Chapter 13
SAYLOR
She stared at her screen, unseeing as she tried to get her tired brain to work. It was much easier said than done. She wanted to blame it on not getting enough sleep, but if she was being honest with herself, it was also the fact that, once again, she was right. Jax didn’t come back after he left, and she woke up to cold sheets and no sign that he ever returned.
She didn’t know why she was allowing herself to be disappointed. She predicted it, so there was no point in getting upset. Instead, she’d forced herself to get out of bed, shower, and get some work done, which was not going well. She huffed out a frustrated breath and turned to stare out the little window beside the small dining table.
She didn’t have much of a view other than the garage directly across the way, and if she tilted her head just right, she could see the main clubhouse. Everything looked quiet, though there were some lights on. She checked her phone for the hundredth time. It was only just before sunrise, so she shouldn’t be surprised, she supposed. Everyone else was probably still fast asleep.
Still, she wondered how busy the compound was during the normal day-to-day. She could imagine that with all the men and women around, it was a busy spot. It also made her wonder if any of the brothers had jobs outside of the clubhouse grounds or if they all worked onsite like Jax did. Maybe she would ask one of the women if she saw them today.
If she was going to be stuck here for a week, she figured that she could spend some time with them. She didn’t have any girl friends back home, and never really had any desire to until now. The women of the club were clearly close knit, and she really liked them, from the little interaction she had with them so far. She was also curious how they all got here. They all seemed different, but they fit in here so seamlessly that she was almost envious. She never really fit in anywhere but at Mater’s gym, though that had taken a lot of work.
Speaking of which…
She pulled out her phone and dialed the familiar number. “Your ass is getting an extra hard workout when you get back here,” Mater growled in her ear the moment he picked up.
“Damn, old man, I had no idea you were so kinky,” she joked. “And while I appreciate the sentiment, you can keep your old, saggy cock to yourself.”
“Fuck off,” he huffed. “Now, what’s the deal with the car? How soon can you get back on the road? Do you need money?”
She called him yesterday to let him know about the car, but she hadn’t gone into much detail. She told him everything she could remember that Jax told her, and then finished with, “They were nice enough to give me an apartment on their grounds until it’s finished.”
Mater was silent. “Did they?” She could clearly hear the suspicion in his tone. “And why would they do that?”
She sighed. There really wasn’t a point in hiding anything from Mater because he wouldn’t leave it alone until she told him. She detailed everything that happened with Leon—minus the sex with Jax part, since she doubted he would want to know that—and the information that they were able to gather about the three people after her. “So, yeah, they’re offering to look into things while they fix the car, and also keep me safe here so Leon can’t try to shoot me again.”
Mater was silent on the other end of the line, but she could practically feel his concern. “You really do like to go balls to the wall when you put yourself in trouble, don’t you?” he finally groaned. “And you said they’re going to help you figure out who that bastard was that shot at you?”
“Yeah. They have some really tech-savvy people looking into it.” She didn’t bother adding that she was pretty sure one of them was a hacker, because otherwise, how would she have found that information? Some things were just better left unsaid.
“Hmmm. Are you sure you’re safe? I’ve known some bikers in my time, and they were good people, but in that world, there are far fewer good than bad.”
“They seem to be good,” she said after a moment. “All the kids running around are happy and healthy, the women don’t take shit from the men, and the men clearly love the women around them. I don’t know much about them otherwise, but how many clubs would take someone in that they didn’t know and offer them a safe place to hide out while helping them?”
“Everything has a price, Saylor,” Mater cautioned her. “Just because you haven’t heard them mention one yet, doesn’t mean they won’t expect to be paid somehow. I just don’t want you to get hurt. If I have to come down there and bash some heads together, I will.”
She bit back a laugh at the thought of Mater going up against some of the guys. She had no doubt he could hold his own, but she already could tell that these guys fought dirty. There were no rules like there were in the ring. “I’ll be fine,” she promised him. “I’ll call you if I run into any trouble, okay? Hopefully by the end of the week this will all be behind me, and I can head home.”
