Last Mile

by Katie Ashley

  Gavin waggled his eyebrows. “Don’t think I didn’t notice the way you were just looking at him.”

  “I was assessing the target, smart-ass.”

  “Bullshit. Your panties were getting wet as you thought about what it would be like if you were that woman.”

  What woman wouldn’t? “You’re out of your fucking mind,” I countered.

  Leaning in to whisper in my ear, Gavin said, “I may bat for the other team, but I still know when a woman is hot for a man.”

  Rolling my eyes, I shoved him away. In a low voice, I growled, “He is the target in our case—not to mention the enemy.”

  “Yeah, and hate sex can be hot as hell.”

  “You are impossible.”

  Gavin grinned wickedly at me. “Even though it’s frowned upon, I see nothing wrong with getting a good fuck or two out of him to gain information.”

  “I would slap the hell out of you right now if we weren’t supposed to look like a loving couple.”

  After bestowing a kiss on my cheek, Gavin winked at me. “There’s nothing more I love in life than to irritate the hell out of you.”

  “Asshole,” I replied, although I smiled in spite of myself.

  Nodding at Bishop, Gavin asked, “When he finishes humping that chick, you want me to get the ball rolling and introduce you?” When I cocked my eyebrows at him, he held up a hand. “I meant the ball rolling for the case, not for you to actually get busy with him. Jeez, Vargas, I can be serious when I have to be.”

  “Yeah, and part of you really enjoyed the double meaning in all that.”

  Gavin grinned. “Maybe.” The song started to wind down. “So, do we make a move now?”

  My gaze once again returned to Bishop. “No. Not yet.”

  “You got something in mind?” Gavin questioned.

  I finally tore my gaze from Bishop to look at Gavin. “I need to unsettle him a bit before I make my move.”

  “Sounds like a good plan.”

  “I wouldn’t exactly call it a plan.” Looking back at Bishop, I smiled. “It’s more like a game. One that I know just how to play to win.”

  With a wink, Gavin said, “You know your game, Vargas. Go roll the dice.”

  FOUR

  BISHOP

  For the hundredth fucking time, I felt eyes on me, stalking my every move. The extra scrutiny sent the hair on the backs of my arms tingling. If I had been anywhere else but inside the safety of the clubhouse and among my brothers, the freaky feeling would have had me reaching inside my cut to palm my gun. But in this case, I knew I wasn’t in any real danger.

  Casually, I glanced over my shoulder to take in the crowd. The clubhouse was at full capacity for a Saturday night. The house band was cranking out tunes, and couples were in the middle of the floor bumping and grinding. With Rev gone on his honeymoon and Deacon off on a Brownies’ camping trip with his daughter, Willow, I was the only Malloy in residence. Though our president and vice president were gone, it didn’t stop the remaining Raiders from having one of our weekend parties.

  Even without looking, I could have guessed who was eyeballing me. A month ago, a new mechanic had started at the garage where I was apprenticing. His name was Marley, and he was former army. That alone made me respect the hell out of him, but then that respect grew one day when we were eating lunch and shooting the shit. I discovered he was a motorcycle enthusiast whose knowledge of bikes could put some of the Raiders to shame. Then a week ago he gained my complete and total respect by saving my ass.

  I was doing an oil change on a Dodge Challenger when a man came stalking up. He looked vaguely familiar, as though I might’ve seen him at the garage before. “Can I help you?”

  “Yeah, you’re the fucker who screwed up my car.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “The transmission is shot to hell now. I realize you’re new and everything, but I don’t know how the fuck you managed to screw it up so bad.”

  “Sir, your car was fine when you left. I don’t know how you could possibly think I did something wrong.”

  The man’s face darkened. “I don’t give a rat’s ass what you think. Get me your boss. Now.”

  I bit my tongue to tell the man he could go fuck himself, which would have been the way I once handled the situation. But since I was trying to turn over a new leaf, I grumbled, “One second.” I brushed past Marley, who had come out from underneath the car he had been working on. Knocking on my boss’s door, I called, “Rick?”

