by Emma James
I look down at myself and grimace. I hadn’t even taken the time to think about what I was going to do about my current state of appearance. I’m glad that’s taken care of for me.
Now I know Joy, is concerned about me, but dragging me over to this side of the room is about more than my damaged clothing and talking about my butt. She has something else on her mind.
As though she can hear my thoughts, she folds her arms across her chest and lifts a delicate brow.
And she waits.
I mimic her pose, raising a ditto eyebrow, and wait her out.
Joy’s like a nosy kid sister. If she wants information, I’m going to make her voice it.
“Do I need to ask, Torque?” she huffs at me and taps her foot. Her signature cherry-red lips are on their way to forming a pout, which has me fighting not to laugh in her face. Just because she’s the sister, I’ve never had that doesn’t mean I’m gonna gossip like I’m one of the girls.
I don’t even have to turn my head to know the other females are all invested in our stand-off, pretending they are busy talking and looking at their phones.
“Tooorque!” She’s like a puppy whose favorite chew toy is tugged away from her.
“Something on your mind... sweetheart?”
She growls playfully in frustration. “Doesn’t take that long to drop Bowie off at his mother’s house”—she motions with her hands for me to spill what I’ve been doing—”sooo…”
“Nope, it doesn’t,” I agree and beam a shit-eating grin at her. “I can look after myself, sweetheart. Are you poking that perky little nose of yours into my private business?” The champagne sipping crew must be busting to join in.
“Of course I am,” she boasts and boomerangs my shit-eating grin back at me. “So... what do you think of Flora Templeton?” More than I’m willing to tell you right now.
I lean forward close to Joy’s forehead. “Sweetheart, why have you never told me about Flora? Why have I also discovered she attended your ladies’ night mechanics classes, and you never mentioned a single, blonde-bombshell was in attendance?” Joy’s one of the best mechanics around. I’m so glad it was this woman who taught Flora everything she knows about bikes. “I thought you were a dear friend to the Lion’s Den MC. Aannd to ice the cake, she lives right next door to Whisper and Edge. I thought when I stopped by your home for dinner when I am in town; you might have mentioned who had moved in next to Whisper, maybe once over the past year or so, but I got nothing. Now that’s not nice, little sister. I thought we were family, and family is supposed to holler at me when a beautiful, independent, bombshell moves in next door to Edge, as a courtesy, to this single male.” I point to myself to make sure she is clear on who is a little annoyed they were out of the loop.
Joy, in all her 1950s pinup style glory, is speechless. Her cherry-red lips part, but nothing is coming out.
“And don’t think I won’t be pulling Edge up for this lapse of communication in our friendship.”
“Crikey!” That word comes out sounding like she’s accusing me of something. “I knew it!” Her tone turns suspicious. Yep, she’s accusing me. Her arms unfold, and her hands come to rest on each hourglass hip. “You weren’t over there that long, Torque. How could you have managed to—?”
“What?” I try to act like I have no clue what she’s talking about, mostly because it amuses me.
“Don’t give me that noncommittal answer. I’m already onto you, big guy”—she repeatedly pokes me in the chest—”why are you telling me off for not telling you about Flora? What’s going on? You can’t have moved on her that quickly. Could you? You didn’t hit on the woman. Did you?” Joy is babbling like a flowing creek.
“I’ve done nothing. We just talked.” Well, she is my plus one now. Technically I did something, but I don’t like to word it as ‘hitting’ on Joy. “I’m deciding if I should feel annoyed with that comment, sweetheart.” Damn. Does she think I’m not good enough for Flora?
“Now, don’t give me that look, big guy.” At least she’s stopped poking me in the chest.
“What look?”
“You look offended or something. You know I love you and think you are awesome and handsome—”
“Buuut...” I drag the word out to make my point.
“All I’m saying, Torque, is that you aren’t around much. Flora’s got her shit together, and she’s got a son and a thriving business. She isn’t looking for a man. And you live in El Paso—most of the time. And you like women, but not enough to warrant—”
“I’m gonna be around a lot more now.” Defensive. Much? And that’s the truth.
