Chapter Ten
After I gave my hair a good brushing, I made use of my curling rod, then spent the rest of the afternoon updating my resume. I tried to find any old notes I may have had lying around that had anything to do with corporate law. It felt like I was cramming for a pop quiz I was warned about by the kids who’d been surprised earlier in the day. I knew what I was doing. I had the knowledge, but it didn’t make me any less nervous.
I threw something quick and easy together for a light dinner before I started getting ready. An interview at seven o’clock at night was abnormal, to stay the least, but I decided to stick with daytime makeup to be safe. I wasn’t sure if their current representation was a man or a woman or how they showed up to the office, but I intended to be myself—and I liked to consider myself classy.
I was out the door at twenty to seven, and I hoped that was enough time for me to stop by the office to make copies of my resume. I really needed to invest in a printer. Fortunately, I was in and out—with no one there to stop me—and pulling into the parking lot with two minutes to spare.
Jed was already there, leaning against the front of the building, arms folded across his chest, his eyes pinned on me as I stepped out of my Corolla.
I was halfway to him, my legs carrying me as fast as they could with the little room allotted by my black pencil skirt, when it hit me. My feet, tucked into my lucky beige stilettos, came to an abrupt halt.
“I forgot,” I admitted, loud enough for him to hear me.
“Yup,” he replied, not moving an inch.
“I’m sorry,” I began, continuing my journey across the lot. “I was getting ready, and I was so focused on making sure I arrived on time and prepared, I completely spaced it.”
By the time I was finished with my explanation, we were three feet apart from each other. I stopped and tried to get a read on how significant it was that I forgot to text him when I was on my way, but his face gave away nothing.
“You’re not—you’re not mad, are you?”
He shook his head, but he did it so slowly I wasn’t sure it was an answer to my question. He confirmed this when he said, “Lex, I could walk you up to the clubhouse right now, and I guarantee you we’d find at least two women walkin’ around in nothin’ but a g-string and some high heels.”
“Oh- kay ,” I muttered, not at all following.
“I’m just over here tryin’ to figure out how it is you can cover yourself up from neck to knee and still get me hard just walkin’ across the parkin’ lot.”
A surprised laugh bubbled out of me, and I was quick to seal my lips closed to silence myself. I looked down at my short-sleeved blouse. It was black and tan, covered in leopard print. I debated whether or not print would be appropriate, but I decided a little personality, given my audience, couldn’t hurt.
Apparently, I chose well.
I looked up as Jed pushed himself away from the wall and eradicated the distance between us. He didn’t grab my jaw, but he got close—close enough that I was able to breathe in the scent of sandalwood and leather.
“I’d kiss you, darlin’, but considerin’ the ‘tude you gave me earlier about you wearin’ a skirt, I imagine you’d feel some type of way if I messed up your lipstick before we headed inside.”
I grinned.
I really liked him.
Maybe enough to ruin my lipstick.
But not enough to show up late to my interview after fixing it.
“Kiss me later?”
He was grinning now, too.
“You know it.”
I was still smiling when he grabbed my hand and escorted me around to the side door that led into the garage. I was careful to watch my step as we made our way around the bays, a couple of them car occupied, and toward the short flight of stairs that took us to the office. The light inside shone through the small window, and my nerves came back as soon as Jed reached for the handle.
The office was only a little bigger than mine. It was dated, but well maintained. On the right side of the room, under outdoor facing windows, was a low-set loveseat. On the left side of the room, in front of windows that looked out over the garage, there was a small desk behind which sat Bull.
He stood as we approached, and I found him to be a whole lot more intimidating now that I wasn’t totally distracted by men holding me captive. Before I could speak a word, I noticed how his eyes dropped to my hand tucked inside of Jed’s. He then lifted his gaze, settled his attention on Jed and asked, “I’m guessing you’re stayin’?”
“If you don’t mind,” he answered.
I slipped my fingers free, wanting both of them to know I was capable of standing on my own. I stretched out my arm toward Bull, offering him my hand instead. “We haven’t officially met. Alexia Torres.”
His eyes shifted from Jed to me then back again, settling on me before he took my hand and shook it.
“Good to see you again.”
