Chapter Thirteen
Jamie
I didn’t recognize Grimm at first. He wasn’t on his usual bike but was driving a dark blue Ford truck with the club crest of a Grimm Reaper and scythe that had seen better days. He parked at the curb of the pickup area where I was standing, fuming and slightly hysterical that I was late for my shift at the hospital because of my dad. I’d already called in late and had my ass chewed out by Dr. Collier for shirking my duties.
The second he got out of the truck, looking like somebody’s idea of a good spank session, I ran to him, wrapped my arms around his waist, and squeezed.
“You came!” I cried out. “I missed you so much.”
Grimm’s chuckle rumbled from his chest as he patted my head like a kitten. “It’s not been that long since you last saw me, Jamie.”
Technically true, but I didn’t care. I pressed my face to his chest and rubbed my cheek over his shirt-covered pecs, inhaling the clean smell of him. He felt so good I needed the extra seconds to savor the moment. I would never admit this to him, but when my dad dumped me at the airport, I hadn’t called Grimm straightaway. I’d been angry with Dad, but I had also contemplated whether or not me being back was good for everyone.
Being in Grimm’s arms made me confident this was my only choice.
“I thought I’d never see you again!” I said, pouting. “What if he had somehow forced me on that plane? We would have been apart again, Daddy Grimm.”
“He can’t force you onto the plane, Jamie,” he replied. “Besides, Boston isn’t that far away.”
I stepped back and frowned at him. “It is too far away, though. You should be feeling as overwhelmed as me at the thought of not seeing me again.”
“You mean you can’t tell just how devastated I am?” he said, although he was grinning. The devil! “I’m just good at hiding it in public, but I’ll make sure to have a good cry when we’re alone.”
“Now you’re just teasing me, and it’s cruel too, I might add.”
“Well, Half-Way, you’re being a touch dramatic.” He waved at my two suitcases behind me. “If you really think about it, what your father did was a bit funny.”
I gasped that he would be so laissez-faire about what Dad had done. My ass was on the line because I had another strike at the hospital. If I didn’t get to finish my residency, then I couldn’t get my license to practice medicine. Then I couldn’t be his club doctor like I wanted.
“I’m going to sit in the truck.”
I sidestepped him and, with a few steps, reached the truck. I yanked the door open, climbed in, and slammed the door shut. Seat belt buckled, I crossed my arms and continued to stare straight ahead as Grimm grabbed my suitcases and loaded them in the back.
He climbed into the truck and gripped my thigh. “Don’t be mad at me. You know you can’t keep it up anyway. You need your daily doses of Daddy Grimm, remember?”
Damn. I wished I could contradict him, but I was never any good at denying how much I needed him.
“It’s just that you don’t seem to care one way or the other if I’m here or in Boston. That hurts.”
He didn’t say anything for a while, and I dropped my eyes to my hands clasped together in my lap. I could do with a manicure soon, but thinking about manicures didn’t cheer me up either. Only one thing could.
“Jamie—”
“Excuse me, sir, this is a pickup zone only,” came a stranger’s voice from outside. “You’re going to have to leave.”
I glanced up. The voice belonged to an airport security guy. “Just give me a minute,” Grimm answered.
“Sir, you don’t have a minute. You need to…” The man trailed off when Grimm turned his head directly toward him, placing his arm on the lowered window of the door. I watched the man’s eyes follow the movement, the way he took in Grimm’s president patch as well as all the others that meant things even I didn’t know.
“Umm, kindly move as soon as possible,” the security guy said, then stepped back. He grabbed his walkie-talkie as he walked a few feet away from us. No doubt he was calling for backup.
“Grimm, let’s just go,” I said, worried he would get into trouble for being obstinate.
