Chapter 4 Very Skilled
Very Skilled
Punc
Punc couldn’t bring himself to leave after having pizza.
Savannah hadn’t said anything, but he sensed she needed a night off and he was determined to distract her.
He sat inches away from Savannah on the couch, watching TV.
They both had their feet propped on the coffee table.
Her dark pink toenails shimmered in the dim light.
Looking at her feet, he marveled at her audition.
“How’d you manage those flips in heels, Smythe?”
She turned her eyes to him. “What are you talking about?”
“Your audition.”
She gave a short head shake. “I didn’t wear heels for that.”
He narrowed one eye, and he recalled her dance. “Could have sworn you had shoes on.”
She chuckled. “No. You must have seen what you wanted to see. That’s why it surprised me I got the job - figured no stripper heels was an instant demerit against me.”
His lips quirked at that idea. “Nope. Your song choice was a damn good one.”
“Good to know. Though I danced in a pair of Desiree’s heels today. That’s a new experience.”
He’d been fighting the urge to massage her feet since they sat down. The tone of her voice just then, he gave in, grabbed her feet, and put them in his lap.
“Punc! What are you doing?”
He picked up her left foot and began kneading her arch. He liked the feel of her delicate foot in his hands.
She exhaled. “Oh. That’s…you’re very skilled.”
His lips tipped up, but he kept quiet. Or he’d tell her how skilled he was with other parts of the female anatomy.
“I know what this is,” she declared.
He gave her his attention. “What’s that?”
She cocked a brow at him. “You want to get me fired before I’ve even had a full night’s work by fraternizing with me.”
He tipped his head back and laughed. “Hell, they’d fire me first.”
“That can’t be right.”
His fingers froze, and he locked eyes with Savannah. “It’s exactly right. What’d you make this afternoon? Three or four hundred?”
“Yes,” she said hesitantly.
“Yeah. That might be the new girl effect, but day strippers don’t make that kind of bank on a Tuesday.”
“Well, Desiree was—”
Punc shook his head. “No. That was you. And that’s why they’d get rid of me before you.”
She tried to pull her feet away, but he held them in place. “Then we really shouldn’t be doing this. I don’t wan—”
“Savannah, chill out. It’s just pizza,” he said, leaning toward her and nudging her shoulder.
She stared at him for a beat. “Fine. For what it’s worth, if you are forced to quit, you could always work as a masseuse. You certainly know what you’re doing.”
He shot her a small smile. Thoughts about how quickly things changed invaded his mind, as one of the worst nights of his life came back to him.
His mom getting shot when he was thirteen had left an indelible impression.
It never failed to crop up at the most random moments.
Mom survived the shooting but never recovered full use of her left arm.
He should have done something to prevent it, but being thirteen, he’d expected Dad to do more to protect his wife.
“Mom used to get phantom pains from her injury. I learned how to give her relief this way.”
“With foot rubs?” she joked, reminding him she knew about that history.
He aimed a fleeting grin at her. “No, woman. Arm massages. Said it worked wonders. Though I always thought she was blowing smoke.”
“Not a chance. Your mom’s always been a straight arrow. And, really, you certainly have talent.”
He left that comment alone, even as he wished he could banter with her because everything with her came so easy. Taking care of her, chatting with her, being with her and her sister.
Maybe this hadn’t been such a brilliant idea after all.
Worse than that, if he left now it would be too obvious that he was running away.
He focused on her other foot and kept his gaze on the television.
Savannah paused the show before the next episode auto-played. “In case it got lost with my sister carrying on - I appreciate you bringing by pizza and wine tonight.”
He grinned and stood. “It was my pleasure, Smythe. Now you’ve got a new series you can binge.”
She nodded, but from the look on her face, he suspected she wouldn’t binge it. He didn’t mind that since it gave him a reason to come over again…or have her over to…
He forced himself not to think that way.
She was a good girl. Way too good for a man like him, and she definitely deserved better.
He opened the front door and noticed she’d stepped out to follow him.
He turned back to her. “Stay inside, Savannah. No need to walk me out. You on tomorrow?”
Her head wobbled. “I’m training more, I think. Same thing as today, but unless something changed, I’m on for five hours instead of three.”
