Chapter 7

Tate

Running my shop was easier than I’d thought it would be. Hell, getting the paperwork done for a business license had been harder, plus all the health and safety shit the state and the city required. The job itself was easy — scheduling the guys, booking appointments and disinfecting between customers — but the days were still long with inventory logs and bookkeeping. As I closed up late on a Friday evening, I started to think that maybe I should take Jana up on her offer to help.

I knew I wouldn’t, not yet anyway. So far none of it was too difficult, just time consuming as fuck. But it’s not like I had a lot to keep me busy other than GET INK’D and the Reckless Bastards. Sad fucking life, but I wasn’t ready to do much more yet. Prison life was very regimented and even if I hadn’t needed that kind of structure, it stuck with me. Some guys had gotten out and come back in less than a year because freedom made them go buck wild and they ended up right back in a cage. I refused to let that shit happen to me.

No. Fucking. Way.

I’d just finished locking up when I felt a pair of hands grab me from behind. Instantly my instincts kicked in. Six years of being locked up with murderers, rapists and con men, I learned not to let anyone get the jump on me. I turned quickly, grabbing the asshole by the throat and slamming him against the steel gate. Only it wasn’t a him. I blinked at the familiar blonde-streaked brown hair and growled. “Sheena? What the fuck, I could’ve fucking killed you.” Fucking woman had no sense of self-preservation, did she? “I’m sure I told you to stay away from me.”

She stuttered as I let go of her and took a few steps back, shoving my hands into the pockets of my jeans. “I-I’m sorry, Golden Boy. I just wanted to come see if you wanted to go to my place and order a pizza.”

“I don’t.”

Her lips shifted to a pout as she crossed her arms, doing her best to bring her tits to my attention. “Why?”

It seemed the Reckless Bitches had gotten bolder in my absence and I didn’t fucking appreciate it. “Because I don’t want to, that’s why.”

Hurt flashed in her eyes for about a second before it turned to anger. Arms once propping up her tits shifted to her hips as she leaned forward to glare at me. “It’s that hoity-toity redheaded bitch, ain’t it? She’s no more special than the rest of us, ya know.”

“Goddammit, Sheena,” I roared and took a step forward, checking myself when she took a wary step back. “What, or who, I do is none of your fucking business. Get that shit through your thick skull or next time, I won’t be so nice.”

She stumbled back and I took a few more steps away from her as a middle-aged couple walked by the front window. “You wouldn’t know fun if it ran up and kicked you in the nuts.”

I laughed, shook my head and walked toward my bike that was parked out front. Jumping on my bike to put some distance between us, I decided I wasn’t ready to head back to an empty house. Now that Max and Jana were basically living together at Jana’s, the house felt bigger and emptier. Like another cage holding me in. I passed a noodle shop and figured being surrounded by strangers was better than being surrounded by silence. I didn’t know what the hell a noodle shop was, but I suspected some type of Asian based on the décor.

“Table for one?” a very petite Asian woman asked and I nodded. “Big man needs big table,” she offered with a pat of my arm in a maternal way that reminded me of my mom.

“Thanks,” I told her and stopped at a familiar halo of red hair. “Cover Girl?”

Teddy looked up and smiled. “Tate, fancy meeting you here.” She gestured for me to join her and the older woman smiled as she set the menu at the empty seat.

“I’ll get you a place setting,” she said with authority. “Drink?”

“Beer. Something dark and creamy.” She smiled, nodded and walked away.

I took the seat and drank Teddy in. She was always dressed up but tonight she had on jeans and a plain black t-shirt that still made her look like sex on stilettos. I inhaled and it felt like fire invaded my nose and eyes. “Holy hell woman, is that how you keep your body so hot, just scorching off the extra calories?” That shit in her bowl had to be illegal.

Her head fell back, sending a cascade of waves across her shoulders as she laughed. “Nah. I just have a major noodle addiction and these are so fucking spicy there’s no way I can pig out on spring rolls and dumplings too.”

My eyes must have bugged out my head at the way she laughed.

“You can eat that much?”

She nodded. “Oh yeah, which is why I limit myself to the spicy noodles or the other stuff.”

“Worried about getting fat? Because from here it looks like that’s a long way away.”

Her smile softened. “Thanks, but the truth is that I just don’t want to gain so much that I have to get rid of the clothes I’ve gathered over the years. They’re nice and these days I only splurge on shoes, handbags and jeans.”

I barked out a laugh and picked up the just delivered beer. “What else is there?”

She rolled her eyes with an affectionate smile. “Men. You know nothing of fashion.”

“You wound me,” I deadpanned.

