Michael: Great. See you then. Sleep well.
With a smile, I climbed on the couch, pulling my fuzzy blanket tight over my shoulder and snuggling my head into my pillow.
I didn’t even remember falling asleep before the alarm on my phone was going off.
July 2016
TODAY’S CATERING JOB HAD gone off without a hitch, but we’d all worked fast and furious to get everything prepared to the high standards we maintained. June and July were always busy months due to all the weddings, and this year had been the busiest on record according to all the other prep cooks and the sous chef.
It was later than usual by the time I got home, and I was so thankful for Pam’s offer to leave Remi at her place since she was already sleeping.
She was so sweet.
“I don’t want you to worry about disturbing Remi’s sleep and then trying to get her settled again at home. She’s fine. Besides, she’ll be coming back in the morning anyway. Drop off her clean things before you go tomorrow. No biggie.” Whispering, we walked back toward her door.
Exhausted, I left Pam’s apartment and was digging through my purse for my keys as I walked down the hall. When I slammed into a solid form, it caused me to stumble back until my arms were grabbed in a tight, painful grip. Startled, I looked up into Michael’s angry expression.
“Where have you been? I’ve been worried sick! You didn’t answer your text messages or calls! What the hell, Steph?” He loosened his hold. I was immediately sorry I’d worried him, but damn, he’d really hurt me.
“Michael! Crap, you frightened me! I’m sorry. I didn’t have my phone on me all day, and we were so busy, I never thought to check it at all. After I got off, my battery was dead because I had forgotten to plug it in to charge last night. I’m sorry, I never meant to worry you. Then I stopped to pick up Remi, but she’s asleep, and Pam and I got to talking.” I knew I was rambling, but I felt so bad that I was apologizing all over myself.
“It’s okay. I forgive you. Just don’t do that to me again. I hate being worried about you. You really shouldn’t walk home alone when you get off late. It’s not safe.”
Geez, it was like I was in high school again with my dad lecturing me. I fought rolling my eyes.
“I didn’t walk all the way by myself, Michael. Reggie walked most of the way with me, so I only had to walk about a block by myself.” I thought I saw his nostrils flare and his jaw tighten. “I know we said we would hang out tonight, but I’m really tired. Today was crazy, and I’m exhausted. I think I’m going to go to sleep early.” My fatigue was increasing by the second.
“Fine. No problem, Steph. We can make up for it tomorrow. Get some sleep, and I’ll see you tomorrow night. Do you want me to give you a ride to work tomorrow?”
“No, I’m good, really. I enjoy the exercise, and the weather has been cool enough by the time I get off that it’s a beautiful walk.”
He didn’t look pleased by my response, but I knew he had been worried about me. Kissing him gently on the cheek, I unlocked my door to go in. When I tried to push the door shut, Michael’s foot stopped it from closing.
“Please don’t be upset with me for worrying about you. I really care about you, Steph.” He reached out, pulling me into his embrace. Though I tried to loosen his hold, he held me tight.
Look, I can’t lie, I was starting to get a little claustrophobic and panicked for a minute. At least until he let me go abruptly, pressed a kiss to my lips, and stepped back.
“It’s okay. And I know you do.”
Nodding, he then turned and walked out into the hall, waiting for me to lock my door before he left.
“Make sure you charge your phone tonight,” he said through the door.
Rattled, I hung my coat on one of the pegs inside my door and set my bag on the kitchen counter. Reaching for a glass from the cupboard, I wondered what the heck that was all about.
Michael had seemed very worried about me, but shit, I’d been walking home from work just fine for quite a while. It was pretty late though. And he was right, I needed to make sure I charged my phone tonight.
I was usually very responsible. Thinking about it more, I realized I could have missed calls from Pam if something happened to Remi. Of course, she knew how to get a hold of me at work too.
Oh well, I was too tired to even think anymore. After I sat on the couch, I plugged in my phone, flipped on the TV to watch a little of the news, and promptly dozed off sitting up, still dressed in my clothes.