“Not until I get something across to you, Jamie,” he stated, reaching over and cupping my face. “You already know I don’t think you belong in Smoky Vale. I want you at a safe distance just as I want that for Joel, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say I’m glad you’re here. You’ve been mine for a long time, although I tried not doing anything about it. I gave you the ticket out of this place, and you came back. I trust that you know what you want and are aware of the consequences wanting me may bring. It makes all the difference in the world that you’re here. Don’t ever think otherwise.”
I blinked at the tears that gathered in my eyes. “You mean that?”
“Hell, yes, I do. You were always mine, James Dehaney. I just had to make sure this was what you truly wanted before I allowed anything to happen.”
I stretched sideways as far as the seat belt would allow and smacked him a kiss on his lips. “Good, ’cause you’re kinda stuck with me. Now, can we go before airport security gets here?”
To my relief, Grimm pulled out of the no-parking zone. I settled back into my seat with a sigh, checking the time on the dashboard of the truck, but it was incorrect. I fished my phone out of my pocket. I was almost two hours late for my shift at the hospital.
“What’s wrong?” Grimm asked when I groaned.
“I’m so late I’m going to get another lecture from Dr. Collier,” I replied. “He’s already hard on me at every chance he gets.”
“Should I pay this doctor a visit?”
I smiled at Grimm, aware I probably looked goofy, but him stepping up to the doctor on my behalf was just about the sweetest of things he always did for me. How could I not be crazy about this man?
“You’d do that for me?” I asked on a breathy sigh.
“There’s very little I wouldn’t do for you, boy. You know your Daddy’s got you. If I need to send a message to this doctor to stop harassing you, I will.”
I placed a hand on his thigh and kneaded the bulge of muscles. “That’s sweet, but I think I can manage the doctor.”
“But if things get overwhelming, you’ll let me know?”
I probably wouldn’t since I didn’t want Grimm getting into any trouble on my behalf. He already got into them on his own. I nodded, though. “Sure, I will.”
“Where do you want me to take you?” he asked, stopping at a traffic light. “I can drop your bags off at your father’s before I take you to the hospital.”
“What? I can’t go back to Dad’s. Not after what he did today.” I fluttered my lashes at him. “Can’t I stay with you?”
Grimm’s bushy eyebrows knotted into a frown, and he jammed onto the gas pedal when the light changed. “You could, but not like this. I think it’s best you go back to your dad’s.”
“He all but put me out, Grimm!”
“Not exactly. He was trying to protect you.”
“But he clearly doesn’t want me to stay with him.”
He sighed, finger tapping at the steering wheel as he drove. “Jamie, I don’t want you and your dad to be fighting over me. I understand why it’s happening, but I also think given time, he will adjust to the idea of us. Maybe he’ll never fully appreciate you being with such an older man like me, but he’ll realize I’d never let anything or anyone hurt you.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not sure he’ll ever change his mind. It’s been years, Grimm, and his opinion of you hasn’t changed.”
“But he did allow you to be friends with Joel and to come over. That says a lot.”
“Because he knew he couldn’t stop me!” I protested. “I mean, when he prevented me from seeing Joel for two weeks because he found out you were Joel’s father, I threatened to run away, and he only caved in because of that.”
“Jamie.” The way he said my name, I knew I wouldn’t like w
hat he was about to say. “You’re going back home, and that’s final. I, too, have a son, and I’d hate if we had such a rift between us. If you leave now to move in with me, your father will only resent me more, and your relationship with him will be even worse. Let’s try to give him a little time to adjust and accept the idea that you’re mine.”
I wanted to protest and insist that I move in with him, but in the same breath he put his foot down, he also made me feel mushy inside by claiming me. There was nothing I loved more than him saying I was his. After all, for years he had denied any bit of affection for me that didn’t have to do with me just being his son’s best friend. For years he had avoided all my advances, brought me to tears with his rejection.
I felt justified in all the years of unrequited love to now hear him agree with the sentiments in my heart.
“Okay,” I said with a frown. “But if he keeps pushing me out the door, I’ll just find somewhere else to rent on my own, since you won’t let me stay with you.”
