“Maverick?”
“The one and only.”
“Hey there. I didn’t expect to hear from you so soon.”
“I live dangerously.”
She giggled, and it brought such a joy to my soul.
“I’m glad you called,” she said.
“What are you up to?” I asked.
“About to sit down and have some lunch. I haven’t eaten yet today.”
“Well, that’s never good. Especially when you have such an acrobatic night.”
“You’re insane,” she giggled.
“I’m truthful, is all. Care for some company?”
“Are you asking to interject into my date?”
I felt my heart sink to my toes. “You’re what now?”
“Gotcha.”
I let out a heavy sigh. “You had me going there for a second.”
“Nice to know I got you on the ropes. Of course, you can join me for lunch. I’m at my favorite diner.”
“Is this a trick? Did you tell me this last night in between your moaning so you could test me later?”
“Sure. I definitely moaned the fact that The Eatery was my favorite diner,” she said.
“I thought so. Just making sure.”
She laughed, and oh how the sound filled my ears.
“The Eatery, huh?” I asked.
“I love their soups and sandwiches.”
“Well, allow me to come sit with you then.”
“Of course, you can, Maverick.”
“Good. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
“I can’t wait,” she said.
I hung up the phone and struck up my bike, excited to see her again. I rode through town as fast as I could, following my memory of the place. It was one of those diners that was tucked away. The entrance was actually down an alleyway, and the parking for the damn thing was across the street. It was as off-the-grid as someone could get for wanting a meal, and it had me wondering what a woman like her would be doing in places like that. I had heard the food was fantastic, but that it catered to some very seedy individuals.
No matter. I’d protect her while we were there.
I parked my bike and walked in, and I spotted her instantly. She was in the back corner with her laptop open, and papers were strewn about. Her shoulder length brown hair was tossed up into a messy bun, and she had tight yoga pants on that left nothing to the imagination. Her shirt fell just off her shoulder, exposing the black strap of a bra that made my heart quiver in my chest. The bright yellow of her top contrasted her olive skin beautifully, and when she looked up at me, she smiled. Bright eyes. Luscious lips. And rosy red cheeks that couldn’t quit.
She stacked all of her papers into her laptop and closed the lid, then slipped it all into the large purse in the booth seat with her.
“Doing homework?” I asked.
“Something like that,” she said.
“Care to talk about it?”
“It’s more of a family project? I want to surprise my father with it.”
“Oh, fun. Tell me more.”
“I can’t. It would ruin the secret. I don’t know who you know around this town. For all I know, you know exactly who my father is,” she said, grinning.
“Trust me, I don’t make it a habit of getting to know people’s fathers,” I said, winking.
“Good. Because you’ll never meet mine.”
“Sounds good to me.”
“I see you’re in that leather vest again,” she said.
I nodded. “I wear it everywhere I go.”
“Why? Did someone give it to you or something?”
“The best of people gave it to me years ago.”
“What’s stitched on the back of it?”
“The logo for my club.”
She furrowed her brow. “Your club?”
“Yes. I’m in a motorcycle club. The Black Hornets.”
“You’re in… a gang.”
I shook my head. “Not a gang. Not some street thing. A club. We’re a family. We look out for one another. Our specialty is protection. We offer services like that to those in the community. The state, really.”
“So, you’re a bodyguard?”
“We can call it that for now, sure.”
She giggled and shook her head. “I always thought clubs like that were just a bunch of old men with white beards riding their Harleys around town all day so they can pass their retirement by.”
“Oh, no. It’s much more than that, Gabby.”
“Will you tell me about it, then?” she asked.
“It’s… a family. You know, like yours. We look out for one another. We open businesses together. We offer our muscle and protection services.”
She nodded to my arms. “You offer up those guns up for money?”
“Among other things,” I said, grinning.
She cocked her head. “Do you offer up actual guns or something?”
“No. We don’t traffic weapons.”
“Do you…”
I watched her look into her lap. “You can ask me anything, Gabby. What is it?”
She drew in a deep breath. “Do you offer guns for hire, too?”
Her food got sat down in front of her after that question, and I was glad for the distraction. I placed my order with the waitress and asked for a milkshake and a glass of water as well, trying to avoid the question as much as I could. For some reason, I didn’t want to lie to her. I didn’t want to give off the impression that we were completely innocent. I wanted her to know about me, which meant knowing about the life I led. But that type of question opened up a can of worms I wasn’t ready to discuss with her yet.
I wasn’t willing to discuss it with myself yet, honestly.
“We do what we can for our community, Gabby. We keep this town, as well as the surrounding area, safe,” I said.
“Sounds an awful lot like you’re dancing around the question,” she said.
“What I don’t want you to do is worry about it. We do whatever it takes to protect the people of this community. And that includes you and your family.”
