by Rider, P. J.
Maggie blinked at him. Was he trying to be funny? “Are you trying to be funny? Yes, I asked you two questions. Why are you following me? And how the FUCK do you know my god damn name? I’d say those are two pretty straight forward questions don’t you?”
“Yeah. Well…” Ash cleared his throat. “The answer to your first question is that your father asked a favor of my club, and I’m here to fulfill that favor. The answer to your second question is I believe obvious after the first.”
“My…. What? My father? MY father asked you to follow me? How is that even possible? I mean, first off he’s dead, and second there’s no way you knew him.” Maggie shook her head, trying to understand what was going on here.
“I really need you to start explaining yourself. I really don’t want to get the police involved but I will if I have to.”
Ash shrugged his shoulders at her. “Seamus Quirke was a friend of the club. Before he passed he asked us to keep an eye on you. If you want to know more than that you’ll have to take a ride with me.”
Maggie jerked at her father’s name. Who was this guy?
“A ride? What, on your motorcycle? Is this some kind of joke? I’m not going anywhere with you. You’re a complete stranger, who has been stalking me, and now I find you sitting out here waiting for me after my class and you want me to go on a ride with you? What am I supposed to say to that? I mean how do you honestly expect me to respond?”
“Well when you put it like that… I guess I expect you to say yes, get on my bike, and let me take you for a ride. I promise I’m not here to hurt you Maggie. Your father did ask the club to keep an eye on you. And if you go for a ride with me I’ll be able to answer all your questions.”
Maggie turned away from him and walked a few steps. She didn’t know what to do. This man scared her. He had definitely been following her, but he knew her name, and knew her father’s name. Reef could have told him that information though. She absolutely would NOT get on that bike with him. Period. Decision made she turned back to him.
“What’s your name?” She asked.
“Ash Moreno.” Ash held his hand out. “Pleased to meet you.”
Ignoring Ash’s hand Maggie kept her distance. “You can’t honestly expect me to get on the back of a motorcycle with a complete stranger who’s been following me around for weeks. However, I would be willing to follow you in my car. If I am uncomfortable at any point I will leave. Is that acceptable?”
Ash stood for a moment and considered her, then nodded, turned away to place his helmet on his head, and swing a leg over the bike. “Ok. Follow me.”
Maggie turned and raced back toward her car. She rushed to start the car and drive to the entrance of the parking lot where Ash waited for her. She followed him through downtown and around the park where the library sat at the edge of the duck pond.
They passed the barbershop that her father used to get his hair cut at and made their way into the seedier part of town. Ash slowed down, put on his left blinker, and pulled into a parking spot at the end of a long line of other motorcycles in front of a bar.
Maggie chose to park across the street from the bar in front of a small catholic thrift shop. The little old lady that peaked out of the window as she pulled into the spot made her feel slightly better. She wasn’t sure what she expected the old woman to do, but at least someone saw her face before she entered the dark bar.
She waited until Ash was off his bike and standing by the door before she made her way across the street. He held the door open for her, but she stood back and waited not wanting to have him at her back.
“Oh no. You go first.” She said as she smirked at him and waited.
Ash shrugged and walked inside. He let Maggie catch the door behind him and walked about ten feet into the bar before stopping and turning back to see her standing just inside the door, letting her eyes get used to the dimness. When Maggie was ready she moved her eyes back to him and nodded following him toward a wall at the back that was covered in photos. She stepped up to the wall, keeping several feet between herself and Ash.
“What are we doing here?” She asked after a long moment of silence.
“Answering your question.” Ash nodded to the wall.
“What am I supposed to be looking at here? You’re pretty pictures? They’re great, but they aren’t answering any of my questions.”
Ash lifted his right hand and tapped a finger on the glass of the large central most image. It was an old photo of a group of rough looking men all standing in a line in front of their motorcycles. Maggie frowned at Ash and moved forward. She squinted in the dim light and leaned in close to the picture. Maggie moved her eyes across the picture focusing on one figure after another. All she saw were a bunch of old grisly dudes with long hair and beards. What the hell was she doing in this shitty bar, with this creepy guy, looking at this picture of a bunch of old rough necks?
