Blade

 

A baby.

 

That certainly explained why her parents had kicked her out and why she was too ashamed to go to anyone else who knew her for help. It also told me just how conservative her family and friends were. But that also told me I was her last option. I was the end of the road for her. There was probably nowhere else to go.

 

And I was about to let her walk out my door.

 

I didn’t have room in my life for a child, but I couldn’t let Lucy walk out of it either. I was going to have to find a way to make it work. I didn’t want her going back out on the street. It was not the place for someone like her, especially not while she was pregnant. She needed to be somewhere safe for the baby.

 

She was right. Neither one of them was my responsibility, but I was going to make both of them my responsibility. I wasn’t going to take her in just to let her throw herself back out. I started down the stairs, hoping I could catch her before she left.

 

“Hold on,” I called to her as she opened the front door.

 

She stopped, but she didn’t turn around. Instead her posture stiffened as if she were trying to brace herself against what she knew I was about to say. I was amazed at how insightful she was.

 

“Lucy, look, stay here. Just one more day. Give me today. I’m going to see what I can do. If I can’t get you work so you can start getting back on your feet, you can leave all you want. You can go wherever. But someone needs to be helping you look after that baby, and I have some connections that might be able to get you gainful employment. Give me a chance. Let me look for you,” I pleaded with her.

 

She drove me crazy. When it came to her, I was a mess. There was no putting my foot down with her. There were only suggestions and questions. When I tried to put my foot down, I simply stammered.

 

She gave me a look that said she was over it. She was through with my tricks.

 

“Look, if it doesn’t work, I will let you go,” I told her.

 

“Fair enough.” She dropped her backpack next to the front door. “But, if you don’t have anything by tonight, I’m sleeping on the couch and leaving in the morning.”

 

“That’s fine.” I grabbed her and kissed her, planted one right on her lips. “If I can’t pull this off, you can do whatever you want.”

 

“I’m going to do that anyway,” she advised me. “In speaking of which, I’m going to clean up from breakfast now.” She walked into the kitchen and started washing and putting up dishes.

 

I hurried upstairs and got dressed. I knew exactly who to call to find her a job, but I wasn’t going to do it in the house where she could hear me. When I left, she was putting up the last of the dishes and cleaning the counter where she’d worked to prepare breakfast. I didn’t say anything as I left the house. I didn’t want to upset her or potentially start another fight by saying the wrong thing.

 

I hoped in the car and drove up to the club. I didn’t mind making personal calls like I was going to be making all day from the office at The Bounce House, but I didn’t like making calls like these from home.

 

No one else was at the club yet. It was too early in the day. We didn’t open until the afternoon. I unlocked the door and walked into the quiet building alone, locking the door behind me. I flipped on a couple of lights so I could see to get to the office. Then, I sat down, grabbed the office phone, and dialed up my brother, Robby.

 

“Blade,” he said excitedly when he picked up the phone. “Man, it’s a surprise to hear your voice this early in the morning.”

 

“Tell me about it, Robby. It’s not even noon yet,” I groaned. I had stopped by the gas station on the way in to pick up a cup of coffee, and I sipped on it to stay awake.

 

“So, what gets you out of bed this early?” he asked. He was a businessman. He owned his own construction company. I was surprised he’d been able to come to the phone. Usually by this time of day, he was out on a job site somewhere, unable to reach it in time.

 

“I need your help,” I told him.

 

“What kind of help, Blade?” he asked cautiously. “Digging-a-hole help or some other kind?”

 

We both laughed. He was always talking about helping me dispose of people who crossed me. But that never seemed to be the reason why I was calling.

 

“I’ve got a young girl here who needs a job,” I told him.

 

“So put her to work, man. You can always use more talent.”

 

“Not her. She doesn’t belong on the stage,” I told him.

 

“Whoa, what do you mean? Is she ugly or something?” he asked joking.

 

“No, she’s just too good for places like this. She needs a better job than I can offer her,” I said.

 

“Too good for The Bounce House, where the women are a cut above the rest?” Robby teased.

 

“Look, can you help me or not?”

 

“Yeah, I’ve got a few office positions that are open. I can probably squeeze her into one of them,” he finally said.

 

“Thank you so much. I’ll send her around your way soon,” I told him.

 

“So, tell me about her,” Robby said. “Let me know what I should expect when she comes around.”

 

I told my brother about Lucy. I told him a little about her predicament and why she was in need of a job. He asked me why she wasn’t fit for the strip club, because everyone was fit for the strip club if they knew how to dance. I admitted to him that she could definitely dance and she nailed it the one time I let her take the stage, but I also had to admit why I didn’t want her on the stage. I told him about the baby, making her pregnancy the main reason I didn’t want her dancing.

