Wizard (Hounds of Hellfire MC #4)

Chapter 4

4

THEA

“ A re you almost there?” Violet asked.

“Yes, and I need you to tell me again that this was the right choice,” I demanded, glaring at the red stoplight through my windshield.

Five days ago, I had finally confided in her about meeting Wizard and him asking me out—although I hadn’t told her how often it had happened. She had told me that he was a great guy and urged me to give him a chance. Between her coaxing and finding out a few days later that he’d actually read my books and not just the sex scenes, I finally agreed to our date today.

Now that I was actually on my way to meet him, I was having second thoughts. The kind that told me to turn the car around and go back home because I was way too nervous to actually go through with my first real date.

“You’re going to have an amazing time even though you would only agree to lunch, which is kind of lame for a first date.”

Her teasing relieved some of my nervousness and made me giggle. “Like you have any room to judge. Echo is the only guy you’ve ever gone out with, and where did you guys go on your first date? Your apartment? Does that even count?”

“Fair point,” she conceded.

“I’m going to assume what you meant to say was that my first date with Baylor is much more normal than how you and Echo started your relationship,” I quipped, turning into the parking lot and pulling into a spot near the front door of the diner.

Violet laughed. “You’re the famous romance author, so I guess I’ll let you stick with that story if it makes you happy.”

“Hardly famous.” I snorted, shaking my head.

“Quit arguing with me and get in there,” she ordered. “I’m sure Wizard is already waiting.”

It was weird to hear Violet use his road name, but I guessed it was even odder to her that I used his real name since bikers tended to limit how many people were allowed to do that. Something I hadn’t considered until now.

“I’ll call you when I’m headed back home.”

“Don’t rush. Enjoy your date!”

I tucked my phone in my purse and climbed out of my car. Violet was proved correct in her prediction that Baylor would be waiting for me when I walked through the door and spotted him at a booth in the back corner.

As though sensing I was near, his head lifted, and he stood. I wasn’t aware of anything other than the intensity of his dark gaze as I made my way over. When I got close, he stepped out of the booth and guided me into his spot. Then he nudged me over to sit next to me.

Pointing across from us, I murmured, “There’s a whole other half to this booth.”

“Yup.” At my questioning look, he added, “Took me too damn long to get you to agree to this date. Now that I have you here, I don’t want to let you get too far.”

“Oh.” I usually had no problem thinking of something witty to say, but his words left me nearly speechless. It sounded exactly like something I would’ve written for one of my heroes.

“You good with me here?” he asked.

I flashed him a shy smile. “Yeah.”

The server stopped next to our booth, interrupting our moment. “Hey, Wizard. Now that your woman has joined you, are you ready to order?”

I wasn’t surprised she knew Baylor since this place was so close to his club’s garage. Judging by how she spoke to him, I assumed he came here often. Turning to him, I asked, “Which burger is the best?”

“The smash burger with cheese if you like to go the traditional route, or the biker barbecue if you’re good with onion strings, tangy sauce, and bacon.”

“Yum.” I licked my lips and grinned. “Sounds perfect.”

“Two with fries?” the server asked.

“Sounds good to me,” Baylor confirmed.

She nodded before her attention switched back to me. “And to drink?”

“Ginger ale, please.”

“You got it.”

After she left, I shifted in the booth to face Baylor with my left elbow on the table and my right knee pressed against the back of the booth. “Please tell me the burgers are as good as they sound.”

“Even better.”

We talked about our favorite foods—spaghetti for me and tacos for him—while we waited for our order. The conversation flowed easily from there, and before I knew it, we’d devoured our burgers and fries.

Leaning back against the booth, I patted my belly. “Wow, you weren’t kidding about how amazing those were.”

“I’ll do you one even better when I take you for dinner tomorrow night. Italian.”

I quirked a brow at him. “I don’t remember agreeing to a second date yet.”

“This one went too well for you to turn me down again. Especially when I’m offering up the best spaghetti Riverstone has to offer.” His smirk was sexy enough to make my panties spontaneously combust. “Does six work for dinner tomorrow night?”

I beamed a smile at him. “Well, since you asked so nicely…”

He shook his head with a deep laugh. “Was that what I was doing wrong all this time? I shoulda just told you what time I was taking you out?”

“Nah, that definitely wouldn’t have worked until now.”

“I figured.” He chuckled again. “But I sure as shit am not gonna argue when you finally agreed to dinner.”

“Tomorrow at six,” I confirmed with a soft smile.

With that settled, he stood and held a big hand out to me. “And this time, I’m gonna pick you up at home.”

“I’ll allow that,” I agreed with a shiver as his warm palm slid against mine.

“Good.”

We walked hand in hand to my car, where I let out the slightest whimper of disappointment when he dropped his arm. I realized Baylor heard it when he grunted, “Fuck it,” and cupped my cheeks with his hands. My lips parted on a gasp as his mouth crashed against me, and his tongue slid inside to tangle with mine.

My first real kiss was taking place in the parking lot of a diner, but I couldn’t have written it better. Where we were didn’t matter…only the melting sensation I felt as he explored the cavern of my mouth. I’d never experienced the feeling of butterflies swirling in my belly until now. And I never wanted it to end.

Unfortunately, reality reared its ugly head in the form of somebody laying on their horn as they drove past. Baylor lifted his head to glare at them, and the moment was over much sooner than I would have liked.

While I shook off the sensual fog from his kiss, he helped me into the car and secured my belt. Then he patted the hood and murmured, “Drive safe, baby.”

The first thing I did after I pulled out of the parking lot was call Violet.

“So…how was it?” she asked, without bothering to greet me.

“Amazing.” I let out a dreamy sigh before telling her everything that had happened during my date.

As I pulled into the driveway of the little house I rented, she boasted, “See, I was right when I told you to put the poor guy out of his misery.”

I shook my head with a laugh while I parked. “There isn’t a single thing about Baylor that makes him even the tiniest bit deserving of your pity. He’s built like a Greek god, is way smarter than I expected, belongs to a motorcycle club, and is sexier than any one man deserves to be.”

She giggled. “Fair point.”

I put my phone in speaker mode before turning off the engine of my car. Climbing out, I stumbled to a stop after I only took two steps forward. “Oh, crap.”

“What’s wrong?” Violet asked. “Did you get a coffee to go and spill all over yourself?”

“I only did that once,” I huffed, regretting that I told her that story.

“If that’s not the problem, what is?”

I cautiously approached my front steps, scanning up and down the sidewalk and street to make sure nobody was watching. After I confirmed that I was alone, I crouched down to peer more closely at the bouquet on my porch.

“Thea, what in the world is going on?” Violet squealed through my phone.

Heaving a deep sigh, I muttered, “I got flowers.”

“Awww, Baylor brought you a bouquet for your first date? That is so sweet, and I have to admit, also super surprising. He deserves major brownie points for thinking of that.”

For a moment, I considered the possibility that they were from Baylor, but I quickly discarded it. If he’d wanted to give me flowers, he would’ve brought them to the coffee house. “No, they’re not from him.”

“Who in the heck sent them then?” she demanded.

I waited until I tugged the card from the bouquet and scanned the message written in black ink on it. This wasn’t the first note I’d received, but it was definitely the scariest.

“I think I have a stalker.”