by EA Hunt
“It’s not just us,” Trigger advised. “The boys and I have a jar and calendar behind the bar for when you claim Babygirl as your Old Lady.”
“You’re betting on my relationship?” Bash questioned.
“Yep,” Danish replied. He was a man of few words – until what he had to say was important.
“We’d be idiots not to,” Trigger added, taking a swig of his beer. He’d never seen Bash like this. He was completely and utterly infatuated with the woman currently sitting at the bar. When Bash had woken up the night after meeting Babygirl, he’d torn through the bar, pissed that the woman wasn’t still lying next to him. He’d run the cameras of the parking lot back, to see when she’d left, gotten her license plate number and called one of the Sweethearts they had working at Driver’s Service to get her address. Once he had that he’d gotten on his bike and headed to her house, with himself and Danish hot on his heels as he went after Babygirl.
Before they could even get to the house, Babygirl’s beat up, fifteen-year-old, blue Corolla had passed them on the street. Making a U-turn, they’d followed her to a small café about ten miles from where she supposedly lived. Bash had parked his bike next to her car and watched as she’d rushed around the café, trying to get everything ready for opening. He and Danish had enjoyed the show that their brother had put on when it came to Babygirl. He’d been fuming when he’d woken up but then calmed down as soon as he had eyes on her. It was quite entertaining and had been that way ever since. “You’ve conducted meetings at the café she works at, just so you can watch her work!”
‘I can’t breathe or think straight when I’m not around her,’ Bash thought. But he wasn’t going to tell his brothers that. He was this big burly biker. Feared leader of the Black Crows MC. But the little temptress across the bar could bring him to his knees and she didn’t even know it.
“Not to mention the fact that every time she walks into the bar, you leave whatever game you’re playing and keep her locked in the office or your room,” Trigger said, cutting into Bash’s thoughts. “The only reason she’s out here now is because she wanted to dance and talk with Rene – who I’m surprised to see talking to anyone.” he finished.
So was Bash. Rene had been at the club when he’d taken it over. The statuesque burnt honey blond haired woman hadn’t been surprised by the takeover. She’d actually been relieved because she hadn’t had the greatest relationship with Doughboy. Bash had wondered what that relationship was, but Rene had volunteered no information when asked. Instead, she’d kept to herself, doing her job and running the bar, hiring waitstaff who weren’t looking to be club whores or brothers and keeping everything running smoothly. Rene, like Trigger and Danish, were the backbone of this place. He knew each of them had other reasons for being here besides him, but he also knew they would all have his back if he needed them.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Rene smile!” Bash said. Right now, she was giving Babygirl a small smile as they shared the nachos his woman was eating.
“I saw it once,” Danish replied.
“When?!” Bash and Trigger questioned at the same time.
“The day Bash announced he was taking over. It was jarring,” he shook his head.
“It probably was,” Bash replied. The light, almond-colored woman with hazel-green eyes wasn’t a smiler. Some might even say Rene had ‘resting bitch face’ but Bash would never say that. Rene had a kind heart and he’d seen it several time. First, with some of the Looky Lous who came in and got wasted. Rene would call an Uber or Lyft for them. She even set up an account – that the club paid for – so they could get home safely. He’d also seen the woman feeding three little kittens out back and petting them whilst talking to them quietly telling her the secrets she held close to her heart. And finally with his Babygirl. Every time Celise came in Rene was the first to acknowledge her and get her something to drink and eat, much like she’d done Celise’s first night. He’d caught the other woman giving small glances in Celise’s direction that to make sure she was all right and not uncomfortable. Rene talked with Celise every night she was here, keeping watch over his woman when he wasn’t able. Showing Celise, and him, a kindness no one else thought Rene had.
“She’s on the move,” Trigger chuckled, knowing Bash would follow his woman to wherever she was going.
