Chapter 27
Lacy
Spending the day with Daisy and Eagle was more fun than I expected. I watched one of his sittings for a while. The last time I was here was very early on when I arrived in Georgia and I stayed in the breakroom most of the day. Today, he asked the man if I could hang out and I sat in the corner, watching as he focused on his work. He carried on friendly conversation with the client and they both included me. I was so used to feeling like I had to sit down and shut up, it was almost unnerving to be acknowledged.
My mind wandered a few times. His hands were such amazing tools for various activities. Strong and nimble, with the perfect amount of pressure, but also a gentle touch. I was thankful his client broke my daydream, since it would be a while until I could enjoy those hands on me again.
“You got any ink, Lacy?”
“Actually, no. But not because I don’t want any. I just never could decide on what to get and never went to check it out. Guess I didn’t put too much thought into it.” That was all true. Lots of other dancers had them and I thought they were beautiful to look at. Of course I made comments in passing about how cool this or that would be, but never looked into it or found out where anyone went to get theirs. Honestly, I bounced around a lot since I left home, so maybe I wasn’t settled anywhere long enough to do all that.
Eagle sat up, stretching his back as he dipped his gun into one of the small tubs of ink. “Just say the word, doll. I’d love to be the one to tap that virgin skin.” His heated gaze landed on me briefly before he went back to work.
Something about that was hot. Sitting for hours, unable to move while his full focus and those magical hands were on me. And for him to practically brand me. Not that he was branding this random guy, but something about him doing it to me was different. Heat rose in my cheeks so I excused myself for a while. “I’m going to grab a drink and chat with Daisy for a bit since I haven’t seen her in a while.”
I stood and headed for the door and as I opened it he said, “She’s always here or at the clubhouse, ya know?”
Turning, I rolled my eyes at Eagle then smiled at the client. “Thanks for letting me hang out for a bit. You’ll have to show me when you leave.”
“Won’t be done today, but I’ll show you what your man here does. Keep him outta trouble, little one,” the man said before I walked out.
I grabbed myself a diet soda from the fridge, a water for Daisy, and walked back to the front. She pulled one of the chairs over for me to sit right next to her.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” she said as she patted my knee. “I’ve missed you so much.”
I grabbed her hand. “I miss you. Jeannie is nice, but she’s not you.” I sipped my drink, then put it down. “I want to come back,” I said before looking back to be sure he wasn’t behind me or something. “I just don’t want it to go back to the way it was. He’s been so different. So attentive. So…everything. It’s kind of perfect and I don’t want to lose that, you know?”
“Well, not that I’m on his side, because I’d never ,” she declared with a swipe of her hand through the air, “but you won’t know until you try. Still, making him sweat a bit can’t hurt, either. I just miss you. Maybe come hang out a little and plan to leave? Or be up front about a one-night sleepover or something?”
“I have to work Saturday morning, so Friday night won’t be good. But maybe Saturday night. Oh!” I said in a whisper yell. “He’s taking me to meet his dad later.”
Daisy’s brows shot up and a grin spread over her face. “Ohhh, that’s serious.”
“And he has some surprise.” I could hardly contain my excitement. Nobody ever surprised me with anything except their bad behavior.
She smacked my leg. “Oh my God. He’s gonna propose!”
I cocked my head. “No. That’s ridiculous.” Surely that wasn’t it. What if it was? Shaking my head at the absurd assumption, I continued, “ We’ve barely made up, Daisy. And I’ve been very good about telling him my feelings and boundaries.”
“ Finally .”
I had moved to grab my drink, but whipped my head at her instead. “What does that mean?”
“Girl, I love you, but you acted like a scared little mouse around him. You should have talked to him long before you left.”
My mouth fell open. “What the fuck, Daisy?” I was whisper-yelling again. “It wasn’t like he was open. Plus, I really didn’t want to seem unappreciative of everything. Then I’d gone so long that way, it just snowballed.”
“Yeah, and you never said anything. You just left.”
“Which,” I said as I pointed my finger nearly in her face, “you fully supported, by the way, and you even helped me pack my shit.”
She shrugged. “Yeah, because I’ll support you no matter what, even if it’s dumb. As long as it’s not dangerous.”
“Why did you not have this heart to heart with me when I told you I was leaving?”
“Would you have listened, or just lashed out at me?” She cut her eyes at me. “You were already upset, I knew where you were going was safe, and I knew that asshat would try to fix it. So I let you do your thing.”
She was probably right. “I don’t know. I probably would have told you to mind your business. But then I may have thought about what you said. Anyway, we won’t ever know how that would have turned out. And I’m not sure he would have changed his tune until I was actually gone. It sucks, but I need to stick to my plan.”
“Well, I hope you both work out your shit soon. I’m ready for you to come home.”