“Ok. I’m going to ask this again, and I’d appreciate a more direct answer. Do you think you can manage that? What. Are. We. Doing. Here?” At the end of her rope Maggie enunciated each word trying to emphasize the frustration and annoyance she was feeling.
“I’m trying to show you how I know your name, and why your father was able to ask a favor of this club. If you don’t recognize any of the faces, why don’t you check out the names on the plaque?” Ash gestured to the list of names on the metal plaque affixed to the frame. As she skimmed the names the fourth one jumped out at her. Seamus Quirke. Her eyes darted to the face fourth from the left.
“Oh my God.” Maggie’s breath left her body in a rush. She felt like she’d been punched in the gut. She turned and looked at Ash who stood leaning his shoulder against the wall with his hands in his pockets watching her. Maggie took a step back, then turned and ran full tilt for the door.
Chapter 7
ASH
Ash stood for a solid minute watching Maggie’s retreating back. It was difficult to surprise Ash. He tended to be a bit cynical about life in general. Shit he’d definitely seen enough to deserve that cynicism. Maggie had done nothing but surprise him since the moment she opened her mouth at the dojo. The very fact she was even taking classes there was enough to peek his curiosity. Maybe she wasn’t as helpless as he’d initially thought. At least she was taking some measure to try to protect herself, and she was definitely observant. He’d been careful to not let her see him over the past few weeks.
He pushed off the wall and walked up to the front of the bar ignoring the stares from the other club members along the way. It wasn’t often a strange woman came in the bar, let alone with Ash, and then ran like a bat out of hell.
Ash pushed open the door and stepped outside to find Maggie bent over, hands on her knees, taking deep lungful’s of air as if she were trying not to vomit.
“You ok?”
Maggie swallowed a few times before standing up; eyes closed, and lifted a hand with her index finger pointed up in a ‘one minute’ gesture. “Yeah. I just need a second.”
“Take all the time you need.” Ash walked over to his bike so he could see her face and sat at the edge of his seat. While she stood there with her eyes closed he took the opportunity to scrutinize her a little more closely. She wore black yoga pants that hugged her hips and thighs and a tank top. This was the clearest he’d ever seen her figure and he was not disappointed. For Ash this was the perfect figure for a woman; full heavy breasts, soft round belly with a slight pudge, thick thighs, and a round ass. Most would describe Maggie as overweight, but Ash thought she was perfect. Once again her hair was up in a tight high bun. He wanted nothing more than to walk behind her, run his hands from her shoulders to her hips, and push his nose into her neck.
Finally Maggie opened her eyes and looked at Ash. He could only assume her frown was initiated by the heavy lidded look in his eyes. Her hands went automatically to her hips. Which of course just drew Ash’s attention there.
“So obviously my father was at some
point in his youth involved with this club. That’s a given, I get it. But, he couldn’t have been involved for a while now. I mean my mother passed when I was fairly young. For nearly eight years of my life it was just the two of us before I went to college. I would have known if he was involved in any extracurricular activities” Maggie aloud her frustration and confusion to seep into her words.
Ash nodded. “You’re right. He hasn’t been involved in the club for a couple decades, but he was actually one of the original-founding members, which holds a lot of weight around here. I don’t really know why he left, or exactly when, but I do know that he left on good terms. So when he came to the club a few months back and asked for a favor from our president…. Well Jack couldn’t deny him. So he put me on it, and I’ve been watching over you pretty much since about a week before your father’s funeral.”
Ash watched Maggie silently. She slowly nodded her head. “Ok. I get it. It does make sense. He was so worried about Reef the last few months. It makes sense that he would want to take certain… precautions for when he wasn’t around.” She finally looked Ash in the eye. Assessing him.
“So you’ve been following me.” Maggie said cocking her head to the side.
“I’ve been watching over you, there’s a difference.” Ash felt mildly put out by her tone.
