by D. D. Prince
“Call me,” Ella muttered with a giggle.
“Maybe,” I answered.
She wanted the lowdown.
She gave me a beaming smile and I watched Deacon walk her to the dealership.
A big smile spread across my face, watching that. Deacon ran the garage and Ella worked at the dealership next door, and how awesome was it that he walked her to the door?
They were laughing against one another’s lips, likely at us, and then kissing at the front door as Spencer pulled his motorcycle out of the lot.
***
“Good morning, Spence. Pippa.” Laura, the waitress at Dutchie’s diner greeted. “What’ll it be?” She had a huge grin on her face, like she approved of seeing us together.
Spencer’s eyes were on me, looking at me in a way that set my pulse to racing. I felt it as the red beat through my skin. I couldn’t help it. The things we did last night (and this morning)? Whoa.
“Coffee. Half a grapefruit. Rye toast.” I said with a smile and passed her the menu.
“That all you’re gonna eat?” Spencer asked.
I nodded.
“Farmer’s breakfast,” Spencer ordered. “Orange juice. Coffee. Eggs scrambled. Toasted rye, too.”
“Comin’ up.” Laura smiled and gave me a wink.
When she left, I felt his eyes on me. I tried to look everywhere else. Why? Because the intensity of his gaze felt uncomfortable.
“Hey,” he reached across and grabbed my hand.
My eyes landed on our hands and then on his face.
“How ya doin’?” His eyes were filled with concern as his fingers skated along the backs of my hands.
“Fine, why?” I asked, trying for nonchalance.
“You look spooked,” he informed.
I guess I was failing at my attempted nonchalance.
Laura was back with coffees and Spencer’s orange juice, which gave me an opportunity to pull my hand back.
“I’m not spooked.” I shrugged when she left. “Maybe I’m a bit hungover.”
He smiled. “You don’t look hungover.”
“Or a bit drunk, still. I’m also a little bit sore,” I whispered.
He smirked. “Oh yeah? Where?”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m sure you can guess.”
He looked like a proud peacock when he leaned forward. “Can’t say I’m sorry, Sunshine. I like that you’re gonna feel me all day.”
He spooned sugar into his coffee cup and poured milk in.
I poured cream into mine and stirred it.
“Or maybe all week,” I whispered.
His smile grew even wider.
More pink crept up my cheeks. I sipped my coffee. It was too hot.
“What’re you doin’ tonight?” he asked.
“Uh… probably catching up on sleep some more.” I tried to say that less flirtily, because what on Earth was I doing, flirting with him?
“What’re you doin’ after breakfast?” he tried.
“Goin’ home and takin’ a nap, then getting a shower, alone, and getting ready for work.”
“So, you’re sure you wanna part ways after breakfast?” he asked, face serious.
“Yeah, I need to get a few hours’ sleep and then get ready for work. That’s probably best.”
He was looking at me like his next question might be to ask me what I was doing for the rest of my life.
“Excuse me. Little girls’ room,” I said, needing an escape from the intensity of the conversation, and then I grabbed my bag and zipped to the bathroom.
I checked my phone, taking my time on the ‘throne’. I felt pretty awkward about having breakfast with Spencer. I wished I’d just gotten him to drop me off. An immediate breakfast with no buffer, nothing to do but chat was verging on territory I didn’t have the capacity for. Obviously, as evidenced by my hanging out in the bathroom.
I couldn’t stay in here all day, so I washed my hands and assessed myself in the mirror. There was good color in my cheeks. I didn’t look hungover. I looked better than I’d looked in weeks, in fact.
I guess that seventeen orgasms in one night (and a morning) will do that for you. I didn’t know how many orgasms I’d actually had, but definitely the most I’d ever had in one night.
When I stepped back out, I ran into a client, Sanjay, a beefy and attractive East Indian bodybuilder who came in to get his chest and back waxed regularly. He was at the counter on a backless stool, eating breakfast alone. When he spotted me, he spun around on the stool, and caught my hand.
“Hey?” He had a concerned look on his face.
“Oh. Hi.” I gave him a smile but snatched my hand back.
