I wasn’t sure what I would see there. I wasn’t sure what he would see when he looked at me. Sometimes, when you’ve slept with someone the first time, there’s a period of readjustment when you see them again. Sometimes you have to start all over. But then, there are those other times. Those times when you feel like no time at all has passed since you last saw them, and you pick up right where you left off.
I smiled in relief when I realized Mike was going to be one of those people in my life. When I saw his easy smile, his down-to-earth genuineness shining from his eyes, clearly demonstrating his feelings towards me with no games, no pretense, no false gesturing - just kindness, affection, and warmth - I felt peaceful again.
I pushed Todd’s message to the back of my mind, and I turned my attention back to Rosie as she described her weekend to me.
“…and Reaper took me to get a banana split! It was my very first one! It was humongous! Have you ever had one, Ms. Daisy?” she asked, as she rattled on and on, barely stopping long enough for me to answer her questions.
She was such a happy kid, completely down-to-earth and easy-going like her father, and I kissed her on the cheek as I gently put her down on the floor.
“Yes, I love banana splits, Rosie! Hey, why don’t you feed the fish for me? I haven’t done it yet this morning. Just two shakes from the food container, okay?”
“Yes! I love feeding Sam and Jack!” Rosie said, as she bounced over to the corner of the room I had filled with our class pets. We had two fish and a turtle named Bob. The kids loved them.
I looked over at Mike and closed the distance between us.
“Hey, beautiful,” he said, his voice deep and low and cutting right into the center of my soul.
“Hi, there,” I said, resisting the urge to reach up and kiss him.
“I’m sorry I had to leave. I hope you aren’t upset with me,” he said. “Did you get my note?”
“Of course I did,” I replied. “I’m not upset at all, I completely understand. How could I be upset after a night like that?” I whispered, smiling up at him. I could feel the warmth radiating from him, and I shuddered as I imagined my bare skin sliding against his.
“Now, that’s what I like to hear,” he said, his eyes twinkling. “A satisfied customer.”
I laughed and glanced over at Rosie. When I saw she had her back turned, I quickly raised up on my tiptoes and kissed his warm cheek.
“Mmm…” he moaned softly in my ear, his hand snaking around my waist and pulling me to him. I laughed and reluctantly pulled away.
“Not here!” I whispered.
He let go of me, but leaned in close to my ear.
“I meant what I said in the note, Daisy. I want to taste you again. Very, very soon. I couldn’t stop thinking about you all weekend.” His voice was hot against my ear, and my breath turned shallow. It took all my strength not to jump into his arms.
“I think that can be arranged,” I said slyly, as I forced my feet to move in the opposite direction of his magnetic pull. This man was going to test all my willpower, that was for sure. I struggled to remember where I was and remain professional.
Rosie returned, and I was grateful to have her standing between us. It made it a lot easier to keep my hands off her father.
“Ms. Daisy, when do I get to come to your apartment again?” she asked, looking up at me adoringly.
“Oh, yes, we need to schedule that, don’t we? How’s tomorrow sound?” I asked, directing the question at Mike.
“Tuesday? Sure, that will work just fine,” he replied.
“Yay!” Rosie said.
“Okay, then, it’s settled,” I said. “Same routine as last week?”
“Sure,” Mike said, smiling at me, just as the other students began entering the room. “I’ll get out of your way then. Reaper is going to pick up Rosie again this afternoon, by the way.”
My heart sank with disappointment that I wouldn’t see him again today, but I tried not to let it show on my face.
“Okay, no problem. I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
“Yes,” he said, his gaze pointedly directed at me. “You will.”
“Bye, Daddy!” Rosie wrapped her arms around his legs and he reached down and scooped her up in his arms. He kissed her and gave her a long hug before he put her back down.
“Be good, Rosie. See you tonight, baby. I love you!”
“I love you, too, Daddy.”
As he walked towards the door, he stopped as he reached the threshold and looked back over his shoulder. My eyes were glued to him, and he smiled and winked, a private look just for me.
