by Chiah Wilder
“Fuck you,” he gritted while Animal continued to laugh. “So who was the bitch you were with?”
Animal’s merriment stopped abruptly and needles of fury pricked at the back of his neck as he clenched his fists.
Smokey shook his head. “You started this, dude. So who was the chick?”
“How is any of this your damn business?”
“It was your neighbor, right?” The fine lines around his eyes crinkled when he smiled.
For several long seconds, Animal sat there, breathing deeply, trying to control his heartbeat while waiting for his ire to subside. No one said shit about Olivia, but none of his fellow brothers knew how he felt about her, so he decided to give Smokey a free pass from getting Animal’s fist in his fucking face.
“Yeah. Her name’s Olivia, and before you say something’s that gonna really piss me off, I gotta tell you that she’s not just a sweet piece—I like her.”
Smokey threw him an incredulous stare, then a bark of laughter escaped his lips. “Never thought I’d hear those fuckin’ words from you.”
Animal shrugged. “Me neither, but now you know.”
Smokey didn’t have to answer: there was an unspoken code in the brotherhood that all the members treated their brothers’ women with respect.
“Do you want to join Helm, Shadow, Wheelie, and me for a ride after work?” Smokey asked.
“I’d be down for it in a minute, but I gotta take Lucy to the dentist. Another time, dude.”
Smokey pushed up from the chair. “Sure. I’ll ask my niece if she knows anyone who can help you out.”
“Thanks. Tomorrow I’m meeting up with Hawk, Bones, Klutch, and Shadow for lunch at Ruthie’s around noon. Do you wanna come along?”
“Sure. I’ll see you then, dude.” Smokey lifted his chin then walked out of the office.
Animal figured that in less than an hour, the news that he had a woman would spread like wildfire among the brotherhood. There was no way he could be pissed about it. Animal had his fun ribbing Wheelie with Sofia and Ryder with Savannah, and all the other members who ended up having their women wear their patch.
He and Olivia had a long way to go before he’d ever ask her to wear his patch, and there was a real possibility it would never happen, but for now, Animal just wanted to get to know her and spend more time with her.
Animal picked up the receipt book again and started plugging the numbers into a spreadsheet.
* * *
LUCY AND A blonde-haired girl with several colorful barrettes in her hair skipped over to the SUV. His daughter opened the passenger door, and the two girls giggled between pants as Lucy pushed herself up on the running board.
“Can Aria come over for dinner tonight?” Lucy asked.
Animal’s gaze darted to the young girl standing on the grass in front of the car, her blue eyes sparkling, and red blotches dotting her cheeks and chin.
“You got a dentist appointment,” he replied.
Lucy slumped her shoulders and threw her book bag on the floor. “I forgot. Can we change it, please?” Her whole face crumpled up.
Animal shook his head. “We can’t. It took more than a month to get the damn appointment. Sorry. Maybe your friend can come to dinner another time.”
“Her name’s Aria,” Lucy snapped as she flopped down on the passenger seat.
“Whatever.” His jaw hardened.
“Aria,” a woman’s voice called.
“I’m over here, Mom,” the young girl replied.
A striking woman with long blonde hair came into view. Animal glanced at the car’s clock glaring out the time in its blue numbers: 3:18 p.m.
“Hi,” a cheerful voice said.
Animal averted his eyes from the clock to the door and nodded at the blonde. “Hey.”
The woman ran her eyes over his face, then down his body and back up. She placed her hands on the young girl’s shoulder and said, “I’m Aria’s mom.” Licking her lips, she extended her hand. “Elise Griffin.”
Animal took her hand and Elise squeezed it lightly before he pulled it away. “I’m Lucy’s dad.”
“Does Lucy’s dad have a name?” Elise fixed her gaze on his.
“Animal. We gotta get to a dentist appointment.”
“Mom,” Aria said, tugging at Elise’s cardigan. “Lucy asked me over to her house for dinner. Can I go?”
Elise drifted her eyes back to Animal. “I think Lucy has an appointment.”
“She does—I just told you that. Dinner won’t work for tonight, but another time’s okay.” Animal switched on the ignition.
