by Blair Grey
“Thanks,” I said.
Lina waited until he walked off before she turned to me with a shit-eating grin on her face. “He was totally flirting with you,” she said. “I told you this gym thing was a good idea.”
I rolled my eyes. “He wasn’t flirting,” I protested. “We were just joking around. I feel sorry for him, though, he’s probably stuck at the desk for most of the day. He probably loves it when newcomers come in, and he gets to show them around.”
“Fair enough,” Lina said. “But I still think he was interested in you. You should come up with some questions to ask him next time you're in here." She sighed. “Now I guess I gotta get to work so I can find myself a guy, too. Want to start on the ellipticals?”
“Sure,” I said, hoping she couldn’t hear my lack of enthusiasm. I knew just how winded I was going to feel on the elliptical. But then again, it wasn’t like I was going to go lift weights and the whole reason we were here was because Lina didn’t feel comfortable in a swimsuit, so going for a swim was definitely out. What else were we going to do?
“It’ll be fun,” Lina promised me, clearly seeing right through me. “Or maybe not fun, but they’ve got those little personal TVs at each machine, so we can put on some trash TV and maybe the time will go faster than we expect.”
It didn’t work that way. Not at all. By the time we got done with the ellipticals, we were both pretty exhausted.
“That’s not bad for our first day, though, right?” Lina asked. “You know, I read this article recently that said that even if you do two hundred calories’ worth of exercise a few times a week, you’ll lose a surprising amount of weight. Something about jump-starting your metabolism or something. I don’t remember all the details.”
“Hey, every little bit counts,” I said, even though internally I was vowing to never get on an elliptical again. I don’t know why, but I had thought it would be easier than the treadmill or the stair climber, but I was just as winded, and if the jellylike feeling of my legs was anything to go by, I was going to be just as sore as soon as I let my muscles relax a little.
“You working with Donald again for the rest of the day?” Lina asked after we had changed and were heading off to work.
“Nah, he’s got the day off, so I’m in there by myself,” I told her.
“Ouch,” Lina said. “Bet that could be exhausting.”
“Nah, I don’t think it’ll be too bad,” I said, shaking my head. “To be honest, it’s kind of a relief. He’s just so obnoxious all the time. It’ll be nice to have the place to myself.”
“Yeah, I guess I get that,” Lina said, but she still sounded doubtful. “I’d tell you to call me if you need backup at all, but I don’t know the first thing about working in a pharmacy, and anyway, I’m pulling some extra hours at the daycare today.”
I shook my head, grinning ruefully. “Remind me again why we felt the need to punish ourselves physically on a morning when we already had so much work to do during the day?”
Lina laughed. “So we could jump-start our metabolism,” she reminded me. “I’m going to lose so much weight if we keep going like this. Maybe I’ll even eat a salad for lunch and make it a really healthy day.”
I snorted. “In my experience, every ultra-healthy day is followed by an ultra-unhealthy one,” I said. “If I eat a salad for lunch today, after working out this morning, I’ll use it as an excuse to spend the whole weekend sitting on my ass watching television and binge-eating junk food.”
Lina giggled. “Yeah, well if you binge-ate junk food, it wouldn’t change anything. You’d still be gorgeous.”
“Thanks,” I said, putting an arm around her shoulders and giving her a quick hug. “Anyway, I got to run or else I’ll be late. But we’ll make a plan for when we’re coming in here again, all right? Maybe we can time it for one of the classes next time. I don’t think I’m ready for a spin class yet, though.”
“Me neither, if today was anything to go by,” Lina said ruefully. “I’ll keep you posted when I get my schedule for next week. See you soon."
I waved goodbye and headed off to work. My first hour after opening was nice. Just as quiet as I’d expected, and I was super productive. Then, things started to get busy and I was rushing to keep up with it all. Even then, though, it was kind of nice. Time passed pretty quickly when I was busy like this, and I liked what I did. And I was able to get everything done in my own system without anyone else getting in the way.
Of course, all my concentration went out the window when I looked up and saw Landon standing there. He was watching me. How long had he been watching me? I didn’t know. My hands were shaking slightly as I finished packaging up Shelby’s order and handed it over to her.
She said goodbye and headed out of the shop, the bells above the door tinkling with her departure. I wiped my hands on my apron. “Can I help you?” I asked, my mouth gone suddenly dry.
This was silly, but I couldn’t help it. The other day, I’d mostly been distracted by the need to find Braxton’s prescription. Today, there was nothing to distract me from how good Landon looked in that black T-shirt and his dark jeans. He was smirking at me, as though he could tell how wet he was making me.
Jesus, I had never felt this attracted to a guy before. And definitely not a tattooed biker like him. I didn’t know where this was coming from. I tried to focus on the task at hand: figuring out why he was here.
I frowned. Braxton shouldn’t have gone through his whole prescription already. And anyway, he was nowhere to be seen. This had to be about something else.
Maybe, just maybe, Landon had come here to see me? Was that idea so farfetched?
“I don’t know,” Landon said, looking around the shop. “Looks to me like maybe you’re the one who could use some help. I didn’t scare off your coworker again, did I? My brother’s not with me.” There were still a couple people in there other than Landon and me, and it was just another reminder that I needed to keep things professional. God, I would die if someone thought I was hitting on the customers just like Donald.
