Being the Bikers' Old Lady

by Marla Monroe

  “I could come in with you if you’d rather not be alone,” he suggested with a wink.

  “Forget it, Buster,” she said, closing the door and locking it.

  “Name’s Butch, sweet thing. Don’t want you screaming out the wrong name later.”

  Delta huffed out a breath and made a face at the door, but she didn’t bother answering the man. That would just thrill him more. She refused to bate him. Instead she checked the toilet to be sure it was still clean, then did her business and washed her hands. Looking around the bathroom, Delta realized it really was pretty clean for a biker clubhouse. It made her wonder what kind of business dealings they had that they bothered with the level of cleanliness they kept.

  Of course, it also depended on the ladies of the place. If they were clean and halfway decent, then they would want a clean place as well. She needed to pay closer attention to the people she would be living with so she could make sure not to step on any toes.

  When she stepped out of the bathroom, Butch still stood outside the door waiting on her. He smiled and placed a hand at the small of her back as he led her the two doors down to their room. Once inside she rounded on him.

  “What are the two of you doing in bed with me? I told you I wasn’t about to sleep with you.” She planted her hands on her hips and looked up at him with as much anger as she could muster when her body was remembering how good it had felt.

  “You were asleep on our bed, and we were tired. Nothing happened. Hell, we still had our clothes on. We don’t normally bother with clothes when we go to sleep, princess,” Butch told her.

  “Come on and sit down, Delta baby. We need to talk.” She stared over at where Walker was sitting on the edge of the bed.

  It was hard to be mad at him for sneaking into bed with her when his hair was all mussed in a sexy, messy kind of way. She strengthened her resolve not to get pulled into their trap and scowled at him.

  “What is it that we need to talk about?” she asked, walking over to the desk chair and sitting down.

  She watched Butch close and lock the door before he walked over to the bed and sat next to his friend. Both men looked seriously unsure about what they were going to say. That worried Delta—a lot. If these two strong men had doubts about something, then Delta needed to be very worried.

  “So? What is it?” she asked again.

  “Well, there’s some good news,” Walker began. Butch frowned and stared at the man. “We’re going to be moving to a suite that has the bathroom in it, so you don’t have to walk down the hall when you need to go.”

  “Okay. That will be nice, but what is the bad news?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at the man.

  Walker looked over at Butch, then shrugged. “We’ve claimed you as our old lady. You’ll be safe and respected that way. No one will harass you or touch you.”

  “You what?” Delta stood up so fast the chair turned over.

  “Hey, calm down, princess. You’ll bust a blood vessel or something. We’re thinking of your safety here,” Butch said.

  “So if I’m not your ‘old lady’” —Delta air quoted that part— “then I’m not safe inside your own club?”

  “Well,” Butch began.

  “Um, not exactly,” Walker said.

  “So which is it?” Delta asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

  She almost snarled when she realized both men watched her arms going over her chest instead of looking her in the eyes.

  “Focus, boys! My face and not my tits. What is going on? Why do I have to be your old lady in order to be safe?”

  Walker dragged his gaze from Delta’s ample breasts and sighed. He knew this was going to be difficult, but he hadn’t expected it to be this tough. He’d thought they could explain she’d be safer this way, and she’d be happy. Butch had been right. She wasn’t going to let them off easy on this.

  “You are perfectly safe here with The Ghost Riders. However, you know bikers. They will push for more anytime they can. Plus, there are only two types of women in a club, sweet butts and old ladies. We thought you would be happier being an old lady than a sweet butt,” Walker said, looking directly at her face.

  “I thought I was being kept safe as a favor to Knuckles. Why would I have to be classified as either?” she asked, glaring at both men.

  This time Butch answered her. “Because there would be fights otherwise. The men are going to want a chance at convincing you to give them a shot at winning you. Normally when we help keep someone safe, it’s a man and not a woman. If we do have a female here, her man’s with her.”

