Chapter 6 Marty #2
“Right.” He nodded and glanced away. I watched as his big hands were shoved into his front pockets and he tipped his head toward the back service door of the building. Silently dismissing me.
It stung, but I was the only one to blame.
I didn’t look at him a second time because I knew myself. If I did, I’d change my mind and follow him to the ends of the earth if he asked me to.
After changing out of the coveralls and back into my regular clothes, I shoved my still clean uniform and the coveralls into my locker.
I would figure out who to give the coveralls back to tomorrow.
Tossing my purse across my chest, I glanced at my reflection.
I’d sweated most of the small amount of makeup I’d put on off.
My hair was in a messy bun after the tight neat one I’d put it in had fallen off mid-afternoon.
“You’re still here.” Mary’s voice made me jump in the quiet locker room, and I turned. She was standing in the archway of the exit for the locker room. I nodded.
“Yeah, just about to leave.”
“You need a ride?” I shook my head. “Are you sure? It’s late and—“
“I’m sure.” I smiled. “Thank you for today. I’m not sure what you told Griff for him to want to turn that room into a rage room, but… it was nice. Today was nice.”
“Griff, huh?” She noticed I’d shortened his name. Her lips quirked up. “All I asked him to do was to check in on you to make sure you were okay when you returned up there. He had the remodel rage room idea all on his own. He said he figured breaking things might help.”
“It probably would have.”
“But you decided to be noble,” she pointed out, and I blinked.
“I’m not—“
“For all that shit you like to talk, you’re a softie, Martina.”
“Marty,” I corrected, and she laughed, a sound I had only heard come from her twice in the three years I’d been working for her. Instead of arguing, I ignored the heat that hit my face and rolled my eyes.
“Big teddy bear Marty. Now, the next thing you’re going to tell me is the money you made is going to be donated to a local food pantry.”
“Damn, that would have been a better idea.” Her laughter died and her eyes widened. “Better idea than what?”
“Griff said, I mean Griffin said the club matched the money, and he’s going to go out and buy drinks and snacks for the breakroom.”
“What?” This was obviously news to Mary. “That’s… that’s a really good idea. We could buy it to keep buying more when we run out.”
“That’s what I said, but Griffin said Pope told him that’s something the club will keep doing from here on out.”
“Wow.” She crossed her arms.
“I guess he thought we had something like that in place already.”
“I’d always wanted to ask, but I was too…”
“Yeah. I get it,” I stepped in because she didn’t have to admit she was too shy or scared to ask the club of the president for something like that.
“Well… you did good, kid.” She winked. “Really good. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Her hand rose. “Don’t be late!”
“I won’t.” It was probably a lie. I was always late, but Mary didn’t call me on it.
I hurried to use the bathroom, washed my hands, and when I stepped out of the building, the warm summer air from earlier had started to cool.
A couple of the club members were still there, some smoking, others having a couple of beers just hanging out.
I didn’t try to search for Griff. I figured if he was still there, with his sheer size and presence, he would be easy to spot.
Unfortunately, by the time I left the parking lot and headed to the bus stop at the corner, he hadn’t been anywhere to be seen. I kept my head low and hand tight on my house keys, so when I got to the bus bench, I jumped when there he was.
“Griff,” I said, and he looked at me. “What are you—“
“Taking you home.”
“What?” I frowned, and he pointed to the sidewalk. Keeping my head low, I’d missed his bike parked right off the curb.
“Come on.” He waved behind him, but I didn’t move. I watched as his large body moved and he lifted one leg over and straddled his bike.
I’d seen my fair share of guys getting on a motorcycle before, and never had I thought it was sexy as sin. Until him. Until Griffin. Shit, so much for never seeing him again.
I was in big trouble. Big biker trouble.
“You coming, or what?” The challenge was clear in his voice, as if he knew how hard it was for me to turn one down.
“I told you I was headed home.” I hardly recognized my own voice.
“And I got you.” That’s when I should have stepped away and argued.
Dug deep and found the strength and courage to tell him to fuck off with this Prince Charming act of his.
