Her heart stopped for a moment. That was not what she’d been expecting him to say. And her insides melted. She took in a low breath. He was right. She nodded her head. “Extra whipped cream and syrup might have been overkill.”
He smiled. Holy hell. That smile was lethal. “Who said that was for you?”
She rolled her eyes at him.
“How long have you known you were a Little?” He leaned back in the booth. How did he suck up so much space? And air? And her ability to think? Her mouth was dry and she reached out a shaky hand for the sweet tea, managing to spill some on the tabletop.
“Shoot,” she muttered, reaching for some napkins.
“Here, let me.” He grabbed the napkins and mopped up the mess. Then he wiped down the glass. “Drink up, babe. You’re probably still a bit dehydrated.”
She nodded then took a sip of the sweet tea.
“Not a coffee fan?”
“I am, but Greg didn’t. . .” her voice trailed off at his frown. “Maybe we shouldn’t talk about him.”
“Might be best,” he agreed. “You didn’t answer my question.”
“Noticed that, did you?”
He raised an eyebrow and just waited patiently. Crap.
“I’ve known for about six years. I, um, I like to read and I was always drawn to books with, ah, dominant men in them. Then I found these books about Littles and Daddies and it struck a chord with me, I guess. Do you think I’m weird?”
He grasped hold of her chin, turning her face. “Would I ask if I thought you were weird? Would I have helped you last night? I have some friends who are into the lifestyle. Even called one for help last night. Don’t think he’s weird. Not for that anyway. Other reasons maybe. . .”
He winked at her and she smiled, feeling more at ease. She knew a lot of people didn’t understand the dynamic. Who thought it was wrong. That was part of the reason why she’d been worried about seeing him again. That he’d look at her like she was a freak. Or gross.
“You called someone for help?”
“Needed some advice, babe. Thought I was gonna end up taking you to the hospital.”
“Thank you,” she whispered. “For helping me.”
He just gave a nod. “You ever been in a relationship with a Daddy Dom?”
She looked around but there was no one close by to hear their conversation. Not that she knew anyone here so she shouldn’t care. Greg’s opinions, his needs for peer approval, still had a hold on her. She needed to change that.
“Ah, yeah, kind of.”
“Kind of?”
“Here you go.” She looked up with a smile of thanks as Jo placed a huge plate of pancakes in front of her. In front of Duke, she placed a big plate of hash browns, sausage, ham and eggs.
Holy hell. Did he eat like that every morning?
“Dig in, babe. Then you can explain about this ‘kind of’ relationship.”
She cut into the huge mound of pancakes and took a small bite. That tasted so good. They ate for a while without talking but it wasn’t a weird sort of silence. It was pleasant. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d sat with someone to eat a meal.
When she was full, she wiped her mouth carefully and watched him continue to work his way through his big plate of food. She felt guilty that she’d only been able to eat a third of hers.
“Feel free to talk while I eat, babe, I can multi-task.”
She sighed. “You’re not letting this go, huh?”
“Nope.”
“You’re stubborn.”
“One of my better qualities.”
“Fine. When I was nineteen, I joined this kink dating site that matched people up. I was matched to this older guy who was a Daddy. I thought we had something. He didn’t. End of story.”
He snorted. “Babe, you can’t tell a story for shit. Lot left out of that.”
“I don’t see why this has to be all about me. Why am I doing all the sharing?”
“We’re getting to know each other.”
He hadn’t seemed to want to get to know her before now. They’d lived next door to each other for close to a year with barely exchanging a hello, but now he wanted to know it all?
“That implies you will actually tell me something about you.”
He shrugged. “Nothing to tell. I own a tattoo parlor. I belong to the Iron Shadows Motorcycle club. Last night I rescued a Little who didn’t have the sense to get her butt out of a hot car and drink some damn water.”
There was a stern note in his voice that had her squirming. “I wasn’t thinking properly. It was a bad day yesterday.”
“You lost your job.”
“Yeah.” She poked at the leftover pancakes with her fork.
Duke pushed his empty plate away then grabbed the fork from her hand, putting it down and pushing her plate away too. He turned so he was half-facing her.
“That’s a big problem?”
“Well, yeah.” Of course it was.
“There are other jobs, baby,” he said in a soft voice. “Was it worth risking your health?”
She rubbed at an imaginary spot on the table. “No.”
He reached out and grabbed her chin, tilting her face up. “No, it wasn’t. There are other jobs out there. I know it has to be frightening and your boss sounds like a jerk. Wouldn’t mind having a little chat with him.”
She shook her head. “Don’t. Please. He’s not worth it.”
He narrowed his gaze. “Needs to fucking learn not to touch what doesn’t fucking belong to him.”
He did, but she didn’t want Duke getting involved. “Please.”
“Fine, I’ll leave that for the moment. But, baby, you can’t risk your health like that again.”