I watched her nod her head slowly before she started picking at her food. Fuck. This lunch had turned south quickly. I had to find a way to get it back on course again. I didn’t want to tell her the truth about the club because she was just some girl I picked up at a bar last night. But something inside me innately trusted her. Something drew me to her, and I couldn’t put my finger on it. She wasn’t like any other woman I’d ever come into contact with, and I wanted to keep her at my side. For some reason, I wanted to offer up everything about my life for her knowledge as well as protect her from my life in order to keep her safe.
The dichotomy made me struggle as we sat there in silence.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pushed the topic,” she said.
“You have nothing to be sorry for,” I said.
“I mean, that really is kind of a personal question. Maybe a little too personal.”
“You can ask me anything you want, and I’ll try to answer it to the best of my ability.”
“Have you always lived in this area?”
“Born and raised. You?”
“Yes and no. I mean, yes, I was born and raised here. But, I’m first generation. My father and mother grew up in Mexico, and immigrated when they got pregnant with me so they could provide a better life for me.”
“Do you have any other siblings?” I asked.
She nodded her head. “I’ve got four younger sisters.”
“Your poor father.”
She giggled. “Right? All of us on our periods at once? It’s hell in my house during that week.”
“I… have no words to describe the utter torture that must be for the only man in the house.”
“Honestly? I don’t think he’d have it any other way. He’s very protective of all of us. He loves us all greatly. I’m lucky to have him as a father.”
“Then he sounds like a man worthy of raising five daughters. Especially i
f your sisters turn out to be as headstrong and confident as you are.”
I watched her cheeks blush as my food was set down in front of me. I prepared my burger and cut it in half, then doused my fries in ketchup. I slid my foot underneath the table and settled it beside hers, wanting to know if she’d allow me to touch her. To feel her warmth against me. And instead of pulling away, she began slowly stroking my foot with hers.
Lovingly. Like she wanted to reassure me or something.
It felt nice. Maybe a little too nice.
“Another question,” she said.
I bit down into my burger and nodded my head.
“Do you make it a habit of eating an entire half of a cow at once during every meal?”
I snickered and put my hand over my mouth. Oh, shit. She had me on the verge of spitting out my fucking food. She grinned at me as she spooned some soup into her mouth and I struggled to keep my food at bay. I closed my eyes and held up my hand, chewing quickly so I could get it down. I swallowed hard, grimacing at how much it hurt going down. Then chased it with some water to try and get my throat cleared.
“Are you trying to kill me, woman?” I asked.
“Depends. You into that kind of play?”
I threw my head back and laughed at her question. “You really are something, Gabby.”
“I’m still waiting for an answer.”
My eyes came and connected back with hers. “It takes a lot of protein to keep up these muscles.”
“Is that your specialty within your club?” she asked.
“What?”
“You said you and your club provide muscles, among other things. Is that your specialty, give how… fraught you are with them?”
“Fraught. Interesting choice of word.”
“‘Stacked’ seemed a little tacky.”
“Would’ve been a great compliment, though,” I said, winking.
“Fine. How about this one, then? You’re fraught with muscle and stacked with dick.”
I almost spat my water out. “That’s it. You’re trying to kill me.”
Gabby grinned. “Just trying to make you smile the way you make me smile.”
I reached over for her hand and took it within mine. And just that simple touch sent shivers down my spine. I stroked her skin with my thumb, watching as goosebumps slowly trickled up her skin. I looked into her eyes and her cheeks flushed. That beautiful red tone crept all the way down her neck and disappeared beyond the neckline of her shirt. I brought her hand to my lips to kiss. I reveled in the feeling of her skin against mine. I released her hand and picked up a French fry, then tossed it into my mouth.
“What am I going to do with you?” I asked.
Gabby leaned forward, her eyes raking down my form. “I’ve got a few ideas for what you could do.”
“Don’t tempt me, Gabby. It’s never good when you poke the lion.”
“Who said I wanted ‘good’ in the first place?”
Holy fucking shit.
This woman would be the death of me. And I’d gladly be buried with her name on my lips. I was in deep. After just one night, I knew I was in deep. And I didn’t give a shit. I didn’t care who she was, what she wanted, or where she had come from. I didn’t care about her background or who her family was or whether or not her father was out looking for her right this second. The only thing I cared about was spending time with her. Gazing into her eyes. Eating food with her and learning more about her personality.
All I cared about was feeling her body against mine.
And if I was lucky, feeling her tight pussy around my cock.
Chapter 12
Gabriela
I grinned as Maverick squirmed around in his chair. And the more I promised in the way of sex, the more information he offered up to me. He confirmed the names of the men in the club. Their officers. What those officers do. It really was all too easy. And all because I kept teasing him about sex. Men were so simple-minded sometimes. It made my job a lot easier. But something about this particular interrogation didn’t feel right.
It didn’t… sit well with me.
I could tell by the way he squirmed in his chair that they were really guns for hire. He didn’t come out and say it, but the way he danced around the topic and talked about protecting the people of the town told me all I needed to know. They were hired muscle, and their guns were for hire. No wonder Leti Rodriguez fit in with them just fine.