About to stand, Bash grumbled when his woman looked at him and gestured for him to stay seated. He didn’t want to stay seated, he wanted to follow her. But if he followed her, she’d be pissed, and he didn’t like her pissed. The first time he’d followed her to work and just sat outside the café, she’d come storming out at lunch to tell him he was scaring all the customers away. Before he could tell her he didn’t give a shit because he was watching out for what was his, she’d stormed off and ignored his three visits to the café and all his calls, the Sweetheart had also given him her number from her driving record. Until the third day, of her ignoring him, he’d come to the café without his cut or his bike. He’d driven a newish SUV which was what he wanted her to be driving just as soon as he could figure out how to disable her beater. His woman wasn’t going to be driving around in something Danish – the mechanic in their bunch – had frowned at.
“I think Rene is going to win the bet,” Trigger chuckled. Rene had Bash claiming Babygirl by the end of next week.
“I don’t like the fact y’all are betting on this. And I don’t want Babygirl to know anything about it,” Bash said, reclaiming his seat. In his talks with Babygirl, he could tell she was still wondering about their relationship. Still apprehensive about it. He didn’t like it and he didn’t want to do anything which would cause her to doubt what they had.
“No one is saying anything,” Danish assured. He’d made it clear Babygirl was to be shielded from this betting pool. Celise was good for Bash and there was no way he was going to deny his brother the happiness he sought. One of them should get their happily ever after!
“Good,” Bash replied. “We have a run coming up. Church, in thirty minutes.”
“You think you can leave Babygirl alone long enough to have church?” Trigger questioned, a huge smile on his face.
“You’re an ass,” Bash replied, picking up his whiskey glass and wondering when his woman would be back in his sights.
Flushing the toilet in the women’s bathroom, Celise opened the stall door to find another woman standing at the sink, looking at her in the mirror. She gave the woman a small smile before she walked over to the sink and turned on the faucet. She wanted to hurry so her nachos wouldn’t get cold. Well, that wasn’t the complete truth – if she wasn’t back in what Bash considered a feasible amount of time, he would come looking for her. She smiled to herself. It was something she wouldn’t mind. Maybe he would kiss her. She finished washing her hands then reached for the paper towels. She’d wanted him to kiss her ever since she’d met him. But one thing after another had kept that from happening. A fight at the club. Her leaving in the wee hours of the morning after falling asleep there. She was still embarrassed about that, but no one seemed to mention it. Then him showing up at her job and her being pissed about him being there and keeping people from coming inside. They’d had dismal sales that day and she’d been blamed. It seemed Larry had told his Grandmama she had ditched him for some biker trash. And like most small towns, the rumor mill had gone into overdrive because Willa Jean’s granddaughter was now supposedly a whore for a biker club. She had to give it to Larry – when he told a lie, he went all in.
Her grandmother hadn’t paid any attention to the gossip of course. Instead, she’d come to the café, while Bash and his brothers were posted outside, to ask Celise what had happened. She’d explained everything to her grandmother, even pointing out Bash to her. The older woman had simply smiled and told Celise that her grandfather Germaine had been in a biker club until Willa Jean had gotten pregnant with Celise’s father. Then he’d pulled back from the club, only going once in a while to keep up with dues and such. Celise had b
een surprised – her father had only talked about the hardworking man who put food on the table, cutting lumber or picking apples when their lumber yard was cutting back. She hadn’t heard anything about him being a biker, though she thought perhaps her father hadn’t known either, or he would have mentioned it. Her father had admired his father very much. And Celise was sure that if he knew his father was a ‘bad boy’ as they called them nowadays, he would have admired him even more.
“He’s only using you, you know?”
Tossing the paper towel in the trash, Celise looked at the woman in the mirror. She was applying bright red lipstick to her lips. It matched the ribbons Celise saw in the corset the woman was wearing over painted on, black, faux leather pants. Her peach sized breasts were pushed up with the corset, giving them a fuller look. Celise had to admit that the woman was painting an enticing picture of herself.