 

“It’s not yours, right? Man, I know how you are with these young girls,” Robby joked.

 

“No, definitely not mine. She was pregnant when she came to me. That’s why her folks kicked her out, man. Look, I can’t just turn her away,” I told him.

 

“Oh, I get it. You’ve got feelings for this one.”

 

This one, like she was just another girl in a long line of girls, like there were going to be girls after her. He said it like she was just another piece of ass. Sure, since my divorce, there had been plenty of pieces of ass, but she wasn’t another. She wasn’t just this one, but I was going to leave it alone. If I said what I was thinking, it was going to sound like a lot more than it really was, and Robby would have had a field day with it.

 

“You’re really serious about this girl,” Robby said, laughing, reading my silence like an open book.

 

“Look, man, just see what you can do for her, all right?” I said.

 

“Yeah, I’ll do what I can. Bring her by the office. Is she staying at your place?” he asked.

 

“For now. I’m trying to get her to stay at the clubhouse so she’s not alone as much. Plus, you know, if there’s any trouble, I don’t want her at home alone when stuff goes down,” I told him.

 

“Yeah, I gotcha. That would really be the best thing, especially if she’s pregnant. She needs people around who can take care of her,” he said, echoing exactly what I’d told her.

 

I shook my head and laughed. Sometimes I wondered if we weren’t the same person living two different lives. It was uncanny how much we thought alike. We finished up and hung up the phone. I left a note on my door to let Molly know I wasn’t going to be in all night. I told her to call me if she needed me. She knew the drill. She was my lifesaver, really. I trusted her to run the place for me whenever there was other business – personal or professional – for me to handle.

 

I left the office and went home to my reluctant house guest. I hoped my good news was going to sway her in the right direction and make her trust me a little more. I was a hard-ass. It was just who I had to be most of the time. But the things she’d said that morning made me question myself.

 

Was I doing the right thing by trying to help her? Or was I wasting my time with someone who was allowing her life to make her cold and cynical? She definitely seemed to be leaning that direction. I hoped some good news would turn her around.

 

“Hey, babe!” I called out to her when I walked into the house. I didn’t get a response, but then I saw her sitting on the patio by the pool.

 

I opened the glass door and stepped outside. I walked around to where she sat in the lounge chair and was surprised to see her sitting there naked. I was speechless. The reserved little girl who had come into my office was sitting on my patio naked, baring all to the sky and the sun.

 

Her body was even more gorgeous in the light. All her curves and proportions were perfect. Her skin was beautifully fair, but probably not for long if she stayed in the sun too long.

 

“Oh hey,” she said when she saw me walk up, grabbing for her towel out of habit. She covered herself and blushed. I couldn’t tell if she was blushing because I’d walked in on her naked or because she’d reacted in her old, bashful manner.

 

“I’ve got good news,” I told her.

 

“What kind of news?” she asked, shooting me a suspicious look.

 

“My brother might have a job for you in his office. He runs a construction company and always needs help around the office. He said to bring you by this afternoon,” I told her.

 

“Really?” She sat up on her elbows and looked at me, a smile spreading across her face, despite the way she’d been acting earlier in the day.

 

“Really. You’ll just be doing office work,” I told her.

 

“Is he a member of the MC, too?” she asked me slowly, cautiously, feeling out the question as she said it.

 

“Yes, he is a member like I am,” I told her. “Is that going to be a problem?”

 

She sighed. “I guess it can’t be. I’ve just got to get used to that being part of my life for as long as I’m around you guys, huh?”

 

“Yes. That’s who and what we are, Lucy. Don’t worry. It means you’re safe, no matter what happens, no matter who gets pissed off at any of us for any reason,” I assured her.

 

“Well, I don’t like the way that sounds.” She raised an eyebrow.

 

“It means you’re okay. And if you go to stay at the clubhouse on the outskirts of town, you’ll have people there to help you as your pregnancy moves along,” I told her yet again.

 

“I know, but it just seems like so much. I mean, when will I get to see you?” she asked me.

 

“You can stay here every night. I still want you in my bed.”

 

“You still want to fuck me.” That eyebrow was up again.

 

I laughed, and I felt like I was blushing. What the hell was this woman doing to me? Devin “Blade” Shaw did not blush. It just didn’t happen.

 

“It sounds too complicated, Blade,” she said. “I’d rather just stay here.”

 

“We’ll make it work, baby,” I assured her.

 

She sighed again and shook her head. “Thank you, Blade.” She got up and kissed me slowly, tenderly. She let her towel fall as she raised her arms to wrap them around my neck.

 

I put my hands on her smooth back and held her to me while we kissed by my pool. I felt like things were starting to move along nicely.