“Hhmmm. Yeah, we need your scrawny ass back in here. These sons of bitches are getting cocky and need to be knocked down a couple of pegs. You always seem to be able to do that in a way that I can’t.”
She snickered. “Probably because to most of them, being taken down by a girl is an insult to their manhood and they can’t stomach it. They expect it from you. Me, not so much.”
Mater chuckled. “Yeah, I guess so. Be careful, kid, and if shit hits the fan, you run, got it?”
“Got it,” she promised. “I’ll talk to you later?” Her only answer was a grunt before he hung up. She chuckled. It was typical Mater, and she didn’t get upset. He was a man of few words, normally. But, of course, sitting here thinking that, she felt a heavy sense of homesickness.
Sure, this place was nice enough, and she liked not having to spend all day on the road, but it wasn’t home. It wasn’t her apartment she spent time picking out every piece for, and she couldn’t go to the gym for a workout, or just for the company of Mater and the guys. This was a temporary stop.
The door to the apartment opened, pulling her quickly out of her thoughts, and had her head snapping around to find a very tired-looking Jax walking inside. She arched a brow at him when his gaze landed on her. Something flashed across his face, but it was gone too quick for her to figure out what it was. Still, it set her on edge. Why did he come back just now? Where was he for the last few hours? Not that it was any of her business, but she doubted that Church lasted this long.
“We need to move you into the clubhouse,” Jax announced, his tone calm and even, but there was fatigue there, along with a stress that she couldn’t quite understand.
“Why?” she asked carefully.
“The club decided that the apartment’s not the safest place for you. If your ex, or whoever the other bastards are looking for you, get on the grounds and figure out you’re here, there is a very good chance they could kill you before we could get to you. Even though the garage is close by, we can’t hear things over the noise in there, and unless someone is walking directly under the apartment windows, they may not hear anything happening up here. So to be extra safe, we’re going to move you into the clubhouse.”
“Or you could just give me back my gun,” she suggested calmly, watching him.
He sighed and scrubbed a hand down his face. “Saylor, as much as I would love to tell you I can do that, there’s no point in lying. Savage is not giving you that gun back until you’re off the grounds. None of the women have access to weapons, and you won’t be an exception.” Before she could argue again, he held up his hand. “Look, I know you’re not happy about it, but I’m fucking tired as all shit from doing patrols all night, and I need to get some sleep before I head to the garage, so grab your shit, and let’s go.”
“Wait, you want to go now?” she asked incredulously. “It’s barely dawn. Why can’t I move over later?” And, you know, figure out a way to avoid this. The idea of staying in the clubhouse put her on edge. She wasn’t sure why, but here, she had privacy and some semblance of freedom. There, she was never going to be alone. Could she put up with it for a week? Sure, but if she had another option, she was definitely going to try for it.
“Saylor,” Jax said with strained patience, “we can fight all you want about this later. But I need to sleep, and that means you need to get your shit and follow me back to my room at the clubhouse.”
“Why your room?”
“Because you’re under my protection, and for now that means you’re in my room with me. You can work at my desk while I sleep, if you want.”
She wanted to argue more, but she could also see how tired he was, and she stopped herself. There would be plenty of time to argue later. Instead of replying, she got up and went to grab her bag to put on some comfy clothes that were more appropriate for walking across the compound. Five minutes later, they were heading to the clubhouse.
The common area was deserted, and Jax led her up to his room without another word. When she walked in, Jax shut the door quietly behind him, locked it, and then moved to the edge of the bed as she set her bag on the chair at his desk. He pulled his boots off and then stripped out of his pants, socks, shirt, and cut, leaving him naked as he crawled into bed.
She watched him, unmoving, unsure of what to do. Part of her wanted to climb into bed with him, while the other part told her she needed to get some work done.
“Get your fine ass in here,” Jax growled, making her arch a brow.
“I have work to do,” she reminded him, though she didn’t move to take her laptop out of her bag. She just stood immobile in the darkened room, staring down at the man in the bed.
