Ridge Creek (27 page)

I stare at her for a few beats and then without warning,
find myself bent over as a rush of air exits my lungs and I start laughing too.

Hard.

 
Ohmigod.

We were just sprung on the floor moaning and groaning and
rubbing our boobs by a room full of bikers. 

Funny.

Continuing to laugh, I straighten up, tears pouring from
eyes to see Jake leaning against the wall staring at us, his face blank.  He
does not look amused.

“You done?” He asks sternly.

Slamming my mouth shut and breathing through my nose to stem
the laughter I nod.  More tears slide down my face.  Emma slows her bellowing
to a chuckle and I can hear her hiccuping beside me as well.

“Talk,” he growls again not removing his eyes from mine.

“Well…” I start as I look back towards Emma wiping the tears
from my eyes with the back of my hand.  “We were bored and thought we might go
to the pub.  Therefore the register raid, we needed some money.”

Jake lifts his eyebrow, his piercing jiggling slightly as he
slides his eyes to Emma.  She jams her mouth shut, nods and then hiccups again.

“And that shit on the floor?”

“Accidental fall,” I mutter as I suddenly remember how sore
my boobs are and I lift my hand to give them a quick rub before I snatch it
away as fast I can.

Jake’s eyes flare and I hear his breath catch for a second. 
“Meeting’s over,” he grunts as he looks towards the closed door.  “No need to
go to the pub, you can come in and drink with us.”

I study his face for a second or two trying to find out if
he is angry or not.  It is only when I see the slight twitch of his top lip
that I realize he is amused.  Reaching out to open the door, he glances back at
us both.  “You do that shit again, you do it out there.” He flicks his chin to
the communal room.  “I’ll sell tickets.  We’ll make a killing.”

Turning to Emma I grin.  When I look back Jake is gone and
the doorway is empty.

Business

Jake…

“What the fuck was that about?” Zane growls at me as he
flicks the door shut behind him with the heel of his boot.

Pissed that he’s growling at me for no apparent fucking
reason, I cross my arms in front of me and lean back, throwing my weight to my
heels.  There is no way I’m gunna answer that question until I’m clear on what
the fuck he is going off about.  Hardening my eyes I growl back.  “What the
fuck?”

“Don’t what the fuck me.  You know what I’m saying.”

Do I?  He can’t be talking about the show the girls put
on can he?  That was as funny as fuck…

“Why the fuck did you haul everyone’s asses down here
tonight for what they thought was a business update that ended looking much to
me like a fuckin’ church meeting of a motorcycle club?  Since when did we
ever
act like a fuckin’ MC?  We are a
business
Jake, not a fuckin’ MC and you
are
not
the fuckin’ president.”

What the fuck?  He calls running the idea of increased
security and background checks past everyone me acting like the president of a
motorcycle club?

“I never said we were an MC and I was the fuckin’
president,” I snap, pissed that he’s giving me shit over nothing.

“Well you were fuckin’ acting like one out there tonight. 
How the fuck did the conversation between us on running your idea past the boys
turn into what looked a fuck of a lot like a church meeting?  One where the men
in the room got to fuckin’ vote on the idea?  They’re our employees and our
associates Jake and I get that you wanted to get a feel for how this sat with
them, but a fuckin’ vote?”

He has a point.  I’ve never asked for a vote on anything. 
I’ve just run ideas past Zane and on some occasions, Luke as well.  Then
between the two of us, we’ve told everyone what was going down.

Mm.

“What would you have done if they had voted no Jake?”

A good question.

What the fuck was I thinking?

This
is
a business.  A fast growing business that
relies on us being able to trust the people we work with but it doesn’t mean
they need to get a say in how we run it. 

“They didn’t vote no though did they Zane?”

“Thank fuck,” Zane mutters as he walks over and sits on the
edge of his bed looking relieved.  “You and I both know that some of the men in
that room owe us big favors.  We also both know the shit we’ve done to earn
those favors could land us in jail… or even worse, dead.  You start making it
look like they have a say in how we do business, you put us at risk of looking
weak.  If we look weak they might just decide there is a good business ripe for
the picking if we were to be … out of the way.”

“I trust the men out there
implicitly
Zane.  I
thought you did too.”

“I do.  But the business is growing so fuckin’ fast Jake. 
We have quickly rolled from the hundreds of thousands a year bracket into the
millions.  Our next step is double figure millions.  Luke’s already pulling
together the parts for another three setups and our realtor reckons he’s
earmarked another four properties that meet our criteria.  Big bucks equates to
big risks.  One of those big risks is that brothers you once thought of as
loyal become jealous.  They start to turn on you.  They see the dollar signs
before the loyalty and then the shit starts hitting the fan.” 

