"What's on the agenda for this afternoon?" I ask, trying to sound as normal as possible.
Lexa has put her hair up in a high ponytail and her curls are split around her shoulders. One longer coil lays just above the neck of her shirt and teases at the bare skin underneath. My mouth goes dry, so I focus back on my daughter.
"I thought we'd stop somewhere for lunch since Lexa has already had your cooking once for today. Then I'll show her the office in town. I have a couple of appointments this afternoon there she can assist with. Then I guess it's apartment hunting time."
"You need a place to stay?" Doc chimes in. "Where are you living right now?"
I swat him with my bar towel.
Everly laughs it off, but Lexa glances at me and then down to the floor. Her cheeks are still pink, and that little golden curl of hair droops all the way to the top curve of her breast.
"I'm in a hotel right now." She answers before looking up to Doc. "I had planned to rent a place in town, but then my circumstances changed, and now I need to look at less expensive options."
"Her boyfriend was moving with her, but the jackass bailed at the last minute."
I shoot a look at Everly. I raised her better than to put someone's personal issues on display like that.
But Lexa doesn't seem to mind or notice my reaction.
"It's better this way. If he wasn't serious about the relationship, I'd rather find out this way then have the relationship go any further."
"Stupid kid is all I can say," Doc says. "He's an asshole for dumping you, but I have a feeling he didn't deserve you in the first place."
I'm not sure what Doc's playing at. He isn't the warm and fuzzy kind who tells women pretty sentiments to make them feel better. Either Merdeth has really calmed him down, or he's after something else.
Fuck no. The brother is completely whipped by his ol' lady. Meredith is his life now.
"Dad."
I can tell by Everly's exasperated expression she's called my name more than once.
"I was saying that Lexa shouldn't be staying in a hotel room for the whole time she's here, and since she may not stay long after the baby comes, it would be better to crash someplace. Like maybe your place?"
Fuck. "No," I blurt.
Everly's mouth morphs from the smile she's been wearing all morning to a deep frown. "What?"
I glance at Lexa, who's wearing panic the same way I'm feeling it.
"It's just not a good idea, Ever. Bear can set her up in the club with a room, or we'll find a place in town."
"Staying in a home isn't a good idea, but living in an MC clubhouse with a bunch of drunk and horny men is?" Everly stares at me. "Dad?"
Lexa watches me while she reaches a hand out to Everly. "He's right, Everly. Your dad is thinking about my reputation being new in the area. The hotel isn't bad, and the rates are pretty reasonable."
"But there is plenty of room at home. Kyle and I have our own place, and Dad is there all alone. Three bedrooms are plenty of room for the two of you and come on, Dad. You're here most of the time anyway. I don't understand the problem."
Everly glances between Lexa and I. Her face is turning red, the way it does when she's pissed. I hate seeing her like this and knowing she's stressing the baby.
"Really, Ever. It's fine," Lexa tries to reassure her, but I know my daughter. Once she gets this worked up, the only way to calm her back down is to give her what she's after.
"Fine. I'm here at the club most nights anyway. There's plenty of room. You should feel comfortable enough." I throw my towel over my shoulder and take Doc's empty beer mug. I can't even look at Lexa. I don't what to know what she's thinking, and I don't want to see what she's feeling. "You're going to be late for your appointments if you don't leave soon."
Everly leans over the counter as far as her baby bump will allow and sticks her face out so she can kiss my cheek. I let her. I've never been able to resist my daughter anything. "Thank you. I don't know why that was so hard in the first place."
She jumps off her stool and turns to Lexa. "When we finish up, I'll take you by the hotel for your things. Kyle and I can have dinner with you and dad and make sure you're settled in."
I make myself busy with their abandoned water classes when Lexa turns to me and whispers. "I'm sorry."
I'm sorry too.
Walking away from her this morning was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, and now she'll be in my space, in my home, my responsibility.
Keeping my hands off her was going to be hard enough with her working on the club. With Lexa in my home... I'm fucked.
Chapter 4
Lexa
Everly has quite the set-up. Her therapy room at the club is well-appointed, and her office in town is the same. She told me the club made sure she had the latest in tables and equipment as soon as she finished her degree in exchange for serving the members in private. Several have injuries from past military service, and they aren't very trusting of outsiders. Having her work in the club keeps them from avoiding the therapies they need.
This afternoon I helped her work with two patients in her office in town. One was a teenager who took a header off his bike, tore all three hamstrings, and an older woman suffering a frozen shoulder.
Everly showed me the appointment book for the next few days, and it looks like my afternoons will be booked solid until dinner time. A plus given every hour not spent working with patients will be under Gunner's roof.
I should have spoken up when Everly insisted I stay with her father. I could have told her how uncomfortable the proposition made me, but I was afraid if I resisted too hard, she'd begin to ask questions.
Maybe not right away, but the tension between Gunner and I was thick enough Doc to notice. It's only a matter of time before Everly figures it out too.
We stop off at the hotel for my things, and I leave my number with the front desk.
The drive out to Gunner's is longer than I expected. I'd pegged him for a city kind of guy, but Everly drives out past the crowded buildings and congested streets to a development that's along a narrow road by an open field.