“What makes you say that?” Celise questioned, her curiosity getting the better of her. While she’d been getting dressed, she had put on a v neck t-shirt that showed off her more than ample breasts and form-fitting jeans which made her ass look fantastic. When she’d walked into the club, Bash had licked his lips and admired her outfit. The man hadn’t been able to keep his eyes off her all night. His hands either. If it wasn’t for the fact that she’d wanted to dance and not be encased with him in his room or the office, she was positive she would be flat on her back, enjoying the bulge she’d felt in his pants when he’d embraced her earlier. Her grandmother had told her to be careful around the women at the club. Bash was a patched member, and that fact meant the women who didn’t have a man would do and say anything to be called an ‘Old Lady’ to a member of the club. Once Willa Jean had said her piece, she’d exited with a final request to ‘Bring him over soon!’ called out over her shoulder.
“Because I’ve seen it before…” the woman replied, finished with the reapplication of her lipstick. “… Babygirl.”
Celise shivered at the way she said ‘Babygirl’ – something about it wasn’t genuine or kind like when the others used her new name. Though she still didn’t understand why they were all calling her ‘Babygirl.’ She’d been meaning to ask Bash, but it had slipped her mind between work and spending time with the man she was coming to care for. “Have you?”
“Yep,” the woman said, nonchalantly. “He brings a woman in here or plucks one from the crowd of Looky Lous,” she made the gesture of picking up a woman with her fingertips. “Then woos them, gives them little nicknames,” she gestured towards Celise. “Like Babygirl. Then the men and women in the club call them by that name until Bash sleeps with them. Then the woman becomes club property.”
“Club property,” Celise mused. Everyone, even her grandmother, was using terms she didn’t understand but needed to if she was going to live in Bash’s world.
“Yes,” the woman turned away from the mirror and faced Celise. “That’s when any man in the club can have you. You are no longer Bash’s. You become a club whore. Making money for the club in the back, on your back. Or service any brother who beckons you.”
“That’s not what’s going on here,” Celise replied, facing the other woman. “Bash wouldn’t do what you’re suggesting. I know him.”
“The others used to say the same thing. Ask Claire,” the woman said. “Just three months ago, she was Bash’s. Now she’s club property. Any man can have her, and some have tried! But like you, she believes Bash will take her back. Though it all started with him tossing her out of his bed and declaring her club property,” the woman shrugged. “I just thought you should know,” she said before she turned and walked out of the bathroom.
She was wrong. Bash would never do what this woman was talking about. He wanted her. She knew he wanted her. Walking out of the bathroom, she headed back towards the bar. Bash would come to her job and sit and talk with her when she wasn’t working. And when she was here, he’d consume her. Wouldn’t allow her to be out of his sight for a minute. No man did that if all he wanted was to sleep with you. He could have done that already, instead of waiting two weeks! The way Bash made her feel, he could have easily gotten into her pants that first night.
“Babygirl, what’s wrong?”
She stopped at the entrance to the bar from the bathroom hall. Bash’s concerned look had some of her concerns easing. She stepped towards him, placing one hand on his chest and her other hand at the back of his neck. Standing on her tiptoes, she pulled his head down as she reached up, covering his lips with hers. Before she could take the kiss deeper, Bash took over.
Wrapping one arm around her waist, Bash bent until his other arm was under her ass. He straightened then, taking her with him as her legs wrapped around his waist. He turned them, pressing her against the wall. He pressed into her even more, as she sighed into their kiss. A kiss he hadn’t expected but was ecstatic to have happen. Removing his arm from around her waist, he placed a hand on her cheek and lifted his head slightly. “Damn, baby, you taste so very good,” he licked the seam of her lips.
