Chapter Four
Clint
I lay on my mattress on the floor and stared at the ceiling. Damn, Nana’s nurse was smokin’. She was a little standoffish, but she was all leg, with a pair of perky tits that made me look twice. Once she’d loosened up, we shared a few laughs while shopping for her bed. I couldn’t get her throaty giggle out of my head. It was running through my brain like a damn song I couldn’t forget. I rubbed my hands over my eyes, trying to remove the image of her reaching out to touch my chest. I laughed—I should have let her do it.
Getting up, I stretched. I needed to get going. The prospects would be here soon and then moving day would begin. I’d been shopping used furniture sales for the last two weeks and everything was arriving this morning.
I headed out to the hallway and saw Jo. Wet hair streamed on her bare shoulders. She had a towel wrapped around her that pushed her boobs into magnificent little pillows. Just a little bit lower and I might have seen some nipple, but not quite. She hitched up the towel a little and blushed. Shit. I needed to keep eye contact so she wouldn’t realize I was staring at her boobs.
“The guys will be here with the furniture soon.” I cleared my throat and tried to sound normal. “It’s gonna get noisy.”
“Right.” She nodded. She knew I was looking. “I’ll stay out of your way.” She darted into her room, leaving a perfume-y, soapy scent lingering in the hall. I groaned. Living under the same roof with her was going to be damn difficult.
I needed to stay the fuck away from her. After seeing her dazed expression when I took off my shirt, I was pretty sure she was into me. Or at least my chest. She may be hot, but I was her employer. I needed to be professional at all times. I didn’t want to put her into a position where she’d be uncomfortable.
The position of boss was new for me. Tate put me in charge of the three prospects, but that was a lot different than employing a home health-care worker. I guess, honestly, Nana was her employer. It was Nana who was paying her bills, not me. But I still lived in this house so I needed to toe the line and keep my eyes and hands to myself.
The prospects Roach, Crash, and Grinder were on their way over. Besides working at the garage, their other job was whatever the hell I wanted. Today, they were moving all my new stuff over from the storage unit.
Roach pounded on the door at exactly ten in the morning.
“Hey, man, we got your shit.” He grinned. “What are we doing first?”
“I guess just start unloading and we’ll decide as we go.” I put on my cut and went out to meet the moving van.
I’d been living on a friend’s couch before I moved to the clubhouse. The clubhouse was a bit like a fucking frat house. Bed, dresser, the basics were all provided. I’d never really had my own place before.
Unloading all my new shit without a plan proved to be kind of a poor idea. We ended up with a bunch of stuff scattered everywhere.
“Where do you want this chair?” Crash asked as he and Grinder maneuvered a brown recliner through the front door.
“Well, by the television,” I said, following the guys in the house. “But there’s not much room left.”
“If you put the television at an angle on the corner, you could fit both the couch and the recliner in pretty easily.”
We all turned toward a feminine voice—Jo’s. Wearing a tank top and a pair of faded jeans, she looked amazing. Tall and lithe, she could easily be a calendar girl.
“Guys, this is Nana’s home health assistant, Jo. She’ll be staying with us,” I explained. The guys were looking at me for some guidance. I hadn’t really considered that Jo would meet up with the guys from the club. “Jo, these are my friends, Roach and Grinder. Crash is around here somewhere.”
“Hi, I’m Roach.” He stuck out his hand for a shake and the recliner tipped.
“Hey, asshole,” Grinder bitched. “Pick up your end. Flirt later.”
Roach smiled his trademark crooked smile and Jo smiled back.
Dammit.
“All right,” I barked. Roach jumped. Good, it made him stop grinning at Jo. “Do what she said. Put the TV at an angle and put the recliner over there.”
After that, Jo was the one determining where the furniture would go. I’d bought a few pictures too, flowers and stuff I thought my grandma would like. Jo instructed us on where to put those as well. At the end of the day, the place was starting to look like a proper home.
Once everything was moved in and set up, we all sat down to pizza and beer in the living room. I collapsed in the recliner and the guys lined up on the couch. Jo walked in with a slice of pizza on her plate and looked around. I started to get up when Roach opened his mouth.
“Have my spot on the couch, Jo.” He got up and sat on the floor, leaving the end of the couch empty for her.
I glared at him. That should have been me. I should have offered her a seat faster, like a gentleman and shit.
“Thanks. So, are you guys part of the Demon Horde too?” she asked. “You all wear black vests, but only Clint’s has the picture on the back.”
The prospects went silent and left me to answer her question. Good move on their part. We didn’t share too much with outsiders and she’d obviously heard something. Seeing as how Jo would be living with me, she had to know a little bit.
“The guys are part of the motorcycle club too,” I explained, then I gave her the standard line. “We all share the same interest in Harley-Davidsons. We talk about fixing them, restoring them, stuff like that. They’re prospects, not full members yet. I get to wear the patch because I’m a full member.”
“So, it’s just for fun?” she asked. “With the tattoos and all, you guys look like you could be in an outlaw gang.”
I wondered if she was thinking of me shirtless in the driveway. She’d liked the view. Fuck. I needed to stop thinking about her like that.