“You’ll live, Golden Boy.” She shook her head. “I love that name.”

Her glee was interrupted when the older woman, May, according to the name on her shirt, came to take my order. I ordered a bowl of seafood and noodles, plus a bit of the other stuff out of pure curiosity. “Now Teddy, tell me something about yourself.”

“Like?” While she waited for me to specify, she used her chopsticks perfectly to scoop noodles in her mouth, totally unconcerned with the drops on her chin until she was done chewing.

Staring at her like this, dressed down and indulging in her favorite food, it occurred to me that she was as real as she was beautiful. Teddy didn’t try to be tough or sexy, she just was. She was able to laugh at herself without demeaning herself, and she spoke her mind. A rare trait in women in my experience. “Why did you grow up in foster care?”

“Straight to it then, huh?” She dabbed her mouth with her napkin, as ladylike as you please, then smiled to show she wasn’t bothered by my question. “My mom overdosed on heroin one times too many and when she died there was no one. She hadn’t spoken to her family in years, changed her name and moved a dozen times, so it was easier for the state to put me in the system rather than actually try to track them down.”

Damn. “Did you have one family or were you like Jana?”

She scoffed. “Yeah, that was one of the things that bonded us. Our inability to find a family. Now it’s your turn.”

I shrugged and told her all about our mom. “She was the best. Tough as hell but tender and all mom-like, you know? The woman couldn’t cook a bird to save her life, but she was absolute magic with potatoes. And she was so proud of Max, then me for enlisting.” Just thinking about Mom made my chest tighten, tears sting my eyes.

“It must’ve killed her to see you locked up,” she said with no pity, just sincerity.

“It would have, but she died before that shit storm swept in.” I shook my head, hearing the bitterness in my words. “She was everything to us, both of us, and yet we let some fucking war keep us away when she needed us the most. There was no one to fight for her, to make sure she got the care she deserved.” That shit still ate at me even though I’d stopped thinking about it about eighteen months into what turned out to be six long as fuck years. “At first I just tried not to think of her when I was locked up because it made me angry and that’s a sure-fire way to get dead or a life sentence. Then, it just made me sad.”

Her smile came softly as she looked at me. “And I guess being sad in there would have been even worse?”

“Damn straight. Would’ve gotten me killed or fucked.”

She barked out a laugh and covered her mouth. “Sorry, I probably shouldn’t laugh at that, but holy shit Tate, that’s funny.” She smacked the table as she hiccupped with laughter.

“Glad to amuse you.”

Eventually she settled down and stole one of what was supposed to be a spring roll but it didn’t look like any I’d ever seen. “Tell me about how you came to be in a motorcycle club.”

I frowned. “First tell me what the fuck this is,” I said pointing to what looked like a bunch of grass wrapped in cellophane.

She laughed again and I was really starting to like that husky laugh that came so easily. “It’s a Vietnamese spring roll, filled with rice noodles, shrimp, cucumber, basil and carrots. Try it, they’re delicious,” she assured me as she dipped it in a little bowl of brown sauce and took a big bite.

Fuck me, she was right as my mouth exploded in a million flavors, all of them delicious. “Damn that is good.”

“Told you. Now answer up.”

“It’s nothing dramatic. I came out here after I left the Army in search of a path forward and found Cross and some of the other guys instead. Most of them are vets and we clicked. Max was still in the service doing off-the-books shit for Uncle Sam and Mom was gone. They became my family.”

Talking to Teddy was easy, I realized. She flirted but there wasn’t any intent behind it, and she asked good questions.

“Do you miss the Army?”

“Sometimes, but I like being my own boss.”

“Amen to that.” She grinned and took a steamed dumpling, moaning as she chewed. “You are evil for ordering these goodies.” She pushed it all closer to me and I laughed.

“Fine by me, this shit is good.”

“How’s the inking business?”

“Going good. When do you plan to come in?”

“As soon as I get enough time to get it done.”

I smiled. She was tough but I could see how she struggled with covering up the scars. They were a big part of her life, even though she hated them. Covering them would be a big change. “Come on, I’ll follow you home.”

“He said creepily,” she said with an uneasy grin, handing May a card as she rushed past us. “Sure, I’ll let you play my white knight. Or golden knight.”

“Smart ass.”

“Thank you,” she said sweetly, smiling up at May as she brought a receipt for Teddy to sign. “May, as usual you have filled my tummy to perfection.”

“We always love to fatten you up, Teddy. Still too skinny.”

Her skin flushed pink as she looked up at me. “See why I love it here? Flattery and phenomenal food.”

