by Karen Renee
Melissa’s mouth popped open. “You have not been to his house, and you’re just guessing he has a boat.”
I did a marginal nod canting my head to the side. “You’re so tight at the club, ask Blood or Abby about how we were being exhibitionists on his boat this past Sunday.”
Then to my utter dismay, her hand shot out and smacked me as she screamed, “You bitch!”
Her other hand went into my hair and yanked. After the run-in with Bush, I wasn’t letting anyone abuse my hair. I launched a swift ascending right elbow at her chin, and was satisfied to hear her teeth clatter. Her hand in my hair dropped and I was lifted in the air from behind.
Suddenly, I found myself standing outside the two front doors to Rounder’s. Volt was telling Jackie to get my purse, and I could hear Melissa nearby yelling for the manager.
“Cal, you saw what that cunt did!”
Cal rumbled, “Yeah, I saw it was self defense after you bitch-slapped her. Tell you for the last time. You have no claim on me. I mean none. Haven’t touched your sorry ass in over a year. Pull more shit like this, I’ll put it to a vote to ban your ass.”
I felt a presence to my right and looked up to see Vamp grinning.
Then he murmured to me, “Mal, I’m thinkin’ you need to read How to Win Friends and Influence People.”
I narrowed my eyes at him and said, “Don’t be a smartass, Vamp.”
I realized that there were other things going on around me, and I suddenly cried out, “Wait a minute! How did she know I’d be here? For that matter, how did she know who I am?”
Melissa gave me another sneer. “I heard Jackie say she was going to trivia with Volt and that Cal was going to meet them here. I got a table, and then I watched you walk in here with him. What the hell he sees in you, I’ll never know. You are not old lady material.”
Volt stepped up to Melissa and I could just barely hear him say, “With this behavior, you can bet your ass that every brother in the Riot MC will hear about how you aren’t old lady material. You’ve let your mouth overload your ass, Melissa. If Cal makes Mallory his old lady and you bitch-slap her again, it won’t take a fuckin’ vote. You’re out. Now, get gone.”
Melissa looked like she wanted to say something to either me or Volt, but she kept her mouth shut. She turned and walked into the parking lot. Jackie came out of the restaurant with my purse. Cal took my purse from her, and then, putting an arm around my waist, he steered me to the Mustang.
* * * * *
I was sitting in my favorite armchair with an ice pack on my elbow. Turns out hitting someone on their jaw with your elbow hurts like hell afterwards. I was waiting for Cal to come into the living room. We had just finished the burritos we picked up from Moe’s on our way home. We ate in silence, and I couldn’t decide if the silence was an effort on Cal’s part to calm his temper, or if it was just uncomfortable to talk about this woman. I had questions about him and the picture of me he saw on Gavin’s desk. I also wanted to know why it was Volt who carried me out of Rounder’s and why Cal had to carry Melissa out of the restaurant. It seemed like it should have been the other way around. Had he really been with her just three weeks ago? For some reason, I thought I heard something different when we were standing outside Rounder’s, but I was so amped up on adrenaline that not much was making total sense. I definitely needed to know what the story was on Melissa, first and foremost. That was a straightforward conversation. I was contemplating how I was going to ask him about the picture business. It seemed kind of stalker-ish. Who sees a picture of someone on their wedding day, and says, ‘There’s a lucky bastard.’? The problem was, I wanted answers, but I didn’t want a confrontation.
Cal had offered to take out the trash for me when we finished eating, so I was waiting for him to come back in from my garage. I heard the door open and close.
“You want another beer, Mal?” Cal asked from the entryway to the kitchen.
“No, thanks.”
He turned, and I heard the refrigerator door open and shut. He came into the living room and propped a hip on the arm of my chair. “What gives, sweet cheeks? Don’t let her get in your head. That’s exactly what she wants.”
I took a deep breath. “I wouldn’t say she’s in my head. I’ve got a few things I want to ask you about, but I don’t want it to get confrontational.”
Cal let out a long exhale, and then said, “You can ask, but I can’t guarantee that it won’t get confrontational. This question have to do with something Melissa said? ‘Cause I can straight up tell you, she’s a pathological liar.”