Joy sucks in a breath, then releases it slowly and tries again with me. “Flora...” she says, lowering her voice, “well, we got to talking after classes, and she’s not one to mess with if your intentions are purely...” She wobbles her head from side to side, not willing to add on ‘sexual’ to the end of that sentence.
I’ve certainly got the message loud and clear from Flora herself. The female hasn’t had physical sex since she was eighteen!
One and done.
Bob doesn’t count.
I rub the back of my neck in frustration. Joy has entered the mind-your-own-business zone.
“Look… will I get you off my back if I explain that you aren’t telling me anything I haven’t learned already from Flora’s lips?” I move my head, so we are cheek to cheek and murmur for her ears only, “You don’t need to worry about me treating Flora right. I already know she’s not a one-night stand female, and that’s not what I’m after. I’ve already put her up on a pedestal, and I don’t quite understand where it has all come from, but it has, and I like that I feel this connection to Flora. I like it a lot.” I lean back so Joy can see I’m serious.
Joy cocks her head to the side then she starts tugging on the skin on my face. “Who are you? What have you done with Torque?”
Really? I was that much of a “don’t-call-me-I’ll-call-you” kind of guy? If I picked up a chick here or there outside the club, it was never a date; it was a mutual fuck. I never felt enough of a connection past fucking them to want to see them again. We both got what we wanted, and that was that. All parties had a good time.
“Sweetheart, maybe the time in my life has come where I might be looking for what you and Levi have—what all the females sitting in this room have. I know Flora and I are both feeling something, and I’m prepared to roll with it, treading carefully and see what happens. Just like you did with Levi. Heard he was a bit of a Casanova before he laid eyes on you, and that was pretty much it for him. His heart was sold to the lady with the ice-blue hair in less than a week, and you lived in Texas, and he lived here in San Diego. Now, look at the two of you.” I sound like I’m pleading my case, which I don’t have to do, but Joy is just looking out for her friend, but I’m her friend, too.
“Huh...” I’ve finally managed to slow her down to only a perplexed noise leaving her lips.
“Joy, you know how protective the Lion’s Den MC was of you before you met Levi, and they still are. You were never a catch-and-release woman to us. Not that Viper and the boys probably didn’t let it cross their minds when they first saw you working for Billy at Freedom on Two Wheels, but the point is, we all worked it out pretty quickly that you didn’t want to get caught. You just wanted to be left alone to work and not get hit on. Then after that trouble you had, which nearly cost you your life, there was this guy looking out for you we didn’t know anything about. We heard from Billy about Levi and knew he was gonna do right by you and has ever since. You let him in because you wanted to, and we trusted you knew what you were doing.”
“Yep, Levi showed me what he was made of when that happened to me. I’m even more in love with my man than I thought possible. When cupid’s arrow strikes, there’s not much you can do but roll with it,” Joy concedes. “Yeah, I sure am guilty of falling for Levi quicker than I could ever imagine possible after everything I’d been through,” she admits, her words filtering
around the room. “I guess I’ve watched Flora get hit on a couple of times when she joined us for drinks on a ladies’ night out, and she just knocks them back, no matter how handsome they are. She looked uncomfortable with their advances, and I know you’re a man who can juggle women and Flora’s not that type of woman.”
Yep, my track-record is coming back to haunt me now.
“Big brother, I know you’re used to thinking about a female in the short-term. I’ve garnered enough from the little talks Flora and I share, to know when she finally does clap eyes on the man that has all the planets aligning for her, she will fall hard for the one she lets into her and Bowie’s world. If she’s not shut the door in your face already and she’s taken the time to talk a little bit about herself with you, then she likes what she sees. Flora is a long-term kind of gal. Not somebody you play with and then set free. Handle with care, please, because you won’t get a second chance. Her wall will shoot right up again when her panic button gets hit.”
