Chapter Eight Deacon
When the antique cuckoo clock in the corner of the pawnshop struck three, I pushed myself out of my chair and tossed aside the Playboy I’d been eyeing.
Thanks to Willow’s school hours and Case’s insistence, I now had a new routine.
Every day at three, I would stand outside the pawnshop.
As I had a cigarette, I waited for Alexandra to arrive.
I could count on her arriving just about the time I had lit up and taken a few drags.
I usually got treated to an eyeful of her legs since she always wore skirts and dresses to teach in.
A cloud of her sweet smelling perfume would hit my nostrils as I escorted her in the clubhouse to a waiting Willow.
I’d spend the next two hours shuffling around the clubhouse, keeping an eye on the door to the “classroom” that Mama Liz had insisted the boys and I construct.
Three days into this new schedule found me propped up on a bar stool, bored as hell, and frustrated as hell since Cheyenne had been eye-fucking me all afternoon.
Finally, I gave up and escaped to the bathroom to pour some cold water on my half-mast dick.
After all, there was no way I could sneak away for a quickie with Cheyenne when I was supposed to be keeping an eye on Alex.
When I returned, Willow stood at the bar, flashing a paper at Cheyenne who gave her a look of disinterest. In Cheyenne’s world, if you didn’t have a dick or a cut, you weren’t much use to her.
At the sight of me, she did manage to give Willow a beaming smile.
For some reason, it made me angry that she couldn’t give my kid any welcome attention when I wasn’t in the room.
“Look, Deacon, look at what I made on my test!” Willow cried, dancing around me. I opened my mouth to say something when she continued rattling on. “Miss Alex said this is some of the work that first graders are doing, and I’m really smart to be able to do it already.”
“That’s fucking amazing!”
Willow’s lips turned down in a frown. “Language, Deacon.”
I fought the urge to roll my eyes. “I’m sorry. I was just so proud I couldn’t help myself.”
A beaming smile lit up Willow’s face. “Really?”
“Damn straight.”
“Deeeeaaacon!” Willow whined disappointedly.
With a laugh, I squeezed her tight. “You know, I did pretty good in school, but nothing like you are. You’re really gonna be somebody.”
Breaking the hug, she said, “Imma gonna go show Grandma.”
“Yeah, you do that. Tell her to put it on the fridge with some gold stars or some shit.”
Willow bounded out of the main hall and out the backdoor. She waved the paper at Archer as he walked her out of the compound to the house. Even within the confines of our compound, I wasn’t taking any chances with her safety.
Peering around the room, I questioned, “Where’s Alex?”
“Bishop asked her to go back to his room,” Cheyenne replied.
“You’re shitting me.”
When she glanced up at me, a cat-like smile curved Cheyenne’s lips. “Why would I lie about something like that?”
“I meant why would she do that?”
Cheyenne shrugged. “Maybe she thinks he’s hot. Wouldn’t be the first girl to drop her panties for Bishop.”
I staggered back in shock. Alex was alone in a room with Bishop. A girl like her should never, ever be alone with a biker, least of all Bishop. That motherfucker had totally disregarded what I had said about leaving her alone. My fists clenched at my sides. I was going to kick his ass.
Without another word to Cheyenne, I stomped down the hall. The door to Bishop’s room was closed tight. I knew the right thing would be to knock, but for some reason, I didn’t give a fuck about the right thing.
“Oh, Bishop, that’s so good,” came Alex’s muffled praise.
Rage uncoiled within me, spreading through my body. Alex refused Rev and acted like she was too good for me, but she was spreading her legs for my manwhore of a brother.
Bracing my hands on the doorframe, I then lifted my leg back.
I kicked the door with all the strength in me, causing it to fly open.
As it banged against the wall, I stalked inside.
Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw.
Instead of Alex and Bishop naked and banging, they were sitting on the edge of his bed.
With a pencil in his hand, Bishop balanced a workbook on his lap.
I couldn’t get a good look at the workbook, but I could only imagine it was some kind of sex manual.
“What the fuck is going on here?” I demanded.
For the first time I could ever remember, Bishop blushed. The tough ass motherfucker seriously turned the color of an overripe tomato.
Alex rose to her feet, giving me a glare that could curl paint off a wall. “I’m not sure that is any of your business.”
“This is my clubhouse and my brother. Everything that goes on in my club is my business.”
Cocking her head at me, Alex motioned to my cut. “I thought you were just the Sergeant at Arms.”
I barked a laugh. “Just the Sergeant at Arms? Lady, you don’t know shit about my office or what this patch means.”
“I would hardly think it was your right to know everything. That sounds like the job of the president.”
Staring past Alex, I eyed Bishop. “Quit stalling and answer my question, brother.”
Alex went to sit back down beside Bishop. “You don’t owe him an explanation. What happens between you and me is private.”
“Miss Evans, you are seriously pissing me off, and if you know what’s good for you, you will shut the fuck up and stay out of this!” I growled.
“Okay, okay,” Bishop said, as he threw up his hands in defeat, sending the workbook fluttering to the floor. Before he could pick it up, I beat him to it.
Gazing down at the cover, I read aloud. “Mastering the GED Exam.” I cut my eyes back to him. “This isn’t a sex manual.”
Bishop’s embarrassment turned over to humor. “A sex manual?”
I shrugged. “What else would you be back here doing with her but fucking?”
Alex sucked in a harsh breath. “Certainly not that,” she snapped.
