughnut.
“In the neighborhood,” he said casually.
“Right,” Maverick said, squinting into the sunlight beyond the convenience store.
“Daddy wants an audience,” Bulldog said.
“I don’t think so,” Maverick said. “I’ve said all I need to say.” The Hawks had taken issue with the Sentinels bursting into the club in Williamsburg last year, as apparently they’d claimed the turf and had been working with Rocko Federov to move people and drugs through the state and up into Canada.
Not all motorcycle clubs operated above-board, and Maverick really hated that. He hadn’t known about the night club before, and he couldn’t help it if his best friend had been on Rocko’s short list of people to torture and get revenge on because of a crazy fan.
The Sentinels had gone to the aid of one of their brethren, though Declan wasn’t an official, patch-wearing member of the club. He’d been an innocent in need, and the Sentinels went to the aid of anyone in those circumstances.
“You know who that woman was, right?” Bulldog asked, and Maverick kept his face impassive.
“Some woman whose car broke down,” Maverick said. “I happened by. Helped out.”
“She’s Karly Addler.”
“Okay,” Maverick said, though every cell in his body knew who she was.
“Her grandfather used to be a Hawk.” Bulldog delivered the words with careful precision, and they landed like perfectly placed bombs in Maverick’s ears.
“You have a good day, now,” Bulldog said. “I’ll be in touch about that meeting with Daddy.” He swung his leg over his bike, and that was when Maverick realized he hadn’t even been filling up.
The roar of the motorcycle as he peeled out and jetted away filled the air, and everyone turned to look. Maverick included.
His heart sank all the way to his boots and down into the ground. If Karly’s grandfather really had been a Hawk, there was no way he, a Sentinel, could have any kind of relationship with her. She’d been claimed by the rival club, whether she knew it or not.
Chapter Five
Karly said, “Yeah, sure,” to the empty car, imagining what the conversation would’ve been like had she just said those two stupid words after Maverick had asked her if she’d like to go out with him sometime.
“I mean, yes,” she said. There were so many ways to say it, and yet she’d stood there and said nothing. He hadn’t looked like he cared the slightest bit, and though she’d only met him officially yesterday, she knew he had to feel something. He just pretended like he didn’t.
Karly understood that on a deep level. So deep, she didn’t want to go down inside that cesspool.
“I might have to check my schedule,” she said as she turned onto the lane where all the Addlers lived. She drove past her house and down three more to Liam’s and Serenity’s. The woman sat on the front steps, her baby swaddled up in blankets while Navy ran around on the front lawn.
Serenity wore a pretty smile on her face, and she glanced up as Karly pulled into the driveway. She flew from the car, scooping her daughter into her arms and hugging her tight. She smelled like cherries and chocolate, and Karly never wanted to leave again.
“Hey, baby,” she said to Navy. “Were you good for Aunt Serenity?”
She babbled something that wasn’t in English, and Karly hugged Serenity around the kids too. “Thank you so much.” She sighed like last night was the worst ordeal of her life.
“Liam said not to come in today. He said you don’t need to until after the new year.”
“All right.” Relief hit her, and she wanted nothing more than to step into another hot shower and lay down in bed as the hours passed.
“So, where did you stay last night?” Serenity asked.
“Oh, my car broke down at the convenience store,” she said, making her voice full of frustration and annoyance. “So I hiked down the road to this motorcycle shop. One of the guys there helped me.”
“You stayed with a man?” The incredulity in Serenity’s voice could’ve called dogs to the front door. She opened it and went inside the cabin, Karly following her. She set Navy on the floor, and the little girl ran toward the back of the house and the kitchen.
“Yes,” Karly said, deciding to just tell Serenity the truth. “I mean, sort of. He lived above the shop, and his place was huge. Like, I mean, huge. It took up the entire floor above the store and the mechanic shop. Probably six thousand feet.”
“So it wasn’t tight quarters. All awkward or anything.”
“I mean, he caught me snooping in his fridge.” She shrugged like it had been no big deal.
Serenity let a moment go by, and then she giggled. Karly laughed too, and it felt so great. So, so great. Something shifted in her, and for the first time since Derrick’s death, she thought she might be able to be happy again someday.
“And he asked me out,” she said casually, as if she got asked out every day.
Serenity sucked in a breath and passed the baby to Karly so she could stand up and get the remote control. “You’re kidding. The biker guy? What did you say?”
“It’s the same man I walked down the aisle with yesterday,” she said. “You know? Declan’s friend.”
“Oh, right,” Serenity said. “What did you say?”
Karly sighed. “I didn’t say anything. Then his phone rang, and he went to get it, and then he fixed my car, and yeah.” Another sigh. “I didn’t say anything.” She gazed down into Thea’s sleeping face, so much love filling her. She’d wanted to be a mother for as long as she could remember, and though she and Derrick had been married for five years, she’d only been able to get pregnant once.
“She’s so beautiful,” she murmured.
Serenity flipped on the TV and gently took Thea from Karly. She settled her into a bassinet at the end of the couch and sighed as she sat back down. “She had a rough night.”
“I’m going,” Karly said, interpreting the mommy-language she’d used before too. “Thank you so much again, Serenity. I’ll send you some money when I get home.”
“You don’t need to do that,” she said, her eyes already closed.
Karly ignored her and called for Navy to come. In the end, she had to go down the hall to the art nook and get her daughter. She cried as they left, and Karly felt e
ven more helpless and like a bigger failure as she walked out the front door.
After all, Navy wanted to stay with Serenity more than she wanted to go with her own mom. She couldn’t help thinking that she already needed another hour to herself as she buckled the sobbing child into the backseat and walked around the front of the car.
“You can do this,” she whispered to herself before she got behind the wheel. “Baby,” she said, buckling her own seatbelt. “You want some pancakes? Pancakes?”
Navy quieted, and she nodded. Karly smiled at her. “All right. Pancakes.” Hopefully, there would never be something in Karly’s life that carbs couldn’t solve.
* * *
A week later, Karly drove slowly down the road that would take her past her beloved convenience store—and past Ruby’s.
Navy was asleep in the backseat, as driving in the car always conked the child out when she was being difficult about bedtime. The clock on Karly’s dash read a few minutes before midnight, and while the lights on the red letters of Ruby’s name were bright, the inside of the storefront looked dark.
At least a dozen motorcycles were parked on the west side of the building, so Karly knew there were people inside. She also knew she couldn’t leave her sleeping infant in the car and go into this particular building uninvited, especially at this time of night. She wasn’t even sure why she was here. She had Maverick’s number in her phone, and she could use it if she wanted to.
She did want to. She just didn’t know how. Or what to say.
She circled the building, flipping around to go back toward the convenience store. Pausing at the corner of the building just far enough forward so she could see the motorcycles, she glanced back toward them again.
And then the man that had been swirling in her mind for eight days appeared, coming through the back door and moving past the bikes parked there, that gorgeous German shepherd trotting out after him.
Making A Move (Rebels 0f Forbidden Lake Book 6) Page 3