“Have you seen him around at all?” For the first time since meeting Ash face-to-face Maggie’s voice held a slight tone of fear. This more than anything he’d experienced so far with Maggie surprised him. She wasn’t even remotely afraid of Ash. She had walked right up to him with fire seeping from her pours and cursed at him. Repeatedly. At him. The big bad biker dude. But just the thought of her ex-husband made her voice quake and her shoulders tense.
“Your ex? No. I haven’t seen him around town at all, but honestly I’m just one man. I had been considering asking Jack, our president, for permission to bring on another guy. A second pair of eyes wouldn’t hurt.”
“You’ve been keeping your distance though haven’t you? I mean, I only saw you really that one day outside my house. When it was raining. But I definitely have felt it. You know, like someone has been watching me.”
Ash watched as Maggie shivered slightly, rubbing her hands up and down her arms to clear the goose bumps. He desperately wanted to reach out to her. He wanted to put his hands where hers were and rub her arms for her. He wanted to pull her against his chest and wrap his arms around her. What the fuck was wrong with him?
“Yeah I’ve kept my distance. I didn’t want to scare you.” Ash stretched his legs out in front of him and crossed his ankles then put his hands in his pockets. If he didn’t trap his hands he was liable to touch her and he had a feeling she probably wouldn’t be ok with that. Plus once Ash finally did touch Maggie, and he definitely would at some point, he wasn’t sure how easy it would be to stop touching her.
Maggie looked up at Ash with hope in her eyes, “Ok. So this is good. I’ll be honest I really have expected Reef to show up by now. Obviously I’m hoping for the best, but it’s not like him. Stubborn is probably the nicest word I can think of right now…” She paused and looked away from Ash.
“I’m somewhat relieved actually. I’ll be honest I initially thought it was Reef who’d hired you. I thought maybe that’s why I hadn’t seen him around. That you were keeping tabs on me until he could figure out how to…” Maggie stopped and cleared her throat then looked back to Ash.
“None of that matters now… I accept your help. It’s good to know I’ll have someone around who will have my back if I need it while I’m going through the process of filing for divorce and separating my life from Reef. So I guess I should say thank you. As surreal as this feels, and with all of this new information about my father, I’ll admit it’s a little daunting. But now that I understand it I really do appreciate it. So thank you.”
Ash cocked an eyebrow at Maggie. He had never expected her to be so level headed. He’d never expected this maturity and common sense. Most of the women he’d dealt with in his life, including his mother, tended toward overly emotional reactions. I mean yeah she’d ran out of the club at full tilt when she’d found out about her father’s involvement with the Steel Breed MC. But it was somewhat understandable. She’d just found out that the man, who had raised her practically by himself, was not everything he had presented himself to be… At least this made his job easier. He’d never considered not following through, even if she did call the cops on him. Jack had given him a job and he intended to finish it, but it was going to be a lot easier with Maggie’s cooperation.
“That definitely makes my job easier. I don’t have to be so careful about you seeing me, and maybe if your fuck-head ex is around town he’ll be too afraid to do anything. Maybe it’ll even scare him off.”
Maggie snorted a very unladylike laugh. “Yeah doubtful. If anything it’ll probably make him even angrier. Force him to react.”
“Then I’ll be ready for that too.” Ash shrugged.
Ash watched Maggie, her eyes squinty and considering. She looked as if she was having a serious discussion with herself. About thirty seconds of this scrutiny passed before she spoke again.
“Do you get that the way you went about this whole thing was kind of screwed up? I mean did you ever consider just coming to me right away and telling me about my father?”
Ash’s eyebrows crawled toward his hairline in surprise. Was this woman honestly questioning him? “No, actually I didn’t, because if you want to know the truth I didn’t know your father’s connection to the club until a few days ago. Before that I knew he had asked us to watch out for you, but I didn’t know anything else. And since we’re being honest here, I’ll admit I don’t like it when I’m kept in the dark about things. It makes me cranky.”
Maggie huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. She didn’t realize how that little pose pushed her breasts up and put them on display for Ash, and far be it from him to tell her and ruin the show.