Sighing, I realize he is right.  Dropping my arms I walk
over and drop down beside him on the bed.   We are fast heading into a
lifestyle where we are going to need more than just friendships and favors to
keep our business running.  As well as to keep us
alive
. 

The risks when running a multimillion dollar drug business
are going to be huge.  Not only do we need to ensure we have strong in-house
contacts, we need to protect ourselves from competitor takeovers.  An even
bigger task.

Twisting my head to see Zane staring blankly at the floor
between his feet, I decide to ask the question that I can tell is on both our
minds.  “Are we getting too big brother?”

Jolting as if I have touched him with a hot iron, I watch a
look of surprise flash across his face.

“Mind reading now are we brother?” He mumbles before turning
his blue eyes on mine. 

“Well?” I ask.  We need to sort this shit out now.  Deciding
in another year or two that we don’t want this will be too late.

“Maybe…” he falters as continues to stare at me
thoughtfully.  “But the stench of the shit we’ve done in our past is just gunna
keep trailing us until we’ve got enough cash to wash it off.  I for one still
believe in happy fucking endings.  A mansion on the side of the ocean somewhere
with a harem of sexy women and a dozen kids is gunna cost a fuckin’ truckload.”

And then some.

I chuckle and watch as a grin starts to lift the corner of
his mouth.  “You don’t want to consider cutting that dream back by just a few
square meters, a couple of women and a couple of kids?”

“Fuck no,” he replies instantly a broad smile splitting his
face.  “And they’re all gunna have their own rooms too,” he adds.

“You’re a fuckin’ dork Zane.  If that’s seriously what you
want, you’d better work on finding your harem soon or your gunna find yourself
too old to breed…” 

I watch as he shrugs and the smile disappears from his
face.  Sucking his bottom lip between his teeth he looks thoughtful.  “Do you
reckon the crazy bitch is as good as we’ve heard she is?”

“Which one?” I ask innocently as I scratch my chin.

He grins at me as he lifts an eyebrow.  “Between her and the
gutsy little piece you picked up off the side of the road, we’ve been handed
the keys to take this to a whole new level.” He says in a serious tone before
slapping his hands on his thighs and standing up. 

“Which is also something we need to talk about,” I announce
as I turn my head to look at the door, concerned that it might open or that
someone might be listening.  “Don’t fuck with her and don’t fuck with her
head.  She’s Arianna’s only real friend and if you fuck that up I don’t care if
you’re my brother or not, I’ll fuck
you
up.”

With another big grin, Zane reaches his hand out to ruffle
my hair before crossing his arms again in front of his chest.  “Protective son
of a bitch aren’t we?”

“I’m a serious son of a bitch on this one Zane.  Don’t fuck
with her.  She may act like a crazy bitch but from what I can see, she’s doing
it to keep people from getting close.  With the shit she’s into, I can see
why.  She’s gotta protect her ass to keep herself safe.  I know you brother. 
You’ve got a way of working yourself under a woman’s skin.  I also know you
don’t give a fuck for more than five minutes and if we wanna move forward, we
can’t afford to lose her.  You fucking her over will probably mean she walks.
Her walking will affect business and with her influence on Ari, I reckon she’ll
walk too.  Don’t.  Fuck.  With.  Emma.  Either you make it very fuckin’ clear
your nothing more than a one or two night stand planning on a future harem or
just let Luke have her.  He’s more likely to handle her with the care she
deserves.”

I shift my eyes from the door back to Zane’s face in time to
see him stiffen.  A look of doubt flashes across face.  “Not your call
brother,” his words cut into me with an icy tone.

I sigh again as I too push off the bed.  Standing
face-to-face with my brother I lean in so our faces are inches apart.  “When it
affects business brother, it may not be solely my call, but you know what I’m
saying makes sense.”

His face hardens before I watch his eyes blank out.  He’s
shut me out, conversation over. 

Typical Zane.

Without another word he turns and heads for the door. 
Pausing briefly after he swings it open, he looks back and says, “I know it
makes sense brother, but it's still not your fuckin’ call.” 

Plausible Deniability

Arianna…

“Wake up Ari.”

I feel a warm hand gently move the hair across my face and
hook it behind my ear.  It then slides to the back of my neck and I feel a
light squeeze.

“Wake up babe,” Jake’s deep voice rumbles near my ear and I
feel his hot breath dance across my cheek.

“No.” I mumble against my pillow without opening my eyes. 
My eyelids are heavy and it’s too much effort to open them.  “I’m tired. 
Moving and unpacking boxes last night wore me out.  Go away.”

“Lightweight,” Jake rumbles softly before blowing gently
against my ear.
“I’m not a fucking lightweight,” I grumble against my pillow again.  “That’s
the most exercise I’ve done in weeks and I’m tired… and stiff.  And stop
blowing in my ear, it’s annoying,” I growl swiping blindly for his face with my
hand.  If I’m lucky, a finger will connect with an eye and he will regret waking
me up.

