Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
QUAKE
It was good to see the place was packed again.
I smiled at a couple of regulars as I made my way through the tables to the bar.
I’d just come back from the Polished Playground, the strip club I’d invested in with the brothers, to check on how things were coming along with the set-up and to make sure the booze order was correct.
I wasn’t sure which place I’d be managing more at, but at least I had a second in charge I trusted to run things the way I did at both places.
“Drew, need any refills?” I called as I tapped the bar.
I chuckled when he shot me the middle finger.
Drew wasn’t a member in the Diamond MC, but he was a guy who’d proved himself when I left him in the lurch the times I raced out the door to attend to club business.
It was why I gave him a promotion over the other brothers who worked here since they’d be running out of the place with me if club business did arise.
Turning, I rested against the bar and looked around. There were two booths free that we could be putting people in.
“Drew, what—”
“Dusty called. She and her friends are coming in.”
My damn gut fluttered.
That meant Eve, too, right?
And now there was a twist to my gut when I remembered Eve was avoiding me for some reason. She’d gotten something in her head that was stopping her from coming to me.
She still didn’t understand it wasn’t just about sex between us.
I wanted her as mine.
Even if Tech would beat me black and blue for touching his sister in the first place, I’d risk his wrath just to have her at my side all the time.
On the outside, she was tough and mouthy, but I’d seen a side to her that she hardly showed. A softer side that needed attention and affection and love.
Fuck me. I sounded like a smitten dick, but I couldn’t help notice what Eve wanted, the love and affection, without her even saying it, and I wanted to be the one to give her everything she craved.
She didn’t want to be in charge. She didn’t want to be noticed or mouthy or mean.
She thought that was what people needed from her, so it was who she became.
In the bedroom, she mostly submitted to direction and attention beautifully. Then there were days she was playful and needy.
But she was building her walls back up, which gutted me.
Her folks had screwed her and Tech in ways that’d cut deep. It was why she put on this hard exterior in the first place.
One I didn’t think I’d ever crack.
Still, I really fucking wanted to try.
The door opened, and Dusty, Wrenley, Lucas, and West entered. My heart dropped to my gut when the door shut behind them. Until I perked up when it reopened. However, it was only Wreck, Adrick, and Torch.
She wasn’t coming.
The women waved my way, and I tipped my chin to them and the others following.
I swung my gaze back to the door when it was pushed free again.
Eve stepped through with fiery red hair.
“Holy fuck,” I muttered to myself. I loved her blonde, but this suited her so fucking much also.
She laughed from something someone behind her said as she moved to the side.
The guy Texas, from Melbourne, walked in with his woman, Maya.
I’d heard it was their last night with us.
After them was Henri, Blaze, and Rommy, who skipped over to Eve and took her hand while smiling up at her and talking rapid-fire.
My damn breath caught in my throat over the soft expression on Eve as she listened to Rommy.
When had these two connected in a way Eve gave her this look?
I’d seen it a handful of times when she interacted with her friends, but Rommy had somehow weaved her way under Eve’s skin and infused more life into her and—
Eve threw her head back and laughed loudly as Rommy grinned big while watching her.
Christ. They were gorgeous together.
But I focused my attention on the woman I wanted as my own.
Eve rolled her eyes at Rommy, still smiling softly, and then Henri joined them by the door just before they started walking towards the booth.
“Boss, you’re droolin’,” Drew taunted.
Fuck, maybe I was. I wiped at my mouth and heard him chuckling.
Did I go over?
I wanted to see Eve up close. I wanted to talk to her and see if she changed her attitude when I was there.
Then again, the thought of her dimming made my chest ache.
Shit.
What the fuck should I do?
I took a step their way and stopped, turning back to the bar.
Drew’s brows rose.
“Shut up,” I told him.
“You gonna take their order?”
If I was here, I usually attended to the tables that held brothers and family so I could shoot the shit with them, but for the first time, I was hesitant.
Worry coursed through me.
“Boss?” Drew held out a tablet for me to take their order on.
Screw it.
I was going to do what I usually did.
And fucking pray my heart didn’t break from seeing her face fall.
I snatched the device out of his hand and clipped, “Be back.”
Drew smirked, but it quickly faded when he returned to filling drink orders.
As soon as I moved away from the bar, customers filled my spot. Luckily Drew wasn’t the only one working. He had two others with him, and I always had another three employees on the floor taking orders, picking up empties, and cleaning down tables.
And I’m just trying to distract myself.
As I grew close, Rommy looked over and winked.
Snorting, I shook my head.
She’d made clear her attraction for me. It was refreshing and cute. She was funny. But I wouldn’t give her the green light, as it would ruin any chance I had at making Eve mine.
I moved my gaze to Eve when I stopped beside their booth.
When her attention lifted to me, I held my damn breath and waited for her smile to vanish.
When it didn’t, hope fucking flooded me.
“I like the hair,” I told her.
She blinked, and a blush coated her cheeks. She lifted a hand to tuck some strands behind her ear. “Thanks. Rommy did it for me.”
I nodded.
Say something else, you dickhead.
Tell her she’s pretty.
No, you fucker, if you do that it’ll put her walls up.
But she looks amazing tonight.
“This is a nice place, Quake,” Rommy said, coming to the rescue.
“Pick and Billy own a bar in Melbourne that I always go to. I think it’s good to have a safe space like this owned by the club.
But Henri was telling me about the strip club opening up.
” She got to her knees on the seat. “That’s so exciting.