That was strange. He’d never been touchy before.
Spencer was facing me at our table. His eyebrows shot up and he leaned forward on his seat, jaw muscles bulging.
“I, uh… heard that you, uh…” Sanjay fumbled.
My eyes darted back to Sanjay and I waved my hand to halt the conversation. He’d obviously heard what’d happened to me. The gym he worked out at was below The Yoga Loft, the studio I’d taught at.
“You okay?” he asked.
I was sick of this but respected that he actually said the words, rather than just gave me pity looks like most people.
“I’m good.”
“You here alone? Wanna join me?” He gestured to the empty stool beside himself.
“No, I uh…” I gestured toward my table and that meant I also gestured to Spencer, who sat there in his Dominion Brotherhood leather cut. His eyes were narrow and on Sanjay, as if Sanjay was overstepping or something.
“Oh,” Sanjay said, sounding surprised and he looked at Spencer critically. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow. Got my appointment.” Sanjay’s eyes traveled the length of me in a way that made me a little bit uncomfortable. And then I noticed that his eyes were on my neck. My hickey.
I felt heat burn in my cheeks. “See you then,” I smiled, tucked a loose piece of hair behind my ear and headed back to the table.
“Was wondering if you slipped out the back door,” Spencer mused, sipping his coffee.
I gave him a nervous smile. “Nope. The door isn’t over there.”
He chuckled. “Who was that?” and his chuckle faded.
“Customer.”
My eyes landed on Spencer’s hickey. I’d put a pretty big one on his throat, too.
“Customer?” he asked, looking over my shoulder at Sanjay.
I smiled.
“Don’t look like the type to get his nails done,” he mumbled, skeptically.
“I don’t just do nails,” I replied.
“Eyebrow wax?” he glanced over my shoulder in Sanjay’s direction.
“Not him, but I do eyebrow waxes. And other body hair...” I replied. “But ask no more questions, because client confidentiality.” I winked.
He looked alarmed. “Please tell me you don’t have to wax pubes off guys.”
I chuckled. “Lots of estheticians do. Me? No. Only girlie downstairs hair for me. I draw the line at bikini waxes for men. If a guy asks, I refer him to an esthetician friend of mine who doesn’t mind.”
“Glad to hear that,” he mumbled, zero humor in his eyes. In fact, it looked like he was giving Sanjay some looks over my shoulder. I resisted the urge to look over my shoulder to see if Sanjay’s eyes were on Spencer.
“Why?” I tried.
“You got your hands anywhere near their dicks, they’d be unable to hide how they were feelin’ about your hands bein’ there and I’m sure it’d be uncomfortable for you.”
I snickered and opened my mouth to agree, but Laura was there, already, with our food.
Spencer’s breakfast consisted of a mountain of food on a giant platter. A heap of scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, ham, fried tomatoes, pancakes, hash browns, and toast. It was enough food to feed three hungry people.
I dug into my grapefruit.
He had his eye on it with distaste.
“Dunno how you can eat
that,” he said, and then popped one of his half a dozen pieces of bacon into his mouth.
“I love it,” I said, studiously working at sawing out the sections with my serrated spoon. “But a piece of bacon wouldn’t be unappreciated.”
He shoved his plate closer to me and I snatched a piece and gave him a smile.
“So… tonight?” he asked.
I finished chewing. “Tonight, I am probably going to get some take-out from the little restaurant a few doors from the flower shop, do some yoga, watch Netflix, and flake out until I pass out, which probably won’t be any later than 8:30.”
“Party animal,” he teased.
I laughed. “Hey, I ain’t twenty-two anymore. Can’t party two nights in a row like my younger years.”
He snickered and watched me steal a sausage link from his plate. I figured it was fine, since he had four. He didn’t react. He kept eating his eggs.
“So, Ella sold a bike all by herself? Color me impressed,” I said.
He nodded while pouring syrup on his pancakes. “Yeah. It was a shock. Good one, though. My first reaction was probably that her tits sold the bike, but buddy came back later in the day with cash to pick it up and the old fucker was not interested in her rack, not beyond typical male appreciation, anyway. Man wanted to buy a Harley and it was between us and another shop. We were priced five per cent higher. She matched it and sold him on our extended warranty, which was cheaper than theirs.”