I sure as hell wasn’t some defenseless princess or damsel in distress who got off on the idea of being saved.
Hell no. My mom had taught my sisters and I a long time ago that the only person a girl could count on one hundred percent of the time was herself.
“It’s late, Marty, and I’m just as tired as you are.”
“Then you should go home,” I said quietly. He shot me a look that made it impossible to look away from him. Who was I kidding? He was too dam good looking to try to look anywhere else.
“You really think I’d be able to rest not knowing you got home safe?” Oh, did he somehow feel obligated to get me home?
“I could, umm…” I bit down on my lower lip and shrugged, slipping my phone out of my pocket. “Give me your number,” I offered. His eyes widened. I’d obviously surprised him with the suggestion. I liked keeping him on his toes.
Griffin took my phone from me, punched in his number, and then his phone rang. “Called myself so I could have your number.” He grinned cheekily, and I shook my head.
“Great,” I mumbled, acting as if I was put off by it instead of secretly thrilled he had my number now, too. “See, now I’ll just text you.”
“And make me worry for what? The next forty to fifty minutes between you waiting for the next bus, the ride there, and the walk from the bus stop to your place?”
“I mean…” I was out of excuses. Or maybe the long day finally got the better of me. Liar, a little voice whispered. It’s him. You know it’s him. “Fine.” I sighed. “But be careful.” I started to walk toward him, but he held out his hand to stop me.
“Whoa, there, spitfire, what are you doing?”
“Umm, getting on your bike… unless I’m supposed to jog alongside you, because if that’s the case, I’ll wait for the bus. If you see me running, you should run, too, because that means something is more than likely chasing me.”
“Cute.” He hallowed his cheeks like he was trying to hold himself back from laughing. “You think I’m going to take you on my bike just like that?” he said, not trying to hide the way his eyes scanned up and down my body and back up again. Nor could I deny the reaction I felt being under his gaze.
“Like what?” I looked down at my body. I was wearing a black fitted tee and lightly-flared blue jeans. He reached for the other side of the bike until he had a helmet in his hands.
“Precious cargo, baby girl. Come here,” he ordered. And for the first time in my life, I didn’t argue. I simply went to him and watched as he carefully brought the helmet over my head, and my breath caught in my thorat when his fingers skimmed my neck.
“Good girl,” he praised, and I swallowed hard at the words that made me feel a little too warm. “Come on.” He held my hand, and without thinking, I hopped on the bike.
“Hold on tight, okay?” he ordered, and I nodded, the movement a little jerky with the heavy helmet I wore.
And then we were off.
My hands tightened around his middle, holding on for dear life as my heart sped up. Funny enough, the longer he drove, the calmer I felt. By the time we reached my small apartment building, my face hurt from smiling.
“You did great.” He grinned, and I carefully got off. A moment later, he did, too. Without a second thought, he stepped closer and worked the helmet off me. I shook my hair that had now fallen out in waves.
“That was… really fun!”
“First time?” he asked. I started to shake my head before thinking better of it.
“No.” I laughed. “But it was the first time I enjoyed it,” I admitted. The smile that had been dying on his face stilled, but it was his eyes that made my mouth go dry.
There was something working behind his green orbs.
Something heady and dark. Intriguing. The smile on my own face slowly started to fade as heat washed through me.
I loved the way he looked at me. Like he wanted to eat me whole and take his time savoring me all night long all at the same time.
Griffin’s hand on my hip tightened, and I swayed closer.
Goose bumps flared to life on my bare arms.
“Would you like to come in?” I offered, my tone soft and slightly breathless as I stared up at his green eyes. I didn’t miss the way his Adam’s apple bobbed heavily. Almost painfully.
“I should head home.”
“Home?” I repeated. That wasn’t what I’d expected.
He’d been so different all day. Had I misread the situation?
“What about dinner?” I asked. I had no idea what came over me.
I wasn’t the kind of person to beg anyone into doing anything, yet I couldn’t get myself to shut the hell up.
“I could make something or order—“ His hand rose between us, then his finger rested on my lips.