As soon as he let me go, I reached into my purse and said, “I brought my resume. I probably should have sent it over sooner, but I hadn’t updated it before this afternoon.”
I handed him a copy, and he took it but didn’t look at it before setting it down on the desk. “Not a problem. ‘Ppreciate it. Why don’t you have a seat?”
I glanced behind me, realizing the couch was my only option. “Uh, okay.”
Jed followed me to the loveseat and we both sat—me on a cushion, him on the opposite arm. Bull came around and sat on the front of the desk. Both men folded their arms casually across their chests.
“Wrangler mentioned your name a few days ago, before the incident with Borrero. Already know more about you than you think.”
“Oh,” I murmured, sitting up a little straighter. “What does that mean, exactly?”
“Looked into your record. More wins than losses. You’ve dabbled in a bit of everything over the years, but you lean toward family law.”
I raised a finger and clarified, “I have done my fair share of family law, but I don’t necessarily lean toward it. My boss—”
“Doesn’t touch ‘em. I know.”
My mouth fell open a little, my brain trying to reconcile how it was that he knew all of this. I couldn’t even begin to figure it out before he continued, “That tells me two things: you do the job you’re expected to do, and you don’t half-ass any of it.” He nodded toward Jed and added, “Heard you mopped the floor with Nicole even though her case was weak, at best, and you could have gotten away with less.”
I shrugged, still trying to keep up, and muttered, “I like to win.”
“Yeah. I got that.”
“So…how is it that you know so much about me?”
He smiled, but it didn’t feel exactly friendly.
“One thing you should know—you work for the Stallions, we will keep an eye on you until you earn our trust. Maybe even then. Learned the hard way, never can be too careful.”
I looked at Jed, suddenly horrified that maybe what existed between us wasn’t real after all.
His eyes pinned on me, he spoke directly to my thoughts when he said, “Don’t even think it. Told you before, no games.”
“Almost anyone can be bought, sweetheart,” interjected Bull, earning my attention once more. “Especially when they’ve got a weddin’ to pay for.”
All the air in my lungs left me in a whoosh .
Cora ?
“You’re a lawyer, Torres. I’m not dumb, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be fooled. You walk in here and sell yourself, I might just fall for it. I back channel you before you walk through the door, I know when you speak if you’re tellin’ the truth.”
“Okay,” I muttered, trying to reconcile his back channeling methods while also trying to find the words to stand up for myself. “It sounds like there’s not much I can say you don’t already know. I will tell you—I’m not completely sure what this job entails, but I was interested before you showed up to that storage unit.
“You can try to scare me now—and, I’ll admit, I’m a little freaked—but you did show up to that storage unit. And my gut tells me, what you stand for is something worth protecting. If it weren’t, you probably wouldn’t have gone through the trouble of vetting me in the first place.”
This time, when a smile pulled at Bull’s lips, I believed it.
“Alright, here’s what you need to know. The club owns two businesses outright. All of us have a stake in ‘em. Forty-nine percent of Steel Mustang is ours, too. Plenty of legal shit tied up in all that. You take this job, you own that shit.”
I nodded, but he wasn’t finished. Not by a long shot.
“On the flip side of corporate is the club itself and the brothers who make up its membership. They get into trouble, they need representation, that’s you.”
“To be clear,” I interjected, “if I were to take this role, I would represent any Stallion to the best of my ability so long as I’m not asked to skirt the law. I don’t mean to be rude or make assumptions, but Rocco Borrero knew you by name. That tells me two things: the business you do is not exclusive to the garage, the auto parts store, or the biker bar, and there’s much more to the Stallions than meets the eye.”
Bull dipped his chin in a deliberate nod. “You take this role, you can review our non-disclosure, sign it, and we’ll look under that hood together. For now, all you need to know is that the Stallions make our own laws. One of them is don’t get caught bein’ stupid. If one of us does, your job wouldn’t be to skirt the law but to make the law work in our favor. That doesn’t always mean no consequences for the brother. Just means when one of us is in a bind, I’ll expect you to give us a leg up. My boys do their job right, you’ll have time to kill.”