“I normally don’t let Aria go to people’s houses unless I go with her for the first time.” Elise placed her fingers over Aria’s mouth as she tried to say something. “I guess I’m just over protective, but you can’t be too careful, you know?” She chortled.
“I get it.” He suspected that wasn’t her rule with Aria’s other friends. Animal caught the look Elise gave him—he’d seen it more times than he could count. The mother was coming on to him, and if Lucy had any chance of keeping Aria as her friend, he’d have to humor the mom and have them both over for dinner.
“Maybe tomorrow night?” Elise said.
“Let’s set something up for next week,” he replied.
“Dad!” Lucy protested.
“Why don’t you give me your phone number and I can call and set it up?” Elise asked.
“I’ll see you around the school. We gotta go now.” Animal turned to his daughter. “Close the door and buckle up.”
Mumbling something under her breath, Lucy waved at Aria then slammed the door shut. Animal helped her with the seatbelt then pulled away from the curb, noticing that Elise stood watching until he hung a left turn.
“You don’t want me to have any friends.” Lucy’s lower lips pushed out and she turned away from him and stared out the passenger window.
“Don’t start with me. If I didn’t want you to have friends, why in the hell would I arrange for you to hang out with Paisley and Hope? Aria can come over, just not this week. I got a lot going on at work.”
Lucy kept staring out the window.
“Now, you’re mad at me? Fine. You have to learn that you can’t always have what you want.”
“I already know that. I don’t have Mom, remember?”
“How can I forget—you keep reminding me.”
For the rest of the drive neither of them spoke, and when Animal killed the engine, Lucy leapt out of the car and dashed into the small three-story building.
“Wait up!” Animal strode over to the entrance and saw his daughter leaning against the wall, shuffling her feet. “Don’t ever fucking do that again. If you’re pissed at me, your mom, or the damn world, that’s fine, but you don’t run off like that. Something can happen to you in a blink of an eye.”
Lucy looked up her eyes shimmering. “So what?”
Animal dropped to one knee in front of her. “So what?” He grasped her chin with his hand and tilted her head up until her eyes met his. “So everything. There’s no way I want something to happen to you or lose you. You mean everything to me.”
Several tears spilled down her cheeks, and he wiped them away with his fingers then pulled her into a tight hug.
“I know you’re disappointed about Aria not being able to come over tonight, but I promise you can have her over next week. And I know you’re real pissed at your mom. I am too, but it’s not because she left you with me—hell, I’m thrilled about that; it’s because she’s hurting you and I can’t fuckin’ fix it.”
Lucy buried her head in the crook of his neck, and Animal held her for a long while, then he pulled back a little.
“We better get upstairs or you’ll lose your appointment. Do you wanna go out to eat tonight?”
Lucy nodded.
“How about Ruthie’s?” Animal knew that his daughter loved the double chocolate milkshakes there.
Lucy’s head jerked up and there was a small light in her eyes. S
he nodded again.
“Then that’s what we’ll do, kiddo.” He tucked her hand in his as they made their way to the dentist’s office.
When they entered the reception room, Lucy made a beeline to an elaborate wire bead maze on a low table. For a few seconds, Animal watched her nimble fingers run the beads over the complex wire design, and he tried to bury the rage he felt toward Emerald. For the past three weeks, he’d tried to get a hold of her to no avail. She hadn’t called Lucy at all, and the only reason Animal was reaching out to the fucking bitch was because he thought it would make Lucy feel better, but now he wasn’t too sure about that. Animal didn’t want Emerald to upset Lucy and say something mean to her, and he certainly didn’t want her spiteful ass to take Lucy away to punish him. If she even attempted to do something like that, Animal would fight her with everything he had; there wasn’t a chance in hell that he was going to let Lucy go.
He turned away and walked up to the front desk to check in and his gaze landed on Olivia’s rounded ass encased in a sexy-as-fuck pencil skirt. As if sensing his presence, she whirled around and her smile shone like stars in the sky with no city lights to dim them. Animal smiled back.
“Hi,” she said, coming over to the counter.
“Hey. So this is your other part-time job?”
She nodded. “Who are you seeing today?” Olivia sat down and looked at the computer screen.