I laughed and shook my head, trying to act nonchalant. “Nah, you didn’t scare him off. Donald has the day off today. It’s just me in here.”
“That seems like a punishment of some kind,” Landon said, raising an eyebrow at me.
I shrugged. “I kind of like it. Means I get everything done in my own way. I’m no stranger to hard work either.”
Was it just me or did Landon’s gaze turn speculative when I said that? It made me blush, somehow. I ducked my head.
“Hey, blushing already?” Landon asked, teasingly calling me out on it. He put his fingertips under my chin and tilted my face up. “I haven’t even asked you to dinner yet,” he said.
I pulled away from him, giving him what I hoped was a stern look. “I don’t really have time for that,” I said.
It wasn’t really the truth. As much as I was interested in him, I just didn’t want to put myself out there again. He made my heart quicken in a way that made me uneasy. It would be very easy to find myself getting attached to him, and I just couldn’t do that. I had sworn I wasn’t going to get my heart broken again. I wasn’t interested in putting myself out there again, for all of Lina’s insistence that I had to get back on the horse at some point.
Landon sighed at my rejection. “I was afraid you might say that,” he said. “Actually, I wasn’t sure that I should even come to ask you while you were here at work. You strike me as the kind of girl who would think this is massively inappropriate.” I’m sure there was something guilty in my expression when he said that because his grin only widened. He took a step closer so that he was looming over me, then lowering his voice, he added, “But I just couldn’t stay away from you.”
I swallowed hard, wanting to give in to him, my body throbbing with the need for release from this tension between us. But I couldn’t give in. I shook my head. “It’s not just that,” I said.
“All right,” Landon said easily, smiling and taking
a step back. “Is there any way that I can change your mind?”
“Thank you,” I said. “It’s flattering, honestly. But I’m just not interested in a date.”
Landon smirked at me. “Well, I’ll just have to think of something else to interest you then,” he said.
I stared at him in shock, wondering if he was suggesting what I thought he was suggesting. But he was already turning away and heading toward the door.
My heart was hammering, my body pulsing with lust, and even though this was probably the least professional that I'd ever acted at work, I had to admit that there was something about it that I really loved. It felt naughty, this blatant attempt at courtship. That resonated with something deep inside of me.
I was already wondering if he’d come back. When he’d come back. He had already said that he wasn’t sure that he should come by my work like this. That he thought maybe I wouldn’t appreciate it. But there was nothing keeping him from trying to find me as I was leaving work. Or…
I didn’t have time to think of that right now, though. There were other customers here, customers who actually needed something from the pharmacy. Not random guys who just wanted something from me. I shook my head and threw myself back into work, feeling a blush on my face as I thought about what they all must be thinking of me.
It might have been unprofessional, the way that he had just shown up here.
But I couldn’t help smiling as he walked out.
9
Landon
I was a little hesitant to start visiting the businesses that Neil had marked on his map in black. I didn’t want them to get worried that Red Eyes couldn’t protect them anymore. I didn’t want anyone to think that we were asking too many strange questions. And I definitely didn’t want word to get back to Jason or the rest of the guys at the MC. If one of them was a rat, we didn’t need him to know that we were trying to get to the bottom of this. Braxton and I had gone out for drinks with the guys on Wednesday night, and things had been good. We let them think that we were just here on vacation.
That certainly was how we were going to act, as far as any of them were concerned.
But I couldn’t think of any other way to approach this issue than to start talking to the businesses. Find out what was happening on their end. Find out if they really were paying those dues. If they were paying dues, and those dues weren’t making it to the MC, that was one thing. Then we’d know that we needed to find a rat in the MC who was taking that money off the top.
If they weren’t paying their dues, on the other hand, we needed to figure out why, and we needed to figure out why there were still reports that everyone was paying their dues as usual. Who was lying? How did we get the businesses to start paying again?
“Let’s start with this one,” I said to Braxton. “The Arrowhead. They’re a pub, always been loyal to the MC, right from the start. It’d be really strange to find out that they weren’t paying their dues anymore. But they’ve had a change of ownership in the past year, so it could just be something to do with that.”
“Sure,” Braxton said. “How do you want to approach it?”
“Let me do the talking,” I said. “I want you there as silent muscle, just in case. But I’ll give you the signal if I think things need to get rougher. I don’t want to get in trouble with the sheriff at our first stop on this case.”
“Yeah, fair enough,” Braxton said, even though I knew he’d be more than happy to go in there with fists flying.
When we got to the business, it was easy enough to get one of the barmaids to bring us back to meet the owner, once I lied and said my brother and I were interested in possibly doing some sort of partnership or investment with them. In fact, it was so easy that I had to roll my eyes. It’d be easy enough to beguile these guys, I was sure.
“How can I help you gentlemen today?” the proprietor, Eric, asked when we were all seated in his office.
I leaned back, putting my boots up on the edge of his desk. “Eric, you’re personal friends with Neil and the Red Eyes MC, aren’t you?” I asked.
