OLIN (A Brikken Motorcycle Club Saga Book 3)

by Debra Kayn

  "Come on in. We're in the kitchen." Johanna put the basket on the counter.

  Lindsay peeked around the door and stepped inside. "Walking across the bridge, I thought maybe you guys decided to go out and not call me. The field in front of the clubhouse is practically empty."

  "We'd never leave you out of our plans." Johanna reached into the basket and took out a pile of towels. "These go in the master bath."

  Ashley stepped forward and took the bundle. She needed to move away from the conversation before she brought everyone down.

  After putting the towels away, Ashley paused in the bedroom. Johanna kept a neat house. Everything had its place. Towels in the bathrooms. The bed made. Makeup in small containers on the dresser.

  She studied the closet. The only thing that kept Johanna from being called a neat-freak was her disorganization when it came to her closet. Ashley walked over and shut the doors to the mess of scattered clothes and piles of shoes and boots. Having lived with Johanna when they were fresh out of high school, she was used to all her little habits.

  She returned to the kitchen and found Lindsay pouring drinks.

  Johanna returned. "There's a platter of fruit in the fridge and pinwheel sandwiches."

  "I'll get them." Ashley brought out the food and set everything on the table.

  All three women took a seat. Ashley calmed down from her earlier spat with Olin. Since she was seven years old and Johanna walked into her and Lindsay's school, the three of them had been close.

  It helped that Johanna had lived two houses down from their home—the one Olin now lived in. She and Lindsay regarded Johanna as a sister.

  From an early age, they all realized they'd come together because they were strong females.

  Strong females with more baggage than anyone could've suspected. And, they relied on each other during the low times, celebrated the highs, and through a weird coincidence, their families mingled.

  Johanna, at eight years old, had come to live with one of Chief's women he kept on the side, later to be moved in with Karla, who was Olin, Jett, and Thorn's mom. Because she and her sister were childhood friends with Johanna, she got to know Olin. He had finally noticed her when she was sixteen, and the rest was history. At thirty-nine years old, she was still living the life she'd created as a teenager.

  The same people.

  The same chosen family.

  This was the life she wanted.

  She sat down at the oblong table in front of a placemat designed for children in mind and picked a chunk of pineapple off the platter. As the sweet tartness coated her tongue, it hit her that Olin was out of touch, out of view, out of hearing from her for a whole week.

  And, she missed him already.

  "How's the new job going?" Johanna wiped her hands off on a napkin.

  "Unbelievably easy." Ashley finished chewing and swallowed. "Not that it isn't challenging but the women I work for are wonderful, and I actually look forward to working with the customers."

  "You have been in a better mood lately." Lindsay held a rolled sandwich between her fingers.

  "It's a lot nicer to work with people who want their car fixed rather than people coming in to get a divorce. The whole atmosphere is different at Shechanics." She wiped the juice off her hand.

  Johanna leaned back in her chair. "It sounds like you're happy there."

  She nodded. "I just couldn't take working with the attorneys any longer. The male clients viewed me as a joke—"

  "Not a joke." Lindsay planted her elbows on the table. "What they were doing to you was sexual harassment, and if your bosses couldn't see that, they had the problem."

  "Yeah." She picked up a strawberry. "Did I tell you Derek came into the shop? He needed his Beemer worked on. Talk about awkward."

  The attorney that'd hired her right out of high school believed she'd always be there. She'd become his personal assistant, his secretary, plus worked in the office for the other two attorney's who'd joined the firm.

  She'd finally had enough when the third client of the week hit on her, believing she was free for the taking. Olin had told her for years what was happening, but she couldn't see it. Until she could, and she'd dealt with it by quitting. It'd been the best decision she'd made.

  "You didn't tell your old boss where you were going to work?" asked Johanna.

  She shook her head. "Nope. But, it felt good to show him that I hadn't hit rock bottom like he suspected when I handed in my resignation."

  While she was sure the attorney's viewed working for an automotive repair shop beneath a lawyer's firm, she'd reached an age where happiness in her life mattered.

