I poured myself a mug of coffee, "I'm sorry about last night."
"What do you mean?" Locke looked confused by my apology.
"I think I fell asleep."
"You most certainly did."
I took a sip of my coffee and appreciated the hot drink slide down my throat. "So what are you up to today?" I asked intrigued.
"I'm meeting up with CJ and then we have club business to attend to."
I nodded my head and wrapped both hands around the hot mug, "While I have your attention I want to thank you for last night."
"Thank me?"
"Yeah. I needed to unwind and have some fun." I took another quick sip of my coffee before I placed it onto the table and walked to the bathroom. I reluctantly removed the robe and dressed not looking forward to the walk of shame, and secretly hoping that the same receptionist wasn't on duty as she would know what I'd been up to all evening. Come to think of it the whole bloody hotel probably heard me.
I sniggered to myself as I left the bathroom, "What you laughing at Irish." Locke leaned against the wall looking hot, no wonder I couldn't say no to him last night.
I shook my head, "Nothing." Moving towards him I stood on my tip toes to place a kiss onto his cheek. "Look me up if you're ever in the area again." I walked to the door and removed the chain.
"I may just do that." I glanced over my shoulder and smiled before I opened the door and left his room reluctantly.
"Good morning, something rather pleasant must've happened to put that smile on your face." Declan said cheekily as I entered the shop.
I could feel my cheeks blush under his scrutiny and tried to do my best to keep it together as I opened my diary, pondering over today's orders.
"Don't ignore me," Declan closed the book and the heavy pages trapped my fingers.
"Ow!" I removed them quickly and shook my hand.
"Well don't ignore me and fess up, I want all the juicy details." Declan leaned on the counter and glared at me with a sparkle in his eyes.
"I'm still in last night's clothes,"
"Damn right you are!" He stated raising his brows.
"So I'm going to take a quick shower."
"And then you'll spill the beans?"
I frowned, "You're my brother, that's gross."
Declan stood straight and stamped his foot, "Damn! I knew I should've pursued him for myself."
I sniggered at his comment and made my way around the counter, "I'll see you in twenty." I fluttered my fingers and left the shop to make my way to the front door of my flat that was directly beside the shop entrance.
I made my way up the stairs and breathed in the distinctive scent of my home. My flat wasn't much but being directly above the shop had its advantages and I'd never been late for work. I removed my shoes and let out a sigh as the pinching sensation stopped. These were pretty but I was more of a converse kind of girl.
Walking through the living room I noticed the light on my answer phone flash and rolled my eyes, it could only be dad or Siobhan as they're the only people to have my number. I reluctantly pressed the flashing button.
"Hi Keira, it's Siobhan. Dad and I were wondering when you may be coming home? We haven't heard from you in a while and wanted to make sure you were okay. Anyway give me a call when you're not too busy. Hopefully I will speak to you soon. Love you."
I groaned. I'd purposely ignored their recent calls not wanting to talk to them. They must've known that Declan had moved over to England to live with me after their huge argument last year.
Dad was a disciplinarian which had made it difficult on the three of us throughout our childhood and even tougher after our mother passed away. He had a set of strict rules that we needed to adhere to, and it was fine when I was younger as I didn't know any difference but as I grew, I wanted to become my own person and live my life how I wanted to live it.
After college I got a job in a florist shop in Cork and travelled the twenty minute journey every day from Mallow. I gained a little independence but I still had my father breathing down my neck watching my every move.
When I turned twenty-one I decided that in order to have my full independence I would need to move away and that's when I made the decision to move to England. It wasn't too far that my family couldn't visit but far enough away so that I couldn't be watched all of the time.
Declan had decided to stay although I'd begged him to come with me. He'd been fighting with his sexuality for years and I thought the move to England would be good for him. Declan was gay, we all knew he was but my dad had never mentioned it although it was obvious to everyone in the village.
My dad was a proud man and Declan was his only son so he did everything within his power to toughen him up. I remember the time that my father signed Declan up for the rugby team, my dad was the proudest man out on the side lines watching Declan parade up and down the field. At the time I remember being confused by Declan's enthusiasm of joining the rugby team as contact sport wasn't really his thing but it wasn't until I caught him snogging his first boyfriend in the car park behind the rugby clubhouse that I realised what all the fuss was about.
I sniggered to myself and quickly forgot about Siobhan's message. I didn't have time for bigots in my life, Declan was my family now and I would do everything within my power to make sure that he was happy.
After my shower I dressed in comfortable clothing and made my way down the stairs towards the shop. We didn't have much on this morning which I was grateful for as I wanted to get up to date with the paper work side of things.
"Speak of the devil," Declan stated waving his arm in my direction. The young lady he was talking to turned and I noticed her striking features. She was in her early twenties with long straight black hair that shimmered as she flicked it behind her shoulders.
A smile grew across her face as she walked towards me with her hand held out, "Hi I'm Ink." She must've seen my bemused expression, "Sorry, Harlow, Ink's the name my old man gave me." She rolled her eyes before retuning her attention to me. "I hope you don't mind but I wanted to thank you personally for the flowers you made for Jimmy's funeral, they were just beautiful and I'm sure he would've loved them too."