Eric narrowed his eyes at me. “Look, if you guys are more of those Mamba dudes, I’ve already sent over my dues for the month. Red Eyes never asked us to pay biweekly.”
My feet fell to the floor, and I leaned forward quickly. “Mambas?” I asked.
Eric looked nervous, like he wasn’t sure if this was some sort of trick or not. “Are you guys Red Eyes then?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Braxton said, his eyes narrowed. “Who are the Mambas?” Even if Eric couldn’t tell us anything else, at least that was one clue, something more than the other guys at the chapter had gotten. I guess it was a good thing that they had called in outsiders, someone that Eric wouldn’t recognize as being part of the local Red Eyes chapter. He had us confused with these Mambas, whoever they were.
And now that he had made that one slip-up, it seemed that Eric was ready to tell us everything. Maybe the local chapter just hadn’t been able to ask the right questions before.
Eric stared back and forth between the two of us, looking like he didn’t know how to answer. Then, he sighed and fell back in his chair, throwing his hands in the air. “They told me not to tell you guys, but what the hell,” he said. “The Mambas are some other MC, I guess. But not the kind that hurts or kills the owners. They’re the bad kind. The one that hurts or kills the people that we love and forces us to live with the guilt for the rest of our lives.”
“What the hell do you mean?” I asked, staring at him.
“Yeah, I thought you were loyal to Red Eyes,” Braxton said. “You know that your dues to us are for protection.”
Eric made a noise of disgust. “Put it this way. The Mambas came around a few weeks ago demanding that we give them money. Dues. They told us that if we so much as breathed a word about any of it to any of you guys that they would punish us. And that if we didn’t pay up, they’d punish us. For me, it’s my wife. They told me that if I didn’t pay up, then…” He shuddered and shook his head. “I guess most of us weren’t willing to take the chance and risk telling you.”
“I understand why you didn’t tell us,” I said gravely, trying to think of what to say. I wasn’t sure that I could promise him that we were going to fix this, not when we weren’t the local MC and not when we didn’t even know who these Mambas might be.
I was also wondering why there seemed to be such a mix-up with the Red Eyes books. These guys clearly weren’t paying their dues to Red Eyes anymore, so why was there such a confusion? It had been ridiculously easy for us to walk in here and get Eric to tell us about the Mambas. One of the other guys should have had no problem doing the same.
It seemed like the more we knew, the more questions arose.
The more I thought about it, the surer I was that someone must be cooking the books at Red Eyes. Someone was pretending that people like Eric were still paying their dues, even when they weren’t. We would need to figure out who it was. But first, I wanted to focus on the Mambas and figuring out who they were.
I nodded at Eric. “I’m sure we’ll be in touch again,” I finally said, standing up and signaling that this meeting was over. “It’s good to know the specifics of what the Mambas said to you. We have them on our radar and are working to take care of the problem.”
Eric nodded at me. “Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help,” he said, even though I could tell he was the kind of man who wanted nothing to do with MC business.
We headed out, both Braxton and I thinking over what we had learned. “Having second thoughts about coming into this?” I asked, glancing over at my twin. “You know, now that this isn’t just a vacation?”
Braxton laughed and shook his head. “Nah, no second-guessing,” he said. “I just want to find one of these Mambas so we can see how tough they really are.”
I frowned and shook my head. “I still just can’t believe that they’ve been taking dues from all these businesses for so long without anyone being aware of t
hem. And the fact that they want to cover up their existence so badly that they threatened Eric’s wife? Just seems strange.”
Braxton shrugged. “Yeah, I guess maybe,” he said. “I take it to mean that they want to make sure they have a solid foothold here before they make their presence known. They know that they’re no match for Neil and his guys, so they’re not ready to stir up the pot just yet.”
“Neil and his guys,” I repeated, shaking my head. “There’s only a handful of them.”
“Regular members, sure,” Braxton said. “But you know that if there was any sort of problem, Neil’s the kind of guy who could call in reinforcements. I’m sure they have allies all over the state, plus guys living around here who used to be involved but aren’t anymore. That kind of thing. Or they’ll find some other way to get them out of here, like Marcus did with the Unknowns.”
I raised an eyebrow at him. “Is that my own twin brother who’s saying there are other ways to fight than just brute force?” I asked sarcastically. “I never thought I’d hear the day.”
Braxton rolled his eyes. “Yeah, well I’m a big fan of rude subterfuge too,” he said, grinning over at me. “We have to figure out some way to find the Mambas,” he finally said.
“Without telling everyone in the MC that we’re looking,” I added. When Braxton looked over at me in surprise, I shrugged. “We still haven’t ruled out the possibility of a rat,” I pointed out. “And even though there seems to be a reason why we didn’t know for sure whether these businesses were all still paying their dues or not, I think it’s better safe than sorry. Keep our plan hush-hush for as long as we can.”
“You’re probably right,” Braxton said. “I’ll do a little digging around town. Hit up a couple bars. I have a couple places I think are worth checking out. Not just for the babes and the beer lists.” He winked at me.
I snorted and shook my head. “All right, sure. But we’ll need to be discreet.”
“We will be,” Braxton promised.