I had to clench my jaw as that thought rolled through my head.
“So, out of all the guys in your club, who do you think you’re the closest with?” I asked.
“Jace, definitely. He’s helped me out in a few circumstances regarding my sister. I’d definitely say him,” Maverick said.
“Your sister? I didn’t know you had a sister.”
“I do. Just the one. She was in a relationship she never should have been in, and Jace helped me get her out of it.”
“That’s really kind of him. Is she okay now?”
“She is. Doing better than ever. She’s still a little hesitant to date, but that doesn’t bother me at all. If she never dated again, it’d still be too soon.”
“Ah, the overprotective brother,” I said.
“If you watched one of your sister’s come home with bruises on her face, I think you’d be the same way.”
My eyes connected with his. “Maverick, if one of my sisters came home with any bruising of any sort from anyone, the person who gave them to her wouldn’t be breathing any longer.”
He grinned. “Dedicated and feisty. I like it.”
“So, what happens in a club like yours when… what was the President’s name?” I asked.
“Oh, you want to know how we pick a new President.”
“Yeah. How does that happen? It is just like, a vote? And who gets to decide who that new President becomes?”
“It’s pretty simple. The club as a whole nominates, and then the core group takes a vote. And the vote has to be unanimous. But, if our President suddenly dies, then our V.P.? Jace? He steps up into the role until another formal vote can take place.”
“Gotcha. Who do you think might be the next President someday?”
“Colt. Definitely.”
Bingo.
“Why so?” I asked.
“He’s just that strong, by silent type. He doesn’t fear getting his hands dirty to get a job done. He’s the first to go after perpetrators if we’re hired for personal protection. He just has this commanding presence about him that leads the club while on the road.”
“Hence why he’s you’re… what did you call it?”
“Road Captain.”
“Got it. Yeah.”
“A lot of people think that V.P. is the way to being President, but it’s not. As Road Captain, Colt’s in charge of all the trips and coordinating their safety and generally watching out for them while we’re all out of town. It’s a way for someone to flex their ability to coordinate and keep on the lookout. Colt’s great at it.”
“But, how can someone be a leader and be silent?” I asked.
“If you knew Colt, you’d get it. One day, you might meet him. He walks into a room, and people want to listen. It’s the weirdest shit I’ve ever seen. He’s been through hell and back, too. Really keeps himself out of the public eye.”
“Why?”
“It’s not really my story to tell. Let’s just say he had a rough childhood with parents who didn’t really give a shit about him. He flies under the radar intentionally in case their shadows still try to come out and haunt him.”
“That’s awful. No child should have to pay for the mistakes of their parents.”
“Seems like we have that thought process in common as well,” he said.
It wasn’t much on Colt, but it was something to go on. A decent explanation, at least. And from the sounds of it, the lack of information on him seemed--in part--intentional. Which meant he might not have paid to have his history wiped clean. But, if he did work hard to kee
p himself under the radar, I needed to figure out why.
As I sat there talking with Maverick, I couldn’t help but notice how handsome he was. I mean, he’d been hot as hell the night before. But, sitting with him in a booth in a diner and being able to get a good look at him only confirmed my want for him. His dazzling blue eyes sparkled whenever he smiled, and his dirty blonde hair begged for my hands to run through it. His muscles taunted me from underneath his shirt, tugging at the fabric and threatening to break free. The pull I felt towards him--to reach out and touch him--was too great. And I found myself sitting back in my booth seat to put distance between us.
But our feet were still connected underneath the table.
It’s just a job, Gabby. Nothing but a job.
My first mistake was giving him my actual name. Which meant I needed to come up with a fake last name if the situation ever came up. The second mistake I made was actually talking about my family. About my sisters. Which meant I needed to come up with a decent story about my parents that wasn’t true. I had already slipped in too many details of my actual life, and I toed a dangerous line with that.
This was only a job. I wasn’t actually dating the guy.
But, what was the harm in looking? In enjoying the view? Maverick certainly didn’t mind providing it. He leaned back in his seat and pressed his foot tighter against mine. He rolled his shoulders back, providing me with the perfect view of his hard chest and rippling abs. They pressed against the flimsy fabric of his shirt. He must have intentionally bought the damn thing two sizes too small. Yeah, looking wasn’t a bad thing.
So long as I didn’t allow my emotions to run too deep.
“Enjoying the view?” Maverick asked, grinning.
I snickered and shook my head. “You wish, don’t you?”
“I’m enjoying it. Just wondered if you were, too.”
“What? This? I’m in nothing special. Just a shirt and some pants.”
“And yet, you fill them out wonderfully.”
I blushed at his words. “Well, thank you, then.”
“By the way? I paid the check.”
I blinked at his words. “You what now?”
“Yeah. You were pretty zoned out there for a second. The waitress came by with the check, and I paid our tab.”
“Wow. Okay. I didn’t realize I’d zoned out like that. How much do I owe you?”
Maverick (The Black Hornets MC Book 2) Page 7