“Sweetheart, you gotta trust me that I will handle Flora with the respect she deserves.”
“And—”
“I’m also very aware there is a kid’s emotional welfare at stake, and you gotta remember we’re grown, adults. I will not push Flora into doing anything she doesn’t want to. If she tells me to leave her alone, I will, even though I won’t want to. We’ve established a connection, and we both feel it, and that’s a good enough starting place for me to work with.”
“Okay, I think my job is done here.” She gives me a soft peck on the cheek before hooking an elbow with mine again and escorts me back to the champagne sippers.
“Well, now that I’ve got that out of the way”—she swirls her pointer finger around in the air—”we were all wondering how we could be of assistance this evening to encourage Flora the beautiful, independent woman to spend more time with you?”
“Because you’re a single, handsome man,” Birdie unashamedly joins in. I turn my head to catch her grinning mischievously, adding a wink before taking a sip of her champagne.
“Aannd... she’s single, gorgeous and is a wonderful person,” Will, the Elle Macpherson, supermodel doppelganger, puts in her two cents. Like I need reminding Flora is single. “Aannd she hasn’t dated in forever, so she might be a bit rusty picking up on your vibe.” Faith, the blonde Jessica Alba look-alike elbows Will in the side for that last comment.
Christ! These females are on the scent.
“Joy, I thought after our little discussion you said that your job is done?” I release my arm from hers.
“Yeah, that was over there”—she points to where we were standing before—”and now we are over here.” Like I am meant to know what that means. “I can’t think of anybody else I would love Flora to date,” she says without blinking.
“Christ! Nobody is dating anybody, I just asked her to be my plus one for tonight,” I grumble at the champagne sippers who are all looking at me with innocent peepers. I know it’s a date, but I don’t need them knowing it because then their meddling will be turned up to full voltage.
Faith makes an excited noise then raises her glass in the air, and the women all follow suit.
“Go, Torque!” they all squeal, giggling.
Fuck! Now I’ve got myself a cheer squad.
“Ladies, I want no more squealing.” I give them all a pointed look. “I can handle myself around Flora, so let me do things my way without any interference. This isn’t high school.”
They all look at each other and hold three fingers up in the Scouts Honor sign.
I fight not to roll my eyes at these women. Chances are they are going to be sticking their pretty little noses in later on regardless and blaming the French champagne.
I’m going to have to put a halt to any crazy ideas they may be cooking up in their pretty heads because the champagne sippers sure as hell were eavesdropping on my private conversation with Joy.
“Ladies, haven’t you got something better to do with your time other than matchmaking?”
“Nooo,” they all sing, making one collective note and manage to keep straight faces at the same time.
“Sweetheart, I’m gonna hold you personally responsible for keeping these ladies on a tight leash. Got me? I’m serious.” And I am dead-set serious. “Because it is not gonna be happening.”
“You got my word, big guy. You can hold me personally responsible.” Joy’s tell is she doesn’t blink when she makes that play on words, assuming our friendship has garnered her all the brownie points to protect her from me getting pissed with her.
Such an amateur.
I look around to make sure none of the kids are anywhere in sight. “Fuck’s sake,” I growl. “I should get a legally binding contract drawn up because I can already see the loopholes you are working through in your mind.” I shake my head while Joy gives me a Colgate grin.
If I give one of them something to organize for me, that should relieve some of their current enthusiasm. “Birdie, there is one thing you can do for me...” she sits forward on her chair, ready to make a mental note “… because Flora has agreed to be my plus one, could you later ask Juan if she could be—”
“Seated next to you at dinner?” Birdie excitedly finishes off the rest of my sentence. “Consider it done.”
I’m just about to enquire about which room Doc Evelyn is set up in when Whisper appears in the great room. “Hey Torque, Evelyn is just finishing up with Boxer in the kitchen. Could you please come get looked at now?” She’s more relaxed than a bride should be when she’s running late to her own wedding.
