She took advantage of his interest to ask some personal questions. “You know construction?”
“Do several shifts a week at Owen’s Mill. Member’s cousin owns the place. Several years he did a complete reno on his house. Me and Tanner were on the labor crew assisting the subs. Got to know how these guys work – demo, electricians, HVaC, sheet-rockers – lot of them cut corners. But lumber and stone, you can’t go cheap with that. This house must be solid.”
“It is,” she replied, caught up in how enthralled his was looking around her home. Granted he was in the one room which was done over, but the rest of it wasn’t overly special. But it seemed that way to him. “You act as if you never saw a house before.”
“I never
lived
in a house before.”
That
took her back – way back. She had no idea what it meant nor what kind of a roof he had over his head all his life, but there was a hard sadness to that statement she wasn’t about to question. Suddenly, the fact he did a background search on her and was proficient with an ax took the back burner. Holding onto the staircase baluster, she just stared at this big, tough man who looked very vulnerable right now.
As if realizing what he just blurted out, he took a deep breath and turned to her. “Go on and get changed. I’ll take you to your car.”
She didn’t answer, just nodded and quickly disappeared upstairs.
~~***~~
What the hell was he thinking?
Ever since finding out where Eva lived, he was intrigued. Of course, Taz being Taz, he had a million questions about how he knew her, where he met her, and, of course, if he was “tappin’ that”. Ben replied with his usual silence, which Taz understood. The two sometimes worked together when something had to be ‘taken care of’ which involved a little messiness which was Taz’s specialty before Ben was called to put the final nail in the coffin, so to speak. Just as he preferred everything else in his life, Ben liked his kills to be simple and clean.
And with Tanner at the mill, Wes geeking out at a computer store and Vic, Aero and Doug riding up north earlier to meet the Lakeland Hogs, he and Taz were left to hold down the fort. With a full house, he’d never offer to pick up and escort Miss Eva Sinclair back to the shop under the scrutiny. But when Taz returned blabbing the chick with blue eyes and nice tits who lived in that old Victorian, he knew he had to check it out.
Oh, what an eyeful he got when he arrived. Not the feminine little miss in a tight, blue dress wrapped around five feet, seven inches of curves. Instead she was covered in dirty clothes, cobwebs in her hair and wielding an ax. Both were hot in their own weird way.
And she owned this house. As well as her own business. According to what Wes dug up she was born in nineteen eighty one - making her thirty two. Three years younger than him and she had twice as much to show for it. He never felt inadequate before, but imagined that’s what it felt like.
Not that he ever had reason. Since the club hooked him up after getting out of jail, Ben worked – hard. Twelve years later he still did routine shifts a week at Owen’s which put three bills in his pocket a week. On paper, he was an ex-con who lugged lumber and belonged to an MC. Off book he earned a nice, little slice from laundering car parts, transporting narcotics. But it was the former is what the civilian world saw. What Eva saw.
Why he suddenly cared he had no idea as he heard her descend the stairs. Fitted jeans, white tank top, black flats, lavender cardigan and a floral print scarf. She had taken her hair out of the ponytail, picked the cobwebs out and pulled the sides back away from her face. She was slicking something on her lips with her fingertip before twisting the top back onto the rose-colored tube and shoving it in a little zippered purse she wore around her wrist. If she had any other makeup on he didn’t notice. Those vivid blue eyes were all she needed. Casual, yet effortlessly put together. And pretty. Real fucking pretty.
Shit, he didn’t need this distraction in his life.
“No dress?” Sarcasm worked to dampen his thoughts even as he saw how her top molded to her waist.
“Very funny,” she smirked. “Front’s already locked. Let’s go out the back.”
Once outside, he saw her notice his bike and freeze. “Uh, you’re taking me on your bike?”
He swung on and looked at her. “Problem?” She stood there looking unsure until he handed her his helmet. “Here. Get on. Relax, lean with me on the turns and don’t drop your feet.”
That’s as much as instruction as he was about to give as she put the helmet on before nestling behind him. His bike had a bitch seat which was seldom, if ever, used so this was as new to him as it was to her. Having someone, even a woman, this close behind him felt stifling. Bikes were open, allowed him to spread out, especially with his size. And five years in a jail cell was enough of a cage to where even driving the truck at Owen’s made him twitch. Eva didn’t lean on him which was good, but didn’t need for her to become roadkill either. “Hold on, darlin’.”
She did – too tight at first which suffocated him. But it was obviously her first time and didn’t want to pry her loose. He started slow, gaining speed a little at a time until he felt her relax her hold. And he was able to breathe. When he did, he smelled the sweetness of her lipgloss.
Thankfully, no one was back at the clubhouse, save for Taz, which was enough in itself. Ben let Eva slide off first, smirking at the tiny hairs she pulled out of her eyes and mouth when she removed the helmet. “See, still in one piece.”
“I appreciate that. And so does my mortgage company.”
As if he had radar, Taz peered out of the body shop and trotted over. Great. The little chatterbox better keep his opinions to under five words. With nothing but a smile between them, he handed a paper to Eva. “Your chariot awaits. Keys are inside. Fixed, buffed, polished and shining like a newly, waxed…….”
“Shut it,” Ben snapped at him.
“What?” Taz feigned ignorance, flashing a devilish smile which made his heavily pierced eyebrows slant up before disappearing.
Eva looked at the paper which was the bill. “Uh, Ben?”