“Go Ella,” I said, enthusiastically, thinking the anecdote had a good enough ending to make me overlook his chauvinistic comment. And then after he cut into his pancakes, I stole a buttery sweet bite.
This made him smile big at me.
“That’s tax for saying something about Ella’s boobs,” I wagged my finger at him. Okay, so I couldn’t totally let it go.
He smiled bigger. “Tit tax?” he mused.
I rolled my eyes. “That’ll cost you another piece of bacon.” I reached over.
I tried to keep the conversation light and buddy-like. I talked about our friends, mostly, and I probably talked too much, because it was better to babble and have him smile at me than to have that awkward silence again where he stared at me like he wanted to take me back to his bedroom at the clubhouse.
“See ya tomorrow, Pippa,” Sanjay said as he passed our table, giving Spencer a look. A not very nice look. “Ten thirty.”
Spencer gave him a look back that… yikes… if looks could kill. Why would he want to kill him with a look? A) He knew him and didn’t like him. B) He was being possessive over me.
A) Didn’t jive. Sanjay was a good guy and they didn’t look at one another with any sort of familiarity.
B) This wasn’t cool. I wasn’t a possession of Spencer’s. Or anyone’s. It was weird, though, that my client had grabbed my hand. And the way he looked at me, then Spencer when he found out I wasn’t at the diner alone… nope, not going to think about it. I hoped Sanjay wasn’t about to ask me out, hearing I was now single.
“Bye.” I waved nonchalantly.
Laura popped by and topped up our coffees and put the check on the table. I reached for it.
“Uh!” Spencer snatched it from my hand.
“I’ll get breakfast. You bought me pizza last night. And Jack and ginger. Lots of Jack, actually.”
“Nope,” he said and reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet.
“No, really,” I said, reaching for the check.
He grabbed my hand and squeezed it, then leaned forward and dropped a kiss on it. I was a little flabbergasted. He let go of my hand and pulled out some bills and dropped them on the table.
“Don’t need change, Laura,” he said, as she happened to be walking by with a tray of breakfast plates for another table.
“Thanks, Spency,” she gave him a wink.
I blew my hair out of my eyes.
“She’s been by a lot lately. I think she and my dad are nearin’ exclusive.”
“Oh yeah?” I asked.
“Yeah. They dated back before he hooked up with Shelly.”
“Oh?”
“My mother,” he muttered with distaste.
Oh yeah. Ella called her Hurricane Shelly. Jenna had nothing good to say about Shelly Valentine either. She’d tried to break Jenna and Rider up and kept calling Ella by names of Deacon’s exes.
“Jenna and Ella mentioned you guys being on the outs with your mother.”
“Outs? That’s like sayin’ the pope’s only a little religious,” he muttered and sipped his coffee.
I reached over and nabbed a forkful of hash browns.
“Didn’t like that you hardly ordered any food. Glad you aren’t leavin’ the joint hungry after all, baby,” he teased.
I laughed. “Good hangover food.” And was glad he was teasing. I didn’t want to get into weird deep or intimately personal conversations. Nope, nope, nope.
He tucked his wallet into his jeans. “You ready to roll?”
“I am.” I got up.
He put his hand on the small of my back and led me toward the door, opening it for me, and then he helped me fasten the motorcycle helmet and drove me to my car.
The motorcycle ride wasn’t fun, what with my already sore leg muscles, but I had to admit, his very muscled back, was awesome to be plastered against.
***
“So…” I said as I beeped my locks, “Thanks for breakfast.”
He shoved the spare helmet into a saddle bag and then he backed me against my car door.
I jolted in surprise.
“You’re welcome,” he said softly and then his hand rested against my neck and he tried to bring my face closer. I jerked, stiffly.
He was stroking the hickey. Smiling at it. My eyes were on his hickey.
“For buying breakfast, and letting me eat half of yours,” I tore my eyes away and laughed.
His thumb stroked my throat again and it made my throat feel clogged. I started to panic.