He lifted the sheet and waited. She hesitated before she finally sighed, took off her shoes and then slipped out of her pants, leaving her in only her shirt, bra, and underwear before she climbed beneath the covers. As she curled into him, she tried to tell herself that she would just wait until he fell asleep before she got up and got to work. She didn’t have time to lay around too much, since she was already behind. Not to mention, she shouldn’t be sleeping in this bed with him. She was only here for a week, and despite the fantastic sex, she needed to keep him at arm’s length. Feelings were not a part of her journey.
Jax wrapped his arm around her waist, buried his face in her hair, and let out a soft sigh. Within a minute, she heard his breathing even out and he was asleep. Now would be the perfect time to slide out of bed and get to work, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She just wanted to lay there for a couple more minutes, enjoying the warmth, before getting back to reality.
The next thing she knew, she felt Jax trying to gently pull away from her, and her eyes popped open in surprise. “Shit, I fell asleep,” she groaned as she watched him smirk at her. “Shut up,” she sighed before rolling and getting out of bed. “Now I’m even further behind.” She moved toward the desk, but stopped when she felt his arms wrap around her and pull her back against him. “Jax,” she warned, looking up over her shoulder at him.
He gave a low, husky chuckle that had her blood heating. “Maybe we should both be a little late for work,” he suggested silkily, pressing his mouth to her neck just below her ear.
She shivered at the contact, but managed to eke out, “I don’t need your grumpy boss pissed at me more than he already is. And I need to work. So stop poking at me and go get dressed.”
He rubbed himself against her ass once more and murmured, “We can make it quick.”
“Nothing about you is quick,” she muttered, but he still overheard her and chuckled again, this time sounding smug. But he did ease away, and she forced herself to get out her laptop and notebook to set on his desk. She heard him getting dressed behind her, but tried her best to tune it out. Then she cursed. “Shit. I need your internet password so I can log in,” she said turning to look at Jax.
“Code handles that for all of us, so you’re going to have to talk to him,” Jax said. He grabbed his phone and typed something out. After a moment, a message came back. “He said to bring your laptop down to him and he’ll get it set up for you. Put some pants on, baby, and I’ll walk you down.”
“What? The no pants look isn’t in fashion around here?” she quipped.
His eyes darkened as he looked at her. “Not when it comes to you,” he replied shortly. She narrowed her eyes at him, but he just held her stare, and she didn’t really feel up to arguing. So instead, she put on her pants and shoes again and grabbed her laptop to follow him out. She was still half asleep, and fighting with him wasn’t at the top of her to-do list today.
When they got down to the common room, she was surprised to see so many of the guys, and the women, already there and milling around, eating breakfast. She ate when she was up earlier, but she might have to head into the kitchen soon and see what she could find, because, damn, it smelled good.
Jax led her down a hallway near the base of the stairs and into an office space, but stopped abruptly just inside the door and groaned. “Seriously? You knew we were on our way down. You couldn’t wait another ten minutes before jumping each other?” he demanded.
Saylor peeked around him and bit back a laugh when she saw Glitch in Code’s lap, her hands between them on his zipper and a desperate look on her face. Code’s eyes were focused only on Glitch, his hair tousled and messy. “Saylor, just leave your laptop and I’ll get you set up when we’re done,” Glitch told her, not even glancing her way.
Clearly, she didn’t have another option, so she moved around Jax, set the computer down on the edge of the desk and called over her shoulder, “Have fun. But don’t be too long. I have to work, and I don’t think the excuse that my computer person was having sex is going to fly with my clients.” She heard Glitch laugh behind her as she and Jax retreated from the room, shutting the door firmly behind them.
“Looks like you have some time to kill,” Jax remarked as they moved back down the hall to the common room. “Do you want to come and hang out at the garage until they’re finished?”
She looked around the room and saw Royal, Harlow, Scarlett and Karissa sitting back near the couches with the babies, eating breakfast. She figured Esme was probably at the shop already. “I think I’ll hang out here,” she told him. “I’ll see you later.”
He nodded. “Text me if you need anything.”
She gave him a dry look. “And how am I going to do that when I don’t have your number?” she pointed out. Not that she planned on messaging him anyway.
He held out his hand for her phone, and he quickly added his number before handing it back to her. “Now, text me if you need anything,” he said with a smile.