  “Are you saying the men would hit on me every chance they got?” Delta asked in amusement. “Why would you think that would be a problem for me?”

  Walker’s sudden growl as he jumped to his feet startled her. She stepped back, nearly falling over the chair she’d knocked over.

  “You’re not flirting with every biker here and causing havoc. They’d end up fighting over you. Is that what you want? A bunch of men fighting over a piece of your tail?” Walker asked in a deceptively quiet voice. “I didn’t think you were that type of lady. Maybe I was wrong, and you are more of a sweet butt than I thought.”

  “No! I don’t want men fighting over me. How dare you! I just don’t understand why it’s so important that you claim me. Aren’t you the least bit pissed that you’re having to do this? I sure as hell am.” Delta had to fight the tears that threatened to expose just how much it did hurt her.

  She’d been treated like trash when she’d been younger, then found someone she thought was decent and would make a good husband only to find out he was twisted and dangerous. Now she was being forced on two men for her safety and to keep their brothers from fighting one another over her. It did a lot for her self-esteem and feeling of worthiness.

  “It’s only temporary, and then I’ll be out of your hair. I’m sorry you’re having to do this, but I won’t be your plaything while you’re protecting me. Most men screw around on their old ladies anyway. You can keep screwing the sweet butts and no one will think anything of it.” Delta hated how that felt so wrong to her. She didn’t have any emotional attachments to them, but saying those words tore her up for some reason.

  When she walked over to the closet to find the pillow she’d brought with her, Butch caught her arm and pulled her against him.

  “Here with The Ghost Riders we don’t screw around on our old ladies. We respect them too much to do that and have no desire to find relief with anyone but them,” he told her. “Yes. We do resent being forced into this, but it’s something I was already planning to do after we talked to you about it. Dom and Reece beat us to it though. In fact, they made it very public.”

  Delta closed her eyes in disbelief. Why had they done that? Didn’t she deserve a say in the matter? She sighed. No. As a female, she wasn’t anything in the club except for who she was in relation to her old man. In this case, she was the sergeant at arms’ old lady, so she was one of the top old ladies in the club.

  Maybe that was why they’d decided to do it. The sweet butts wouldn’t be able to bother her, and to the men she’d be hands-off. Still, it bothered her. It meant that once she got the bar up and going in the right direction and the threat to her was no longer real, Delta would need to move on. It would be the only way Butch and Walker would be able to “date around” again. How long could they remain celibate when they were used to scratching their itches anytime and all the time they wanted?

  She hadn’t expected this when she’d asked Knuckles if there was somewhere safe she could find a job. All she’d wanted was a job.

  Never fails that if I ask for help it slaps me in the face before it’s over.

  “Fine. I guess there’s nothing I can do about it if I stay here. Sorry you guys got a raw deal out of it.” Delta picked up the chair, then returned to the closet to find her pillow. “When do we move?”

  “Probably anytime we get ready,” Walker said. “I’ll call Reece and find out if it’s ready ye
t.”

  As Delta pulled one of the plastic bins over to the dresser after tossing the pillow on the bed, Butch took another of the bins and started emptying his and Walker’s clothes from the chest of drawers into it. She quickly emptied the drawers of her underwear and T-shirts.

  “What about my hanging clothes?” she asked as Walker got off the phone.

  “We’ll carry them over on the hangers. No need to fold them back up.” Walker dialed another number and waited for someone else to pick up. “Hey, Rhodes. Are you and Vernon busy? We’re moving over to one of the open suites and could use some help.”

  Delta looked at the now full totes again and sighed. “Okay. I’m ready. Where are we going?” She picked up one of the heavy totes and waited for Butch to open the door.

  “Put that down. You’re not moving anything. We’ll do the moving. You just direct where you want it once we get there with it.” Butch took the bin from her with a frown.

