Chapter 2 #2
He wasn’t gonna lie. There was no denying that he was physically attracted to her.
He’d have to be dead not to be. She was hotter than hell without even trying, and he doubted she even realized it.
She had a natural beauty and confidence about her that he didn’t see in a lot of women today.
And don’t get him started on the way she danced on stage.
Fuck. Just the memory had his dick stirring.
It confused him the way he enjoyed her lap dance, then hoped like hell she didn’t give every man a lap dance like the one she’d given him.
He refused to examine the why of that too deeply.
He admired the way she cared for her nephew and had to respect the fact that she wasn’t too proud to strip to pay the bills.
And oddly enough, that sassy mouth of hers turned him on.
Like the way she’d just chewed his ass in front of God and everybody. See. She had him seriously fucked up.
She had an independent streak that was both a blessing and a curse.
On the one hand, he liked that she wanted to do everything on her own, while on the other hand, he also worried that it would hamper the club’s ability to protect her.
They’d claimed her as one of their own, and they would do what was needed to keep her and Oliver safe, regardless of how she felt about it.
Case in point, telling Tom to take her off the schedule until they’d dealt with Tinker.
By far, the worst offense of all, even above the fact that she was actively avoiding the club, was that she had him second-guessing himself after she told him how she needed the job at Bottoms Up.
Not only for the money, but also for those nine minutes of not thinking or worrying about everything that she got twice a week.
She made it sound like the time she spent on stage may even be more important to her than the money.
She’d made him feel like an asshole for trying to keep her safe.
Circles. He was spinning in circles, and he didn’t like it.
Fuck it. He’d done what he’d done to keep her safe, and that was all that mattered in the end.
As he turned and started walking back toward Ink Envy, he found Race, Dagger, Chris, and Trick all standing at the window with their faces damn near plastered to the glass.
They scattered like a bunch of rats when they saw him heading their direction.
He pushed the door open to find all of them casually sitting on the couches with cups of coffee in their hands, the perfect picture of innocence. Yeah, right. Like they hadn’t just witnessed Sadie tearing him a new one out on the sidewalk.
“You fuckers enjoy the show?” He walked past them, making a beeline straight to the coffee pot behind the counter. He took a quick drink, added some sugar, and then went to have a seat. No sooner did his ass hit the cushion than Dagger was already starting in.
“Sadie looked pretty mad. What’d’ya do?” He grinned behind his mug. Everyone had remained surprisingly quiet until then. Now they all sported grins and snickered like a bunch of prepubescent boys.
From his seat next to Trick, he replied, “I got Tom to take her off the schedule until Tinker’s dealt with.”
“You got her fired?!” Trick asked incredulously. “She’s got a kid to take care of. How’s she supposed to feed him and keep a roof over his head without a job?” He shook his head like he thought Jed was a moron.
“I didn’t get her fired.” Jed scowled at all of them. “She can go back after we deal with Tinker.”
“How could you take her job away? She needs the money.” Dagger shook his head, disappointment written all over his face.
“Wow." Race shook his head. "You took her job away? Did you forget she's still making a payment on a house she no longer lives in?"
“I was trying to keep her safe.” He was getting irritated with their censure.
He already felt bad after what she told him, so he didn’t need them piling on the guilt, too.
He knew they were messing with him, but it was starting to piss him off.
“The easiest and fastest way to do that was to take away Tinker’s access to her. ”
“You know this business with Tinker is going to take longer than a week because we’re not lucky like that. Sadie needs money coming in now. She can’t wait around indefinitely for us to get our shit together,” Trick explained.
“Well, maybe she can take this time to look for another job that doesn’t require her to work nights. It would be better for her nephew.” He tried to defend his corner, but as soon as the words left his mouth, he knew he’d fucked up. Just like when he’d said it to Sadie.
They all shared a look before Chris spoke up. “Is that what you said to her?”
Jed felt an uncharacteristic flush creep up his neck. “Maybe.” He was never going to admit that he did say something similar and equally stupid.
“That’s a lame excuse, and you know it,” Dagger pointed out. “A lot of women with kids work nights.”