“Sure. See you later.” She turned to head toward the other women, but gasped in surprise when his arm wrapped around her waist, spun her around, and his mouth moved to take hers. She should have stopped him, but once again he completely overwhelmed her senses, and all she could do was kiss him back and blink up at him when he pulled away.
He gave her a crooked smile and murmured, “I’ll see you soon, baby. Try and stay out of trouble, yeah?” She couldn’t even answer him. Instead, he released her, slapped her on the ass, and sauntered out the door. She stared after him for a moment, her mind trying to come back online and decide how the hell to deal with this. She forced herself to turn around toward the now grinning women.
Approaching them, she asked bluntly, “I’m in trouble, aren’t I?”
They all glanced at each other, and then Karissa snickered and replied, “Girl, it’s not whether you’re in trouble; it’s deciding just how much trouble you’re willing to handle.”
Saylor huffed out a breath and sat down in the only available spot on one of the couches. It was at the end, directly beside Scarlett, who smiled warmly at her. “Thankfully, I’m good at handling trouble,” she replied calmly. “One biker is not going to have me changing my entire life plan.”
The women all exchanged another look before looking back at her. “Sure,” Harlow drawled, her tone clearly sarcastic. “That’s not how any of us ended up here.”
Saylor narrowed her eyes. “So, what, your men just found you and kept you?”
“Pretty much,” Royal replied, smiling at one of her daughters who was laying on her lap looking up at her. Saylor had no idea which twin it was, but she saw that the other baby was securely tucked into a portable playpen, sleeping contentedly.
“We did all put up some kind of fight though,” Karissa added. “It’s not like we just agreed for them to be overbearing assholes and take over our lives.”
“Except Harlow,” Royal snickered, earning a glare from the woman. “Oh, come on. The two of you were sleeping together and you were being a baby about admitting your feelings for him.”
Harlow flipped her off. “Whatever. At least I didn’t shoot at my man.”
Saylor looked at Scarlett, who gave her a small shrug. “I wasn’t all that sure of Rogue, but he wore me down,” she admitted.
“You mean he stalked you and then used the twins to get you to give him a shot,” Karissa laughed. “No, wait, that’s wrong. They insisted on helping him despite him not wanting their help, and now they’ve never stopped.”
Scarlett flushed, but then glared at Karissa. “I didn’t kick his ass though.”
“Nah, you let him do all the fun kinky shit instead,” Harlow teased.
Saylor blinked and then shook her head. “Alright, I’m starting to see why the men give you all funny looks when you walk by,” she told them drily.
They all laughed. “Saylor, around here, if we so much as breathe, they give us funny looks,” Karissa told her. “I swear, none of them thought they would ever have women in their lives, or kids, and they don’t know how to handle the shit we all do. Well, they definitely don’t know how to handle Glitch and I, that’s for sure.”
“Because they haven’t come to the twenty-first century and are still stuck in the fifties,” Glitch said as she came over, Saylor’s laptop in hand. She handed it to her and added, “Though we’re starting to get them to the sixties, maybe even seventies. It’s a slow process, but we might be able to reach the turn of the century within the next decade.”
Saylor chuckled. “Something tells me that is going to a full-time job. Thanks for getting that set up. I’m behind in work and I need to get caught up.”
“No problem. And don’t worry, I didn’t snoop,” she added with a wink.
“I should probably get started so I don’t get any further behind,” Saylor said as she stood. “I’ll talk to you all later?”
“We’ll be around,” Karissa said with a grin. “You going to be up in Jax’s room?”
“Apparently I have to work here, so I guess so,” Saylor sighed. “I don’t work well with a lot of things going on, so I’m hoping I can focus in there.”
“Have fun with that,” Glitch grinned.
Saylor nodded, said her goodbyes, and then headed up the stairs and back to Jax’s room. It was odd being in there without him, but she told herself it was only temporary. He might be trouble, but as much as she admired all the women and how they made their place here, she wasn’t going to be one of them.
She had to get back home to her life, and that meant she would just have to enjoy Jax until she left.