“Jed informed me that might be the case.” I didn’t miss the smirk that lifted one side of his mustache in response to my comment, even though it was there and gone in a flash. Rather than read into it, I continued, “You should know, I intend to hang my own shingle. If there’s time to kill, I want to open my own practice and take on the cases that interest me most.”
“So long as you hold your end of the bargain, and there’s no conflict of interest, we wouldn’t stop you. Works better that way, anyway. We don’t have a dedicated office for you here.”
“Okay,” I murmured.
A lot had been put on the table. I wasn’t quite sure how to process all of it.
“Darlin’, you still interested?”
I looked at Jed then at Bull and back again. The thought of saying yes was daunting. I knew, no matter how succinctly he laid out the job description, it wasn’t going to be easy.
“Thought maybe you’d want to talk compensation before you gave me an answer.”
I snapped my gaze back at Bull.
“Base salary starts at a hundred and thirty grand.”
I paused a beat, so as not to embarrass myself—but that was forty-thousand dollars more than I made at the firm. With that money, I could definitely start my own business a whole lot sooner than I planned. I’d have been an idiot to turn it down.
Besides, I was always up for a challenge.
“I would need time to give my notice and to close out a few cases at my current firm.”
“Fine by me. Before you do that, there’s somethin’ I need from you, first,” he said as he stood.
“What’s that?”
“Have a look at the employee agreement Fred Hoffman drew up for himself. I want him gone, but I don’t want to have to pay him out. Soon as you can find a loophole, the job is yours.”
Oh. Great.
He was really starting things off with a softball.
I’d never met the man, but I knew lawyers. His employee agreement was probably ironclad.
“Sure, okay. I’ll have a look at it and see what I can find.” I stood to my feet and added, “I’m guessing you don’t need me to share my contact info.”
Bull smirked and jerked his head toward the desk. “Nope. Got your resume.”
I couldn’t help but to smile at that. “Right.”
“I need a drink. Winnie’s at the bar. Y’all comin’?”
“In a minute,” answered Jed as Bull made his way toward the door.
I watched him leave, pausing only but a second to glance at us from over his shoulder. He had another smirk on his face, and it was almost like he was giving me a peek at the man beneath the title.
If I was less intelligent, I might have thought he wasn’t so scary after all.
But I was pretty smart; therefore, I knew better than to underestimate him.
A lot was said in the last fifteen minutes. I considered it an interview, and in a way it was, but not like any interview I’d ever had before. While I had a better idea about what it meant to be the Stallions’ general counsel, there was still a bit of mystery associated with the role. I almost couldn’t believe I said yes— but the offer came with all the pressure of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity .
A drink sounded like a good idea to me, too.
As the door slammed shut behind Bull, I looked to Jed, who hadn’t moved from his perch on the couch, his arms still folded across his chest. Technically, we were alone. Except, as I stared into his pretty eyes, I felt a tension between us, as if we’d acquired a third wheel.
“We good?” he asked me.
His question struck me in a way I didn’t expect. Overwhelmed by all that was said in that room, I realized the depth of my doubt toward him.
For one moment—before I understood they siphoned their information from Cora—suspicion swept through me, leaving a residue.
I didn’t like it, but the thought of him using me somehow wouldn’t have surprised me. Not in my experience. It didn’t usually happen to me with men I dated, but Alejo had done it enough times for me to recognize the feeling.
“You tell me,” I murmured in response.
He sat staring at me for a moment before he got up from the couch. He moved toward me so quickly, I almost took a startled step back. Not that I would have gotten very far. The second he could reach, he had my chin tucked in the space between his thumb and forefinger, tilting my head until I had nowhere to look but straight into his blue-green eyes.
“Passed along your name, nothin’ more. Your brother’s shit got you tangled, so we all know his name, too. Bull’s deal with Cora Brown was brokered without my involvement. Knew about it. Wasn’t my place to talk about it. Didn’t need to know what info she passed along because it didn’t matter to me. My mind was already made up. What you heard in this room was the first I’d heard myself.
“So, I’ll ask you again—we good?”
And there it was. The truth. All of it.
Just like that, the residue was gone.
“Yeah,” I whispered.
“Good,” he clipped.
Then he kissed me, wet and deep.
By the time he was finished, I was sure my smudge-proof lipstick hadn’t survived unscathed—but I didn’t care.