  He glanced up from a pile of invoices. “Yeah?”

  “There’s a dude who wants to see you.” When Rick raised his eyebrows questioningly, I sighed. “He thinks I fucked up his car.”

  “Did you?”

  “Hell no. It was just a standard oil change and tire rotation. When I told him his check-engine light was on, he told me it was because of the oil.”

  After grunting in frustration, Rick rose out of his chair. I stepped aside for him to come out the door and then I followed him down the hall. Once the man saw him, he started ranting and raving about how during the oil change I had screwed up his transmission.

  He was halfway through his tirade when Marley stepped forward. “You’re full of shit.”

  The man’s jaw dropped. “Excuse me?” he demanded.

  Crossing his arms over his chest, Marley said, “There’s no way in hell Bishop could have done the damage you’re talking about.”

  “Is that so?”

  Marley nodded and then looked at Rick. “The guy came in here with a car wheezing like a two-pack-a-day smoker. Anything wrong with his transmission was already there, with the car wheezing like that.”

  Rick glanced from Marley to me. “Did you notice the noise, too?”

  I grimaced. “No, I didn’t.”

  “In Bishop’s defense, he was in the back when the guy pulled up. He wouldn’t have been able to diagnose that,” Marley said.

  It was my turn for my jaw to drop at Marley stretching the truth for me. Yeah, I had been doing inventory, but I still should have heard the noise when the guy drove away. I didn’t know where in the hell my head had been that day to miss something like that. When I met Marley’s gaze, he cocked his head at me as if daring me to go against his story. I bobbed my head in agreement.

  The man sputtered with indignation. “That doesn’t mean shit. He still fucked up my car!”

  Rick narrowed his eyes. “You must think I’m an idiot if you really think you can screw up a transmission that bad through a simple oil change. Get the hell out of here, and don’t ever come around here trying to scam me again.”

  After the man left and Rick went back to his office, Marley and I were alone. When he started to go back to work, I stopped him. “Why did you lie for me?”

  “I wouldn’t exactly call it lying—it was more like stretching the truth.”

  “Then why did you stretch the truth for me?”

  Marley smiled. “We’ve all been the new guy once. Yeah, you probably should have noticed the wheezing when he pulled out of here, but maybe you were just having an off day. Maybe your mind was somewhere else. Hell, maybe you had to take a leak or a dump really bad and couldn’t think of anything else.”

  “Hey, now.” I laughed.

  With a chuckle, Marley added, “That one little fact doesn’t mean you aren’t a damn good mechanic who knows his cars.”

  “I never would have fucked up with a motorcycle,” I grumbled.

  “That’s probably true, considering what a hard-on you have for bikes, but I guarantee you’ll never miss a transmission issue ever again.”

  “Fuck no.” I held out my hand to him. “Thanks, man. I owe you one.”

  He pumped my hand up and down. “You’re welcome.” After dropping my hand, he started back to the car he had been working on. Staring at his back, I thought about what kind of man he was and couldn’t help thinking he would make a great member of the Raiders one day. After everything that had gone down with Mendoza, we were actively looking to
bring in a few new guys to steady things until the heat wore off. We were still slowly and surely moving toward being legitimate, and Marley’s character would certainly fit in with our new direction.

  All it had taken was a call to my brother during my next break. Rev had answered on the third ring. “What’s up, B?” he’d asked.

  “I wanted to run something by you.”

  “Shoot.”

  “I think I got a lead on a good hang-around.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah.” Then I’d given Rev the lowdown on Marley. “Think it’d be okay to invite him to a party so we can feel him out?”

  “Sure. Why not? We’ll put Archer on his ass pronto. You know how he thinks he can sniff out rats.”

  I laughed. “Okay. Sounds good.”

  After I’d hung up with Rev, I put my phone back in my pocket and went inside. Marley was underneath a car that was up on the hydraulics.

  “Hey, you ever think about joining a motorcycle club?” I asked.

  Marley had glanced at me over his shoulder. “Maybe. Why?”

  “I just happen to be part of one. Actually, I’m a little more than a part of one. I’m an officer in the Hells Raiders.”