REGGIE, SYLVIA, PAUL, AND I walked out of the Embassy laughing over how red Chef Jonas had gotten when he and the sous chef had argued about the menu for next week.
“Oh my God. His face blended in with his hair!” Reggie chortled. Jonas was a redhead, and when he got mad, his face tended to match his flaming red hair. It happened quite often and had us holding back our laughter to prevent his ire from being targeted at us.
“Hey, Steph, you wanna grab a drink on the way home?” Sylvia asked as she rummaged around in her purse.
“It’s Friday night. We should, but damn, I’m tired.”
“Me too,” Paul piped up. “I don’t feel like we stopped all day.”
“Exactly why we need a drink!” Sylvia tried to convince us, but we all grimaced and looked at each other.
“Sorry, hon. I’m beat. Besides, I’ve got Remi waiting on me.” Giving her an apologetic smile, I shrugged.
We started down the road toward the bus stop where Sylvia and Paul would part company from Reggie and me. I heard someone call my name and turned to see Michael striding purposefully toward me.
He looked angry, and I couldn’t imagine what had happened to get him so upset. My friends stopped with me, Sylvia looking at me in question and concern.
As Michael reached us, I told them, “Go on without me. Everything’s probably fine. Enjoy your weekends, and I’ll see you Monday.”
Reggie gave Michael a look of irritation. “Are you sure you don’t want me to wait?”
I knew he still had a thing for me, but he had accepted when I didn’t encourage his hints about us going out for dinner.
I was about to tell him everything was cool when Michael placed his arm around me in a proprietary manner.
“She’s fine. I’m going to give her a ride home. She’s not your concern.” I heard him mutter, “asshole,” under his breath, and I looked sharply at him and then imploringly at Reggie in apology for Michael’s snappy, rude behavior.
Reggie didn’t look convinced, but when I smiled and nodded, he grudgingly turned to walk home.
“What the hell was that all about? What happened to put you in such a foul mood?” I couldn’t believe he’d acted like that in front of my friends. To be perfectly honest, I was shocked because he’d always been so sweet and caring toward me.
“Who the hell was that guy? Jesus, are you fucking him? Is that why you’re holding out on me? Is he the real reason you were late last night?” He seemed to get more irate as he spit his accusing questions at me. My shock was so great, I couldn’t even find words to reply.
“Get in the truck, Steph. I’m giving you a ride home. These streets aren’t safe enough for you. You need to be more careful. What would you do if I wasn’t here to take care of you?”
Angry, I tried to jerk my arm from his punishing grasp, but he only tightened his hold and pulled me to his truck.
Before I knew it, he was opening the door and waiting impatiently for me to get in. Because I didn’t want to argue out there, I got in and buckled up.
“Michael, I think you have the wrong idea, and I don’t know where the heck you came up with that crap. They are my friends, and I work with them. That is it. If you can’t handle me working with men, then maybe whatever this is isn’t fucking working.” I was getting more and more pissed off the longer I thought about what had just happened.
“Don’t say that word!” he shouted, “Steph, you’re a lady. Ladies do not swear like sailors. I don’t ever want to hear you using l
anguage like that.”
Stunned at his outburst, I sat quietly during the short ride home.
When he pulled into the parking garage and parked his truck, he took a deep breath and seemed to collect himself.
“I’m sorry, Steph, baby. I just get so worried about you, and I think I’m really falling hard for you. The thought of something happening to you drives me crazy.” He gently placed his hand on my cheek and leaned over, pressing a kiss on my lips.
“It’s okay.” Still uncertain of my feelings, I looked at my hands twisting in my lap. He took my bag as he got out of the truck, and I slowly followed him toward the building.
We didn’t say any more as he walked with me to Pam’s to pick up Remi and carried my chattering daughter down to my apartment.
After taking my keys from my bag, he opened my door and set Remi down. She toddled off into her room, where she started to pull blocks out of her toy box.
“I should give Remi a bath and get her ready for bed.” I thought Michael would take that as a hint that I wanted to be alone tonight. Instead, he walked into my kitchen, grabbed a beer from my fridge, and set my bag down by the couch as he sat down and turned on the TV. Exasperated, I figured I would let him chill and then talk to him after I finished with Remi.