I smiled sweetly at Harlow, she was obviously involved with the club but she looked so young. She mentioned an old man and spoke so confidently considering her age, could she be someone of importance?
"Thank you I appreciate your kind words." I directed her towards the table and chairs we had at the back of the shop for customers, "Sorry I didn't know you were here otherwise I would've come down sooner but I needed to take a shower."
Harlow sniggered, "Declan's given me the low down, hot date was it?
I swung my head around to glare at Declan through narrowed eyes, to see him shrug before leaning on the counter to get comfortable to listen to our conversation.
"I bet he did!" I said bluntly before turning my attention back to Harlow. "I think you may know him." I wasn't sure what to call him, Locke seemed silly but would she know him as Jake?
Harlow grinned, "Well Locke is a mysterious man at best. He grunts a lot and I don't think I've ever heard him have a full conversation."
It was interesting to know that I wasn't the only one to extract information out of him but it seemed that I may have had more success than some. "He certainly holds his cards close to his chest but all the same it was a pleasant evening."
We were interrupted by the roar of laughter coming from Declan. I didn't give him the satisfaction of turning to speak to him and simply held up my middle finger in his direction, "Ignore him."
"I know it's none of my business but have you arranged to meet up with him again?" Harlow asked looking at me intently.
I fidgeted feeling a little uncomfortable under her scrutiny although I'm sure she didn't mean anything by it, "He's leaving in a couple of days so..." I trailed off not knowing what to say.
"Well I've heard that he is a fantastic singer, so I'm sure he'll want to come out with us on Thursday e
vening for Karaoke." She smiled brightly.
I sniggered, "He did mention that he had a wonderful singing voice."
Harlow raised her brow and looked surprised by my comment, "Did he now!" Harlow glanced at her watch and stood. "Unfortunately I've gotta make a move but thank you once again for the flowers they were lovely. I also know that Duke's interested for you to arrange the flowers for the Birdcage but he'll sort that out with you directly, I just wanted to give you a heads up."
"Thank you Harlow, I appreciate you coming over."
"One last thing, can you come out with us on Thursday? I know that the girls would love to meet you and if you're going to be working for the club it all just makes sense." I was enthralled by her enthusiasm and found myself nodding before I even thought it through. "Excellent!" Harlow tried to clap her hands excitedly although hampered by her arm cast.
"What happened to your arm?" I asked out of politeness.
Her smile slipped from her face quickly, "It's a long story so that's why you need to come out on Thursday." Harlow picked up a business card from the counter, "I'll text you the details."
"Talk to you after," Declan sung cheerily as Harlow waved leaving the shop.
"What the fuck did you tell her?" I asked as I marched towards him.
"Stop getting your knickers in a twist. She introduced herself and out of politeness I kept her talking and the conversation quickly became about you and why you were having a late shower."
I swatted him on the arm, "But why tell her it was with one of them? She didn't need to know all of the details." I placed my hands on my hips and waited for his response as I tapped my foot.
"This biker thing is great craic Keira, let me have my fun." Declan pouted and crossed his arms across his chest as we stared each other down.
The silence was broken as a customer entered the shop. "This isn't over," I whispered.
Chapter 11
Keira
"You can't stand with Connor all night, you need to mingle with us." Amy slurred as she slumped on the chair across the table from me.
Louise stood uncomfortably at the end of the table as she rested her weight from one foot to the other. I noticed her discomfort and quickly removed my handbag from the seat beside me, "Please join us." I knew what it was like to be a newbie to the group and could see that Louise was a little uncomfortable. Although they were a friendly bunch they were quite overwhelming and I found it difficult to get a word in edgeways, it looked like Louise was having the same trouble.
"Keira, this is Louise Connor's girlfriend."
Louise smiled sweetly, "I'm just Spike's friend." She stated blushing.
Amy scoffed before standing, "I'm going to dance."
Taylor gave me a questioning glance as we watched Amy stumble towards the dance floor, "Is she usually like this?" I asked.
Taylor shook her head, "Not as far as I know but she did mention that she's had some bad news. I wonder if she's drowning her sorrows this evening."
"So what line of business are you in ladies?" I asked genuinely interested.
Taylor took a sip of her drink and then placed the glass onto the table, "I own a salon on the high street. I've only been open a couple of weeks but it's going well. What about you?" she asked.
"I own the florist just down the street from your salon. I remember the launch day and was going to pop along but I was snowed under, the joys of running your own business." I sniggered.
"And what about you Louise, what do you do for a living?" I asked turning towards her.
She fidgeted uncomfortably and I could see that she was nervous. "I...I don't have a job," she said quietly. "I have five year old twins that keep me busy enough."
I saw her smile briefly at Taylor and realised that they must know each other. "And where are they this evening?" I asked taking another sip of my drink.
"Taylor's aunt is looking after them for a couple of hours."
"That's nice of her. That's one thing I've noticed about the group, you all look out for each other."