  “I think I might’ve heard of them.”

  “You probably didn’t hear anything too good about them.”

  Turning around, Marley had said, “Heard a bit.”

  My eyebrows rose at his summation. “Yeah, well, maybe everything you heard wasn’t true.”

  “I’m listening.”

  I’d walked over to him so I could lower my voice. “It’s a long process to join. You have to start at the very bottom as a hang-around. Then if everyone agrees, we could let you prospect. That’s the hardest part of joining because you basically get treated like everyone’s bitch.”

  Marley had smiled and shrugged. “Yeah, I’ve heard some shit about the prospecting period. To be honest, I’ve never really given the whole club scene a lot of thought. I just love to ride.”

  “That’s what the club is really all about.”

  Marley had appeared thoughtful for a couple of minutes. “Maybe I could give it a try.”

  “I’m glad to hear you say that.” I’d made sure we were completely alone before saying anything further. “Look, we’re having a party this Saturday night. Why don’t you come and see what you think?”

  Marley had seemed to weigh my words for a few moments before he nodded. “Okay. That sounds good.”

  From his table across the room in the clubhouse, Marley worked on draining another beer. I’d found him the table earlier and insisted on buying him a beer. I owed him at least that much for saving my ass. I’d introduced him to several of the guys, and he seemed to be enjoying himself. I’d meant to sit down with him, but my newest piece of ass had come up and insisted we dance. My dick couldn’t seem to tell her no.

  But the stares I was getting weren’t coming from Marley. In fact, he hadn’t glanced in my direction all night. No, it was the fine-as-hell woman beside him who had been doing her best at eye-fucking me.

  Tonight was the first night I had had the pleasure and the pain of meeting Marley’s girlfriend. He’d mentioned her in passing during our lunchtime conversations. I hadn’t paid too close attention, so I couldn’t remember if her name was Sandy or Samantha. Since she was his age, she had at least five years on me, and that fact made me want to volunteer to be her cougar cub.

  If there was one word to describe her looks, it was exotic. Sure, she was probably more an ethnic mutt than anything, but it made for one hell of an attractive combination. She looked more Hispanic than anything else, but her almond-shaped eyes gave her an Asian appearance. I hadn’t failed to notice that she had turned the heads of more than one of my brothers tonight. I just hoped the leering looks hadn’t pissed off Marley.

  When she realized I was looking at her, a catlike smile curved her ruby-red lips. She tossed some strands of her silky jet-black hair over her shoulder. Sitting beside her, Marley didn’t act as if he noticed anything that she was doing.

  Even though he wasn’t a patch-wearing brother, I still shouldn’t have been giving her the eye. You didn’t fuck around with women who belonged to your brothers. It usually led to trouble of the fist-flying kind. And even though there were more than enough hot pieces of available ass here, I couldn’t help letting my mind wander to places it shouldn’t with that woman.

  My ears perked up at the sound of a baby’s cry. I knew the cry very well, since it belonged to my nephew, Wyatt. As I headed across the main room of the roadhouse, I could see Alexandra in the doorway to the kitchen, walking around, trying to pacify the fussy baby.

  “What’s wrong with the little man?” I asked.

  Alexandra huffed out a frustrated breath. “I have no idea. He’s just been fed and had his diaper changed, but he insists on being whiny.” She kissed the top of her son’s dark-haired head. “Truth be told, I think he’s sick of me. With Deacon gone camping with Willow, he’s had no one else to amuse him the past three days.”

  “Here, let me take him.”

  Alexandra’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “Really?” When I nodded, she passed him into my waiting arms. He immediately dried up the sniffling and gazed into my face. “Who knew you were so good with babies?” Alexandra mused.

  With a wink, I added, “Nah, it’s more about the fact that he’s had too much tit time. He needs to be with some men for a while.”

  “You’re terrible,” she replied, smacking my arm playfully.

  “You love me, though,” I teased.

  Alexandra leaned over and bestowed a kiss on my cheek. “Yes, I do. Very much.” Patting Wyatt’s back, she then said, “Bring him to me when you get tired of him or he gets tired of you.”

