10. Lexi
10
LEXI
M aybe I should be more nervous than I am. I kept waiting for the nerves to set in on the way over to the clubhouse, but after the last few hours with Ben, I’m completely focused on that and not what’s about to happen.
“You okay?” Ben asks. He glances at me sideways, and I’m curious at the gentle way he keeps handling me. I loved riding on the back of his bike with him, but I’m happy that he decided to drive his truck tonight. This way we can talk at least.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” I turn in my seat to face him. “You seem worried about this. You think I’m going to embarrass you?”
He’s grim. “No, I’m not worried about that at all.”
I almost ask him what he is worried about, but I already know he’s not going to tell me. Instead, I try to find out what I can about the Exiled Guardians and if the rumors are true. “Tell me about your club.”
His hands tighten on the steering wheel, and he looks straight ahead. “What do you want to know?”
“I’m assuming there are things you can’t tell me about it.”
He nods. “Yeah, there’s some things I won’t be able to talk to you about.”
I blow out a breath. “Okay, tell me this. Do you do illegal things?”
When he doesn’t answer right away, I feel a knot form in my stomach. I want to be with Ben more than anything, but can I overlook what he and his club do? “Ben, I’m going to need you to tell me something good about the Exiled Guardians because I’m freaking out a little bit. I’ve heard rumors, but I don’t know what to believe and what not to believe.”
He pulls to the side of the road and puts the truck into park. “What have you heard?”
I lean the side of my head against the seat and look at him. “Well, I’ve heard that y’all help Walker and his mercenaries.”
He nods. “We do.”
“I’ve heard that you have saved women and children that were kidnapped and threatened.”
“We do.”
I start to breathe easier. “I heard you do drugs.”
He points at himself. “I don’t. I don’t know what all the other guys do, but we don’t sell drugs, if that’s what you mean.”
I nod. “Okay, and what about the rumor about your run-in with the Mafia? You killed?—”
He cuts me off. “Princess, like I said, there are things I can’t talk about. One of them is the fact that we do things that are illegal. Do we kill people for fun? Absolutely not. Do we kill people to save other people? Yes, sometimes that’s exactly what we have to do. These guys are my family, and I want you to go in there with an open mind and just, I don’t know, trust me.”
I don’t hesitate. “I do.”
He nods once, turns in his seat and shifts into drive. We arrive at the clubhouse in no time, and it’s not until we’re walking in that I start to get nervous. The men are looking at me curiously, but Ben doesn’t stop and introduce me to anyone. He pulls me up to a stool at the bar and sets me down next to Alice, the woman that works at the shop. “Hey, Alice, do me a favor?”
She looks at me and then rolls her eyes at Ben. “We’re off the clock. I’m not babysitting.”
I turn away from Alice. “I don’t need someone to watch me.”
Ben smiles at me. “Alice likes to act like a badass, but trust me, she’s not going to let any of these guys mess with you.” He looks to Alice and just laughs. “Thanks, I need to talk to Pres.”
Alice’s whole face lights up, and she looks between Ben and me. I’m not sure what she’s smiling about, but it makes me feel a little less uneasy. She nods her head. “Fine. Make it quick.”
Ben laughs. “Why? You in a hurry? I know you’re waiting on Gunner.”
She flips him off. “I’m not waiting on anyone.”
“Right,” Ben says before kissing the side of my face and whispering in my ear, “I’ll be right back.”
I nod and try to seem unfazed by all this. When he disappears through the crowd, I turn to Alice. She points toward the bar. “You old enough to drink?”
Geez, how old does she think I am? “Yeah, I’m more than old enough.”
“What do you want?”
I have never let peer pressure bother me before, and I’m not going to now. “Nothing. I have to drive back to Jasper tonight.”
She doesn’t try to pressure me. I look around the club and try not to stare. There are people in the corner playing pool, people dancing across the room, and then a place set up like a living room with mismatched chairs and sofas, and the people there are all watching television.
I point at it. “Is that—?” No way. “Uh, is that The Big Idol ?”
Alice laughs. “Yeah, they love that show and watch it every week. They usually make bets on who’s making it to the next round.”
I just shake my head. “I love that show.”
Alice leans toward me. “I bet you didn’t think you’d have something in common with these guys, huh?”
She’s not wrong. “I have something in common with Ben, so it wasn’t too farfetched that I’d have something in common with his friends.”
She smiles at me as if I passed some kind of test. She gestures in the direction where Ben disappeared. “What’s he meeting with Pres about? He making you his ol’ lady?”
I scrunch up my nose. “Ol’ lady? I don’t even know?—”
Before I can get it all out, Ben is back. “Hey, princess, Alice playing nice?”
I nod, still trying to figure out what she meant by ‘ol’ lady.’
Ben helps me from the stool. “Come on, Pres wants to meet you.”
Alice’s smile gets even bigger, and I wave bye to her as I walk with Ben through the crowd. It’s too loud to be able to ask him anything until we’re going down a long hallway and it’s just the two of us. “Uh, why does he want to meet me?”
His hand tightens on mine. “You’ll see.”
He doesn’t knock on the door. He just pushes it open, and my eyes are drawn to the man sitting behind the desk. He stands up, a grim look on his face. Ben stops and puts a hand around my waist. “Pres, this is Lexi Payne. Princess, this is Pres.”
The man stares back at me, and I do my best not to fidget. My brother has always told me to not let them see you sweat, so I’m doing my best to appear like I’m feeling confident even though I’m anything but. I clear my throat. “Hello.”
