Ultimate MC (Romance Collection), page 106
He was texting someone he knew cared about him–someone he knew would be there for him at the end of the day. She still didn’t live with him, though he had asked her to move in quite a few times, but we all knew it was a matter of time before that happened.
We were working so hard, none of the men on shift cared to stop for lunch, even. We were all just going to push through and fill the order, and by the time the end of the day rolled around, we had filled an entire order in the eight hours we were there.
It was supposed to be a job that would take two days, but with the way we had all worked together, it came down to one. We knew our foreman would be delighted to hear that.
Raf gave me a high five when we were clocking out, then a fake salute. I shook my head and refused to return the gesture.
“Well, that’s one job down for the day, now onto the next,” he said. “I wish I had more enthusiasm as I say that.”
“At least you get to work with Callie,” I said with a shrug. “You know that’s the whole reason you took the job in the first place.”
“Right,” he said with a smile. It was impossible to bring her up without him grinning, and I could only roll my eyes.
“I’m going to shower before I head on over to the bar,” I said. “It was hot as balls today.”
“Same,” he said. “But I will head over to the bar and eat there before we start. You want me to put in an order for you?”
“Sure,” I said. “May as well get on over there while I still have some motivation left in my body.”
He laughed and clapped me on the back, “True that. Not sure how I will get home tonight. Might end up sleeping on the floor at the bar.”
I laughed, “As long as you don’t fall asleep at the wheel, you should be fine.”
“Just going to put it on auto pilot,” he said over his shoulder. “Burger and onion rings, right?”
“Make sure it’s as rare as the chef will make it!” I called after him. He agreed and headed toward his truck, eager to get home to shower so he could get to the bar. I knew he didn’t care that much about the job, he just wanted to be with Callie.
For a brief moment, I felt jealous. I wondered what it would be like to love someone so much you just wanted to be with them. You could show up for another six-hour shift just to hang out with them even after putting in a long day at a lumberyard.
With a shake of my head, I turned my attention to my bike. That was the life some people got to enjoy, but it just wasn’t in the cards for me. I didn’t want to feel sorry for myself, and I refused to acknowledge how I felt about the entire thing.
But it was true. I didn’t see myself ever settling down like that with anyone, even Sloan. She was too exotic, and I don’t think she would ever want to settle down that way herself. There was something about her that made her seem out of reach, even for a guy like me.
I started the engine of my bike, hoping the shower would wake me up a little more for the shift I had that night.
After all, no one wanted a bouncer sleeping on the job.
Chapter 14
Sloan
It all happened so fast, just like always.
There was no warning. No red flags to watch for. No signs it was about to go down. It was fine, then it wasn’t, and all I could do was react in the best way possible to save myself.
It had been a normal night for me, dancing and earning tips, finding the person in the audience to connect with so I could put on my best performance, then dancing my heart out for the most money possible.
Sure, it was my passion, too; but when Kain wasn’t in the audience, it just wasn’t the same. I had lost the same sense of passion I felt for the job when he wasn’t around. I wanted him to be there. I wanted him to be in the group, watching and admiring me.
Hell, I wanted him to be the only one out there watching and admiring me.
But then, my night took a turn for the worse. It reminded me of the night when I was in the alley and the man had grabbed me from behind, groping me and threatening to do all kinds of horrible things to me if I didn’t comply with his demands.
This was a similar incident, except I was in the middle of the club, and this man didn’t have a knife. At least, not that I knew of. I was walking through the crowd, looking for someone to rub up against–someone who might want a lap dance–when I was grabbed by a guy who forced me down onto his lap.
I could feel how hard his dick was through his jeans, and immediately, I was disgusted. I scrambled onto my feet but he was on his in an instant, grabbing me again. I clawed at his arms and kneed him in the balls before turning to walk away.
The bouncers responded fast, and they were there in a heartbeat to yank the guy away from me and shove him out the door. I knew I was safe in the club, but that didn’t stop me from shaking when the incident was over.
My boss came over as soon as he heard what had happened.
“Are you alright?” he asked with concern in his voice.
“I’m fine, just an asshole who thought he could get away with making a move,” I told him.
“Well the joke was on him, I’ve banned him,” my boss said.
“Thanks,” I replied.
“Take the rest of the night off. I’m sure that was scary, and I don’t want you to feel like you have to still be up there after something like that went down,” he told me.
“Are you sure?” I asked. I was okay, but if I could get out of working for the rest of the night, I was more than happy to do so. It was hard to get back in the mood after something like that happened. It wasn’t that I was ashamed of myself, but I was sad that so many people thought we were objects.
Though we were in such an erotic field, it didn’t change the fact that we were still women, and we required respect. We weren’t to be touched, and if we came up to touch you, you were to show respect. We weren’t meant to be grabbed, that was for damn sure.
“Yes, take the night off. I’ll see you here tomorrow,” he said with a smile.