“I go inside, we both know what’s going to happen, spitfire.”
“Marty,” I muttered against the pad of his pointer finger.
“You make it sound like a bad thing,” I whispered, and because I was me and couldn’t help myself, I licked his finger.
“Fuck,” he groaned as his gaze darkened, but he didn’t step back or tell me to stop.
My lips parted, and I pulled him into my mouth, rolling my tongue around his thick, calloused finger before sucking on it just a little.
“Spitfire.” His growled warning made my eyes roll. I opened my mouth without looking away from his eyes and let him slip out.
“Fine. Party pooper.” I shrugged, acting like I didn’t care. Like my stupid heart suddenly didn’t feel bruised alongside with my ego. “If you have to go, you have to go,” I rasped.
“Baby, it’s not like that.”
“But it is. You had your fun time with me. Charmed me after putting your foot in your mouth, and now you’re playing games.
And honestly, to be clear, I’m not into the whole cat/mouse thing.
Or into catch and release, or whatever the hell you think you’re doing.
Today was a good day. You’re a good guy who said something stupid and totally made up for it. ”
“Don’t get your panties in a twist, baby girl.” His face was unreadable, but it was his eyes that gave him away. “It’s just that I don’t want—“
“Trust me, Griffin, you have no effect on my panties. I was inviting you to get a bite to eat. That was it.” It was a bold-faced lie, but who cared? It wasn’t like Griffin was going to call me out on my bratty mouth.
I started to march off with no intent of looking back.
My building wasn’t like the others in Vegas.
This was an old part of town, and my complex was a bunch of small, one-story duplexes.
They were old and probably needed to be renovated, but the property manager showed pride in his place.
The landscape was minimum but neatly kept, and for the most part, the neighbors were quiet.
I was at my door, about to open it, when a pair of hands clamped onto my arms.
“What the—“
“Shh.” The deep soothing tone of Griffin’s voice calmed me down immediately. My traitorous body melted into his. “First off all, I wasn’t playing games, little girl. Daddy doesn’t do that.”
Holy. Crap. Did he just call himself what I thought he did? Or was my sex-deprived body making him out to be even better than I could have possibly expected?
My knees almost buckled at what he’d just called not just me but himself. Daddy. I’d always loved dirty talk, but the whole daddy/little girl thing was something I’d yet to explore outside the occasional smutty book or porn I streamed when I had the time for some self-care.
“Second off?” I asked, finding my voice and the courage to turn around to stare up into his eyes.
Wow, he was big. Tall and muscular. He should have felt intimidating to someone my height and build, especially after that shit at work, but it was the opposite.
I felt safe. Protected. Cherished and seen.
My blood sugar has to be low or something, I thought to myself.
“Second off,”—his hand moved to rest against the wall right next to my front door, caging me in.
His body bent close enough that his nose was a breath away from mine—“we both know that if daddy slipped his hand down your sexy-as-fuck jeans, he’d find his little princess all nice and sticky for him.
Wouldn’t I?” The deep guttural tone of his voice made goose bumps flare to life on my arms, and my head spun with all sorts of filthy images of the two of us tangled up in one another.
Or, shit, just the thought of those thick, long fingers deep inside of me had my toes curling inside of my sneakers.
“Don’t flatter yourself,” I huffed, even though every inch of me felt off kilter.
I turned, and to my surprise, he let me.
I opened the door and stepped inside only to look at him standing there with a shit-eating grin on his face as if he liked me being a brat.
And damn it, I liked that, too. I shut the door and waited.
For what, I wasn’t sure.
Everything inside of me yelled at me to open and run back out there, talk him into coming inside to check for himself just how wet I was for Daddy. Daddy. Fuck. I swallowed, wiping at the sweat forming at the back of my neck. My open hand touched the cool wood of the door, and my eyes shut.
I had a feeling he’d held back for a reason.
Griffin might look like a bad boy with all those sinewy muscles and tattoos covering his sexy arms, but I had a feeling underneath it all, he was a good man.
And damn if that wasn’t even more terrifying.