  "So, catch me up on what's been happening with you, Lindsay." Johanna sipped her drink. "Last I heard, you had a date with some guy from the gym you go to."

  "Brutus." Lindsay groaned. "Nightmare."

  Ashley snorted. "Tell me that isn't really his name."

  "No, it was Bruce." Lindsay shuddered. "He kept asking what color of panties I had on, so I called it quits after dinner. I also think he lied when we connected on that dating site. He looked like he was twenty-five years old, not forty-five."

  "I hope you made him pay for the meal." Johanna laughed. "Gah, I can't even imagine dating nowadays."

  "That's because you've been with Chief your whole life," said Ashley, throwing a blueberry at her friend.

  "I'd love to skip the whole dating scene, but I'd like to have someone as a companion when I'm old and bitter." Lindsay sighed. "I feel the clock ticking. I'm going to be forty-one in another month. When did that happen?"

  "I hit the big four-O the month after that." Johanna dipped her chin. "Look at my hair. Do you see any gray?"

  "No." Ashley laughed. "You highlight your hair."

  "I dread wrinkles more than gray hair." Lindsay trailed her finger over her forehead. "You can't hide them."

  "You two sound like old ladies." Ashley grinned, rubbing it in that she was two years younger than Lindsay and one year younger than Johanna.

  "Just you wait." Lindsay shook her head. "Every day, there's something else happening on my body to remind me of my age."

  Ashley drank from the cup. "By the way, what is in this drink?"

  "Vodka." Johanna lifted up her glass. "Good, huh?"

  "Mm." She took another drink. "Really good."

  Just like that, she put falling back in bed with Olin behind her. The others lifted her out of beating herself up over her weakness. And, the drink. The drink was delicious.

  "How was the visit with your mom?" Johanna stood and walked into the kitchen. "I never would've interrupted her stay with you by calling about going to the Farmer's Market in town if I had known she was there. Though, it was nice to catch up with her when she answered my call. She sounds like she's doing well."

  "She only spent half a day with us." Lindsay held out her glass when Johanna returned with a pitcher. "We were surprised she didn't spend that time cleaning the house. It's still hard for her to accept that she's moved on with her life and we're now the homeowners."

  "Hey, I wouldn't knock it if she had wanted to clean." Ashley pushed her cup across the surface of the table. "Then, we wouldn't have to answer a hundred questions about dad that we can't answer."

  "She's still seeing him on the sly behind the new wife's back?" Johanna sat down when the front door opened.

  Ashley shrugged. "Who knows. She doesn't—"

  "Mom?"

  "In here, Stassi," said Johanna, mouthing sorry to Ashley for the interruption.

  Stassi hurried into the room, spotted everyone, and approached her mom. "Chief's taking me to Darigold Dairy for ice cream if you say it's okay. Can I go?"

  "Wear your helmet." Johanna looked past her daughter at Chief's arrival.

  Johanna stood and walked to the door, kissed Chief, and whispered something the others couldn't hear. A pang of envy rolled through Ashley's stomach. The love between them obvious to anyone who spent more than five seconds with the couple.


  She wanted that with Olin. That confident, fly through the air, no regrets love.

  Chapter Six

  The older one-story brick building housing Shechanics sat off the main road on the south side of Tacoma. Olin sat at the curb on his Harley and watched the activities in the open bay. A sweet midnight blue Corvette took up space.

  Two women leaned over the side panels. Asses in the air and heads near the engine. Before Ashley went to work at Shechanics, he'd never heard of female mechanics before. Hell, he'd never heard of a woman wanting to get greasy or get excited over what was under the hood.

  He pulled out his phone and checked the time. Ashley would get off work in five minutes. He'd already texted her twice in the last twenty-four hours. The first time to let her know he was going to come back a day later than scheduled, and another to tell her he waited outside her work.

  Her lack of replying to him forced him to swing by and wait to see her. If she was still pissed off at him, and it looked more and more like that with the lack of replies to his texts, it'd be just like her to take off with her friends and go eat.