“We’re not like those guys,” I promised.
Crash choked on beer and stared at me with wide eyes. Not all of the club’s businesses were above board. Some might even call us a criminal group, but she didn’t need to know that.
For the most part we were pretty tame. We didn’t run guns, we didn’t do drugs. We might have a little illegal import business for the Seattle tech crowd, and we might launder some money with the help of the local tribal casino, but it wasn’t anything dangerous.
“Hey, did you hear that Russ’ dog had pups?” Roach asked, jumping in to change the subject. We’d need to be more careful around Jo. She was an outsider. “You gonna get one now that you have a place with a yard and a fence?”
“I hadn’t thought about it.” I turned to Jo. “What do you think? Would you like a dog? They’re boxers.”
She shrugged and sipped on her soda. “I’m sure I’d be fine with whatever you decide. But a large dog might be able to knock over Mrs. Remmick and that wouldn’t be safe.”
“Jo must be more of a cat person,” Crash teased.
“I’ve never had a pet.” She looked at the guys and then back to me. “My dad was in the military and we moved around a lot. When I was a kid we never stayed in one place long enough for a pet. What about you guys? Where did you grow up?”
I tuned out as the prospects told her about their hometowns. We finished our pizza and Jo disappeared back in her room. The prospects went to return the moving truck. I needed to go out to the new shop we had rented and get things squared away. Tomorrow was our opening day and I wanted to make sure everything was stowed and looked clean for customers.
I lurked in the hallway outside her room. I should say goodbye. I raised my hand to knock, but she opened the door before I could. I’d been caught—she knew I’d been there.
“Do you need something?” she asked. Her voice wavered a little, like maybe she was a little scared to talk to me. She’d been more at home with the prospects than she was with me and I didn’t like that. I wanted things to be easy between us. We were going to be living together, after all.
“I’m sorry about before, when you were coming out of the shower,” I said, holding her gaze. “I’m not used to living with a woman in the house. I wanted to tell you that I won’t make you uncomfortable again.”
“Thanks, I appreciate that.” She crossed her arms and leaned against the doorjamb. “Most of my clients are elderly and their family is older, so this is a little new to me too.”
“I’d like to be friends.” I held out my hand for a handshake. Her hand was warm and soft, and so was her smile.
Time stopped. I rubbed my thumb across her knuckle.
Shit. I remembered that I needed to keep eye contact, so she wouldn’t think I was looking at her tits. Snatching my hand back, I looked up—just in time to see her catch her breath. Her lips parted, and she made a little gasping noise. Fuck. I’d taken this handshake a little too far.
“I’ll probably be working late.” I realized that she probably didn’t give a shit about my schedule. “Nana gets in tomorrow morning. You’re on your own for dinner.”
“I’ve got class tonight,” she explained. “So I’ll just see you and Mrs. Remmick in the morning.” She turned to go back to her room and I realized I wouldn’t see her again for hours and that made me fucking stupid, so I said the first thing that came into my head.
“I’m in the room next to yours, if you need anything—for Nana,” I clarified.
Shit. If she needed anything? Like what? A good solid fuck. I had to get my brain out of the gutter. Between her questions about the club and my completely inappropriate attraction to her, this was a powder keg.
“Nana will be in the master and I’m going to work.” I nodded to her and left. I didn’t look back as I left the house. I would just need to throw myself into the new shop. That would be the best solution.
* * *
When I got to the garage, there was a message light blinking on the voicemail. It was Tate—he wanted to talk in person. I got the guys started on their projects for the day and then headed over to the clubhouse.
“Hey,” I said, meeting him in his office in the back of the building. “What’s up?”
“Well...” Tate frowned. “Remember how the Horde was gonna split your initial payment into two chunks?”
“Yeah, I guess.” Tate had explained how the loan would work when I got back from seeing Nana in the hospital. I got the first half of the loan already for the setup of the shop. “They still have about thirty-five grand they need to get to us, right? I had planned that for a couple of hydraulic lift bays.”
“Yeah, they still owe the thirty-five Gs. Volk called me yesterday. He wants you to go down to Cali to pick it up,” Tate explained. “Said they got an investigation going on and don’t want to send that much money through wire transfer.”
“Oh yeah, sure. I can just put it in my saddlebags or something.” A quick run to Southern California would be easy shit. “When should I go?”
“Volk suggested two weeks.” Tate pulled a calendar off the wall and we agreed on a date. “You sure this is okay? You got a lot of commitments at home.” He lifted an eyebrow.
Fuck. I got it. This was a test. He and Volk probably wanted to see where my loyalties stood.
“Yeah.” I shrugged. “I got it handled. I can still serve the club. Don’t you worry about me.”
Tate broke into a huge grin. “Knew I could count on you. Call the old ladies if you need any help.”
Right, I’d forgotten about them. A couple of the guys had hooked up lately and Tate had been married for a while. Often the women pitched in and helped out.
“I’ll be sure to let you know.” I shook his hand. “I got it handled, though.”
As soon as I was clear of Tate’s office, I picked up my cell phone and dialed.
“Hey, Mom?” I said as soon as she picked up. “I need you to help babysit Nana in a few weeks.”