Pres crosses his arms over his chest. “So you want to be an ol’ lady?”
I look over at Ben and then back at Pres. “Uh, I’m not sure exactly what that means.”
Ben’s hand goes to my waist. “It doesn’t matter if she wants to be or not. She’s my ol’ lady, and she deserves the protection of the club.”
I’m surprised by Ben saying it doesn’t matter what I want, and I can’t keep my mouth shut. “I think you should tell me what ol’ lady means because honestly, it doesn’t sound like anything good.”
Pres unfolds his arms and moves around his desk and sits on the end of it in front of me. “If you’re his ol’ lady… it means you’re his.” He’s pointing at Ben, and I look over at the man I just made love to. Was I a fool? I’m beginning to wonder what I’ve gotten myself into.
Instead of asking Ben, I ask Pres, “What does ‘his’ mean?”
Pres’ grim look finally lightens, and he smiles. “It means that you’re loyal to him.”
“So his girlfriend?” I ask, still not fully understanding.
There’s a laugh from a guy that is sitting in the corner, but with one look from Pres, he stops. Pres just shakes his head. “It’s more than that. It means no one else in the club is allowed to touch you, you’re loyal to him, and you’re protected by the club.”
I look at Ben, and he’s looking straight ahead. He doesn’t do all this emotional stuff, and it’s a little frustrating, so I direct my question to Pres. “And is he supposed to be loyal to me?”
Pres laughs. “Honey, that’s the first time I’ve been asked that. It’s not required?—”
Ben cuts him off and is now looking at me. “Yeah, it means I’m faithful and loyal to you.”
We stare at each other, and I lick my lower lip. This time when I answer, I’m looking at Ben. “Yeah, I want to be his ol’ lady.”
Ben’s eyes darken, and he squeezes my hand.
Pres goes over a few rules, telling me things Ben has already told me and that I won’t be privy to what happens within the club. I should probably pay better attention because before I know it, I’m being ushered out into the main room, and this time it’s quiet as Pres walks into the room with us. Everyone is looking our way, and Pres starts to talk. “Hey, everyone, this is Lexi Payne, and she’s Boss’ ol’ lady. Treat her with respect. She’s now protected by the club.”
There’s a few hoots and hollers, and when I find Alice in the crowd, thankfully she’s smiling at me. As everyone gets back to what they were doing, Ben pulls me toward the front doors. I stop before I get to his truck. “Do you think you should have told me about that before we went in there?”
Ben lifts his shoulders, not showing any regrets. “No. I mean, I guess I could’ve, but it doesn’t matter. You were going to be my ol’ lady regardless.”
I put my hands on my hips. “Why? I mean, you just had sex with me. You didn’t have to do that.”
He laughs and runs his hand through his beard. “You don’t think so? It’s funny, because I didn’t think there was any other way.”
I should just let it go, but that’s not who I am. “How so?”
“Because I want to be with you, but the only way I can let myself is if I know you have the club in your corner. If something happens to me, they’ll take care of you now.”
“What do you mean if something happens to you?”
He blows out a breath. “Princess, in my eyes, what we do is right, but it doesn’t make it safe.”
For probably the third time tonight, I wonder what I’ve gotten myself into. But thinking about Ben and how he makes me feel, I know this is right. My brother is not going to be happy. Hell, our worlds are so different I wonder how we’re going to fit in with each other, but I know we can make it work.
I put my hands at his waist. “You know, if you wanted to ask me to be your girlfriend, you could have just done that. You didn’t have to announce it in front of your whole club.”
He turns me around so my back is pressed against his truck, and he leans against me. His hard manhood presses into my belly, and he cages me in against his truck with his arms. “That’s the way it works; that’s how they know you’re one of us.”
I bring my arms up and loop my hands around his neck. With a smile on my face, I tilt my head to look up at him. “I dunno, it seems like a lot of work just for you to get laid.”
He growls and leans down until we're eye to eye. “You’re more than pussy to me, Lexi. I know this is moving fast for you, but you sealed your fate when you came into my shop asking for another man to put his mark on you.”
I pat my hand on his chest to try and soothe him. “Hey, I’m just joking.”
But he shakes his head. “Ask me how many ol’ ladies I’ve had.”
I physically react with a jerk. “Do I want to know the answer to that?”
He shakes his head. “You don’t get it, do you? One. That’s how many times I’ve went to my club and told the Pres that I had a woman I want to be my ol’ lady.” He points a finger to my chest, right over my heart. “One time, just you.”
The weight of it all settles over me, and it hits me then how much this really means. To me, I thought it was some kind of joke or something, but I’m quickly learning I was wrong. I snuggle against him. “So I feel like we should celebrate this or something, but I have class in the morning.”
“Stay the night with me. I’ll have you back in time.”
Damn, I want to. “But I have class at eight, and I’ll have to go to my dorm to get ready before then.”
He kisses me on my lips and quickly pulls back. “Okay, it’s settled.”
“Ben!” I say.
He opens the driver's side door. “Get in and scoot over.”
“You’re not going to want to get up that early.”
I slide into his truck, and he waits until I’m settled before he slides in next to me. “Princess, you’re about to find out exactly what I’ll do to have you in my bed with me.”
He starts the truck, pulls out, and then holds my hand the whole way back to his cabin. I have a hundred questions on how this is going to work, but right now, all I can think about is that I get to sleep in the same bed as Ben Dalton and the fact that I’m his ol’ lady.