The air is fresher here, and I breathe it in as I step out of the car.
Gunner is at the front door as soon as we arrive, and when Everly goes to help with my bags, he takes them from us both and carries them all up the front steps at once.
I watch him from behind. I can't help myself, though I know it's wrong. Wronger still with Everly standing beside me with one arm intertwined with mine.
"You're going to love it here. At night it's so peaceful. You'll sleep like a baby. And Gunner can give you a ride into work in the mornings."
"Huh," I glance at her. "But your father will be staying at the club."
"That would be silly." She is beaming at me. "How else are you going to get to work without a car?"
Everly takes off into the house, leaving me to follow. Something smells amazing coming from the kitchen, and Kyle, who I've only met once while Everly and I were in school together, is sitting on the couch in the living room.
Everly runs and plops down beside him, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him. It's sweet how much they love each other, but I feel like an outsider watching, so I stand in the hall to give them some privacy.
The steps in front of me creak, and Gunner is standing at the top, watching. When I catch him staring, he clears his throat. "If you want to come up, I'll show you the room."
"Okay," I answer. My voice feels so small in my throat, and my skin begins to tingle as I take the stairs up to meet him.
He's standing near the closest door when I reach the top. "This is my room," he says. I feel so much heat in his glare I begin to sweat. "And down here." he walks past one door and stops at the next. "Is the bathroom. The next door down is your room."
I walk past the bathroom door and glance inside. It's a jack and jill style with doorways to each of the bedrooms on either side. My room is bare of everything but a chest of drawer
s and a bed. It's a guest room, I assume, and the furthest away from Gunner.
"There is only one bathroom," he says to my back. "The doors all lock, so I'd suggest making sure you check them all before...you know."
I catch the quiver in his tone. Part of me is thankful this is as hard on him as it is for me. Another part wishes we could just pretend last night didn't happen and start over as friends.
"I'll be sure to check."
"Good." He stands in the doorway, watching me. Taking me all in, I feel it as his dark eyes move up and down my body. "Dinner is about ready. Everly and Kyle--"
"Gunner," I interrupt. "Can we just clear the air for a second while we are here alone? I don't want to spend the next few months tiptoeing around you, and I'm sure you don't want to avoid your house for that long because of me."
"Okay." He crosses his massive arms over his chest, and I'm reminded what it feels like to be held in them. Fuck my life, this is going to be harder than I expected. "What did you have in mind?"
"Let's start over. Wipe the slate clean. What happened is in the past. I'm just Lexa, Everly's friend, and new partner, and you're her father, who is being very...fatherly."
He pauses for long enough to make me uncomfortable before he scratches at his beard and speaks. "You think you can erase last night from happening? Fine. I've already forgotten it."
Gunner bounds down the stairs without me. I walk back into my room, pick up my luggage, and place it on the bed. I'm going to give him some time to cool off before I go downstairs. I can unpack what I'll need for the night and get my bearings upstairs.
While I'm pulling out my usual cotton shorts and matching tank pjs, Everly steps into my room.
"I am so glad this is all working out," she says and takes a seat on my bed. "I know you have some reservations about being here, but being seen around the club with my father will help the guys trust you faster."
I nod and put my leggings and longer tee shirts in a dresser drawer. I always wear comfortable clothing when working with clients so I can move around and help them, but being around Gunner, I'm beginning to think I may need to rethink my work wardrobe.
"Are you sure this is really okay with your father? You kind of sprung this on him last minute, and I feel like he didn't have a chance to say no."
"He's fine with it, Lexa. Really. With Kyle and I out of the house now, he's here alone or at the club. It will be good to have someone for him to talk to." She grins. "And cook for. I swear you'll eat like royalty if you stay."
She's giving me those pleading eyes. She used the same ones in college when she wanted to go out for drinks, but I needed to study.
"I just feel weird invading his space."
Everly stands up and pulls on my hand. "I promise you're not. Besides, I feel better knowing he's keeping an eye on you until you get more settled." She begins pulling me to the door. "And it's only temporary to give you time to find a place you'll be happy in."
Everly has a good point. I can weather the storm here for a few weeks and make a good choice on my future home, or rush into something I can't afford or haven't done enough research on.
Everly leads me downstairs where Kyle and Gunner are already sitting at a round table, dishing out large helpings of food and talking about bike mechanics and other stuff I don't understand.
I'm forced to sit between Everly and Gunner, which isn't an issue until Gunner begins to eat, and his massive arm invades my space. That sparrow tattoo I traced the night before is staring at me, reminding me of what we did together and how perfect it felt.
"You'll be alright tomorrow at the club alone?"
I glance at Everly, but the words coming from her mouth don't make much sense until I realize she's been talking longer than I've been listening. "Tomorrow, alone. Where will you be?"
"I have an appointment in town. Tomorrow we find out the sex." She takes Kyle's hand in hers, and he kisses the top. "I'm hoping for a boy so I can teach him how to do all the stuff the membership taught me as a kid.
Kyle clears his throat. "God help this poor child if she's a girl."
Gunner grunts. "Everly didn't have it so bad. She survived."