“Yeah? Well guess what buddy, it makes me pretty fucking cranky too. I don’t know if you understand why my father was afraid for me, but I’ll just let YOU in on a little secret. My husband, Reef, was an abusive dick. I can almost guarantee you he’s out there somewhere and he’s been watching me as closely as you have been. He’s not one to give up easily. So here I am, trying to take care of myself from my psycho husband, recover from my only parent’s death, and to top it all off I have some sexy biker following me around leaving ME in the dark. That makes me just a little cranky too. So from now on if you’re really going to keep this up we’re going to be clear with each other. We’re going to communicate, you will be visible to me, and I want to know the second you find anything more out. Do we understand ourselves? Because otherwise I’m going to the cops and I’m filing a restraining order against you.”
Ash sat back slightly after that little tirade. He knew she wouldn’t be able to get a restraining order that easily, but he wasn’t going to point that out to her and burst her bubble. He also realized days ago how much easier this whole process would be if she knew about it, and since he’d come to that conclusion it had been his intention to make contact with her and bringing her here. So he wasn’t going to point that out either. Seeing as everything she said made sense to him, he couldn’t help but latch on to the one piece of information that really piqued his interest.
“You think I’m sexy huh?” Ash smirked and cocked an eyebrow at her.
Maggie blinked at Ash.
“THAT’S what you took from everything I just said? That I think you’re sexy? Out of that whole tirade the only thing you heard was I think you’re sexy.” Maggie took a deep breath and let it out slowly, which of course did lovely things to her cleavage.
“I’ll see you tomorrow. I’m going home.” Without another word Maggie turned on her heal and started across the street toward her car. She didn’t stop when Ash called out to her, and only turned when she heard his footsteps getting close. When
she reached her car door she pushed the unlock button on the keypad before turning back to face Ash one hand in the air in a ‘stop’ gesture.
“I’m done Ash. I’ve had a long day, with a lot of really powerful and overwhelming information coming to me. I need to go home, alone, and process everything. Please leave me alone right now, seriously. If you’re being straight with me about everything then I assume I’ll see you tomorrow morning when I’m on my way to work. Otherwise, just…. Please leave me alone for tonight.”
Ash stopped a few feet from her and put his hands up at the end of her speech. “Ok, no problem. I’ll swing through your neighborhood later, just to make sure I don’t see anything suspicious, but otherwise I’ll leave you alone. And yes, I will definitely see you in the morning.” Ash paused a moment and reached up to scratch his chin as his lips pulled into a grin.
“I’m not forgetting about that ‘sexy’ comment though.”
Maggie rolled her eyes and turned away from him to pull open her car door and slide behind the wheel. Ash suspected she was hurrying in order to keep him from seeing the smile and blush his words had caused, but he still caught a peek. She shut the door firmly and hit the lock button. Ash laughed as Maggie put her car in gear and pulled onto the road and away from him. That was the first time in his life he’d met a woman that didn’t have to have the last word. Though now that he thought about it, she did make her point with that locking her doors business.
The entire meeting had gone significantly better than he’d anticipated. He was really starting to look forward to this. Who wouldn’t want to get paid to ride around on a motorcycle all day and watch a hot chick? Maybe he’d even get a chance to talk with her again. Shit maybe he could even take her out sometime. That might possibly be crossing the line, but honestly he was willing to take the risk. Besides, she’d already admitted to him she thought he was sexy. What more did he need than that?
Ash walked back toward the bar contemplating the thought of taking Maggie on a date. Could he even remember the last time he had taken a girl on a date? Let alone a woman like Maggie Quirke? He looked up as he reached the door and noticed Prentice Malone leaning against the wall and smoking a cigarette. Prentice was tall. Close to six and a half feet. He also had the biggest damn shoulders Ash had ever seen in his life, and calves the size of tree trunks. His Irish ancestry left him with blond hair, a deep russet beard, and the greenest eyes Ash had ever seen. Prentice’s eyes were one of his best weapons. He was a man of few words, but he could spook his opponent with a very pointed look with those pale green eyes. Most found it a little unsettling to look the silent giant in the eye for too long. He also happened to be one of Ash’s best friends and his right hand man.