Putting the ice pack on the arm of the chair, I tucked my legs under me and looked up at Cal. “The first part has something to do with her, and the other thing has nothing to do with her. She said you and her had been getting together regularly until three weeks ago. She said once you get over your taste for yuppie pussy, that you’d be begging for her again. Is that true?”
Cal took his hip off the chair arm, and then deftly scooped me out of it. Then he sat himself on the chair and arranged me on his lap. I squirmed and tried to get away from him, but his arms tightened like a vice around my torso.
“I ain’t havin’ this conversation with you sitting across from me or in some other way. You said you didn’t want a confrontation. I want you with me when we talk about this. That means you sitting right here with me for this. You got it?”
I took a very deep breath. I let it go slowly and said, “I got it.”
“Now, hear this, Mallory. I don’t want you bringing it up again later. I like sex and I like it frequently. It’s rare that I’m exclusive, but since I met you three weeks ago, you’re the only person I’ve been with. I’m always careful, and I’m clean. We covered that Sunday night. I haven’t had a damn thing to do with Melissa sexually for over a year.
“I mentioned it outside the restaurant, but you didn’t catch it. She wants to be an old lady, badly. The thing she can’t understand is that she’s not old lady material. She’s impulsive, and she runs her mouth. In my world, I make someone my old lady, that woman is a reflection on me. She’s mine. She’s my property, but she’s still a woman and if she steps out of line no man’s gonna fuck with her. They’re gonna fuck with me, because like I said, what an Old Lady does is a reflection on her Old Man. I’m not about to take on that kind of shit for a skank like Melissa. Does that clear this up for you?”
“In a way. I mean, the ways of your ‘world’ are still a little Neanderthal to me, but whatever. Next: why did Volt physically pick me up and move me out of Rounder’s, and why did you move Melissa? I don’t get it, cause it seems like that should have been reversed. And third, what about you having a taste for yuppie pussy, and you’d get over that? Am I just some kind of conquest for you? Needing a little variety in your sexual repertoire?”
I felt Cal’s body get rigid. He squeezed the middle of my right thigh, and then he said, “Volt and I saw Melissa approach you when you came back inside. I know she’s a good three inches taller than you, and I’ve seen how she eats and drinks. Figure, she’s got to weigh more than you. Volt’s strong, but whether he wants to admit it or not, I’m stronger. Melissa’s good at catfighting, and I had no idea how you would respond. Volt said he had you, and for me to take care of Melissa in case she kept at you. It had nothing to do with any prior history or some bullshit. It just made sense in the moment.”
I gave Cal a slight nod since that made sense to me.
He continued, “As for the last part of what you just said, you are not some kind of conquest. I told you six nights ago, when we had sex, you became my woman. I meant it. You’re the only woman I’ve put on the back of my bike. You’re the only woman I’ve taken out on my boat alone, and you’re the only woman who’s driven my car. I want to see where this can go, Mallory. And I’m thinkin’ it might have what it takes to go somewhere really fuckin’ good. Like I said, don’t let her get in your head. Sayin’ bullshit like what she said to you is exactly how she hopes to weasel her way into your thin
king. Do not let her do it. Can you do that?”
I pressed my lips together. Everything he said was good. It didn’t sound rehearsed, but it did seem a little too pat and more than a little too soon. Seriously, after just three weeks, he thinks we have what it takes to go somewhere really good? I could feel myself falling for him, but it was hard for me to believe the same of Cal.
Before I could mull that over any further he asked, “What’s the other thing you wanted to ask me about?”
I tilted my head down slightly and then said, “It’s about the day you hired the guys. You said something to Gavin about a picture of me and Greg. I mean, is that why you goaded me into trivia? You saw my picture on Gavin’s desk and he told you my husband was dead, so you thought you’d give it a go with a widow?”
He ran a hand down his face and then he said, “I gotta stop you right there. You don’t want a confrontation, I get that. But if you don’t want a confrontation with me then don’t talk to me in a confrontational way, and let me tell you, you’re close to doing just that. To answer your first question, yeah. It’s part of why I goaded you into trivia. The fact is, you’re easy to rile up, and don’t ask me why, but riling you up is a shitload of fun to me.”