“Come on. Not sure if we’ve ever made a cosmo at Mustang’s, but I’ll see what they can do.”
“Okay,” I laughed.
He took my hand, and we left the office behind.
I’d never been to Steel Mustang before, but everyone in town knew of the biker bar. Their live music was a constant draw that appealed to bikers and non-bikers alike. I also knew Jed worked there as a second source of income.
I could hear the music trying to crawl through the walls as we walked toward the building. When we made it to the door, which Jed held open for me, I could feel the energy inside like I was entering into a whole different dimension. The place was already decently full, in spite of the somewhat early hour. As Jed pulled me into the crowd, my eyes were everywhere.
At first glance, I noted there were a handful of Stallions scattered about, identified by their leather kuttes , as one would expect. There were also men—and women, too—in different motorcycle vests. Then, of course, there were the regular folk, including myself. Though, I was certainly not dressed like anyone else. I stuck out like a sore thumb. My saving grace was Jed, who kept me close.
I spotted Bull at the bar, but Jed didn’t take me there. Instead, I soon found myself approaching a high-top table where three women sat, one with a familiar man at her back—the Stallion from the storage unit with the long, curly hair. Only, at present, he wore it in a top-knot.
I glanced at the patches on the front of his kutte and saw his road name was Maverick. To my delight, the woman I assume belonged to him—given he was standing really close and there was a shiny diamond she wore on the hand wrapped around her drink—made me feel a little better about what I had on.
She wore a navy romper with thick straps, a sweetheart neckline, and a stylish bow across her bust. While it wasn’t neck-to-knee , it was dressier than cotton, making my satin feel not so out of place. She was also very pretty, with just a touch of makeup and long, thick, straight honey-brown hair.
If Maverick hadn’t been standing at her back, I would not have pictured the two of them together, and I kind of liked that about them.
Jed took me to the barstool that remained empty at their table and pulled it out, signaling for me to sit. I looked up at him, a bit apprehensive about sitting with strangers who hadn’t invited me to do so, and he immediately jerked his head toward the platinum blonde sitting in the spot to the left of us.
She was older—maybe in her early to mid-forties—with blue eyes and an attractive, angular face. She was the kind of biker babe who could be on the cover of a magazine; the kind of babe who could pull off a cropped graphic tee, like the one she had on, until she was closer to sixty; but also, the kind of woman who smiled warmly and invitingly at me before she even knew my name.
“This is Winnie, Bull’s ol’ lady.”
That most certainly checked.
“Winnie, this is—”
“Alexia,” she finished for him, speaking loud enough to be heard over the music as she extended her hand in greeting. “I was hoping to meet you. Glad you came. Have a seat.”
I accepted her offer and found my way onto the barstool.
Jed pressed a hand against the small of my back and then brought his lips to my ear as he muttered, “Be right back. Gonna see about that drink.”
Steel Mustang did not look like the kind of place that had the kind of drinkware to house a cosmo. Except, before I could tell him I’d be happy with something else, he was maneuvering his way toward the bar.
“I have to know who you are.”
My gaze snapped to the woman who sat across from me as she lifted herself off of her stool in order to lean over the table to speak to me. She had dirty blonde hair—more dirty than blonde—and it hung in waves, brushing the tops of her shoulders. Her golden-brown eyes were alight in excitement, and she had an awesome smile.
I had no idea who she was, but she looked like a good time.
“I’ve never seen Wrangler hold any woman’s hand. That man is among the baddest, badass bikers of the bunch. He’s got a soft spot for his kids but— you —he likes you.” Her eyes danced around my face before she asked, “What was your name, again?”
My insides did that thing as her comment sank in, but I ignored it and replied, “I’m Alexia.”
“I’m Tess,” she said, offering me her hand. I shook it and then she nodded to the woman in the romper and said, “This is Jenna. And the giant behind her is her fiancé, Maverick.”
I looked at Jenna, who lifted her drink and smiled, and then up at Maverick, who winked—as if to express no one at the table knew we’d seen each other before, and it could remain our secret if I wanted.
I nodded then settled my attention on Tess. “Nice to meet you.”