“I panicked. I had to buy Greg out of his half of the house. I have a mortgage and bills and not much in savings, and it all got on top of me. I’ve never been fired in my life. I worked so hard and then it was just gone. I don’t want to lose my house. I need the stability, of knowing I have somewhere to go. . .” she trailed off, feeling like she was going way off track.
“You all right with working nights?” he asked abruptly.
She just stared at him, confused at the change of topic. “What?”
“Nights? Can you work them? Can you manage a booking system? Does fourteen-fifty an hour with benefits work okay for you? If you work out then we can review that in a month.”
“Wait. . .are you offering me a job?”
“Yep.”
“Out of pity?”
He raised both eyebrows. “You in a position to reject it?”
She went red, feeling ashamed.
“Hey, look at me.”
She raised her gaze up to his, feeling the sting of tears.
“Didn’t say that to upset you. I need someone working reception. My last girl only lasted two months before she ditched and we’ve been handling things ourselves since. It’s a pain in the fucking ass. But so is hiring someone who’s gonna fucking bail again. Am I offering you the job because I know you fucking need it? Yeah. But I’m also offering it because you don’t seem the type to run when the going gets rough. Guys who work for me, who come into the parlor, they aren’t bad people but they can be rough round the edges, what I’m not sure is if you can handle that.”
“I’ve worked primarily with men for the last two years. Believe me, none of them made concessions for the fact I’m a woman. I can handle working with guys. But you don’t know if I’ll be any good.”
He shrugged. “That’s why we’ll review in a month. So?”
It still felt like a pity hire, but he was right. She had little choice and if it didn’t work out then she’d at least have time to search for something else.
“All right, thanks.”
He nodded. “You might not want to thank me until you hear the rules.”
“Rules? What sorts of rules? Like client confidentiality?”
“Oh yeah, there’s that. But that wasn’t really what I was talking about. Ru
les for you.”
She stared at him in confusion. “Rules for me?”
“Uh-huh. Babe, your car is a rust bucket piece of shit.”
“Don’t hold back, please. Speak your mind.” She bit her lip. She wasn’t sure what it was about him that made her lose that usual reserve. Maybe it was because he’d seen all of her, because she’d already dropped her shields around him and he hadn’t run screaming from her.
“Always try to, babe.”
“Okay, what does my car have to do with these rules?”
He couldn’t quite believe he was doing this. What was he thinking? Hiring his next-door neighbor? He hadn’t even intended to hire someone for the front desk but he was getting sick of Rory’s moaning.
But hiring his next-door neighbor? His neighbor who he’d held in his hands, half-naked. That had disaster written all over it.
Not only that, but the rules he was going lay on her weren’t normal. He was asking for a lawsuit. No way did he want her to equate him with her old boss which is why he was laying this out now.
“Thing is, find myself feeling rather fucking protective of you. Guess it’s because of last night. Maybe because of who you are. Possibly because you’re my neighbor but I’m guessing not since I don’t feel this way about Yoga Barbie.”
“Yoga Barbie? Oh, do you mean Paisley?”
He shrugged. “The one always walking around in a sports bra and pants so tight you can see the outline of her pussy lips.”
She went bright red, her eyes wide. Jesus, she was such an innocent. Sweet and naive didn’t have a place in his life.
Yet he still fucking wanted her.
Then she shocked him by bursting into giggles. “Oh God, you so can. Greg used to go on and on about what a perfect body she had and how I should ask her for tips on how to look as good as she does.”
“Babe, think I’ve made it clear what I think about him, but in case I haven’t, your ex is a douche.”
“He sure is.”
“I don’t care about a lot of people. The club, the shop, they’re basically my life. But I find myself protective over you. So there’s gonna be some rules and I need to tell you upfront so you know what you’re getting into. My tattoo parlor, I’m the boss, so it’s my way. Got it?”
“All right, you want me to follow your rules, which are?”
“When it’s possible, you ride into work with me. Less chance of someone running over you in that sardine can of yours.”
She bit her lip. “My car isn’t that bad.”
He gave her a look, trying to ignore the effect on his cock that watching her mouth was having on him. Damn, he had it fucking bad.
“It is. You’ll ride with me.”
“All right. I’ll pay you some gas money.”
He snorted. “Hell. No.”
“But that’s not very fair.”
“Don’t care about fair, babe. Few things you should know about me right now. We’re in my ride, I drive. We’re in my ride, I pay the gas.”
“All right, so if we’re in my ride then I drive and I pay.”
“Sure, babe, if that makes you feel better.”
She narrowed her gaze at him. “Why do I feel like that’s not a victory for me?”
“Maybe because I’ll never be in your ride? Not only won’t I fit. But like I said, it’s a piece of shit. We’ll work on getting you something better.”
“I don’t need something better.”
He ignored her, making a mental note to ask around the club. Razor owned a mechanics shop; he would keep an ear out.
“All right, anything else?”
Ah, yeah.
“Shop opens at two. Closes at ten weeknights and six on Saturdays. Closed Sundays and Mondays.”
“Okay. That’s fine.”