Taylor nodded, "Yeah, it takes some getting used to but it's nice to have that support however overpowering." Louise and Taylor sniggered.
"More pressingly I want to know how you met Locke." Taylor asked. This also grabbed Louise's attention.
I shrugged, "It's quite funny really, I was out having a drink with my brother and to cut a long story short Locke ended up buying Declan a drink. Under normal circumstances that would be fine but my brother thought his luck was in when a burley biker got the waiter to bring the drink over."
"Ahhh so he bats for the other side?" Taylor asked.
"Certainly does."
"Go on, so how did you end up spending the night together?" I raised my eyebrows unsure as to how Taylor knew. "The men are worse than us women," she stated.
I rolled my eyes, "I went to the gym and used the sauna not realising that CJ managed the place. Locke came in and we got chatting resulting in him asking me out for a drink. I tried to play it cool but as I left he leaned on my towel and it fell to reveal everything."
Taylor spat her drink over the table and quickly grabbed a serviette to mop the table, "Oh I'm sorry but that's priceless!"
"Everything as in everything?" Louise asked as she moved her hand in the air up and down her body.
I nodded my head, "Everything."
"So what did you do?" Louise asked giggling.
"He did offer me the towel back but only if I accepted a date which I refused. To add insult to injury Spike walked in at that very moment." Louise looked down at her hands not wanting to make eye contact. I lifted her chin, "You have nothing to worry about babe, he didn't even look at me he just went about his business but that didn't stop me from being embarrassed."
Taylor clapped her hands together excitedly, "So go on and finished what you did."
"I walked out of the sauna in the nude and back to the changing rooms. I passed a member of staff along the way but she was very kind and tried not to laugh, I think she was more shocked to see a naked lady roaming the corridors."
"I'd be so embarrassed." Louise stated and covered her mouth to snigger.
"Oh I was but I'd gone so far that I just needed to continue and get to the safety of the changing rooms."
Taylor belly laughed, "Tanya came in to the salon that afternoon and said that she saw a naked lady wondering the corridor, now I can put a face and name to her description."
We continued to laugh and it was nice to see Louise open up a little, as she came across very reserved.
Taylor leaned on the table, smirking at me, "Please finish the story, I'm dying to know how you ended up in his bed."
"I locked the keys in my car with the engine still running, who better to help me out of my predicament than a locksmith but he'd only help me out if I'd go out with him, the rest is history."
"That's just brilliant. I don't know much about Locke but I know he's a very private person so you must've done something right to grab his attention."
"Yeah, she showed him the goods." Louise sniggered.
We erupted into laughter at her comment, she was right he must've liked what he had seen.
"I'm going for a dance, can I tempt you?" Taylor asked as she stood.
"No thank you." Louise stated politely.
I didn't want to leave Louise by herself, "I'll keep Louise company." I shouted over the music.
Taylor nodded, "We'll have to meet up some time to discuss business strategies. I'll give you a call." Taylor stated bringing her pinky finger and her thumb up to her face to mimic a phone before she sauntered through the crowd.
"So how long have you lived here Louise?"
"Only a couple of weeks, what about you?
"In England, four years but locally only twelve months. I like it here though, there's certainly more pluses than minuses." I stated looking around at the group. "How have the twins settled in? Do they like it here?"
Louise nodded and a shy smile registered on her face, "T
hey have a park close to home and can have as much ice cream as they like at Amy's cafe so what more would a child want?"
I sniggered, "That's so true."
"Do you have any children?" Louise asked.
"Nah, I haven't met the right bloke yet and to be honest I don't think I'd have the energy. I don't know how you do it with two of the same age." I said in awe. She was obviously a single parent if the ladies of the group were linking her with Spike.
"It's hard work but so rewarding, I don't know what I'd do without them." I smiled hearing her love for her children as she spoke.
"Sorry to interrupt but I need to get you home babe." We both turned towards the male voice and I saw the panic on Louise's face as she scrambled from her chair.
"Sorry I didn't know what the time was." Louise grabbed for her hand bag and turned towards me, "Thank you Keira, it was great talking to you this evening. I'll be in touch soon."
I stood and quickly air kissed Louise before Spike whisked her from the club. What the fuck was all that about? It was like she was Cinderella and had to be out of here by a certain time.
Maggie and Savannah made their way over to the table as the silky sounds of a male voice sang over the microphone. He was good but I couldn't quite see who it was as my view was hampered from the crowd. I moved from side to side trying to get a glimpse when the crowd parted and the people sat to appreciate the slow ballad.
And, darling, I will be loving you ‘til we’re 70
And, baby, my heart could still fall as hard at 23
And I’m thinking ‘bout how people fall in love in mysterious ways
Maybe just a touch of a hand
Well, me – I fall in love with you every single day
And I just wanna tell you I am
The bastard, from where I was sitting I could see certain club members follow Locke's eye line to look directly towards me. He was proving a point this evening that he could sing and I got a glimpse of his satisfaction by my discomfort from his scrutiny. He's voice was amazing, he was simply amazing and if he did fall for someone eventually she would be a very lucky lady.
Locke (Aces MC Series Book 4) Page 13