I took a deep breath, and sighed wistfully after him. If my days were going to be peppered with sightings of Mike, I was really going to enjoy this job.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
MIKE
“I need you to do me a favor,” I said to Demon as he sat in my office at the clubhouse. “You’ll have to do it in your civvies. Don’t wear your cut. Take one of the club vans and do some surveillance for me the next few days. I need you to follow someone, but under no circumstances let them see you.”
“Sure, boss, no problem, whatever you need,” he replied. Demon was always quick to do a job, no matter what was required. He was also really great at blending into the background, and that was exactly what I needed.
“Excellent,” I said, as I pushed an envelope across the desk to him. “Here’s the info on her. You’ll find her work address, her home address, and pictures of her. I want you to follow her. Write down everything she does. I want to know everywhere she goes, when she goes there and what she is doing there. Take pictures of every person you see her with. Anything you think might be of interest to me, you let me know right away.”
“Okay, no problem,” he opened the envelope and raised an eyebrow when he saw the pictures inside. “Wow. Anything in particular I’m looking for, boss?”
“Yeah. Dirt. Anything I can use to blackmail her, anything I can hold against her.”
“I see. Okay, I’m on it,” he said, standing up. “Anything else I need to know?”
“Yeah. Don’t tell anyone what you’re doing. This is just between us. Not even Reaper.”
“Got it.”
“Thanks,” I said, shaking his hand before he walked out the door.
“You’re welcome, boss. My pleasure. I’ll be in touch.”
I watched Demon walk out of the clubhouse, and knew I had chosen the right man for that particular job.
My cell phone vibrated in my pocket, and I pulled it out, looking at the caller ID before I answered.
“Mr. Sullivan.”
“Hello, Mike. How are you today?” Jackson Sullivan asked, his voice loud and bellowing in my ear.
“I’m just fine, can’t complain,” I replied, thinking of Daisy for the hundredth time since I had seen her that morning.
“Excellent to hear, Mike,” he replied. “I’m calling about the job. Do the Gypsy Riders want it? Did you talk to your club?"
“I did,” I said. “We talked it over, and we feel like the risk is minimal, and we’d be happy to help you out, as long as everything is exactly as you said it was before. Have there been any changes?” I asked.
“Nope, everything is just the same. We’ll do the deal Friday night at midnight. That work for you?”
“Sure does. You can count on us, Mr. Sullivan.”
“Excellent, excellent. I’m so happy you’re on board. I’m confident things will go smoothly, Mike,” he said. “Especially with the Gypsy Riders there.”
“I am too, Mr. Sullivan,” I said. “I’ll be in touch on Thursday to work out the rest of the details.”
After we hung up, I walked into the clubhouse to find Reaper. He was standing in his usual place, holding court behind the bar, a bottle of whiskey in one hand, a cigarette in the other, and a constant stream of jokes on his lips to entertain the various club members and girlfriends that always seemed to be hanging around and drinking all of our booze.
&nb
sp; “Don’t you people have any work to do?” I asked jokingly. I didn’t really mind. I liked having people around, I enjoyed the camaraderie.
“This is work, boss,” Reaper replied. “It’s not easy drinking all this liquor.”
His audience roared with laughter, his jokes becoming increasingly funnier the more they drank.
“Hey, Reaper, I just confirmed the job for Friday night with Sullivan,” I said.
Reaper nodded in agreement.
“Sounds good, boss. Anything you need me to do?” he asked.
“Nope. Not a lot of prep required. We’ll just meet up beforehand and go over things with Sullivan and his men, and it should go smoothly.”
“Alright, well I’ll remind everyone to be ready.”
“Great, thanks,” I said, turning to walk away before he stopped me.
“Hey, Mike, you never told me how your date with the teacher went,” he said.
No, I didn’t, I thought to myself. There was something about the situation with Daisy that seemed so new and so fragile to me, that I didn’t want to risk ruining it by talking about it. Not even to Reaper.