“Wasn’t for the last girl. Cut into her social life.”
She gave him a self-deprecating smile. “Well, I’m your girl then, since I have no life. So you open at two today?”
He nodded. “I go in an hour earlier to open up, set up stations. We can make that half an hour earlier now if you’re helping set up.”
“All right. You want me to start today?”
“Yep.”
“I can do that. Anything else?”
“Yeah, place can get dangerous at night. I set up there because it’s not far from the club, but there’s some crime in the neighborhood. If it’s dark out then your ass ain’t out the door alone. Got me?”
“You don’t want me outside on my own in the dark?”
“Yep. You need to go out to get food or go to your car if I’m not there, then you ask one of the others to take you. Got it?”
“Ah, yeah. I can do that. I’ll bring my own food anyway.”
“Let me guess, fucking salad?” he asked.
“Nothing wrong with salad.”
“If you’re a rabbit.”
She rolled her eyes at him. Little brat. The urge to turn her over his knee, to pull those goddamn ugly jeans down over her ass and reveal what was likely plain cotton underwear struck him. Fuck. What was it about her that got to him? She wasn’t his normal type, not by a long shot. Yet here he was practically panting after her.
Fuck. Clear your head, man.
“Anything else?” she asked.
“Not right at the moment. I’ll let you know as I think of it.” There would likely be more.
“All right. Thanks for the job, Duke. I appreciate it.”
He just hoped they didn’t both come to regret it.
7
Sunny snuck glances at him as he drove them to his shop later that day. They were going in early so he could show her the ropes. She’d packed a lunch, and yes it was a salad. She actually liked salads.
Or at least that’s what she told herself.
“You didn’t need to install the security lights and deadbolts.”
He’d turned up an hour earlier than they’d agreed, with his tools and some security lights for outside along with deadbolts for both her doors. Which he’d proceeded to install, despite her protests.
She sighed. “It’s going to be hard to teach me what to do if you’re not talking to me.”
Who knew biker babes could sulk?
“All I did was offer to pay you.”
Another chilling look. Whoops. Things were getting icy. “Well, not pay you. Pay you back for the lights and deadbolts.”
More cold silence. She sighed.
“It’s not that big of a deal.”
“It is,” he told her. “I buy something for you then you don’t try to pay me back. Just like if I take you out to eat, you don’t pay for your own damn meal.”
Yeah, she’d gotten schooled in that earlier at the diner when she’d tried to pull out her wallet to pay. He’d been upset over that too.
Seemed biker babes could be overly emotional about certain things.
Greg had always insisted that they keep things equal, financially. His reasoning was that too many couples broke up over finances so they should make certain to each pay their share. Which kind of made sense. Except he had earned a lot more than her, and insisted on going out for fancy dinners every week which she couldn’t afford.
“Fine. I won’t mention it again.”
“You could say thank you.”
She flushed bright red. Way to be a bitch. All she’d done was gripe at him, not once showing any gratitude.
“I’m so sorry. Thank you. I really appreciate it. I’ve never had anyone care about my safety before. I guess I’m not used to it.”
He turned into a rough-looking neighborhood. She looked around. This was where his shop was?
“Your parents?”
“What? Oh,” she said recalling what they’d been talking about. “They weren’t really the type to notice anything I did. They were free spirits.”
“That why your name is Sunshine Bright?”
She sighed. “It’s worse than that. It’s Sunshine River Bright.”
“No shit?”
“No shit,” she repeated.
“Damn, must have been a bitch growing up with that name. Kids tease you?”
“What do you think?”
He nodded. “They teased you.”
“My parents aren’t bad people. They’re just more interested in communing with nature and getting high than what their daughter was doing.”
“You don’t seem the getting high and communing type.”
“I’m not. I was like a square peg trying to fit into a round hole. I didn’t understand them and they didn’t get me. I like order and rules and to live in the same place for more than a few months.”
He nodded as he pulled the truck into a space outside a white building that had Ink Inc written on the outside. That was cute. Although she wouldn’t tell Duke that. He didn’t look like the type of guy who would appreciate something of his being called cute. There was a small parking lot out front and on one side there was a small convenience store, on the other a Chinese take-out place.
“I usually park around the corner to leave these spaces for customers. Up a few blocks is Reaper’s, the bar owned by the club. Our compound is behind it. Any reason you’re ever in trouble and I’m not here, you can go there. I’ll tell them all you work for me.” He turned towards her, unbuckling her seat belt. “You’ll be taken care of. Wait there.”
She sat and waited for him to walk around to her door, knowing better than to get out on her own.
Another of Duke’s infamous rules.
For a rough, tough biker dude he sure had a lot of rules.
He slid his hands around her waist then lifted her down. Definitely not normal employer-employee behavior. But then, Duke wasn’t a normal sort of guy. And he wasn’t like Ronny. She knew he’d never force anything on her. Trust had formed quickly after the way he’d looked out for her last night.
Motorcycle Daddy (MC Daddies Book 1) Page 6