“Make sure she gets home safe,” May said to me, a serious expression that made me wonder if she knew what had been going on with Teddy.

“Of course,” I told her and asked for the check.

“Already paid,” she told me with a bright smile before she hurried off.

“You paid for my meal? Hell, I don’t know whether to be insulted or impressed. The only woman who ever paid for my food was my mom.”

“Are we going to argue about this, Golden Boy?”

“Nope. Come on.” She took my arm and let me walk her to her fancy ass car. It was simple but expensive. “I’ll bet this thing rides like a dream.”

“Be my designated driver one night and I’ll let you find out,” she said before I closed the door with a laugh.

Why did Teddy have to be so close to the only two people I was close to? She was gorgeous, sexy and a good fucking time. And completely off limits. With that unsatisfying thought, I hopped on my bike and followed her winding path back to the residential part of Mayhem to her house.

“Thanks,” she called out as she walked up the stone path that led to her front door, but I kept an eye on her, noticing immediately when her steps slowed and then stopped.

I was off my bike and at her side in a split second, staring at the same sick shit that had turned Teddy’s pale skin ghost white. “What the fuck?”

An old headshot of Teddy hung from a cleaver buried deep into her front door. “Watch your back bitch,” it said in blood red paint.

Teddy began to shake and I wrapped her in my arms, calling the police with my free hand. This shit was getting out of hand, and Teddy needed more protection than she realized, which was how I ended up sleeping in her girly guestroom.

***

There was a soft woman wrapped around me and I groaned, snuggling deeper into the smooth skin and flower-scented hair. My hand went to a long, lean thigh draped over my own and I enjoyed it, sliding my hand up and down. The feel of a woman was something I’d missed for years and this woman was soft, silky-fucking-smooth. And moaning.

My eyes snapped open, trying to focus and figure out where the fuck I was. I’d had just a beer at the noodle house and some fucking wine with Teddy after the cops had left. Shit...Teddy. My gaze shifted to the right, and sure enough she was there with her arms and a leg wrapped around me, her head lying on my chest. And I didn’t hate it.

I kind of liked it.

A lot.

Teddy groaned again as she started to wake up, back arched as she stretched, giving me a view of round tits with rock hard nipples that made my mouth water. I should have looked away. Hell, I should have just gotten up and gone to the bathroom, but I didn’t. I just laid there and stared at her. Her tank top rode up, giving me a glimpse of a strip of skin that was still pale but with a slight tan, but her tits held me captive.

“Enjoying the view,” she asked with a husky voice, still groggy from sleep.

“Fuck yeah, I am. I’m alive aren’t I?”

She rolled her eyes. “Flatterer.”

“I’m just speaking the truth, Teddy.” I swear her nipples beaded even tighter under my gaze and my cock stirred to life. “But it might be best if you backed away.”

She smiled as she looked down at the tent in the sheet. “Damn, Golden Boy.”

I chuckled at her incredulous tone, but my cock was hard as a steel rod. “Enjoying the view?”

She licked her lips and her hand reached out, stroking me through the sheet. “Mmm-hmm.”

“Teddy!” I grunted at her touch but she ignored me, fascinated.

“You’re big,” she said, giving me a squeeze. “And thick.”

“I’m a man, Teddy.”

She stopped but her grip didn’t loosen. “And this is a bad idea.”

“Very bad,” I agreed.

“The worst,” she agreed with a smile in her eyes, hand still gripping my cock. “Too bad. It could’ve been fun,” she said, releasing me and rolling off the bed. I watched her ass, in nothing but cotton pajama shorts that gave me a glimpse of the shadows beneath her ass cheeks.

“It would’ve been damn fun,” I told her confidently.

She turned at the doorway, wearing a wistful smile. “Thanks for last night, Tate. I appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome, Cover Girl.”

“Take a shower and I’ll whip you up something to eat.” Her gaze lingered on my bare chest and my still hard cock looking like a tent under the sheet. Licking her lips she shook her head.

“That eager to get rid of me?”

“No, but it’s ten and I figured you had to open the shop at some point today. Unless the key is to not make any money?” Her lips twitched for a long time before the laughter broke as I sent a pillow sailing toward her. Teddy ducked out of the way at the last minute. “Chop, chop.”

When I was sure the little temptress was gone, I rushed to the bathroom, turning the water on cold to get rid of my hard on. When that didn’t work, I took care of business like I usually did, cursing myself for turning down a hot as fuck woman who was clearly interested in my dick. “Dumbass,” I grumbled before stepping out, feeling satisfied but desperate for more.

For Teddy.

No matter how bad an idea it was.

And it was a bad fucking idea.