“Lucy has an appointment with Dr. Linney.”
“He’s nice, and very good with children. You just need to sign in and if you have insurance, I’ll need the card.”
“No insurance.” Animal scribbled Lucy’s name. “How’ve you been?”
“Good. And you?”
“Itching to go for a long ride. Are you free on Saturday afternoon? Lucy’s going with Jada to the mall and a movie.”
“Saturday’s perfect.”
Animal leaned over the counter. “I’ve missed you, baby.” He inhaled her clean, citrusy scent. “And your perfume right now is driving me fucking wild. Maybe you can sneak over tonight and we can have some fun when Lucy’s asleep.”
“I’d love that, but I’d be worried Lucy would wake up. It’d be horrible if she found us. She’d feel like you betrayed her or something.”
“I know. I just need to be with you again, baby.”
“Me too.”
Olivia brushed her fingers over his hand, and he grabbed and kissed them, his gaze fixed on her heated one.
“Fuck, babe.”
“Olivia, I needed those files ten minutes ago. Get a move on.” A tall man in his early thirties wearing a white coat stood by the printer, glaring at her.
Olivia jumped up from her chair and turned toward him. “I had to tend to something Dr. Linney needed, Dr. Canty. I was just ready to bring you the files,” she said picking up several folders from the desk.
The dentist cut his eyes to Animal, and he stroked his throat and grimaced. “It seems like you’re neglecting your duties.” His gaze averted back to Olivia.
“I’m sorry—” she began.
“What the fuck’s your problem, Doc?” Animal’s lip curled.
Brows lowering and pinching together, Dr. Canty leaned back against the wall. “Excuse me?”
“There’s no fucking excuse for the way you’re disrespecting Olivia.”
Red blotches mottled the dentist’s face. “Stay out of this or I’ll have to ask you to leave.”
“You’ll do no damn thing because I’m sure you like your pretty-boy looks and want them to stay like that. Do you get my meaning?”
“Animal, please,” Olivia whispered as she clutched the files against her chest.
Dr. Canty just stood there glaring, and a woman in bright pink scrubs came into the area. She glanced down at the sign-in sheet and said, “Lucy Walsh.”
“That’s my daughter,” Animal said, his hard gaze still fixed on Dr. Canty.
“Let’s go on back,” she said, darting her eyes from Animal to Olivia to Dr. Canty, and then back to Animal.
“Lucy,” Animal said, without moving a muscle.
His daughter went over to him and the friendly lady in pink opened the door wide.
“Hi, Lucy, I’m happy to see you again. Remember we met at the burger restaurant a while back? I’m Ivy.”
“I remember. Hi,” the young girl mumbled.
“Hi,” Ivy smiled at Animal. Did you want to come too?”
With clenched jaw, Animal nodded then tore his gaze away from the dentist. “I’ll talk to you later,” he whispered to Olivia as he pushed away from the counter and followed Ivy down the hallway.
As Animal sat on a metal chair, all he could think about was rearranging the fucking dentist’s face. When he saw the way Dr. Canty was treating Olivia, it was like a hot poker stabbing him, and Animal couldn’t just stand there and let it happen. He was pretty sure Olivia would call him on it, but no matter what she’d say, Animal would never just stand by and watch someone disrespect his woman.
He glanced over at Lucy and her hands clutching the sides of the dental chair so hard that her knuckles were white. Animal stood up from the stool and crossed over to her.
“There’s nothing to be scared about, kiddo,” he said, placing his hands on top of hers. “I heard this doc is really nice and gentle. You know who works here?”
Lucy met his gaze and shook her head.
“Olivia—Ms. Mooney.”
His daughter’s eyes widened, and he could feel her hands relax under his. “Really?”
“Yep. She works the front desk, and she’s the one who told me that you’re so lucky to have Doc Linney as your dentist.”
“Really?”
“Really. When you get done here, you can say hi to her.”
“Okay.”
The door opened and a tall and slender man in his late thirties walked in with a folder in his hands. A wide smile crinkled the lines fanning out from his eyes, and he walked over to Lucy and held out his hand.
“Hi there, Lucy. I’m Dr. Linney. How are you?”