  All he wanted to do was make it an early night with Ashley. He had to be at the clubhouse at ten in the morning, and he was beat after being on the road for a week.

  One of the women in the bay straightened and walked out of sight. The automatic door lowered, blocking off his view to the inside. He gazed to the left side of the building, to the main entrance. Ashley was somewhere behind the wall.

  He got off the motorcycle, ready to go inside and bring her out if needed when the front door opened and a man walked out. The tension riding his shoulders from the past week on the road intensified. At least when she worked for three male attorneys, he felt she was protected.

  Three women working alone in Tacoma without any security around could run into problems. Not to mention, most of their customers were men, seeing as Shechanics specialized in custom hot rods and a higher market of vehicles.

  The man slid into a Porsche. Olin scoffed. At least five years old, the car couldn't even be deemed a classic.

  His gaze drawn back to the door as a flash of red came outside, Olin walked toward Ashley. She looked damn fine in a V-neck Tee and a tight pair of jeans. He looked up and found her watching him.

  That devotion that shined in her eyes as a young girl shone through until she masked her pleasure over seeing him with irritation. But, that love was there. It was always there. Only he could see beneath the surface.

  He walked straight up to her and stopped within touching distance. She gazed at him, needing what he needed. He burned to have every remnant of her life. There wasn't a part of her he wanted to miss. Even watching her brushing her teeth in the bathroom from his bed pleased him.

  "What do you want?" said Ashley.

  "You know what I want." He hooked the back of her neck and pulled her closer, forcing her to come up on her toes so he could kiss her.

  At the touch of her lips, molding against his mouth, his chest warmed. Going by the way she kissed him back, she planned to come home with him.

  He dipped his tongue. The hunger to reconnect after a ride only multiplied having her in front of him. He wrapped his arm around her and palmed her lower back and tugged her closer until her whole body pressed against him.

  A loud catcall whistle broke them apart. He gazed behind Ashley and found one of the women she worked for grinning at him.

  "Oh, don't stop on my account." The woman laughed, tossing a towel over her shoulder.

  "Shit," mumbled Ashley quietly before stepping back and half turning. "Willa, this is Olin Stanton. Olin, Willa Bronson, one of the owners of Shechanics."

  Willa was younger than Ashley. A slim woman who'd chucked her coveralls for a pair of jeans and a tank top. She wore a braid from the top of her head and over her shoulder, about to her waist. If he'd met her anywhere else, he'd be surprised to learn she owned a shop.

  He dipped his chin. "Nice to meet you, Ms. Bronson."

  "Call me Willa." She smiled as if pleased with herself and glanced at Ashley before looking at him again. "I've got to run but stop by sometime when Ashley can show you around. We've got beer in the fridge inside. We can shoot the shit, and you can tell me about that bike you ride."

  He glanced at Ashley, took in her stoic expression. "Will do."

  "Good." Willa raised her brows at Ashley. "Have fun."

  Ashley growled softly and gave a little wave. As soon as her boss rode out of the parking lot in a Trans Am, no less, she turned back to Olin. "She was only being nice."

  No, her boss was curious to know about Ashley's relationship with him. He planned to make that obvious the next time he had a free moment around closing time. Regardless if Ashley had filled in Willa about her belonging to him, it would be wise to make sure everyone who was involved in her life to know they couldn't fuck with her without dealing with him.

  "Hungry?" He ran his thumb over her lips.

  She nodded. "I could pick us up some dinner."

  "Yeah, food." He walked her to her car wanting more than a meal. "I'll head home, wash the dust off, and wait for you."

  She bit her lower lip, dropping her gaze. "You haven't been home yet?"

  "Came straight from the club." He kissed her. "Hop in the car."

  She slid into the seat. "Pizza, burgers, or subs?"

  "A couple burgers. See if they have some deep-fried mushrooms." He closed the door and lifted his chin, motioning her to go.

