Chapter Seventeen
Ian
I was just about to head out to work when there was a knock on my door. Who the hell was coming to see me at this time of the day? It better not be some salesman trying to sell me something, because I will give him a piece of my mind. I scowled as I opened the door and then frowned when I saw Chris standing there.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“Well, a very good morning to you,” he said. “Aren’t you a grumpy one in the morning? Can I come in?”
“You can. But why? I was just about to go to work. Where you should be going.”
Chris walked passed me and went straight to the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee.
“I hope you don’t mind. I haven’t had one yet. I’ll make you one too.”
“What’s going on?”
“I got to work early today, but when the shop was closed, I called your father. You know what he’s like, he’s always there super early. So I didn’t think that it would be a problem. Anyway, he said he was going to call you this morning to let you know that he wasn’t feeling well. He decided to shut the shop down for the day.”
“What? Why? We could’ve run it.”
“Yeah, but then who would man the front office?”
“I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. We could’ve still worked. So why didn’t he phone me then?”
“I told him that I would come by to see you and let you know. Don’t get so mad at him. He was going to phone you. Dude, you’re too hard on your father. Here, have some coffee; this will calm you down.”
I took the coffee and the two of us went to sit in the living room. I’d been looking forward to a day at work, busying myself with the motorcycles. Now what was I supposed to do with my day?
“Thanks. I did need this,” I said to Chris and shot him a grateful look.
“Why are you so mad? You get the day off. Most people would rejoice in that. Personally, I’m pretty happy myself. I haven’t had a day off in forever,” Chris said. Then he leaned back against the sofa and popped his feet onto the table. He was the picture of relaxation.
I sighed. “Well, I’m not most people.”
Chris laughed. “Statement of the year. Never a truer word spoken. I know you love working at the shop, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a day off every now and again.”
I shrugged. “I guess. I just don’t want to take the day off. I want to work in the shop. I don’t understand why my dad would close the entire shop when we could’ve just worked there today. I mean, I could’ve kept the office going too.”
“You see, you are good at that side of the job too. You just don’t want to admit it.”
“No, I’m not. I just want to work on bikes. That’s all.”
“No. What you want is to be all-encompassed in everything that has to do with motorcycles. Whether it be working on them or keeping the shop running. Or, you know, running the motorcycle club.”
I groaned. “Are you really going to talk about that again?”
“Come on; I think you’d be great at it. You shouldn’t be so hard on your father. He did you a great honor by electing you to run the club. Tell me one thing: would you have been mad if he had chosen Patriot?”
“Yeah, of course I would’ve been mad. He doesn’t deserve that job.”
“Exactly. And if that had happened, you’d be here telling me that you should’ve been the one that got the job.”
I laughed. “I hate it when you’re right about something.”
“So, you’re going to do it?”
“I’ll see. I’ll see. But you do realize that if I run the club, I’m going to be harassing you even more to join up with us.”
“I expect nothing less, Gunner.”
The two of us sat for the next hour, talking shop and girls and everything else. I didn’t tell him too much about Eliza, other than the fact that I was taking her out again that night. We joked a bit about it, and I made comments suggesting that I was only in it for the sex. But I wasn’t sure if that was really true or not. Either way, I wasn’t about to tell Chris that Eliza was also a good conversationalist. And that she was by far the most interesting and sweetest girl I’d ever met. He’d already given me grief for hugging her. The last thing I needed was for him to mock me even more.
Later that evening, I made my way over to Eliza’s place. I was sort of hoping she’d let me in immediately, but when I arrived, she was waiting for me outside. She had on jeans so tight that they looked like they were a part of her skin, and a black top, with black shoes. In fact, her entire outfit was black. The only thing that betrayed her grungy look was her bright blue earrings, which matched beautifully with her bright blue eyes. How could someone so sweet be so hot?
I grinned at her. “Looking good, Lashes. Hop on.”
She climbed behind me and wrapped her arms around me, and I drove us to my all-time favorite sushi restaurant. I figured the other guys at the club would tease me relentlessly if they knew I was a sushi eater. But I’d been introduced to it a few years ago and had been obsessed with it ever since. And anyway, why should a group of men dictate what I could or couldn’t eat?
The sushi restaurant was owned by Lin Tom, a Japanese guy with an American accent. I’d become friends with him through the shop, and had visited his restaurant more times than I could remember over the year. He grinned when he saw me, and grinned even wider when he saw Eliza standing next to me.
“Lin, meet Eliza. Eliza, this is Lin. He’s the owner and chef here.”
“The pleasure is all mine,” Lin said. He was an obvious flirt, but Eliza didn’t seem to mind. She shook his hand and told him how beautiful his restaurant was.
“Eliza is new to Arizona. So I’m showing her the best restaurants in town,” I told Lin.