Everyone kept calling the clubhouse my home. Each time, it was like a sharp blade pierced my chest. I wanted to go back. I wanted it to be home. But I also wanted this version of Eagle and didn’t trust that he’d stick around if I went back so soon.
Falcon walked a client up front and broke up our chat. “He’s ready. I’m gonna go grab some food. I’ll be back soon.” He leaned over and kissed Daisy’s temple, gave a hearty smack to his clients back, then headed out.
Once the customer was taken care of and gone, I sipped my drink and turned to Daisy. “You like working here?”
She nodded. “Actually, yeah. But don’t tell him that. I dangled you working at the club over his head and said I needed a raise. How’s the club?”
“It’s a club. The day shift isn’t bad. I’m pulling pretty good tips and I’ve already adjusted to a new sleep schedule, so I may just stick to it.” I looked over my shoulder and made sure nobody was lurking around. “There is one thing, though. But you can’t say anything, especially to Falcon.”
“They have plenty of secrets, we can have ours. What’s up?”
“Butch is kind of…I dunno. He creeps me out.”
She grimaced at the mention of him. “He’s a dick. But what’s creeping you out?”
I explained the few interactions we had starting from the audition day on. “Maybe I’m just being weird because it’s one of their brothers. But–”
“I’m gonna stop you there. Trust your gut. Have we learned nothing?”
I nodded and she gave a tight-lipped stare. We both had our own shitty backstories and found ourselves imprisoned together. It was hard to admit, but pretty much every shitty-ass situation I ended up in, there had always been a little twist in my gut or voice in my head trying to wave the red flags, but I’d ignored them. Sometimes it was so hard to differentiate red flags and basic anxiety.
“Also,” Daisy continued, breaking up my thoughts, “you know Butch started shit with Eagle at the clubhouse, right?”
“I was told there was a slight altercation, but Eagle wouldn’t tell me what happened.”
“I was close by hanging with the girls, that are not you, and avoiding Sugar. Some of the officers were chilling with Hawk, and Butch sat with them, mentioning your audition and he was being a prick about it. Eagle lost his shit, but tried to walk away when Hawk told them both to chill the fuck out. Well, Butch followed him outside because he was headed to Mama Hen’s, and all hell broke loose.”
“He was storming off to Mama Hen’s?” I asked, my eyes going wide. “Was he out of his mind?”
She gave me a sideways glance. “Girl, that man was fifty shades of fucked up as soon as he realized you were not at the clubhouse. He was acting like a maniac. Falcon tried to get me to tell him where you were. Of course I told him to fuck off. But even the bunnies were scared to be near him. It was like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.”
I looked away and sipped my drink. I didn’t want her to think I was a maniac for grinning. But hearing how he acted, it wasn’t just a show for me. He was truly upset that I was gone.
“Anyway, like I said, probably just weird and he is a dick. But I dunno. I needed to tell someone I could trust and I don’t want trouble between them.”
“You didn’t tell Jeannie?”
I shook my head. She had been there for the first interaction and acted like it was his normal behavior. “Like I said, she’s great, but she’s not you.”
Daisy’s slender arms flew around me and she squeezed me hard, shaking us both. “I love you. I hope Eagle gets his shit together because I need you home!”
Heavy footsteps were followed by his deep voice. “Working on it, but thank you, Daisy, once again.”
Daisy and I shared a knowing look before she let me go. I wasn’t sure if he heard much more than the last part. She turned to check out his customer and I stood to look at the work.
“Looks great,” I said, leaning closer. The art was covered by some cellophane and cream, but I still see a bit of it. It was a skull, but the details around it were harder to see with the covering.
“I’ll be back in a few weeks. You’ll be able to see better then.”
“I may not be here, but maybe they can snag a pic.” I noticed the twitch at Eagle’s mouth when I said that. Surely he didn’t think I could just chill with him at the shop every day when I worked, too?
Daisy finished the transaction and Eagle shook hands with the customer before he left. He pulled me by the waist of my jeans and stole a quick kiss. “Gotta clean up, then one more before we go. You good?”
Still enjoying the PDA, I blinked up at him. “Yeah. I think Falcon was getting food.”
“Don’t eat too much. Dad’s a great cook, but it’ll be a few hours before we leave.” He gave me a tender, closed-mouth kiss that made me lean in for more.
“Eh-hem.”
I pulled away and waved my hand in Daisy’s face. “Oh, please. Like you and Falcon don’t grope each other everywhere.”
She mockingly threw her hand to her chest. “Excuse me. I am married and a lady.”
Eagle kissed my forehead, stifling a laugh, before he said, “Okay, you two have fun. Gotta get ready.”
My emotions were all over the place. The sheer joy I was feeling was overshadowed by the possibility this was all temporary. For now, all I could do was wait and see.