He looked at me hard and sighed. “I shouldn’t tell you this next stuff yet, but seriously, I saw that picture of you laughing. You were so damn gorgeous, but what woman isn’t on her wedding day? So, I had to calm my first impression. Then you were hemmin’ and hawin’ at Gavin about not coming to trivia ‒as usual‒ according to Quinton. I took Gavin’s phone and your voice hit me hard. You arguing with me right outta the gate was a one-two punch. You stormin’ into Rounder’s, almost takin’ me out doin’ that, and then you gave me that shy sweet ‘excuse me’. I felt that in my dick.”
I was pressing my lips together in an attempt to not grin at him. I took a breath to speak, but Cal put a finger on my lips.
“Then, you went and argued with Blondie like nobody’s business. Sayin’ what me and my brothers already knew to be true, but quotin’ the ladies’ fuckin’ handbook. That was fuckin’ spectacular in my mind. I spent over a week trying to forget about having you on the back of my bike. I had never had fender-fluff on my bike before.”
“Fender-fluff? Are you serious?”
Cal gave a slight snort. “I don’t make up the slang, woman. Anyway, that’s why I hassled Gavin for your number. You know all the rest, babe. Now, do I still sound ‘stalker-ish?’”
I grinned at him. “Not especially. It’s almost cute.”
Cal’s hand had been rubbing my ass absently. After my comment, he pinched my right buttcheek, hard.
“Hey! What was that for?”
Cal pecked my lips. “I’m many things, baby. ‘Cute’ isn’t one of them.”
“I have one more question.”
“Shoot.”
“We’re going to Bike Week, for a whole week.”
Cal looked at me askance. “That’s not a question, woman.”
I exhaled dramatically. “I know that. But how are we going to fit my luggage and whatever luggage you have on your bike. There’s no way it’s going to fit in those saddlebags.”
Cal chuckled. “You forgot that your girl, Tasha, is coming with us too, so my bike is out. Don’t you worry about it, sweet cheeks. We’re takin’ a cage and towing my bike behind us. Not sure if we’re ridin’ with Volt or Blood yet. Pretty much up to Volt. He’s not sure if he can take a full hour in the Hummer with the three of you. Think he said you’re a bad influence on Jackie.”
I gave Cal’s shoulder a playful swat. “He did not!”
Cal chuckled again. “No, he didn’t, but you’re cute when you’re mad.”
I stood up and my hands immediately settled on my hips. “I am not.”
“Whatever you say, but I’ve got a serious question for you.”
I gave him an almost-sideways glance and then I said, “You do?”
“Oh, yeah. Where did you learn to throw such a powerful ascending elbow?”
My eyebrows furrowed as I almost didn’t know what he was talking about, and then I remembered my confrontation with Melissa. I could feel my face relax and I had to fight off the smile threatening to breakout.
With slightly tipped-up lips, I said, “I learned it from my kickboxing instructor. Though to be fair, we never do one-on-one combat or even work with heavy bags, but nevertheless, he was always very good about painting a verbal picture about an opponent right in front of us and possibly one behind if need be, and all that jazz. It’s a really great class. You should come with me some time.”
Cal leaned forward in the armchair and aimed his hazel eyes up at me. “I’ll keep that in mind, sweet cheeks, but seriously, I’m the Sergeant-at-Arms for my club. I know a thing or two about throwing punches and elbows if need be. If I go to that class with you some time, it will only be to watch you and your magnificent hips move to the music.”
Reflexively, my head tilted to the left, and then I was shaking my head while I said, “You are something else, Cal. Heaven forbid if you came to a class at my gym in order to stay in shape or work muscles you don’t normally use.”
Cal went from leaning forward to standing directly in front of me. His hands clamped on my hips and he dipped his head toward mine to say, “Not too many muscles I don’t use, woman. Don’t need a class at a gym to figure that out. Let’s go to your bedroom so I can demonstrate how skilled I am with all of my various muscles you think I don’t normally use.”