  By the time he arrived at his Harley, Ashley had already slipped into traffic and headed deeper into Tacoma. He swung his bike in the other direction and stayed on the outskirts of the metropolis area.

  The cops always had an eye for Brikken members in their jurisdiction. It's one of the reasons why Rollo had purchased property outside the city limits, and in the past, Chief had bought his homes within the county. Olin's decision to buy one of those houses let him relax without always looking behind his back.

  The temperature of the air cooled with the lowering sun. He gazed ahead at Mount Rainier. A pink cast of light lit up the peak. The vibration of the ride. The security of home. The satisfaction of knowing he'd have Ashley to himself for tonight, at the very least, gave him his second wind.

  He arrived at the house, showered, and was making his way to the living room when Ashley walked through the front door. "Good timing."

  She set the two sacks on the arm of the couch and walked to him, sliding her arms around his waist. He held her, dipping his head when she looked up at him, taking her lips.

  Ashley sighed. The contented vibration settled in him.

  He pulled back without letting her go. "Do I have to leave for a week to get this from you?"

  "Don't be stupid." She rocked up to her tiptoes and kissed him quickly. "We better eat before the food gets cold."

  He grunted. Food was the last thing on his mind.

  Ashley picked up the sacks and carried them into the kitchen. He sat down at the table while she grabbed the paper towels and sat across from him.

  "Did your trip go okay?" She ripped off three squares and placed the papers in front of her.

  He planted his elbows on the table and steepled his fingers. The way she prepared her food always fascinated him. She took the burger out of the wrapper and put it on the paper towel and then opened at least ten ketchup packets, which she squirted in a glob on the other towel and then proceeded to drown each French fry before putting it in her mouth.

  "Yeah, as expected." He pulled the edge of the paper towel with his food piled together toward him and barely opened the wrapper on his hamburger before taking a bite. "No problems here?"

  He kept in constant contact with Chief on the ride. If something had gone wrong with Ashley, he would've known.

  "Busy week. Apparently, there's some car show coming up next month in Seattle, so all the local owners want their vehicles in for routine maintenance. Elissa and Willa have been staying late most nights to accommodate the extra business. The
y let me close the office at five o'clock though, so that's good. Eight hours, five days a week is long enough for me." She rolled her fry in the ketchup and popped it into her mouth. "Oh, guess what I learned to do?"

  "Change an oil filter?" He took another bite of his burger, enjoying the excitement he heard in her voice. It'd been a long time since she'd enjoyed her job.

  "Uh...no." She brushed off her hands and picked up her burger. "Insurance claims."

  He finished chewing and ran his hand down his beard. "That's right. Lawyers don't accept insurance."

  "No, and in the auto industry, each insurance company has different codes, and they handle claims differently. I got the general gist of everything when they trained me for the position, but this week, I handled everything myself without asking Elissa or Willa to help me. Though they still handle the parts deliveries themselves." She looked down at her fries and frowned.

  "Is that something you want to handle?" If something was unusual about their business practice, he was missing out on what bothered Ashley.

  She looked up. "Do you think it's strange that all their deliveries come at night?"

  Gaining his attention, he leaned back in his chair. He knew the inner workings of chopping stolen motorcycles and making custom bikes to ship to California that he never dealt with any legal business during regular working hours. The only deliveries that came to Brikken were done under cover of darkness.

  "Shechanics is a bonded business?" he asked.

  "Of course." She inhaled heavily and picked a piece of her hamburger bun off. "It's probably nothing. Maybe I'm just speaking my worries about them eventually pushing me for more hours the way it happened while working with Derek."

  He kept his opinion to himself and would look into Shechanics deeper. If something wasn't ringing true for Ashley, he wanted to make sure that whatever it was had no way of touching her.

  "You can always quit, move in here, and let me take care of you." He put the last bite of burger in his mouth.

  "Stop." She passionately dipped her fry.

  He finished his mushrooms and wadded up the paper towel with the wrappers from his food. She could shoot down every offer he gave her, and he wasn't going to stop trying to make her a permanent fixture in his life.