“Ah, you flatter me, Mr. Gunner,” he said. “Sit down, sit down. You’re not going to order. I’m bringing the food to you.”
Eliza chuckled as she sat down and looked at me. “Mr. Gunner?”
“For some reason, he thinks my name is Ian Gunner. I’ve told him a million times that it’s not, but he keeps forgetting. Now I don’t bother to correct him.”
“He seems lovely. And this place looks incredible. I must say, this doesn’t seem like the sort of place you’d hang around in.”
I raised my eyebrows and was about to tell her that she shouldn’t judge so quickly, but she was right. It wasn’t the sort of place I usually hung about it. “Yeah, the club guys would most definitely laugh if they saw me here. They’d probably tease me relentlessly for the rest of my life. They can’t help themselves. They like to be seen in a certain light. Especially the older guys. But the sushi is so good that I’m willing to take the risk.”
“I like the fact that you do things out of character.”
“Out of character?” I asked. “What’s in character for me?”
“Actually, I don’t know anymore. But you do realize that your club has quite the reputation, don’t you? I mean, I’m new in town, and I’ve still heard some stories.”
I groaned. That was the biggest problem with the club. It branded you as something you might not be at all. “I know,” I said. “It doesn’t have the best reputation. But that’s just because certain people have done certain things that gave it a bad name. Trust me; we don’t allow those members to stay. And also, the media sensationalizes things to make for a better story. But it’s hard to rid yourself of a reputation. People like to think that we’re this group of bad guys, even if it’s not the case for the most part. I’ve stopped trying to change their minds.”
“Good for you. Just be yourself and let them judge away. People can be cruel.”
“You sound like you speak from experience,” I said.
I knew that there was something going on with Eliza. Something that she wouldn’t tell me. I had a feeling that she’d been hurt before. But every time we got close to the conversation, she changed the subject. And I didn’t want to push. I figured she’d tell me when she was ready. This time, she didn’t have to, because Lin came by with a platter of sushi and the conversation moved on to how wonderful the sushi was.
After the sushi, and a glass of Lin’s famous house wine, we went over to say thank you. Lin assured us that we were welcome anytime. And that any friend of Mr. Gunner’s was a friend of his. I could see Eliza trying not to laugh every time he said my name.
Once outside, Eliza wrapped her bare arms around herself and shivered.
“Since when did it get so cold?”
“Yeah, that’s the thing with this place. The weather changes easily. A hot day could easily turn into a cold night. You have to come prepared. It’s all about layers. Thankfully, I don’t go anywhere without my jacket, so I’m usually fine.”
“I left my jacket at work today, so it looks like I’m going to be cold all weekend.”
“You only have one jacket?” I asked.
“I sort of left a lot of stuff behind in California. Long story.” She clearly did not want to talk about that long story, so I didn’t push for it.
“Well, do you have the keys to your office?” I asked instead.
“I do. Why?”
“Well, then I’m taking you to get your jacket.”
“Oh, no, you don’t have to. I was only kidding. I mean, I’ve got some other warm things at home that I can wear. I really don’t need that jacket. But thanks for offering. That’s nice of you.”
“Nope. We’re going to get your jacket. And you might as well just accept the fact. Anyway, it’s on the way home, so it’s really no big deal.”
“Thanks, Gunner,” she said.
We made our way to her office and climbed up the broken stairs. Once she opened the door, I smiled. She was right. The outside and the inside were nothing alike. I sort of liked the contrast and hoped they never redid the outside to match the inside.
“This place is so cool,” I said, admiring the brightly colored walls. It looked nothing like my own place of work, but it suited the theme of party planning. And it reminded me a lot of Eliza—bright, colorful, interesting.
“Yeah,” she said and looked around. “It’s such a great place to work. So much color. I love it. And this is where I work,” she said and pointed to her desk where her jacket was hanging over her chair.
“So, this is where you sit all day,” I said and looked at her desk. It was neat and tidy, and far less chaotic than the other desks around. And the thought of her sitting there tapping away on her keyboard suddenly sent a thrill down my body.
“Why are you looking at my desk like that? Is something wrong?” she said.
I realized that I had been staring. I quickly blinked and looked back up at her. Her black outfit, her blue earrings. And I knew that I would not be able to resist her for much longer.
“Oh, nothing is wrong. In fact, everything is very, very right.”
“You’re weird,” she said and laughed nervously. Then she said, “Want the tour?”
I nodded without saying anything. But when we got to the conference room, I knew that I wanted her right there and then. The table was big, and wide, and completely empty. She was talking and busy telling me all about the meetings that they have in the office, and I was barely listening. She was halfway through her conversation when I walked up to her, picked her up, and placed her on the table.
“What the—”
But I didn’t let her talk anymore. Instead, I leaned in and immediately started kissing her. It was time for her and me to have our own little meeting here.