“Thanks,” I said. I headed backstage and changed clothes, then I headed out to my car. It was locked, as always, and I slid inside, locking it again once I was safely in. I had learned that I had to lock it both times. Anyone could walk right up and yank open the door while I was distracted if I wasn’t careful.
To be safe, the doors had to be locked, and I always checked the back seat to make sure no one was hiding back there when I slid into the driver’s side.
Our boss kept our parking lot well lit to ensure we were safe when we left at night, and I appreciated that. He had installed a lot more lighting after I had been attacked a year before, and I felt a lot safer walking to my car after I got off a shift.
Now, I pulled out my phone. My hands were still shivering, but I wasn’t sure if I should call Kain or not. My instinct was to let him know what happened, but then, there wasn’t anything he could do about it.
The bouncers at the club had taken care of things, and I didn’t want him to think I was some damsel in distress who always needed him to come to my rescue.
At the last second, I put my phone back on the dashboard and started the car, eager to get home and take a nice, hot shower.
I was lost in thought the entire way back, and nearly on auto pilot by the time I pulled up in front of my apartment. I wasn’t as tired as normal when I got off work. But then, I had gotten off roughly four hours early. It was nice to be home in time to make some food and watch TV before going to bed for the night.
I didn’t have a lot in the pantry. I had to get to the store one of these days, but I didn’t have much motivation to go. It was hard to go when I got off since it was so late, and I hated doing errands during the day. Monday always seemed too full to throw in groceries on top of it, but with soup being my only option, I knew I would have to suck it up and just go.
I chose a can of tomato soup and put it on the stove, then I found something to watch on TV.
Something light and funny that would take my mind off what had gone down at the club that night. It was hard to find something on cable since it was so late, so I just put on a sitcom on one of my favorite streaming channels. Then, I turned my attention back to my soup and settled in.
I expected the rest of my night to be quiet. No one was up around midnight. Well, Tesla might have been, but I wasn’t going to bother her with what had gone on at the club. She knew that sort of thing happened from time to time, and there was no need to tell her.
It was just one of those things that came along with the job description. And while I wouldn’t ever say it was normal, I wasn’t going to play the victim because of it, either. I had been inside, and they had taken care of it. As far as I was concerned, that was all that needed to be done.
There was a pounding at my door. Startled, I rose and went to see who it was. Derby was a small, quiet town and I couldn’t believe anyone would be so fervent this late at night. When the pounding was repeated, I opened it to find Kain standing there.
He pushed past me before whirling around, “Where did he hurt you?”
He snapped the question, catching me off guard.
“What?” I asked.
“I said where did he hurt you?” he repeated. He was looking over my arms and my neck, then he turned me around and ran his hands down my back. “I heard about what happened tonight and I want to know where that bastard grabbed you!”
“I’m fine,” I said as I took a step back. I was trying to understand what was happening, “Did you come all the way back from Denver to see what happened? How the hell did you even find out?”
He crossed his arms and looked at me with fury in his eyes. I wasn’t sure if he was pissed at me, or at the situation, or at the man who had grabbed me. Perhaps it was a mix of all three. But I was surprised when he replied.
“A guy from the club was there and saw what went down. I stopped by to see you, but the boss said that he had sent you home for the night,” he replied.
“And you came to check on me?” I asked again. I was shocked to hear that he had gone to such great lengths after hearing something as simple as the fact that I had been grabbed. He should know as much as anyone that being a stripper wasn’t the easiest of jobs. Anyone could do it.
You mix a room full of scantily clad women with drunk men, and you will find an asshole who thinks he’s entitled to whatever he wants. I’d never excuse the behavior, but it always surprised me when someone didn’t understand that was a risk in the game.
But, it wasn’t nearly as surprising as the fact that Kain had gone to the strip club to check on me, and had even bothered to come all the way here when my boss told him he had sent me home.
My eyes were wide, but he ignored my question with a question of his own, “Why didn’t you call me?”
“I was going to, I mean, I thought about it,” I said. “But I didn’t want you to think I was incapable.”
Kain barked out a laugh, and I wasn’t sure if he was mocking me, or if he thought it funny that I would assume he would think that way about me. He was so hard to read, and he made it even more confusing when he didn’t say another word to me.
He walked right out the door and left just as abruptly as he had come in, leaving me to my soup. I sat back down and shook my head, surprised that he could be this concerned, and yet not approach me at all when I was actually working.
Kain had to be one of the most confusing men I had ever met, and I wasn’t sure what to do with him. Or the feelings I had surrounding him. Finally, I risked texting Tesla to see if she was still up.
You up?
Her response came quickly.
Yeah, what’s going on?
I thought for a moment about how to tell her, then I just launched in. It wasn’t so much what had happened at the club that night as it was the reaction Kain had. I wasn’t worried about the club itself, but I was so confused about Kain.
She told me she knew him well, and I hoped she could shed some light on what was going on with him.
An asshole got handsy tonight, and I got off early. It was no big deal, and I just came home, but Kain showed up and was really pissed off. Said something about how a guy from the MC was there and told him and I’m so confused?