Chapter 24
My weekday wake-up time is six-fifteen, but my eyes slowly opened half an hour early; I thought I heard my doorbell ring. Occasionally, I would wake up in the middle of the night thinking I had heard the bell, only to realize it was a dream. I was thinking that was the case again. I tried to slowly adjust myself so I could fall back asleep. Cal was lying on his side, and his arm was resting on the hollow between my rib cage and my hips. Our legs were tangled together. It was a great way to wake up, and I felt a strange, warm feeling in my chest begin to bloom. I was definitely falling for this man, falling for him so quickly, it was hard for me to know if the feeling was mutual. I shut that thought process down so I could get another twenty or thirty minutes of sleep. Then I heard the doorbell again. Definitely not a dream this time, and Cal’s hand latched onto my hips.
He said in a sleepy grumble, “Shit. I forgot to tell you, sweet cheeks. Vamp’s pickin’ me up ’round six this morning. I got tons of shit to do in preparation for Daytona.”
I sighed. “Why’s he got to pick you up?”
“You’re gonna keep driving my car today, but like I said, I got to get a jump on shit for Daytona.” Cal raised himself up on an elbow to get a look at my clock. “Jesus, he’s never early, but this morning he’s early. Cocksucker. Let me go let him in.”
I was learning that Cal was not much of a morning person. Cal pulled on his jeans, sans underwear, and then I heard him pad out to the front door. I was wearing a modest purple tank-top style nightie with beige lace at the top and bottom. I got out of bed and went into the kitchen to get out some Keurig K-cups so Cal and Vamp could have coffee. I brought down three mugs, and when I turned around Vamp was standing at the entryway to my kitchen. He was wearing a black long-sleeved Nine Inch Nails t-shirt with tight-fitting black jeans. His vivid blue eyes raked down my body, and a shit-eating grin crossed his lips.
I fought not to fidget, and said awkwardly, “Um, good morning. I’ve got K-cups on the counter if you want coffee or I have chai latte K-cups if you’re into that.”
Maybe it was the effect of his eyebrow ring glinting in the light, but for whatever reason Vamp’s hard gaze seemed to intensify with the eyebrow lift he gave me. Then he said, “I’m into many things, Mal. If it weren’t worth the trouble I’d get from Cal, I’d show you what I’d really like to be into right now.”
I could hear the master bathroom door open, so I scooted around Vamp and back into the bedroom. Cal was in the process of putting on h
is Jaguars long-sleeve shirt, but I could see the waistband of his boxer briefs peeking out of the top of his low-slung jeans. I guess going commando was not something he did regularly. Cal gave me an assessing look and I watched his lips purse slightly.
“I like your sleepwear, babe. But for future reference, you don’t run around in those kinds of threads when Vamp’s around. Got me?”
I gave him a strained smile, and said, “Yeah. I got you. Lesson learned.”
Cal gave me an arched eyebrow in silent question.
“No biggie. Just wasn’t fully awake when I ran out to do the nice hostess thing and offer you two some coffee.”
Cal and Vamp left my house a little after six twenty. This put me five minutes behind schedule, but since it was casual Friday, it wasn’t a big deal. I showered and blew my hair dry as usual. I threw on some jeans and a cable-knit, fire engine red cotton sweater. My faux Doc Martens were my new lifesavers, since they were inoffensive in the workplace but still fashionable with my jeans and sweater. I packed up my lunch and wolfed down some vanilla Greek yogurt with bran cereal sprinkled on top.
I had my purse placed in the passenger seat of Cal’s Mustang when I realized I forgot to set the alarm. I went back into the house and set it. I shut the door to the house behind me, and then pressed the wall-mounted button to open the garage door. I was moving to the back of the Mustang as the door opened and I noticed a vehicle was parked outside the garage door.
As the door opened higher and higher, I recognized the vehicle was Gwen’s SUV. She had one leg out of the open door. She stepped out of her vehicle waving a limp piece of white paper at her side. Her hair was combed, but looked like it was wet from a recent shower. She was wearing black capri pants and a yellow ribbed three-quarter sleeve shirt.
She immediately said in a chirpy voice, “Mallory! I’m so happy I was able to catch you. I thought you had already left for work. I was going to leave you a note, but now I won’t have to.”
She waved the piece of paper and then placed it inside her SUV. She moved forward three steps and stopped when she saw Cal’s Mustang.