“Spence. Last night was great. R-really. Beyond great. But like I---”
He silenced me with his mouth. Those soft pouty lips touched mine and then his tongue parted them as he pressed his body against mine, pinning me to the door.
I guess I must’ve melted. I guess I must’ve gone into a trance, because next thing I knew, he was breaking away, smiling at me, biting his bottom lip.
“I’ll see ya later.” He backed up.
I blinked a few times. My lips were still parted. I was in a daze.
“Oh. Okay.” I was tingling all over.
He leaned over again and put his lips to my forehead. I looked up at his dimpled chin and inhaled his scent, then swallowed.
He got back on his bike, put his helmet on, and rode off.
I stood there a second, blinking.
And then it dawned that I’d better get out of there before I was spotted by Jenna or Lulu. I needed to get my head together before I started answering the barrage of questions that was sure to be fired at me as soon as I stepped foot into the salon.
I opened the door to my car, taking a big breath, feeling way sober now.
I spotted Rider coming down the back stairs. He had a big shit-eating grin on his face. He saw all that. Darn. And he’d gone from having an issue with Spencer and me as a thing to seeming like he approved.
I waved and quickly got out of there before getting engaged in conversation.
***
I went home, took a shower, and then took a nap before heading to work. I slept like the dead and woke up feeling pretty great for just that short snooze. Except yes… I still felt him there.
8
“It was nothing,” I blew it off with a shrug and wave of my hand.
“Nothing?” Jenna gave me a look, a doubtful look.
“Just sex.” I shrugged again. This was in the utility room, where we had a coffee maker, microwave, and laundry machines as well as extra supplies.
“Sex for three hours ain’t nothin’. Sex for two minutes ain’t eve
n nothin’.” Lulu mused, poking her head in.
“Maybe more like three and a half hours,” Jenna added.
I glared. “Deanna has a big dirty mouth.”
Both of them laughed at me. Jenna grabbed her coffee. “Rider texted me a few hours ago, caught a glimpse of The Spencer and Pippa Show out back earlier. You two… makin’ out behind the building. Said you looked like you were dick-dazed.”
My eyebrows shot up.
“Valentines are good at the dick-dazing,” Jenna added.
“Dick what?” Jojo Valentine was suddenly in the room with us. Where did she come from?
“Dick-dazed. That’s what your brother did to Pip last night. Ella calls it a cock fog.”
Fuck, Jenna! I glared at her with big eyes.
“Oh,” Jojo said, “And this morning, according to Marlena, who said the whole clubhouse heard them goin’ at it when Spency carried her in a fireman hold back to his room when she tried to escape.”
My eyes went huge. I barely even knew Jojo and I wanted to duct tape her mouth.
She laughed boldly, reading my expression and not caring.
“My brothers stake their claim with bold statements. Welcome to the family.” She bumped my shoulder with hers.
I shook my head. “Thanks, girlfriend, but it was just a hot drunken night. That’s it. I’m not picking out china patterns. It was a one-off.”
“Not if I have my way,” she muttered.
“What?” I gasped.
“I mean, Oh. Right,” Jojo gave an exaggerated nod and winked at Jenna. Jenna passed her a cup from the cupboard, trying to mask a grin. Jojo moved to the coffee maker.
I stared at Jojo a second and then shook it off and went back to my section of the salon with the tea I’d made for my client.
Throughout the balance of the day, Jenna kept trying to get the ‘goods’, but I kept waving her off. Jojo was there for a bit, but then she headed out.
I avoided her. No point engaging with her and getting her hopes up. Or, maybe I was just a little bit afraid of her.
“So,” Jenna greeted as she popped her head in at another point in the day. “Jojo says he doesn’t let most women on the back of his bike.”
I froze. I was between clients, surfing on my phone. It was just after five thirty and I had a co-op student, Brittany, in today who was interested in doing what I do. She was chatty and fun, and we’d had a good afternoon. She had just left. I had one more client today at six o’clock for a manicure, and that was it for me until ten thirty the next morning when Sanjay was coming in for some waxing. Tomorrow would be a busy day, actually, from that first appointment onwards.