I hit send, and it felt like an eternity before she answered. I was right, she knew what was going on, but I wasn’t sure I was comfortable with what she had to say.
I think you’ve been adopted by the MC. They’re probably thinking of you as Kain’s girl or something now, and when that happens, they stand by each other. If someone sees something that’s going down, they’re either going to step in themselves if they need to, or they will tell him what’s going on.
I wasn’t sure what to say. I didn’t think I was Kain’s, that was for sure. I would consider it, but with the way he acted around me, I wasn’t sure that’s what he wanted.
But if this unknown MC member had gone to the bar and told him what happened, maybe there was more to the situation than I realized. I had dealt with a lot of bikers–MC members and otherwise–throughout my career as a stripper, and they certainly were a different breed.
I certainly didn’t know how they would consider me as a part of the club–or adopted, as Tesla had put it–but I wasn’t going to argue about it, either. Kain was so hard for me to figure out, I think the rest of the members were a little difficult, too.
But Tesla was dating the President of the club, and that girl from the bar, Callie, sure seemed happy with Raf. Maybe they weren’t as difficult as I assumed. Maybe they were just worried about protecting their own.
Either way, I was exhausted from the night I’d had, and I was more than ready to just curl up on the couch and watch TV with my soup. I would go to bed soon enough, and tomorrow would be a new day.
I might hear from Kain, I might not; but I wasn’t going to stress about it. I had more important things to worry about than whether I had been taken up by the club.
But it sure was confusing.
Chapter 15
Kain
I was so pissed off over the night before my skin was practically vibrating. I couldn’t decide what I was more pissed about. The fact that she had been grabbed by some asshole who thought he could just see and take, or the fact she had been so blasé about it when I confronted her.
There was a part of me that was pissed she didn’t call me when it happened, but then, why would she? If it had been handled at her job, then there was no reason to tell me, was there?
And why should I care even if she called me? I had thought it strange when Tesla had been talking to me about her as though she and I were an item, but yet, when she had danced for me that night at the club, I hadn’t been able to get her off my brain at all.
She wasn’t mine. And I didn’t want her to be. Or did I? Sometimes I wanted nothing more than to have her for my own–to be my girl. The one I could go home to at night. The one I could fuck every single day. The one I could fall in love with.
But then, there were times I was so convinced it would never happen; it was laughable to think I would ever consider otherwise. She was nice enough, but we came from two different worlds, and neither of us were fans of commitment.
It was clear with the way she interacted with me, and I knew it for myself, too. I didn’t want to settle down with someone, but yet, I wanted someone to be there for me. I didn’t like being alone, but I didn’t enjoy opening up to people, either.
I felt trapped in a vicious cycle of not knowing what I wanted or what I would do about it. All I knew was that it pissed me off more than I could say that some asshole would think he could just reach out and grab her. Force her onto his lap even!
From what I had been told, it sounded like more than a guy getting too handsy. It sounded like this jerk needed to be put back in his place, and I would have been more than happy to do that. Hell, I had done that to the guy who had attacked her in the alley almost a year ago.
Why couldn’t I be the guy who did that to this douche who went too far? What was the difference if she was in the club or out in the alley behind it? Grabbing her without her consent was still grabbing her, and that was something that got my blood boiling.
Then again, the memory of what happened at the barbecue came flooding back into my mind, and I realized I had done pretty much the same thing when I kissed her in the kitchen. Then, I’d taken her back to my place and fucked her brains out without asking if it was alright to do so.
I could read through her body language she was right there with me, and she definitely wanted it, but how did that make me any different from the guy in the club? How did he know if she wanted it or didn’t if he didn’t do the exact same thing that I did in Hopper’s kitchen?
The thoughts running through my mind were driving me insane, and I was just about ready to smash my head against the table.
My phone chimed, and it relieved me to see it was time to head over to Hopper’s place. I was meeting with Raf and Ryne to build Hopper’s Pergola. I wasn’t a carpenter, but Raf was convinced that if he told me what to do, I could pull it off.
“You have a brain in your head and you know what you’re doing with a hammer. I’m sure you’ll be a natural,” he told me when he asked if I wanted to help with the project.
I agreed, thinking it would be a good way for me to spend my energy on something that wasn’t eating away at me–something that wasn’t Sloan.
I headed over to Hopper’s and was greeted with an ice cold beer.
“Are you sure it’s a good idea to start the day with a beer rather than finish it?” I asked.
“We will do both,” Ryne said with a laugh.
“I’m not quite sure what we’re doing here, so I might pass until we’re done,” I said as I set the beer down.
“Shut up and drink the beer,” Hopper said. He was sitting in a chair on his porch, and I laughed, “Are you going to watch us the whole time?”
“Probably not. When it gets hot out here, I’m gonna go inside, where it’s cool,” he said.
We all laughed, and I joined in with the beer drinking. Raf explained some basics of carpentry to me, then pointed out the blueprint of what we would be working on that afternoon. It all looked simple enough.