“Not as good as you,” she replied, leaning forward to take his lips with hers once more. When she’d started this, it was just to alleviate her fears. If she kissed him and he was stiff, then the woman in the bathroom would have been telling the truth and Celise would have ended whatever this was with Bash. It would have broken her heart because of the feelings she had but she wasn’t anyone’s club whore. She’d seen those women and though they looked like they were having a good time, that wasn’t her. But he wasn’t stiff at all in the kissing department. He’d taken over the kiss like a starving man devouring a meal. Could the woman in the bathroom be one of those women her grandmother warned her about?
“BASH! CHURCH!”
Reluctantly, Celise pulled back, trying to keep her hips from rolling across the erection Bash was sporting. But oh, it felt so good between her legs. “They’re calling you,” she told him as she placed a hand on his cheek.
“I know,” he kissed her lightly on the lips. “Wait for me in my room.”
“Yes,” she breathed, hoping that whatever ‘church’ was, wouldn’t be long. Because she wanted Bash making her feel as good as she felt right now just kissing and dry humping him.
“And no touching yourself, Babygirl,” he told her. He wanted to bring her pleasure.
“I can’t make any promises,” she smirked at him.
Bash pinched her ass. “You touch yourself and I will hold you on the edge until I deem you ready,” he threatened. With one last kiss, he lowered her to the floor and walked away.
About to head back to the bar to get her nachos and tell Rene she’d see her later, Celise watched as a woman with jet-black hair and a curvy figure stepped into Bash’s path. Bash stepped away from the woman only for her to follow, then reach out and place her hand on his chest. He grabbed her wrist, removing her hand from his person. The woman looked unphased. She even smiled before stepping into his space once again and handing him something and saying a few words before pulling her wrist out of Bash’s grasp and walking off. Celise watched as he looked at whatever it was the woman had handed him before he placed it in his pocket and headed towards the room that all the other men were walking into. Bash looked pissed. Celise wondered if the woman was Claire and what she had said to piss Bash off.
Chapter Three
“I’m pregnant.”
That had not been what Bash had expected when Claire had stopped him on his way to church. He’d expected her to make a pass at him. To tell him Babygirl wasn’t the one for him. That she, Claire, was. Those had been all the scenarios he’d run through his head – only for her next words to stop him in his tracks.
“It’s yours.”
She’d placed the ultrasound in his hand before turning and walking away. He’d looked at the picture then the date of gestation and cursed. The baby Claire carried could definitely be his. But he didn’t want it to be. He knew that was horrible to say, but he didn’t. Claire was the wrong woman. She shouldn’t be carryin
g his kid. No, the woman he wanted carrying his kid was now in his room waiting for him to show up and continue what she’d started in the hall. Babygirl knew nothing about his relationship with Claire and he’d wanted to keep it that way until he couldn’t. Neither of them had discussed their past relationships but he got the sense his Babygirl hadn’t had many men. He, on the other hand, was a manwhore. He’d been proud of that title until now. Now, he wasn’t so proud, because his manwhore ways could cost him his woman.
“I think that’s it.”
Blinking, Bash focused on the conversation. They hadn’t really needed him. This was a standard run. All plans had been made and there weren’t really any deviations. Everyone who was going, just himself and three others, knew what they were supposed to do. Once the run was over and the money returned to the club, it would be divided equally and all would be well. “Meeting over. Have fun and be ready to ride in twenty-four,” he rapped his knuckles on the table and everyone left except Danish and Trigger.
“What’s wrong?” Danish questioned. Bash was never distracted during church.
“Claire stopped me before I came in here,” Bash said, once the door to the meeting room was closed behind the last member. Everyone knew that if the three of them were still sitting, something was up and the inner circle needed their privacy.
“What did that harpy want?” Trigger questioned. He’d never been a fan of Claire. She always had an angle. Was always looking for a way to move about the club. He’d been surprised Bash had fucked her. But his brother had been wasted that night and Claire had seen her opportunity to improve her status from club whore to Club President’s Old Lady.
“She’s pregnant,” Bash informed them.
“She can’t be claiming it’s yours!” Danish scoffed.