“Yeah?”
She held it out to him. “What’s this?”
“A bill.”
“No. A bill usually includes an amount. This says ‘no charge’.”
“I told you I’d take care of it.”
“I thought you meant scheduling the appointment.”
“You thought wrong.”
She paused, shaking her head. “I can’t let you pay for this.”
Finally dismounting, Ben took the bill from her hand and crumbled it up. “Too late. Was my fault anyway, right?”
She paused before answering. “
What
wasn’t your fault?”
He better get used to smiling around her because she was giving him reasons. “Sharp little cookie. Just……don’t worry about it.”
Giving in, she sighed. “Thank you.”
“No problem.”
She nodded, taking a few steps back towards her car. “I’ll, uh…..see you around then.”
Ben fought to keep a serious face which was really hard to do. “Small town. It’s a possibility.”
He stood on the gravel driveway and waited until she got in and drove past him, each giving the other one last look before she exited out of the compound. No sooner she was gone he heard several Harleys coming down from the other end. Vic, Aero and Doug were returning from a meet with the Hogs. Perfect timing.
He was having fun – that’s it. He was not about to get attached. There wasn’t any room for it. But even with the handful of dull intel Wes dug up, Eva Sinclair intrigued him.
He knew where she worked and lived. He’d see her around, alright. He’d make a point of it.
Chapter Seven
“Let’s pull this fall stuff out of the window and prep for Halloween.”
Eva knelt inside the front window at the card shop early Thursday morning. A large, cardboard box behind her caught all the fabric leaves and back-to-school paraphernalia she was tossing in. By calculation, it was the slowest morning of the week so she decided to get her ass in gear and change the display. Being off Monday put her behind on the admin stuff and deliveries which she should’ve delegated to Marie. By the time she got caught up with deposits, re-orders and third quarter inventory count, October first came and went which meant, for the next thirty days, the store would be draped in orange.
Eva hated doing the displays. She could envision what she wanted her entire house to look like, but couldn’t tackle a five by three window. Fortunately, Cyndi had no such problem. “Thank God. I
love
Halloween!”
The twenty-two year old acted like a kid dragging out the Halloween swag. Eva hoped she had this much enthusiasm when it was time for the Christmas explosion. “Good. You’re in charge of the window.”
Cyndi looked shocked. “I……am?”
“You are. Just nothing tacky or that’ll frighten children. Marie’s daughter, Jen, will be helping out from now until Valentine’s Day. She’ll be in around eleven. Make a plan for the window and get her started. You run the front. I’ll be in the back office then leaving at one for a vendor appointment.”
Eva thought that was too many words for the girl to process. After ingesting them, she puffed up. “So, like, I’m in charge?” She practically bobbed up and down in her Uggs with excitement.
Throwing the last of the fall décor in a box, Eva gave Cyndi a hard look. “This is a card store, not boot camp. You’ve been here almost five months and know how I like to handle things.” She then stood behind Cyndi, “Take responsibility and, “Eva tucked the waistband of the girl’s purple thong back into her jeans, “be professional, please.”
Cyndi reached to tug up her jeans. “Sorry. I’ll do a good job. Promise.”
“Put that box back in storage then get started.” She jerked her head towards the back. “I’ll be in the office.”
By eleven thirty Eva’s head was pounding, yet she heard progress being made out front. She hoped Cyndi wouldn’t let the little bit of power she gave her to go her head and, so far, she didn’t hear any snipping between the two young girls. She thought about Ben’s words, about trusting someone she’d only known less than five months who was young and liked to party. But just like her dad took a chance and co-signed her loan so she could at least try, she knew what it was like to be untested – and to have responsibility turn you around. She turned that right back and gave it to Cyndi, hoping it would grow her up a bit.
Ben. Three days since she last seen or heard from him. Not that she expected to. It’s not as if she made a new friend. He was responsible for damaging her car and made good on a promise to fix it. All they had in common was that they occupied the same town. He was a rough biker with scarred hands, hair past his neck who worked at a mill and did God knows what else. She was a civilian who owned a business with a loan and a mortgage over her head. Two completely different worlds. If metro-sexual, six-figures-a-year William wasn’t enough to keep her interested, then Ben was completely off her map.
But not off her mind. All she did was think about him the last three days which unnerved her to no end. He was snarky, rude, stalky and, at times, insulting. He looked into her background for Pete’s sake! Searched out the details of her life on the ‘net. How creepy was that? But for some reason that fact seemed to dissipate every time she saw his face as he looked around her home. Something about a big, strong alpha-man looking exposed and emotional really did a number on a woman’s psyche. What he was reminded of she had no idea, but she at least knew it had to do with his lack of growing up in a proper home.
Noon time. Did she really just spend thirty minutes thinking about a biker who wore a
Three Deadly Sins
patch like an advertisement? What those three sins were, well…..she really didn’t want to know right now. Maybe it was best she didn’t hear from him. She only knew of the Mountain Skulls from what made the legitimate press. But she heard enough news stories and urban legend tales of motorcycle clubs and their
alleged
illegal activities to know that a man like him could be dangerous. Very dangerous.
“Oh my God – she’s here.”
Cyndi popped her head and shrieked a whisper, causing Eva to jump. “Who?”
“Madam Creepshow.”
Eva shook her head. Cyndi was still rough in the people-skills department, but they did agree on one thing - the psychic gave them the heebie-jeebies. “Does she want anything?”