Lucy glanced over at Animal, who lifted his chin at her, and then she took the dentist’s hand, a small smile spreading across her lips. Animal leaned back on the stool, happy that Lucy’s dentist wasn’t the fuckface who’d berated Olivia, and smiled at his daughter.
An hour later, Animal and Lucy—a glittery unicorn sticker in hand—walked into the reception area, and the young girl rushed up to the counter.
“Hi, Ms. Mooney,” she said. “Look at my sticker.”
Olivia smiled. “You picked an awesome unicorn. I love the way the rainbow shines. How’d you like Dr. Linney?”
“He’s nice. My teeth are real good.”
Every so often, Olivia would glance over at Animal, her eyes sparkling, and he wanted to take her in his arms and kiss the hell out of her. He watched as Lucy and Olivia chatted, and beneath his cool exterior beat a warm heart.
“Dad, can Ms. Mooney come to dinner with us? Please?” Lucy asked, tugging on his jacket.
Animal looked over at Olivia. “What do you say?”
“Pleeeeze,” Lucy said as she stood on her tiptoes. “We’re going to Ruthie’s Diner and they have the bestest chocolate milkshakes.”
“I’ve heard that,” Olivia said, smiling. “I’d love to go. I’ve never been there, so you’ll have to teach me the ropes.”
“I will. We go there a lot.” Lucy craned her neck. “Don’t we, Dad?”
Animal ruffled the top of her head. “We sure do, kiddo.” He swung his gaze back at Olivia. “What time do you get off work?”
“I have to stay a little later tonight because Dr. Linney has a couple of patients coming in after hours. I should be out of here by six thirty. Is that too late?”
“No,” Lucy said.
Animal laughed. “That works. Lucy can do her homework before we go.”
“I’ll just meet you there.”
Lucy covered her mouth and laughed while she shook her head.
“You d
on’t want me to meet you at the diner?” Olivia asked.
“You have to come with us,” Lucy said. “You live next door.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Animal saw Dr. Canty starting to come into the reception area, but then turn around when he saw the biker. That’s right, asshole. Stay the fuck away.
“Okay, Dad?”
Animal quirked his lips. “What did you say?”
“Ms. Mooney lives close.” Lucy shoved her sticker into the front pocket of her corduroy pants.
“Lucy was saying that we should all go together since I live next door.” The warmth of her smile made her green eyes electric, her face radiant.
Desire pumped through his veins. Damn she’s so fuckin’ sexy and beautiful. “That makes sense.” He winked at her.
“Then it sounds like a plan.” Olivia looked at Lucy. “Thanks for asking me. I have to get back to work now. I’ll see both of you later.” She smiled slyly at him.
The whole ride home, all Animal could think about was Olivia and how much he wanted her. At first, Olivia was a challenge and he loved the pursuit, and in his mind, he figured once he’d gotten her between the sheets, he’d hit the road. Damn, was he wrong about that. He craved everything about her: her taste—dark and sweet, her touch—soft and warm, her kisses—hot and sexy. Olivia was an escalating addiction, and Animal was quickly becoming hooked—like a junkie pining for the lost high.
“Will Ms. Mooney want a milkshake?” Lucy’s voice took him out of his thoughts.
“Maybe. You seem real happy she’s coming with us.”
“I am. I really like her,” Lucy replied.
“That’s good. What’re you gonna do with your sticker?” he asked.
“Put it on my notebook.”
“Sounds good. When you get home, you have to do your homework, then we can play a video game while we wait for Olivia to come home from work.”
Lucy bobbed her head. “Okay.”
Animal was pleased as fucking punch that Lucy liked and got along so well with Olivia. Lucy needed good female role models, and she had that in Jada, and now in Olivia, and since he was crazy as hell about his sexy neighbor, it was working out better than Animal could’ve imagined. The only thing that made him hesitate was Olivia’s aversion to bikers, although she didn’t seem to have much of a problem with him when his face was buried into her tempting, wet pussy. Animal tried to block out the image of Olivia walking naked across the room, ass wiggling, hips swaying, tits jiggling. This woman. He exhaled a ragged breath and felt his chest tighten.