“I mean it, Jamie. Don’t give your dad any lip. Also, try to see things from his perspective. He just doesn’t want to see you hurt, and I can’t argue with that. As a father, I can completely understand what he’s going through right now. I wouldn’t pick myself for anybody.”
“Well, I picked you, and it’s nobody else’s business.”
We drove in silence back to my father’s house. We were in and out quickly, although I would have liked to pull him onto the bed and kiss him senseless. I didn’t have the time, though, and soon we were piling back into the truck and on our way to the hospital.
Forgetting my dad, I chewed on my bottom lip, thinking about the scolding I probably would receive from Dr. Collier. If only I could find a way to avoid him, but I couldn’t. I reported directly to the man.
“Just drop me off at the main entrance,” I told Grimm when he made the turn onto the hospital grounds.
“Okay, you need me to pick you up when you get off?”
“No, a nurse who’s also assigned to my shift will drop me home when we both get off. She’s amazing.”
“All right, but if anything changes, call me. If I can’t pick you up myself, I’ll send someone. Zak, maybe, or the twins.”
“Okay.” He slowed down at the entrance, and I removed my seat belt. “Thanks for not agreeing with my dad and insisting I get on the plane. I’ll call you.”
I opened the door of the truck but on a whim turned back to him and smashed my lips to his. I cupped his beard-covered chin when he angled his head and deepened the kiss until I thought I would combust in my scrubs. A car honked its horn, and I reluctantly pulled away, my eyes immediately focusing on Grimm’s lips. I wanted to kiss him again so badly.
Another honk from the car behind us, and I groaned. “See you later.”
I hurried from the truck and toward the safe distance of the curb. Despite being late, I stopped and watched him drive away. He winked at me, his grin showing the pearly white teeth against the blackness of his beard. I instantly felt better about everything that had gone sour this morning.
When the truck disappeared, I turned toward the wide double doors of the hospital entrance and flew in, winding my way through people to get to my post. I stashed my phone and wallet in the locker room on my floor and hurried to the nurses’ station of Accident & Emergency.
Erica Lovelace, a petite dark-skinned half-Haitian woman with a short Afro was manning the station, just as I hoped she would be. She was the first friend I’d made working at the hospital and the only one I could truly be myself with without fear of being scolded and reprimanded for my immaturity.
“Hey, doll,” I said, placing my hands onto the counter of her desk.
She glanced up, her eyes going wide. “Jamie!” she whispered. “Oh my God, you made it.”
I groaned. “On a scale of one to ten, how mad is he today?”
“Not only are you late, but also gossiping about other members of staff?”
At the familiar doctor’s voice, I straightened and turned to Dr. Collier, the attending physician. It would have been easier to despise the man if he wasn’t so gorgeous. Tall and broad-shouldered, he fit into the white coat he wore over his jeans and dress shirt all too well. Rumor was that he spent much of his time at the gym when he wasn’t in the hospital or on call.
It was such a pity the man took life so seriously; I’d never seen him smile in the little time I’d been at the hospital. In fact, whenever he encountered me, he seemed even unhappier. I was at the brink of asking him what was it about me that upset him the most—my piercings or the fact that I was out and proud?
“I’m sorry, Dr. Collier,” I said, meeting his gaze. “I would have gotten here sooner, but there was an emergency with my dad—uh, the chief of police.” I admitted to shamelessly adding my dad in there to throw a little weight around.
“You think because your father is the chief, it makes a difference here?” Dr. Collier said. “The only thing I’m interested in is you reporting to your post on time, intern. I don’t know what you’ve been using to cruise through medical school, but here, we require responsibility and actual know-how of your job. When you’re late, you put a strain on every other staffer to pick up your slack. Don’t let it happen again!”
At that point, I felt a twinge of fury at my dad. This was all his fault. I hated being reprimanded by Dr. Collier. I’d been thrilled when I was placed in his care. He was well respected as an attending physician, and everything I did was with the hope of impressing the man. No one had told me he could not be impressed and that he would find whatever I did lacking.