“It was nice,” I said, turning to walk away again. Reaper didn’t question me further, but I could feel his eyes on me as I walked back into my office.
I sank into my chair and put my feet up on the desk, thankful for the privacy. I pulled a bottle of whiskey out of my desk and took a few sips off it as my thoughts drifted.
It was damned near impossible to not think about Daisy. Seeing her this morning, her pretty smile and killer body that I had so very much enjoyed ravishing, right in front of me again, it had taken all my willpower not to bend her over her desk right there in her classroom. Although, I’m sure my cock would have protested amongst all the art supplies and school books and I would have been forced to carry her away to somewhere more private. A janitor’s closet, or the teacher’s lounge. I’m sure I could have found somewhere more appropriate. Perhaps the principal’s office or the nurse’s bed?
I laughed to myself when I remembered the expression on her face when I whispered in her ear. It was fucking awesome knowing I had that effect on her. Watching her squirm, watching her blush, knowing her body was yearning for more time alone together, just like mine was, made me happy. It made me want her even more knowing there were no games involved, no holding back or hesitating, no need to pretend we were something we weren’t.
I closed my eyes, remembering the feel of my hands caressing her and I felt my cock harden, just as it did every time I thought about her. Just like it did every time I remembered the feel of her wrapped around me completely, my cock buried deep inside of her, the sounds she made as she squirmed under me, her blissful, breathy moans in my ear.
My cock throbbed, thoughts of her torturing me endlessly. What was it about this woman that had taken hold of me so quickly, so strongly? It was her quiet strength, the intriguing duality of her innocence and awareness, the wholesomeness and kindness that she possessed in such vast quantities that she outshone any other woman in my life. I almost felt like I was betraying Rose, but I forced myself to put her out of my mind at that moment.
It had been seven years, and while Rose was indeed special, a unique light in my dark life, she was still gone. I couldn’t go around for the rest of my life, living in the past, and comparing every woman I met to Rose. Rose was gone. Rose was dead. Rose was an old ghost.
I was alive. And Daisy? She was so fucking alive she made me feel electric just being in her presence. I sighed when I remembered the feel of her hair on my face, the softness of her lips, the swelling curve of her breast as I kissed her nipple. She was perfect, in every way.
I needed a woman like her in my life. And maybe, just maybe, Rosie needed her, too. Rosie had a good life. I knew I was taking good care of her, but there were certain things a woman could provide for a growing girl that a bunch of rugged bikers would never understand. I knew this. In the back of my mind, I had always known that someday Rosie would need a mother.
I had always pushed that thought away, not wanting to open my heart and life to anyone. But maybe I just hadn’t met the right person. Until now. Until Daisy.
I was jolted out of my blissful moment by the vibration of my phone on my desk. When I saw it was Kelly calling, I hit the ‘reject’ button and turned my phone off, my blissfulness quickly replaced by a low boiling anger.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
DAISY
Tuesday morning I woke up with fear settling uncomfortably in the pit of my stomach. I had spent the night with my gun on the nightstand and one eye open, tossing and turning constantly, with what little sleep I had gotten repeatedly interrupted by nightmares filled with Todd’s face, and the moments when I was awake taking me everywhere I didn’t want to be.
As usual, my mind wandered to the past. I tried not to think about home and all that I missed. I wasn’t even sad about losing Todd. I had gotten over him long before I left him. But there were those moments, when I let my mind trail off a little too far, that I missed home, my friends, my family, the freaking Dairy Queen and Whataburger.
I wondered if there was something I could have done to change things. If I could have changed my behavior, if I had gone along with everything Todd wanted a little faster, just to keep things running smoothly, if I could’ve somehow avoided such a violent ending.
But I kept coming up with the same answer. In his eyes, I could never do anything right.
“Daisy,” he’d snarl, yelling from the kitchen. “Where the fuck is my breakfast?”