  “Sure thing.”

  As I walked Wyatt around the main room, several of my brothers stopped to talk to us while their old ladies or girlfriends cooed at Wyatt. Although he was all Alexandra when it came to looks, Wyatt was like his old man and knew how to work a crowd. He grinned and waved his hands, drawing smiles from everyone we talked to.

  “What a little cutie,” a voice said behind me.

  I turned around to find my eye-fucker standing behind me. Damn, she was even more smokin’ hot up close. “Thanks.”

  “Is he yours?” she asked.

  “Oh hell no. He’s my brother’s.”

  She smiled as she reached out to stroke Wyatt’s chubby cheek. “I take it you don’t have any of your own.”

  “That would once again be a hell no.”

  “You’re awfully good with him.”

  “I like kids just as long as they belong to someone else,” I answered honestly. When Wyatt reached for her, she looked at me to gauge my response. “Sure. You can hold him.”

  Wyatt happily dove into her waiting arms. “Aren’t you a charmer?” she murmured, to which Wyatt gurgled happily.

  “I don’t think we’ve met,” I said as she sweet-talked Wyatt.

  “I’m Samantha.”

  Extending my hand, I said, “I’m Bishop.”

  “Nice to meet you,” she said as she balanced Wyatt in one arm and shook my hand with the other.

  From her introduction, I knew she was as new to the MC lifestyle as Marley was. Most of the women we associated with knew that when introducing themselves, they were to say which man they belonged to and, depending on the type of party, which chapter her man belonged to. “You’re Marley’s girlfriend.”

  She nodded. “I am.”

  “I’ve heard lots about you.”

  Her dark eyebrows rose in suspicion. “You have?”

  With a wink, I replied, “It was all good. I promise.”

  Samantha smiled. “I’m glad to hear that.”

  “I take it this is your first MC party?”

  “Yeah. It is.”

  “And what do you think about it?”

  After glancing around the room, she answered, “It’s interesting.”

  I l
aughed. “This one is pretty tame. Wait until you go to a rally.”

  “How’s a rally different?”

  “Well, it’s more of a drunken free-for-all with lots of half-naked people hooking up in the broad daylight.” When she widened her eyes, I added, “It has to be seen to be believed.”

  After wrinkling her nose, she said, “Somehow I don’t know if I like the sound of that.”

  “You’ll get used to it. Especially if Marley becomes a prospect.”

  She nodded. “I mean, don’t get me wrong. I do love a good party. I’m just not sure I want to see a bunch of naked strangers getting it on.” With a grin, she added, “I can see better porn from the comfort of my own home.”

  I laughed. “I like your way of thinking.”

  It was at that moment Marley appeared. “Hey, B, I see you finally got to meet my girl.”

  “You’re a lucky man,” I replied.

  Marley shot me a broad grin before leaning over to plant a smacking kiss on Samantha’s lips, which caused her to jerk back slightly. Her reaction seemed a little weird, but then she gave him a beaming smile. “I guess I better hand over this cutie,” she said. After I took Wyatt back from her, she said, “Thanks for letting me hold him.”

  “Anytime.”

  She then slid her arm around Marley’s waist as they started away from me. Just as they got halfway across the room, she glanced over her shoulder at me, giving me that catlike smile again. I jerked my chin up at her in acknowledgment.

  When she turned her head, I groaned, which caused Wyatt to glance up at me in surprise. I smiled at him. “Little Man, your uncle is in deep shit.”

  I spent the rest of the evening trying not to think, least of all fantasize, about Samantha. It was a losing battle. Even as I tried occupying my mind by making the rounds and talking to other club members, I couldn’t stop thinking about her. Most of the thoughts involved having her on her back while pounding her senseless.

  After about an hour of trying to avoid her and my out-of-control sexual thoughts, I somehow managed to end up at the pool table where she and Marley were playing. Just as I thought about running away, Marley handed me his stick. “Why don’t you try a round? I’m getting my ass kicked and my wallet fleeced at the moment.”