“Mommy!” Remi came running out of her room with a block in each hand and a smile on her face. I scooped her up, burying my face in her sweet-smelling hair.
I kissed her dimples, which had become a routine with us since she was a baby, and she laughed. I called them “Mommy’s kissy spots,” and it always made her giggle. She dropped the blocks, slapping her hands to either side of my face and planting a big slobbery kiss on my lips. “Luss you, Mommy!”
“Love you too, sweet girl.” I laughed, hugging her tight as we went into the bathroom. After closing the door, I started to run the water.
A big sigh escaped as I let my hair down from the tight bun I wore it in for work and replaced it with my messy bun. Grabbing sweats and a tee from the hook on the back of the door, I quickly changed while the water ran but kept a close eye on my angel as she leaned over, splashing her hand in it.
Finally, my work uniform got tossed haphazardly in the hamper and I stripped Remi of her clothes, placing hers in the hamper with mine.
“In you go!” Bouncing her in the air before setting her in the water had her squealing.
Remi splashed and giggled through her bath, and I was as wet as she was by the end of it.
Dressed in her fuzzy blue-footed pj’s with Cinderella on them, she ran out of the door as soon as I opened it. Like a little madwoman, she raced to the living room, struggling to climb in Michael’s lap.
He dropped my phone on the couch as he reached for her to hug her and kiss her cheek. After his recent outburst, I couldn’t help feeling uneasy with him holding her. Trying to act cheery, I walked up to them and picked her up from his lap.
“Tell Michael night-night.”
Remi waved her little hand and then placed it spread wide open over her mouth before rapidly pulling it away. I laughed at her attempt to blow kisses.
Lord, I love this baby girl. It was hard to believe she was two years old already. As she rubbed her eyes, I took her to her room and sat in the glider to read her a bedtime story.
By the time I was done, she was already nodding off to sleep. For a moment, I sat there enjoying the feel of my baby girl snuggled in my arms and tried to collect my thoughts.
Was I overreacting to what happened? Maybe I was just tired and was blowing things out of proportion. After all, he had never lost his cool like that with me before.
Careful not to wake her, I placed Remi in her crib. Leaning over, I kissed her hair, breathing in the scent of her baby shampoo, her lotion, and the refreshing smell that was simply Remi. As I raised the rail of the crib, I told myself I was going to have to start looking for a toddler bed for her.
When I walked out to the living room, I wished I had kept my bra on because my shirt was soaked from Remi’s splashing and sticking to my breasts. Between the wet shirt and the air conditioning, my nipples were erect.
Michael stared at them, licking his lips, causing me to cross my arms over my chest.
Eww. For some reason, that was just creepy. After I saw my phone sitting on the coffee table, I remembered he’d been looking at it earlier.
“Why did you get my phone out?” I asked him.
“Huh? Oh, I was just checking to see what version of iPhone you had. I have a bunch of cases I never used from mine, and I thought you could use them if it was the right one. But you have a 4s. Mine was a 5. That’s all.”
It seemed a little odd that he didn’t just ask me, but he was a real sweetheart most of the time, and that seemed like something he would do. He stood up, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me close. But I couldn’t meet his eyes. He kissed my forehead and stepped back, bending a little at the knee to look me in the eye.
“We good, baby?”
Giving him a half-hearted smile, I nodded. “Yeah, but I think I’m gonna go to bed.”
He stood up straight and motioned toward the couch. “Do you want me to stay with you since neither of us work tomorrow? I can help you pull out the couch. I’ll just hold you. No pressure, babe.”
“Actually, I need to do a few things. Then I’ll probably just crash, but thanks.” Hoping he would go, I waited. I really wanted to call my mom and unwind, because I hadn’t talked to her in forever.
Though he didn’t look happy, he nodded and started for the door.
“Good night, Steph. Sleep tight.”
After he let himself out, I plopped on the couch, reaching for my phone to call my mom. That was when I saw the app store was open on the screen.