Chris snorted. “And how’s she supposed to find a job that’s going to pay as good as Bottoms Up and have health insurance as good as ours?”
“I had to do something. Now that Tinker knows the club owns Bottoms Up, he’s going to be there every night.
And if Sadie’s there, he’s going to end up doing something to her.
We all know his history with women. I can’t sit back and take a chance that he does something like that to her, too.
I don’t know how or why, but she’s got his attention.
We interrupted his time with her on Friday night, and it will only make him more determined to get to her. ”
Dagger and Race shook their heads.
“What?” Did he really want to know?
“We’re just a little confused about why you needed to have her fired to keep her safe. You could have just made sure she was protected and had her followed to and from work. That’s what you would have done with any of the other women,” Dagger reasoned.
“I did not have her fired!” Jed shouted. He was getting aggravated with these assholes. Did any of them listen to why he’d done what he’d done? Did any of them think they could do better? Well, let them have at it if they had all the answers.
“You know what I think?” Dagger had a gleam in his eye that Jed knew was not going to bode well for him. “I think you got her fired because you’re interested in her and you don’t want someone to snatch her up before you figure it out.”
“What the hell are you talking about? The only interest I have in her is a fuck.”
“So you wouldn’t mind if I asked her out?” Was Chris purposely trying to poke the bear? Wait. Was Jed’s eye twitching?
“She doesn’t have time to date," Jed declared. "She’s raising her nephew.” Wow. Everything that was coming out of his mouth kept getting lamer and lamer.
“Now that she’s fired, she has plenty of time for dating,” Trick had to add.
“Just because she’s raising her nephew doesn’t mean she doesn’t get lonely and wouldn’t mind companionship.” Chris’s smile spread across his face, clearly having fun at Jed’s expense. If he didn’t watch it, Jed was going to punch him in his face.
“She definitely has spunk.” Race smiled as he jumped back into the conversation.
“She’s a spitfire for sure. I like her,” Dagger added.
Before Jed was able to tell them all to go to hell, the sound of someone beating urgently on the back door drew their attention.
Race was closer, so he led the way, pulling his gun and holding it at his side.
He checked the peephole, stepped back, and slipped the gun behind his back before he opened the door.
He barely had time to reach out and catch Sadie before she tumbled to the floor. “Sadie? What’s wrong?”
“Someone’s been in my apartment.” Her face was pale and her eyes wide as she clung to Race’s arms.
“What do you mean someone’s been in your apartment?” Dagger asked. All trace of his earlier teasing self was gone in a flash.
Sadie released Race and took a step back. She cleared her throat and said, “Come with me. I’ll show you.”
Race nodded at Jed to lead the way, with the rest of them following behind. When he got to the top, he found the door unlocked. “You didn’t lock the door when you ran downstairs?”
“No,” she shook her head and frowned at him like he was stupid, which seemed to be the consensus at the moment. “I was freaked the hell out and forgot. All I was thinking about was getting out in case someone was still in there, and I ran. Sue me.”
Jed clenched his jaw to keep from growling. Now she was trying to provoke him with that sassy mouth of hers again?
He pushed the door open, and not seeing an immediate threat, he eased his way inside.
With how open the living room and kitchen were set up, he clearly saw several bags of groceries on the kitchen table that Sadie hadn’t yet put away.
Something had to have really spooked her for her to take off so fast.
“Check it out,” Race ordered as he closed the door behind him, keeping Sadie close to his side.
With guns drawn, he and Dagger searched room by room, not finding anything.
That was until they got to Sadie’s room.
What they saw in the middle of her bed had them seeing red.
What the fuck? Someone had definitely been in her apartment.
But who? He had a guess, but he couldn’t prove it. His gut was telling him it was Tinker.
“Race! You need to see this!” Dagger called down the hall.
Two sets of footsteps grew closer until Race was standing in the doorway with Sadie behind him.
His deep frown was instant. Lying on her bed was a pair of black satin panties printed with bright red cherries and something wet on them.
It didn’t take a genius to see it was cum.
There was no mistaking that someone had jacked off on her bed.
Race steered her by the shoulders, leading her back down the hall to the kitchen. “Did you notice anything else?"