Wolfe: The Biker Next Door, page 2
I held my breath and waited for her to remove her shorts, disappointed when she didn’t.
She turned to Eagle. “Ready to get wet?”
Shit, her comment brought a different kind of image to my mind. Of something way too filthy. Her husky laugh ran down my spine like the pierced tongue of a lover.
Eagle took her hand and they sprinted to the water’s edge with Demo running close behind them.
Chapter 4
Ella
I didn’t know what it was about me that Prez didn’t like, but it was starting to bug me. And what kind of name was Prez anyway? It must be short for something else. He wasn’t very friendly. In fact, I thought he was a Neanderthal, the way he grunted out his responses as if it took too much effort to open his freakin’ mouth.
I’d been his neighbor for two weeks now, and he hadn’t so much as returned a single wave when we saw each other in our driveways or passed each other on the road. I wasn’t sure what he did for a living, but he was gone most nights. I could hear his motorcycle leave around dinner time, and sometimes it woke me up when he returned home early in the morning.
I could tell when his friends came around, too, because they all rode bikes. And then it would get loud at his house, because they were a partying bunch. They liked their music loud. Like today, coupled with drinking, cooking--I could smell it--and just hanging out together. Thank goodness that had only happened on the weekends so far.
Eagle dragged me into the water and didn’t let my hand go until we started to swim. There was a floating deck a little way off where his friends had congregated. Two women in skimpy bikinis were sunbathing on top. Two men were sitting along the edge with their legs dangling in the water. The others were hanging onto the side.
I wondered why Prez wasn’t in the water and glanced back to where he’d been sitting. My eyes almost bugged out of my head when I saw a woman straddling his lap. Two tiny strips of material visible around her back and at her hips revealed that she wasn’t completely naked. Her brown hair was wet and hanging to her shoulders. I could make out Prez’s hands on her hips while she moved suggestively against him.
Were they fucking in public? Totally disgusting! I turned back to finish my swim. We reached the floating deck and joined the three men who were talking and treading water. When they noticed us, their interest in me was immediate and friendly. Their eyes dropped to my breasts with wolfish gleams of appreciation.
I was used to that response from men and didn’t let it bother me.
“Ella, these are my brothers, Buck, Lynx, and Tank.”
We exchanged smiles.
“Bear and Knuckles,” he continued with a nod to the two men sitting on top of the deck with the women. Bear winked at me. Knuckles raised his chin in acknowledgement. “The sweet tarts are Hannah and Jezzie.” They crooked their heads long enough to give me a disinterested look and mumble, “hi.” And then they started screaming with indignation when Demo managed to claw his way onto the deck and shook the water off him like dogs will do.
I laughed, gaining a glare from the girls, but it wasn’t what Demo had done to them that had struck my funny bone. “Some of you have the names of animals or birds. Were your parents’ wildlife enthusiasts?”
More than one man chuckled, but it was Eagle who explained. “Those are our road names, sweetheart. We don’t have the same parents.”
“Oh.” I frowned, totally confused. “I was sure Eagle had said that you were his brothers.”
“Not blood brothers, but brothers all the same,” Lynx explained with a grin. “We’re members of the Soldiers of Retribution MC.”
A lightbulb went off as it all started to make sense to me now. The motorcycles, the tattoos, the long hair, their tough and rugged looks. And while they had some of the same traits, like the muscles they were sporting, they were each eye-catching in their own and different way. But none were as sexy to me as Prez was. There was just something about him that intrigued me.
A squeal from the beach drew my attention back to Prez. The woman that had been straddling him was now on the ground at his feet and glaring up at him. I couldn’t make out what she was saying, but it was obvious by her movements that she was angry.
“Ginger must have put the moves on Prez again,” Bear smirked.
“So what’s up with him anyway?” I asked no one in particular. “He’s not very friendly. Any time I try to talk to him he just grunts.” Laughter followed my comment.
“Really?” There was mild surprise in Tank’s voice. He exchanged a significant look with more than one of his brothers, which more than piqued my interest. There was a story there.
“Never known Prez to ignore a pretty woman,” Lynx quipped.
“The grunting sounds about right, though,” Eagle laughed. His brothers responded in like.
The women didn’t weigh in, but as more comments were brandished about between the guys, bits and pieces of their words began to take root. Moody, hard to get to know, didn’t trust easily, bad breakup, good food. Good food? That one stuck and gave me an idea. I’d always heard the best way to a man’s heart was through his stomach. Another one I’d heard my mom use all my life was “kill them with kindness”.
The memory put an interesting thought in my head. I wanted to be friends with Prez. I mean, we were neighbors after all. Maybe I should invite him over for a get-to-know-you-dinner. No, I scratched that idea almost immediately. It was too soon for that. And I didn’t want to come across as desperate. But I had a problem I had to fix. It killed me when I knew that someone didn’t like me.