“You don’t know my brother’s persuasive ability, not to mention his—” I paused to scratch my chin. “his infatuation with you.”
“And you do not know my moral and ethical resolve,” she countered.
I flashed her a grin. “There you go using them big words. My feeble little mind can’t keep up.”
“Maybe you’re the one who should be studying, rather than Bishop.”
“Anytime you want to teach me, I’m ready to learn.”
She glared at me for a moment before crossing her arms in a huff. Damn, she was so sexy when she got riled. A fiery little hellcat in a prim and prissy exterior. Turning my attention from her, I waved the workbook at Bishop. “So what’s all this about?”
He gave me a sheepish look. “I wanted to finish high school, that’s all.”
I eyed him suspiciously. “Have you taken a few too many hits to the head?”
“No, asshole, I haven’t.”
“Since when do you give two shits about whether you finished school or not? You didn’t seem to give a rat’s ass when you dropped out seven years ago.”
Bishop snatched the workbook from me. “Maybe I realized that I’m not going to be able to keep boxing forever. Besides doing club errands or working at the gym, I don’t have shit for options. If I wanted to go to mechanic school, I’d need a GED.”
“Mechanics? You don’t need school for that. We can find you a hook-up to learn hands-on. Truman can always make you a license.”
With his blue eyes flashing, Bishop replied, “I want something legitimately my own for once—not something the club had its hand in.”
I shook my head slowly from side to side. Was my little brother actually growing a conscience? “Is this Rev’s influence?”
Bishop rolled his eyes. “Can’t I have a thought of my own without being influenced by my good or bad brother?”
“Yeah, you can. It’s just…I guess I’m speechless.”
“That’s a fucking first,” Bishop grumbled.
Crossing my arms over my chest, I eyed Bishop. “Look man, I don’t mean to rack your balls about this. What you’re doing is a good thing for you. I could never fault you for doing that.”
“You’re serious?” he questioned, his blond brows rising in surprise.
“Course I am.”
A grin stretched across Bishop’s face. “Thanks, bro, I’m glad to hear that.”
I glanced from him to Alex. “My, my, you certainly are devoted to my family. First my daughter and now my brother. Who will you educate next?”
“Whom,” she replied.
“Huh?”
The corners of her lips teased as if she was holding back a smile. “You mean whom will I educate next.”
As Bishop chuckled, I replied, “Guess I’m the lucky one.”
“Maybe you can repay the favor for all the education by granting me a favor?”
I eyed her warily. “What do you want?”
“There really isn’t a proper place here for Willow’s ballet lessons.” She paused, nibbling on her bottom lip. I’d noticed she tended to do that when she was nervous. Usually she did it around me when she wasn’t giving me lip. “I was just wondering with you owning the gym—”
“The club owns the gym,” I corrected.
Her cheeks tinged a little. “Well, with your ties to the club, would it be okay if I gave Willow her lessons there? There would be sufficient mirrors, and you really can’t teach proper form without mirrors.”
“If she’s needing mirrors, maybe you could let her borrow your bedroom,” Bishop suggested with a wicked gleam in his eye.
“Fuck off,” I snarled, as Alex’s cheeks reddened again.
Bishop only snickered as he flipped open his workbook again while Alex drew in a breath.
“It wouldn’t be every day. Most students only attend dance once or twice a week.
If there was just a corner of the gym we could have, that would be plenty.
I could even have Willow wear headphones to take care of doing the poses to the music. ”
Scratching my chin, I thought about it. I knew I would have to run it by Case, and he probably wasn’t going to like the idea of Alexandra being around the gym.
Of course, most of the questionable activity only took place on Friday or Saturday nights.
“I suppose it would be all right. Let me talk to the guys about it, but maybe we can give it a trial run tomorrow.”
Alex’s face lit up. “That would be wonderful. I could just meet you guys down there at three. The lesson could run until three-thirty, and hopefully, we wouldn’t have to even adjust the lessons for dinner time.”
“I don’t think Mama Liz would mind adjusting the time.”
After giving me a genuine smile, Alex said, “Thank you, Deacon.”
“You’re welcome.”
When we remained standing there, staring at each other, Bishop cleared his throat. “You mind leaving us so we can get some more work done?”
“As long as you keep those hands on your workbook and not her,” I countered.
Bishop rolled his eyes. “I heard you loud and clear before, brother. Give me some fucking credit.”
“Better yet, give me some fucking credit,” Alex said.
Sweeping a hand to his chest, Bishop said, “Ouch, that hurt.”
Alexandra only giggled. “You’re more trouble than you’re worth.”
As I watched them, I slowly began to realize that neither one of them looked at each other like they wanted to rip the person’s clothes off.
While Bishop might’ve been jacking off to her earlier, I doubt he was anymore…
unless he had a teacher fantasy from years back.
I knew then that although he was a horndog, I could trust him around Alex.
She was probably the first woman besides our mother that he actually respected, which was saying a hell of a lot.
Holding my hands up in defeat, I started backing up towards the door. “All right, I’ll go, and let you two work.”
Alex nodded. “So I’ll see you at three tomorrow at the gym?”
“Yeah, sure.”
After giving me a wave, she turned her attention back to Bishop. Instead of giving me a shit-eating grin that he had her attention and her fine ass sitting beside him, he ducked his head and looked at the workbook.
With a shake of my head, I went in search of Case to explain how my daughter’s leash around my finger now included his gym and ballet lessons