“I’ll try my best not to let this happen again,” I said, vowing to pay attention and not get distracted by my new relationship with Grimm. I loved taking care of people, and gaining as much experience as I could would be beneficial to being there for Grimm and his brothers.
“Meet me in my office in five minutes. We’ll go over what’s expected of you today.”
He didn’t give me a chance to answer but stalked off, his posture erect. The truth was that even with his hostility, I admired the man and how calmly he worked, unfazed by whatever situation he encountered. He was just the kind of doctor I wanted to be like in that regard.
“Man, he’s been so uptight since he and his boyfriend broke up,” Erica murmured in a low tone.
My mouth fell open, and even though I didn’t want to indulge in the gossip, I was curious enough to ask, “He’s gay?”
“Yes, but not very out, if you know what I mean,” she replied. “Certainly not like you. I’m digging the tongue ring, by the way.”
“Maybe I should take it out?” I wondered more to myself than to her.
“No, honey. You start stifling who you are to make other people comfortable, and before you know it, you forget to be you. You are quite lovely the way you are. I’m sure your Mr. Right thinks so.”
Did Grimm? Because of my eccentrics, I’d been teased quite a bit while growing up, but Grimm had never once tried to get me to be anyone else. He had encouraged me to be myself. From the makeup to the dress he’d bought me for prom because I’d been too afraid to ask Dad. It had been on the expensive side, and Grimm surprised me by taking me to the luxury store and instructing me to get whatever I wanted.
That day I’d felt like the FLOTUS because of a dress.
“I’ll catch you later, Erica,” I told her without responding to her questioning tone about Mr. Right. “God forbid I’m late for this briefing too.”
“All the best, sugar!” she called after me. “You’re going to need it.”
Chapter Fourteen
Grimm
“Grimm, do you want me to take care of that?”
“Huh?” I glanced up from the card game I was playing with Booker and stared at Cass, whose eyes shone a little too brightly for him to be completely sober. He was high and dressed slutty like the men in my club liked him: jockstrap that left his ass readily available and a mesh halter top that showed off his tone
d body.
I was never one to judge, but for a hot second, I was irritated at the way he carelessly offered his body around to anybody willing. As quickly as the thought came, it went. Everybody at the club was legal and could do whatever they chose. If this was the way Cass wanted to spend the rest of his life, then he was free to do so, my judgmental ass aside.
I just wished he would find a decent guy who would keep him tied to their bedpost at night—not let him out of their sight if that was what it took to teach him how to allow himself to be loved.
I didn’t mind polyamorous people one bit, but that was different from someone like Cass, who slept around to be deliberately destructive. He never offered up information about his past, and I’d never cared to know.
All that was necessary was knowing he was safe here, and as rough as my brothers could be, they wouldn’t harm a hair on his head. It was what Cass liked anyway—to be manhandled and pimped around the room. The more he took, the more satisfied he became.
A part of me felt sorry for him. His eyes had this haunted look at times. He wasn’t happy, but the quick fixes of sex kept him returning for more.
“Take care of what?” I asked Cass, aware of Booker watching us in amusement.
“This.” Cass reached between my legs and grabbed my junk gently. I sprang away from his scalding touch, jumping to my feet and glancing over my shoulder as though Jamie would show up any minute.
“Goddamn, boy, what do you think you’re doing?” I snapped at him.
His face paled. “I-I just thought maybe you’d want me to blow you.”
“Yeah, Grimm,” Booker said with a laugh. “The boy’s just offering you a blow job. I can’t remember you ever turning one down before, and you do look like you could use one.”
I glared at Booker, wanting to put my foot down his throat. “You know damn well I can’t do that.”
“I don’t understand,” Cass stated, glancing between Booker and me. “I’ve blown you so many times before.”
Biker Daddy (The Grimm Tales of Smoky Vale Book 1) Page 11