“I’m coming,” I’d yell back, trying to wake myself up. He would keep me up all night, getting up and down, mumbling to himself and pacing in the hallway, reading the bible. I’d end up oversleeping past the time he thought it was appropriate for me to sleep, and if I didn’t have his breakfast made before he got out of the shower in the morning, he’d turn into a madman.
“You lazy bitch, what the fuck is wrong with you?” He’d say, his hand already raised in a fist before I even got to the kitchen door. I’d cringe, and duck past him, try to pretend it wasn’t happening, he wasn’t saying those things, he just had a lot on his mind.
Because it didn’t all start that way. At first, it was all fucking flowers and sunshine. Literally.
We met under a blazing hot Texas sun, at the county fair. We stood next to each other as a country band played on a makeshift stage in the parking lot of Main Street.
He smiled. I smiled. It was easy. Just like everything always is at first.
Our first date, he showed up with a bouquet of sunflowers and we went four-wheeling on his parent’s Christmas tree farm, and cooked steaks on the grill afterwards. We sat under the big, star-filled sky, a fire crackling and beers in our hands. We poured our hearts and souls out.
But, the more I got to know him, the more I saw how he was influenced by very traditional views, especially when it came to women. He wanted to control everything I did, and he wanted me barefoot and pregnant, making him a sandwich in the kitchen. But he showed me slowly, almost so slowly I didn’t see it coming. Until it was too late. I was in deep, and it took a lot of digging to get myself out.
I had spent countless nights, before the night he hit me, planning how I was going to extract myself from his grip. When he finally did, it was the proverbial straw.
I refrained from calling Mike last night, as much as I wanted to. I wanted to tell him Todd had found me, I wanted to ask him to come over and spend the night with me. But I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
Todd was my mess to deal with. Mike had Rosie to take care of, and I didn’t want to do anything to get in the way of that. And so far, I hadn’t seen Todd. Maybe that wasn’t him in the grocery store. Maybe he just sent the message to screw with my head.
Maybe it was working.
The hours passed slowly at school, and I was plagued with the constant distraction of fear. By the end of the day, I was beginning to get angry. Luckily, I was great at putting on a h
appy face, and not letting my students see it. But when I arrived back home with Rosie for tutoring, I was grateful to finally lock the door and shut out the world.
At five minute to four, my cell phone rang and I jumped. When I saw it was Mike calling, I smiled.
“Hey there,” I answered.
“Hey beautiful. How’s your day been?” he asked, his voice low and sultry in my ear.
“It’s been wonderful,” I lied.
“Good. I’ve been held up, and I was wondering if you might be able to watch Rosie for a few more hours tonight? If not, I can send Reaper over to pick her up. I don’t want to impose.”
“I would be happy to. Is everything okay?” He sounded just as stressed out as I felt.
“Yeah, everything’s fine. Just some club shit I gotta take care of,” he replied. “Thank you so much.”
“You’re welcome, Mike. It’s my pleasure. I’ll feed Rosie dinner, and you just show up whenever you’re done.”
“Daisy, you know what?” he asked, and I could hear his smile in his voice.
“What?”
“You’re fucking awesome. Are you always like this?” he said.
“Yeah, I am,” I said, teasingly. “But, don’t worry. You can make it up to me.
His laughter shot right through me.
“Oh, don’t worry, baby, I’ll make it up to you again and again and again! See you real soon. Give Rosie a kiss for me,” he said, before the line went dead.
****
By the time Mike showed up, it was nine o’clock, and Rosie had passed out on my couch watching cartoons after dinner. I heard a car pull up, and looked out the window to see him getting out of a black truck. I opened the front door before he could knock.
“Shh!” I said as he climbed the stairs in front of me. “She’s sleeping.”
“Oh, yeah?” he said, taking me into his arms in the hallway in front of my front door. “Does that mean I can do this?”
RAW: THE ULTIMATE MC COLLECTION Page 47