“Well, I guess I better get in there then.” I turn back to the champagne sippers. “Ladies, remember what we talked about. I want you all to behave yourselves from this point onwards with what we’ve discussed.”
Whisper motions with her hand for me to follow, but she manages to catch all the pretty smirking from her sisterhood.
I have to hold back grumbling out loud when I catch Joy mouthing “later” to Whisper.
“They’re gonna mess with me, I know it,” I mutter under my breath.
“Everything all right, Torque?” Whisper asks. “Is Joy up to mischief with you?”
“Nothing you need to be worrying your pretty head about on your wedding day. Joy likes to push my buttons.”
“Well, when the Lion’s Den MC came into her life, this is what your relationship morphed into with her. She can get away with just about anything with you lot. She’s not scared of ruffling your guy feathers.”
Nope, she’s not. “I should be asking how you’re feeling?” I look down at her hands as we walk. She has gauze bandages on each palm and her elbow. “Are you as calm as you are portraying?”
“I’m fine. Nothing I can’t handle.” She fiddles with the ring on her finger, the one with Cruz’s ashes in it.
Fuck! Of course, none of this would even rate on her not-being-able-to-handle radar. She’s lost her biological family, Miss Catherine and now a baby. This delay doesn’t even touch the sides of the past she had survived before she met Miss Catherine and Boxer, and then the hell she got put through later. Whisper’s got the scars on the palms of her hands and the tops of her feet that rate much higher than painfully grazed hands. Her mind slots things where they need to be, reminding me how pretty fucked I was for judging her in the past when we rescued her from Cezar and his fucked-up minions.
I gently grip her arm to pause our walking. Whisper looks at me with concern.
Fucking hell. She’s concerned about me. I hold a hand up to silence her before she asks if I am okay.
“Whisper...” I curse quietly. “Darlin’, I just want to say that I was an ass for ever thinking you had to prove to me you were worthy of Edge, back at Ghost’s home all those years ago, in Alaska. You were badly injured, and I still gave you a hard time. I just want to apologize because I’ve never said it out loud. And that was wrong of me. I’m so fucking sorry, and when I find my suit jacket, I’ll gladly give you fifty dollars for the swe
ar jar.”
“We’ve come a long way, you and I.” She laughs softly. “I’ve not been keeping tabs. No kids in earshot, Torque. You’re safe from my swear jar.”
“I hope you can—”
“Torque, you don’t need to say any of this. It’s all water under the bridge. We are good—nothing to apologize for.” Fuck, Edge is a lucky man. She steps forward and wraps her arms around my back and hugs me to silence me. “I always knew you were a softy underneath that manly gruff,” she says against my chest before pulling away. “Let’s get you looked at because I can’t wait to marry the man I’m so in love with.” She looks at her hands and murmurs under her breath, “I hope Edge can handle seeing these bandages on me before I can explain what has happened. I’ll take them off once I’m sure I won’t leave any blood on my dress. You haven’t said anything to him, have you?”
“No. My phone got smashed during our road surfing. I was caught up with Flora for a bit longer than I thought I would be, so I’ve not had time to ask to use somebody’s phone. Edge would expect me to call it in.” He’s gonna be pissed I haven’t. “I’ll borrow a phone and call it—”
“Do I need to remind you about the water under the bridge, Torque?”
“Christ, woman, now you’re playing hardball with me. That’s pulling a dirty on what you just said.” Clever girl.
“I do what I need to do.” Yes, I suppose you do for the man you love. “It will be better if I show him I’m all right, and he can see me with his own eyes, walking, talking, and breathing. I am officially overriding what Edge has asked of you. If you can do that for me, we can get hitched without him tearing out of Cuvier Park on a borrowed bike and breaking speed limits to get here and delaying our nuptials even more,” she half jokes. “That’s something I don’t need right now, and I hazard a guess at Flora needing time to breathe again. I know she will be upset, thinking she’s ruined my wedding day by proxy.”
“I may have had to talk her down. I know she’s going to try her hardest to make it up to you as soon as she can,” I warn her.