  “Okay. Rhodes and Vernon are on their way,” Walker told them. He looked around the room. “If there isn’t a desk there, we’ll take this one with us. Delta will need something to work on when she wants to look over things from home.”

  She stiffened at the word “home.” Was that what this was going to be for her for now? She couldn’t remember ever calling the apartment she’d lived in her home. She’d always referred to it as her apartment. It made her wonder why, but a knock at the door jerked her back to the mess she was in now.

  Butch unlocked the door and opened it to admit the two men she’d met earlier. They both nodded and smiled at her.

  “Congratulations, guys,” Rhodes said. “Jessie can’t wait to meet you, Delta.”

  “Jessie?” She hadn’t heard that name before.

  “She’s their old lady. You’ll like her. She was raised in the lifestyle, too.” Butch squeezed her shoulder.

  “Okay, where do you want to start?” Vernon asked.

  For the next hour, they made trips back and forth to their new rooms. Well, the guys had. Delta was told to stay in the new suite and direct the guys where to put things. She had to admit, the rooms were really nice. The bedroom was quite large, easily handling the king-size bed along with the massive dresser, chest of drawers, bedside tables, and armoire. A small sitting room sat through double French doors on one side of the room with one huge walk-in closet next to the door to the luxurious bathroom.

  On one of his trips from the other room, Vernon told her that after Raven and her men had moved out to the house they’d built, she’d talked them into renovating several of the rooms into suites. She’d said they needed at least two for when they had guests or when someone got hitched and needed a place for their family until they built their own.

  Delta would have to thank the woman when she finally got to meet her. From what she’d heard so far, Raven was six months pregnant and rarely came to the club now. Before, she’d been there nearly every day checking on everyone and making sure things ran smoothly. Now, Jessie and River took care of things until the baby was born. Jessie’s best friend, Ginger, and her men, Ajax and Murdock, were normally out at their place where they ran a training camp of sorts. Ginger was their first-aid instructor and cook.

  She wanted to meet these women who all seemed to be well respected and loved. They sounded like strong women who she would like to be friends with. Of course, becoming friends might be the wrong thing to do. She wouldn’t be here long enough to warrant getting close to the women.

  With that thought, all she wanted to do now was go to the bar and start working on turning it around. She’d talk to the guys about heading over there later to look around. When her belly growled, she realized she’d had nothing to eat since the peanut butter nabs she’d eaten that morning for breakfast. What time was it anyway? Delta pulled out her cell phone and checked. Goodness, it was almost four in the afternoon. No wonder she was starved.

  The red number five indicating she had five missed calls and another eight text messages made her cringe. She checked and found that the majority of them were from her ex. She quickly texted her sister back that she was fine and would talk to her soon. She ignored the others, planning to delete them all once she had some privacy.

  “Okay, guys. That’s it. Thanks for the help,” Walker was saying.

  “Anytime. Looking forward to the celebration. Jessie will enjoy meeting Delta,” Rhodes said.

  Once they were gone she looked at Walker. “What celebration?”

  “The one for us. It’ll be Friday night. Everyone will come with the exception of Raven. I’m not sure her men will let her come since she’s had some trouble with her pregnancy,” Walker told her.

  “How far along is she?”

  “Six months I think,” Butch said. “She’s been on bed rest for a good month, but the doctor just lifted it with the stipulation she can’t stay on her feet too much at any one time.”

  Delta felt for the poor woman. With bikers, she’d be lucky to ever get out of bed at all if they thought it wasn’t good for her.

  “Maybe I can go meet her at home sometime. She sounds like someone who doesn’t take a lot off her men. I can admire that in a woman,” she said with a small smile.

  Walker laughed. “She rules those two with an iron fist and a smile. If it doesn’t concern her health or safety, they pretty much give her whatever she wants.”

  “Don’t let Dom or Reece hear you say that out loud, man. You know how touchy they are about her.” Butch shook his head.

  “So they’re having a celebration for what, you getting an old lady?” she asked, ignoring the warning from Butch.