She sat in her seat and cast a quick glance over her shoulder, then turned and waggled her eyebrows at me. “Before he gets back, what’s the story? Are you two together?”
“Oh, uh, I—I don’t know how to answer that,” I replied honestly.
“Alexia is an attorney,” said Winnie, rescuing me. “Wrangler brought her in to meet Bull. The club is looking to hire her.” Shifting her focus onto me, she added, “Bull says you’re good. Made of solid stuff.”
I glanced toward the bar, where I last saw Bull, and found him shoulder to shoulder with Jed. I wondered what they were talking about. I also wondered if it made me a narcissist to think it was probably me .
“Something tells me that’s a high praise,” I said in response.
“It is. Bull’s the shit,” insisted Tess. “But can we go back to the part where you walked in here holding Wrangler’s hand? I can’t unsee that. You’re also gorgeous, with brains, apparently—which is a trait we at this table adore— and I know I just met you, but the idea of you and Wrangler together is making me very happy, because he’s really great and deserves someone who will walk into a biker bar wearing a pencil skirt like a boss.”
Jenna laughed and leaned toward me before she explained, “She’s pregnant and very hormonal, which has made her easily excitable recently. That said, I’ve never seen Wrangler hold anyone’s hand before, either—and you did kind of walk in here like a boss in that outfit.”
I looked from Jenna to Tess then at Winnie, who merely shrugged as if to say she couldn’t save me a second time.
Then it hit me.
I was sitting at a table with women who were asking me about the guy I liked. I hadn’t talked to anyone about him, and I was kind of dying to. With everything that was happening in my life at the moment, a bit of girl talk was like a gift from above. It didn’t even matter that they were strangers. They knew Jed .
I opened my mouth to speak, but then remembered Maverick.
My eyes flickered in his direction, and Jenna responded immediately.
“Kade, honey? Could I get a refill?”
Her drink was barely half empty, but when she held up her glass, he took it and smiled down at her.
“Yeah, foxy.”
We all watched him leave, and then all eyes were on me.
“Our first date was last night, and he also took me to lunch this afternoon. As for the hand holding, Jed does that anytime we’re walking anywhere, and I kind of love it. I can’t say for sure what we’re doing because we haven’t actually talked about it yet, which makes sense. We only met a couple weeks ago. But it feels like something,” I blurted.
“You call him Jed? ” asked Jenna with a quirked eyebrow.
“Yeah,” I replied, glancing at each woman, feeling mildly confused by the question.
I knew his road name was Wrangler, but he gave me the option to call him by his given name from the start. I assumed he did the same with everyone.
Tess was grinning when she told me, “You two are totally a thing.”
I didn’t get a chance to ask her why she was so sure before he was headed in my direction, a copper mug in one hand and a glass of beer in his other. He came to stand behind my seat, reaching around me to place the mug on the table.
In my ear, he said, “Wrong cup, right drink, darlin’.”
Laughing softly, I turned enough to look into his eyes.
“Thank you.”
He dipped his chin in acknowledgment then asked, “You good here?”
“Yeah. All good.”
“Alright. Saw Maverick got kicked to the curb, so I’ll be at the bar. You want another, you let me know. You want to get out of here, you let me know that, too.”
“And if I just want you to come back?” I inquired, feeling bold after Tess’s comment.
“Toss me a wink.”
“Deal,” I agreed, speaking through a smile.
I watched as he stared at my mouth, and I wondered if he’d kiss me. He didn’t, but I felt like he wanted to, and that was almost just as nice.
Almost.
Then he walked away, and I reached for my drink. As I took a sip, I noticed three sets of eyes trained on me—all of them bright with excitement.
It was after my second drink that I felt brave enough to toss Jed a wink .
That wasn’t the signal for let’s get out of here —but within fifteen minutes of said wink, when he felt confident I’d be fine behind the wheel, we were out of there.
He walked me to my apartment, his hand wrapped around mine.
When we reached my unit, neither of us pretended he was going home.
We were both naked by the time we made it to my bedroom.
Our bodies did most of the talking for the rest of the night.
Jed hadn’t put into words what we were doing—but after three orgasms, I realized one thing for sure.
My day had ended a whole lot better than it started.
Maybe I’d caught a break, after all.