Then it became my mission to win them over. I couldn’t help it. I’d always been like that. Back in high school, I’d had a crush on a guy who wouldn’t give me the time of day. My mom’s words came back to me. “Not everyone is going to like you, Ella, just like you’re not going to like everyone you meet.”
I hadn’t wanted to believe that. I wanted to be liked by everyone.
I looked back toward the beachline. Prez was gone, and so was the woman. I was hit by something unpleasant, but quickly brushed it off. We weren’t even friends yet, and here I was feeling jealous that he might be inside his house that very moment screwing that woman?
Reality check, Ella! He could screw whoever he wanted. I just wanted to be his friend.
Chapter 5
Wolfe
I padded barefoot through my living room as I made my way to the kitchen for that much needed first cup of coffee. I hit the start button and as I stood blinking the sleep from my eyes, I noticed the sound of music filtering over from Ella’s house. Jesus. It had been a week since the cookout, and the woman had been fucking with me ever since.
She was driving me bat shit crazy with her attempts to get me to notice her antics. They were subtle little things, like the day I’d walked outside the back of the house to find her deliciously displayed, sunbathing on my floating deck; the way she always seemed to be coming and going when I was coming and going, so that we saw each other in our driveways or on the road. Then there was the day she’d lured Demo over with homemade dog biscuits, and I’d had to go retrieve him. Now the music. Adele was not my favorite, but I supposed that it accomplished what Ella wanted it to--make me think about her.
I thought about her too fucking much. Thought about all the filthy things I wanted to do to her. If she only knew what she was inviting by bringing attention to herself. She didn’t want a man like me coming after her. And maybe if she didn’t have that fresh, innocent look about her, the kind that warned me she wasn’t a one-time fuck, I would have made a move on her that first day.
I’d just broken things off with Teresa, and I didn’t have the time or the inclination to get a new side piece. It was too much work and required too much time, and there was too much shit going on in the club right now. It was best to stick with the sweet tarts.
The Soldiers for Retribution weren’t one percenters, but we did go after the bad guys. We did a lot of unsolicited work for the local officials, for which they were grateful. Most of the time. Georgetown was our town, and we fought hard to keep it clean and safe. We tried to stay on the right side of the law, but occasionally, due to the nature of the circumstances we found ourselves in, we were forced to cross over the line.
Bear and Tank had been working at Bath Iron Works a few months now to gain information about an illegal dog-fighting ring. Knuckles and Buck were bounty hunters on a job up in Caribou. Eagle and Lynx were private investigators working on a child disappearance case where the mother might be involved. No matter what we were involved in, the rule was that we went in pairs. We wore our cuts, and not everyone welcomed our interference with open arms. But we were proud of who we were and what we stood for.
My time as president of the club was spent being accessible to my brothers, assisting when necessary, and running the jobs that came across my desk. I also ran the bar and the garage that we owned. The bar doubled as our clubhouse when necessary, and the garage was located on the lot across from it. The prospects worked the garage, the sweet tarts worked in the bar. We had a pretty sweet set up.
I exhaled a deep breath and ran my hands over my face as the muted sounds of Adele’s popular song “Rolling in the Deep” reached me. What the fuck did Ella do for work that she was home all the damned time? Had she won a lottery or something? I ignored the little voice in my head telling me that this was the reason why you got to know people.
I reached for my favorite chipped mug next to the maker and poured a cup of coffee. I liked it black and bitter. Just as I’d taken that first cautious sip, there was a knock at the door. I knew right off that it wasn’t any of my brothers because they would have just walked in and made themselves to home. I set the cup down and walked to the door, opening it without checking first to see who it was.
Big mistake. Because standing there with a big, bright smile on her glowing face was my pain in the ass neighbor, looking like a fresh spring flower in her white shorts and floral blouse with the cutouts at the top. You know the kind. Where it showed plenty of creamy skin and was sexy as hell. She’d pulled her hair up on top of her head, leaving the smooth column of her neck visible, but some of the wild curls had escaped. One long corkscrew hung just behind her ear and another smaller one decorated her temple.
I stood there blinking stupidly for a moment, mesmerized by her nose piercing. Was that new?
Her green eyes moved over me, and I realized my error in opening the door in nothing but my grey sweats. Fucking hell. I was naked from the waist up, but it was what was happening south that made me aware of just how much this woman affected me. My low-hanging sweats couldn’t begin to disguise the hard-on I was getting.
“What?” I barked in a less than welcoming tone, angry at myself for a reaction I couldn’t control.
Her smile never wavered. It was as if she were determined to ignore my bad manners. “Good morning, Prez. I, um, thought you might like some homemade brownies.”
Brownies? I frowned, noticing the plate in her hand for the first time. I stared at the perfectly cut brownie squares, which were frosted, as if I’d never seen a brownie before. “Why the fuck would you think that?”