  “Yeah. Anytime someone hooks up with their old lady or someone has a baby or anything like that, we throw a celebration,” Walker told her.

  “But we aren’t really hooking up. It’s temporary until the threat is over with my ex and I don’t need protecting anymore. Why go to all that trouble when everyone understands that?” she asked.

  Butch and Walker looked at each other with odd expressions. Delta would have said they looked a bit scared, but that would have been stupid since they were men, bikers at that.

  “What?” she finally asked when they didn’t say anything right away.

  “Delta, this isn’t temporary or pretend. It’s completely real. The only ones who know we didn’t demand to claim you is Dom and Reece. Everyone else believes we fell hard for you and wanted you for ourselves. They’ll expect you to be a little resistant and all since we didn’t give you any say, but they’ll all believe it’s the right thing for your safety,” Walker told her.

  “How could you agree to this?” she demanded. “Why would you agree to it?”

  “If we’d said no, then someone else would have taken over as your protection. Irish and Turk had already asked Dom to claim you. They expected us to refuse. Would you have rather they were your men over us?” Butch asked with a frown.

  She liked Turk and Irish, too, for that matter, but not enough to choose them over Butch and Walker. For one thing, they were essentially the best in security, so she knew she was safe with them. The other thing was that while she was fighting it, she was attracted to them where she wasn’t to Irish or Turk. Things had gotten a whole lot more complicated in her already complicated life.

  “No. I would rather have not had to have anyone as my men,” she said, frowning. “Does a lot for my ego that you had to be tricked into taking me on. I shouldn’t care about that with everything going on, but it hurts to be forced on someone like this.”

  “Delta, you weren’t forced on us. If we’d wanted to, we could have backed out. We didn’t want to, though,” Walker told her.

  She looked over at Butch and wasn’t so sure that was entirely true, but she wasn’t going to push the issue right then. She was hungry and irritable because of it. It would be best for all of their sakes if she got something in her belly.

  “Can we table this discussion for later? I really need something to eat. I’m starved. I haven’t eaten since abo
ut seven this morning.”

  “Aw, hell, Delta. We should have fed you before now. We weren’t thinking straight,” Walker said.

  “Dinner should be ready now anyway. We all eat together for the most part, but they keep the food warm until about seven for stragglers,” Butch told her. “Let’s see what they’ve rustled up tonight.

  “After dinner we can talk more about everything, Delta. With you having grown up around bikers, I’m sure you have some idea of the lifestyle, but we’re a little different than most clubs. I want to make sure there aren’t any misunderstandings between the three of us,” Walker said as Butch opened the door.

  “Misunderstandings? Like what?” she asked, frowning.

  “Like we’ll talk after dinner,” Butch interrupted them as several guys joined them in the hall.

  Delta didn’t want to wait to find out what they were talking about, but knew it was pointless to try to push them to answer her with others around. Besides, her stomach took that moment to cramp as the smell of something good drifted from the direction of the kitchen.

  “You okay, darling?” Butch asked, catching her arm when she grabbed her stomach.

  “Yeah. I’m just really hungry.”

  “So are we, sweet thing,” Walker said on the other side of her. “So are we.”

  Chapter Five

  During dinner, the subject of the bar was brought up, and everyone gave their two cents of information and ideas to Delta. By the time they’d finished eating, she’d already talked them into going to the bar later to look it over before she took over running it. Walker wasn’t really on board with that, but since they’d dropped a bomb on her earlier, he was willing to compromise and take her.

  Between him and Butch, they could keep her safe. He wasn’t disappointed when Vernon said he wanted to tag along. Rhodes would stay home with Jessie. Delta seemed oblivious to there being a need for the extra firepower. Walker realized he liked it that way. He didn’t want her always aware of them keeping her safe. He wanted her to like having them around.

  “What time do you want to meet in front?” Vernon asked.