Weird, I didn’t remember opening it, but I must have hit it accidentally before I closed it earlier.
My mom answered on the third ring. She was so happy to hear my voice, and I felt guilty for not calling more often.
Despite the text messages and pics or videos I sent of Remi, I’d been bad about calling. There was no denying I was still hiding, but I also accepted I needed to stop.
“Please come home next weekend, Steph. Your brother is having a cookout, and we all miss Remi,” she begged.
“Just Remi, huh?” Joking with her lightened my mood.
“Oh, of course you too,” she added teasingly, making me laugh.
“I’ll see what I can do, Mom.” Once again, I didn’t tell her about Michael. Of course, I wasn’t really sure what to tell her. Despite all the time we spent together, I’d never introduced him as my boyfriend. He did seem to be acting like there was more to our relationship than I thought there was though.
After we ended our call, I placed my phone on the charger and lay down, falling asleep almost instantly.
Why my dreams were once again filled with blue eyes, dimples, inky hair, a deep voice, and a perfect smile, I had no idea….
“HEY, REAPER, YOU ABOUT done with that oil change, man? The dude is back early and was wondering if by chance his bike was ready.”
Wiping my greasy hands on a rag, I looked over at Gunny as he walked into the shop.
“Yeah, bro, I actually finished it a few minutes ago. I was just cleaning everything up. I’ll bring it around for him.” After ensuring my hands were good, I hopped on the customer’s bike, started it up, and pulled it out of the garage.
Damn, summers were hot in Iowa. Sometimes I wondered if I was crazy or if it was really hotter here in northern Iowa than back home in Tennessee.
Shit. Sweat ran down my back.
As I parked it up front, the guy came out of the office with a smile. He loved his Indian, and according to the guys, he’d been bringing it to us for maintenance for several years.
It was a sweet ride, but I was partial to my baby. Nothing could beat a Harley in my opinion. We shook hands and he drove off. Another satisfied customer.
Fuck, it had been a long day. As I stood there, I stretched my b
ack. My left leg was a little achy after all the crouching I’d done too.
The garage the club owned and ran was one of our “legitimate” businesses, and we were always busy with bikes this time of year. During the winter, we worked more on cars and trucks, but work stayed steady year-round.
It had been hot as fuck, and I was ready to wrap shit up and head over to the Oasis for a cold beer and maybe a game of pool. After putting my tools away, I headed to the next bay to see if Mason, more commonly called Hollywood now, was ready to go.
“Hey, fucker! Get your slow ass moving! I’m ready for a fucking beer. I’m heading to the Oasis. Not in the mood to drink at the club. Gretchen won’t quit fucking with me, and I just don’t want to deal with her shit.” I kicked his feet as he lay on a creeper under a Camaro.
He rolled out from under it, his trademark grin in place. “Did you say beer?”
“Christ, even covered in grease you’re such a pretty boy.” I shook my head and laughed when he jumped up and went to the sink to wash his hands.
“Reaper, dude, you’re the one who messed up there. She thinks she’s special to you and is telling people it’s only a matter of time before she’s your ol’ lady. You should’ve never gone back for seconds, man. You went and got her hopes up, since you never mess with the same broad twice.” He laughed at me as he watched me through the mirror while he washed his hands, arms, and face and dried off.
“Man, fuck you, Hollywood. I was fucking drunk, and she crawled into bed with me. I couldn’t have told you who the fuck she was that night. Stupid bitch wants to be sneaky, then she deserves to be disappointed. I don’t want a fucking ol’ lady, and if I did, it sure as hell wouldn’t be a club whore who’s fucked every brother in the club at least fifty times each. Nasty bitch. I’m just glad I was in control of my faculties enough to use a condom, or the next thing she’d be saying is she’s pregnant.” Ready to go, I got on my bike and started it up, waiting for Hollywood. Once he got on his bike, we headed downtown to the Oasis.
Pulling up in front of the bar, we backed our bikes up next to the other three already parked there.
Demented Sons Series Volume One: Books 1-4 (Demented Sons MC Iowa) Page 8