I’m not sure I’ll be around to see it open, though.
” She turned to Henri. “When will it open?”
“We are hoping to open in a month, chéri.”
She screwed up her nose. “Damn, I doubt the parents want to stay that long.”
“Doesn’t mean you can’t,” Eve suggested, and Dusty nodded from the other side of Eve.
Rommy moved on her knees to face Eve next to her. “Huh?”
Eve smiled. “Your parents might go back, but you could stay a bit longer.”
Rommy slapped the table to get her brother’s attention. “Do you think I could? Would it work? I’ve never been to a strip club. I want to see this one on opening day.”
Texas smirked. “Rom, you’re old enough to make up your own mind. But if we all left you here, we’d need someone to travel back to Australia with you for safety.”
She was already nodding. “I know. I get it. Dad would lock me away if he could, so I’ll do anything to ease his stress.”
“Where are your parents tonight, chéri?” Henri asked from where he was leaning into Blaze.
“They stayed at the compound. You’ll have to drop in one day soon to meet them. They’ll love you.” She gasped. “Oh my God, do you know who else will love you. Julian—”
“No,” Blaze bit out.
Any other person would have taken the warning in his tone and shut up, but Rommy laughed and shook her head. “Relax, big man. Julian has his own beau. I’m just saying they’d be friends. He’s Maya’s uncle.”
“I think if they ever met, that Blaze and Uncle Mattie would turn grey from all the trouble they’d conjure up,” Maya said.
Henri grinned. “Oh, chéri, I would love to meet this man.”
“Quake,” Wrenley called from the booth over where she sat with Torch, Adrick, West, Lucas, and Wreck. “Can we order, please?”
“You got it.” I moved to their table. Adrick complained that I didn’t have any Russian beer, but West quickly scolded his husband. “I’ll get some another time,” I told him.
He nodded once. “Da, do that. I would come here more often and bring my guards.”
Lucas snorted. “Like you would go anywhere without West.”
Adrick stared at him. “I did not say I wouldn’t have West with me.”
Lucas rolled his eyes. “Of course.”
I finished taking their orders and sent them off to the bar and kitchen before moving back to the other table. A table where I wanted to sit if I wasn’t working.
“What’s everyone interested in tonight?”
“Rom,” Texas warned quickly, and I caught her snapping her lips closed before smirking.
“Can I have some chips and aioli, please,” Maya asked.
“Chips? What kind?”
“Fries,” Rommy shouted. “She means fries. And I’ll get some hot wings. We’ll share a jug of soda too.”
“Not drinking tonight?” I asked her.
Texas huffed. “She doesn’t need alcohol.”
Rommy squirmed on the seat. “That’s right. I’m the life of a party no matter.”
“I believe that,” Dusty said. “I’ll grab a gin and tonic since I pumped enough milk that it won’t bother Seth. No food. I had an early dinner before I left home.”
Texas, Blaze, and Henri ordered drinks too. Then I turned to Eve.
“What would you like?”
Me?
I’d offer myself up so fucking fast.
The growl in her stomach was loud enough to be heard over the music. “Vodka and orange juice, thanks.”
“No food?”
She shook her head.
“Let’s grab another bowl of fries and wings. We’ll all share?” Rommy suggested. I liked that she wanted to take care of Eve, too, and I bet she could convince Eve to eat as well.
“You got it,” I said, tapping at the screen. “Shouldn’t be too long.”
“Thanks, Quake,” Rommy offered.
I tipped my chin up at her before I headed back over to the bar. I stepped behind it this time and started serving.
It was a ploy to keep busy so I wouldn’t just stand and stare back at the table.
“I’m surprised you didn’t stay,” Drew commented in passing.
I wanted to.
I wished I had.
But I also didn’t want to be the reason Eve’s night went sour. I had a feeling if I stuck around, I’d do or say something that’d annoy her.
I tended to do that a lot, but at least in the few years we’d been sleeping together, I was able to work out what I did and fix it.
Only this time, I didn’t have a clue what was wrong, and she wasn’t opening up to me.
Maybe Rommy could find out.
But that’d be a sneaky dick move if I asked Rommy to help.
I’d just taken the money from another customer when I moved my attention to the booth. The food and drinks had arrived. I knew the drinks had because I helped make them while one of my servers took them over, but I hadn’t seen one of the waitstaff take the food out.
Rommy was still kneeling on the seat, half leaning over the table while talking up a storm. She had her hand on Eve’s shoulder, and Eve watched the other woman with humour in her gaze.
The women and Henri laughed at something Rommy said.
I hadn’t seen Eve so relaxed in a long time. She could get that way in the bedroom or around her inner circle, but tonight was different again. It was like something had been lifted off her shoulders, and I had a feeling it was something Rommy did.
Rommy picked up a wing and passed it to Eve even while she was talking to her brother on the other side of the table.
Eve studied the wing and then glanced to Rommy, her face softening before she took a bite.
My cock twitched in my jeans.
She was stunning normally, but there was something extraordinary seeing her this at ease.
It was like she glowed.
How did I get her to do that for me?
I’d managed to give her something similar when we’d been together in bed. But as soon as she thought she had to get out of there, she locked up her real self and hardened once more.
Christ, I wanted her like this all the time.
Not for me. Not for anyone else but herself.
She deserved this all the time instead of being stuck in her head.
Maybe I needed to kidnap Rommy so she could always bring that carefree, happy, and wide smile to Eve’s lips.