"I did." Everly reaches over and grabs her father by the cheek before she kisses him. In college, Everly told me the story of her mother leaving her to be raised by Gunner and the motorcycle club. At first, I thought she was joking, but other than being tenacious as hell, she's as normal a girl as you can get.
As soon as she lets go, Gunner's eyes are on mine. Locked. I can't look away from him no matter how hard I try.
"Dad will take Lexa into the club in the morning, and I'll meet you there before lunch."
"If you're feeling okay after the appointment," Kyle adds. He's so attentive to her, it makes me envious.
Gunner looks at me over a forkful of chicken. "I'll make sure she gets where she needs to be."
I would say thanks, but his tone sounded more like shuffling me around was a sacrifice of his time. Instead, I take a bite of food that sinks to my stomach and sits like a hardball. Not that it isn't tasty. Hell, it's the best damn baked chicken I've ever had.
But something about being hated by the man sitting next to me takes my appetite away.
It's going to be a long night dodging Gunner at every turn. An even longer few weeks until I can find a place of my own, and I don't have to pretend I'm not attracted to him.
Even if he seems to have already been able to forget how he felt about me.
Gunner
I can't sleep. Knowing on the other side of the house, Lexa is laying under covers wearing god knows what, I can't get my cock to stop jerking and my head to stop imagining her here, in my bed.
Fuck.
It would have been easier just to tell Everly the truth. Then I wouldn't have weeks of suffering night after night to look forward to. I could never hurt my daughter that way. But damn. I need to find Lexa a place to move into, and I need to do it quickly.
After Dinner, I waited downstairs for Lexa to take care of whatever needs she had in the bathroom and the hallway before coming to my room. The whole upstairs smelled of girl. Not the flowery scents Everly always had from some lotion, or body spray, or shampoo, but something much deeper, richer. Something that calls to my soul and makes my whole body hard.
If that weren't bad enough, she forgot to unlock the bathroom doors. I had to knock on her bedroom door to get her to let me in the bathroom. That's when I caught her in her little tight white shorts and a tank top that barely covered the tops of her breasts, and her hair piled up all on top of her head, exposing her slender throat.
I'd lick that throat and squeeze those breasts until she moaned my name if she wasn't Everly's friend.
Instead, I asked her sternly to remember to unlock the doors next time as I pulled her door shut.
I didn't hear another sound from her. Not while I showered or shaved, or took myself in hand remembering how tight she fit around me last night.
Now, I'm paying for it. It's nearly dawn, and I haven't slept a damn wink. Instead of lying around begging to suffer, I get up and dress in a pair of sweats before I head down to the kitchen for coffee.
Scout, our treasurer, gave me the club's books to run an extra set of eyes over, and I can think of nothing more mind-numbing to take my mind off who's asleep in the guest room upstairs.
I'm at the kitchen table with a full mug and the books when the stairs creak, and Lexa peeks her head into the kitchen.
"Oh," she utters as if I've scared her. "I was just coming for some water and…"
This is ridiculous. We're hiding from each other like children. "Glasses are above the sink. Help yourself."
I go back to the books, hoping diverting my attention will make her more comfortable.
She walks into the kitchen in the same short shorts and low slung tank top as she had on last night, and all the numbers on the page I'm studying go out of focus.
"Couldn't sleep?" she asks, moving her glass to her lip
s and watching me. I'm so used to living along. I hadn't realized I'm not wearing a shirt, and her gaze is glued to my chest.
"I like to get to work early. Old military habit."
"Everly told me you and most of your brothers served together. I think it's neat how you all found a way to support each other after returning home."
"That's the mission of the club."
She's leaning over the counter, and her tank hangs so low I see all the way to just above her nipples.
I'm hard as soon as I look, and I have to adjust to keep my cock from poking a hole in my pants. Lexa is Everly's friend and young enough to be my daughter. That alone should make her off-limits enough to not get a hard-on just by looking at her, but I can't seem to make my body listen.
Lexa must have noticed. She stands up and pulls her shirt up higher before she rounds the counter and takes a seat opposite me.
"What are you working on?"
She leans in over the binder of print-outs, and that rich, deep, smell of her hits me.
I drop my mug to the table hard enough to make a noise and turn my body to face hers. "Look, Lexa. I'm not much of a small talk kind of person, and I'm doing my best to remember you are Everly's friend which makes you out of bounds. Do me a favor and don't make this any harder than it has to be."
She responds by leaning back in her chair and staring. Then the stunned look wears off, and she stands, taking her glass with her. "I'm sorry. You've already made that very clear." She leaves her glass in the sink and passes me for the doorway.
I catch the way she is watching the floor, and my chest tightens. "Fuck, Lexa." It's not her fault I can't control my own urges. "I shouldn't have said that."
"No." She turns, but her lashes are covering her eyes. "You're right. This arrangement will only work if we keep our distance. I'll be ready to go at eight if I can still get a ride with you?"
"Sure," is all I can say.
She's gone, and by how fast the stairs creak, she's running up them before I hear her door slam.
Gunner: Tempest Elite MC Book #3 Page 3