He captures my hand midair with his far stronger one and I
feel another light squeeze on the back of my neck.  Warm, soft lips then
connect with my cheek.  “Okay,” Jake murmurs against my cheek before I feel him
pulling away as he lets my hand drop to the bed again.

 With a groan, I roll over and force one eye open to peer up
at him.  It is still dark in the room and I can see the soft gray light of dawn
peeping through the sides of the curtains.  Light is spilling into the room
from a hallway light.  Jake is wearing a loose fitting white t-shirt and gray
track pants.   He is sitting on the bed and leaning over me. “Why’d you wake me
up?”

“I wanted to tell you that I’m headed to the gym with Luke
and Zane and then Luke and I head out for two days.  I won’t see you until
Thursday.”

“Good,” I mumble as I shut my eye again and open my mouth
wide to let out a huge yawn.

“Good?”

I hear the confusion in his voice so I force myself to open
both eyes.  His eyebrows furrow as he stares at me.  “Yes.  Good.  I like your
muscles.  I know muscles like that don’t grow miraculously on men’s bodies. 
They take work.”

His lips twitch and his eyebrows relax.  “Phew.  I thought
you were sick of me already.”

Huh?

Sick of him?  How could I be sick of him?  If my memory
serves me right, he gave me three raging orgasms last night and one of them was
before I even had my panties off.  Jesus, no woman on this earth is going to
get sick of that.  I blink in shock.

His lip twitch becomes a grin as I realize that he can see exactly
what I was thinking.  “You could come to the gym with us.”

“Fuck no.”

He chuckles softly, “Don’t like gyms?”

“Fuck no, who would?”

“Luke, Zane and me.”

“Good then,” I mumble as I yawn again and throw my hands
above my head to stretch.  Aware that I am naked, I watch as Jake’s eyes darken
as they graze down my body to stare at my boobs peeking out from under the
covers.

Without hesitation, his strong hand flies out to grab both
of mine and pin them above my head.  He leans in close to my face and asks
softly, “What’s wrong with the gym?”

With my hands locked above my head, my body instantly
launches from tired and sleepy to wide-awake and fidgety.  I blink again, this
time slowly as the urge to arch my back off the bed and push against his body
overrides my ability to think.  My breath hitches in my throat as I stare
mesmerized at his lips.

His lips twitch again.  “Ari, what’s wrong with the gym?”

Rolling my eyes I draw in a breath and try to slow my now
racing heart, “What’s not wrong with the gym?”

He leans down and I notice his eyes have gone inky.   His
tongue darts out and swipes my bottom lip.  “Elaborate.”

“Um.”

“I said tell me what’s wrong with the gym Ari?” He says
again slightly more forcefully as he applies more pressure to my hands above my
head.

“Get out of my face and I will,” I announce breathily.  “I
can’t concentrate with you so close and… well so close.”

He chuckles and pulls back an inch or two.  Cocking an
eyebrow I can see he is waiting for me to continue.

“Crowds, stench, meatheads,” I announce quickly.

“Huh?”

I watch as his eyebrows knit in confusion again.  With only
a short pause, I continue.

“Gyms are crowded, people everywhere.  I hate the thought of
people everywhere staring at one another as they work out.  They also stink. 
All those men working out and sweating is plain gross.  The smell of one of two
guys sweating can be a turn on, but not multiple guys.  It all just adds up to
a soupy, sick stench that makes the air thick and its… gross.  And most guys
who work out are meatheads.  So focused on how they look they spend the entire
time working out in front of mirrors ogling themselves.  It’s ridiculous.”

His lip starts twitching again.

“Am I a meathead?”

“Fuck no.” I blurt without thinking.  “Although I haven’t
seen you working out at the gym so perhaps I’m wrong.  Am I wrong?  Do you
stand in front of the mirror ogling yourself?  Do you get spray tans as well?”

He starts grinning again and leans in close to my face
again.  His breath hot against my face.  “No I don’t ogle myself or get spray
tans Ari.”

“Thank God,” I murmur as I feel myself arching my back so
that I can press closer to his warm body.

“Our gym is not crowded either,” he rumbles as he licks his
lips slowly and starts staring at my lips with much the same look as I suspect
I am giving him.

“How can you be sure of that?” I ask, my heart rate spiking
again as I start to fidget against his hand, tugging at my arms above my head.

“It’s in a shed out the back of my house.”

I stop fidgeting.  That was not the answer I was expecting. 
“Oh.”

“Limited membership,” he murmurs before softly pressing his
lips to mine.  “You can be our first female member if you like?”