She looked slightly taken aback. “Because most people like brownies. And since I can’t afford to eat them all, I thought it would be neighborly to share them with you.”
I took a deep breath and released it in irritation. “It’s Wolfe.”
Her brows furrowed.
“Not Prez. My brothers call me that. You call me Wolfe.” I folded my arms and parted my stance as if I were a soldier guarding the doorway.
“Is that your road name?” she asked, still holding the plate out to me.
Apparently, she’d been given an education from my brothers that day at the cookout. Or maybe she’d caught an episode of Sons of Anarchy. I nodded, getting the feeling that she wasn’t going to leave until I took the plate. I snatched it out of her hand, desperate to get her out of my sight, because my blood had caught fire for her. I couldn’t remember ever reacting so strongly to a woman before. All I could think about was dragging her inside and fucking her up against the wall.
She’d look good plastered against my wall with my dick shoved inside her.
As we stood staring at each other a gentle breeze picked up, blowing over Ella and surrounding me with her sweet, enticing fragrance. Fuck.
“So, where’s Demo?” Her gaze moved past me further into my house as she looked for him.
Demo sometimes went on the hunt with Knuckles and Buck when they were on a job. He had the fucking skills of a bloodhound. “With one of my brothers, and I’d appreciate you leaving my dog alone. Gettin’ fucking tired of having to fetch him.” I started to close the door. “Thanks for the brownies,” I added as an afterthought.
“Can I ask you a question?” she rushed out, causing me to pause from shutting the door.
I looked back at her reluctantly and raised a brow indicating for her to go on.
“Why are you such an asshole?”
I recognize the slight hurt in her eyes, but I had to give her credit for the tilt of her chin, which indicated her resolve to stay strong. I felt my face crack into an unwilling grin at her boldness to call me out. “I ask myself that all the time.”
Her eyes widened. “Oh, my God, you can smile!” Her eyes danced with amusement. “I was beginning to think that perpetual scowl was painted on your face.”
My scowl returned as I was reminded of why I was going out of my way to not like her.
“You should smile more often.”
She bit down on the corner of her bottom lip, drawing my eyes there. My dick punched forward and I grunted. I was within five seconds of grabbing her and doing something stupid. Thank fuck I was holding the plate. It kept me grounded.
“Maybe if I wasn’t being bothered by my neighbors I’d have more to smile about.”
Slowly her smile disappeared and her face fell as the hurt returned to her eyes. I felt instant regret, and then anger at myself for being an ass. My mom would have hit me upside the head for my actions if she could see me right now. I’d have deserved it.
When I saw Ella’s luscious bottom lip quiver, I wanted to take it all back, but reminded myself that it was all for a good reason. She sucked in a deep breath, and I knew the second before she opened her mouth that she was going to let me have it.
“You know what?” She grabbed the plate out of my hand so hard that one of her brownies flew off onto the ground. “You don’t deserve these brownies. Which, by the way, happen to be my grandmother’s secret recipe, and are probably better than anything you’ve ever eaten. Better than sex, maybe. I won’t bother you again, Prez. I won’t waste any more of your time. You don’t deserve my friendship. I love Demo, but you can eat shit and die.”
Too shocked to do anything else, I stood there and watched her cute ass sashay home.
Chapter 6
Ella
I hit send and sat back with a loud sigh of relief and accomplishment. I could afford to take a break now that my latest book was off to my editor. And I needed it. I’d been writing non-stop for two weeks to finish A River of Tears. The ache in my neck and shoulders could attest to that. With an unladylike noise, I stretched my aching muscles and thought about what I could do to celebrate.
Normally I would go nightclubbing with Val and Steffy after indulging in an overpriced meal at an expensive restaurant. I wondered if I could talk them into making the drive from Waterville for the night. The three of us had been roomies until I’d felt compelled to move away and put distance between me and my stalking ex.
I grabbed my cell and checked the time. With any luck I’d catch Val on her lunchbreak. Even though she worked mostly from home, she kept a strict office schedule of eight to five during the week to retain what she called balance in her life. She picked up almost immediately.
Her voice came across in the cheery tone she always seemed to have. “Hey, deserter, what do you want? I have five minutes left before I have to go back to work.”
I laughed and rolled my eyes at her not-so-subtle hint that I had her attention for five minutes. “I just sent my latest book off to Babs, so I’m celebrating. How much groveling will it take to get you and Steffy here for the night?”
“No can do.” Her tone sounded genuinely disappointed. “I have my own deadline to make and will be putting in extra hours tonight.”
I gasped, because that wasn’t like her at all.
“I know, I know, but it can’t be helped this time.” She was a contributor to several newspapers and magazines, focusing on beauty and fashion. “And I know Steffy can’t make it.”