At the sight of her barefoot in the doorway wearing shorts and a t-shirt, another urge struck him and for the second time he yearned to kiss her, but giving into that urge would be even worse than giving her a foot rub. Because he wouldn’t stop with just a kiss.
He nodded. “I’ll see you there. Later.”
It took him a moment before he backed out of the drive. His dick had been hard before he got up from the couch, and somehow, he’d hidden that from Savannah. He adjusted himself and after a minute, he drove to his apartment.
On the way home, he reminded himself this was his sister’s best friend. He couldn’t go to her house again - no matter how much he wanted that. They were both tight with Alanis, and that made it too risky.
They were co-workers - another reason he needed to stay away. She needed to make money, and he didn’t want to get in her way.
The biggest reason he had to stay away was that he couldn’t bring her into his world.
Sweet Ava didn’t need to deal with his rough edges and occasional club business.
It was yet another reason life with the Riot MC appealed to him.
He wasn’t going to settle down, and hook-ups at the clubhouse suited him just fine.
More and more that felt like a lie though, seeing as he’d lost interest in the club bunnies and hadn’t been with one in over six months. Then again, the bunnies who hung around the longest were looking to permanently hook a brother - and he wasn’t down with that.
His mind turned back to thoughts of Savannah, and he blew out a sigh. Seemed he couldn’t resist her, but he damn sure had to try.
Savannah
I shut the door and listened to Punc’s old Honda fire up.
“That was unexpected,” Cat said from the living room, and I jumped - partly because she scared me and partly because the guilt was gnawing at me.
I shuffled back to the couch. “Yes. It was a surprise.”
“You still like him, don’t you?” Cat asked, plopping on the other end of the sofa.
I sighed. “Cat, I—”
“Don’t deny it. I remember you crushing on him when I was in middle school. Alanis thought it was so gross.”
I smiled at the memory. “You’re right, and that’s why we’ll only be friends. I’m not doing anything to come between my best friend and her brother.”
Cat shrugged a shoulder. “I don’t see why you can’t give him a shot. You’re older now, and so is Alanis. I bet she’d ship you two.”
I leaned her way. “Thing is, a biker like Ted, I don’t think he does relationships - so there’s no need to ship us. Besides, I’d hate to ruin my friendship with him.”
Catalina’s eyebrows rose with her skeptical expression. “Okay. I’ll let you fool yourself like that. I’m going to bed.”
“What? It’s like eight o’clock.”
She chuckled. “No, it’s ten-fifteen. Time flies when you’re ‘just friends.’”
Crap! How did that happen?
I reached out and gave her knee a squeeze. “Go to bed, smartass. I’ll see you in the morning.”
After a quick shower, I climbed into bed and grabbed my cell. My finger hovered over an app icon when the phone rang - Punc’s name lighting the screen.
I took the call and put the phone to my ear. “Hey, are you calling to tell me you made it home safe?”
He laughed. “Not exactly. Wanted you to know, I had a good time tonight.”
His rumbly voice sounded deeper than usual, and sexier, too.
I smiled, no matter how hard I tried to fight it. “Me, too.”
And I meant that. In fact, I’d probably had too much of a good time, but he definitely didn’t need to know that.
“I don’t close tomorrow, so make sure someone—”
“I’m only on for five hours, remember? I’ll be out before the sun sets.”
Seeing as he didn’t close tomorrow, part of me wondered if we could do a repeat of tonight, but that was definitely a bad idea.
“Leaving before the sun sets doesn’t mean shit, Savannah. Keep your guard up, got it?”
“I got it,” I said.
“Sleep well, sweetheart.”
Hearing him call me sweetheart felt like a well-aimed dart to my heart. Not enough to damage me, but enough to sting. I longed to be his sweetheart, but I knew better. We were worlds apart from each other.
“You sleep well too, Punc,” I murmured and hung up.
I set my phone aside and turned out the light. In the dark, I felt it - that excitement about Punc’s signals. All the indicators were there that he was interested in me, but in the past, I had a bad habit of reading more into things with men. I couldn’t let myself do that now. Not with Ted.
Still, I could get used to a man like him taking care of me.
It might have only been pizza, but he knew it was on me to get dinner together…
though Cat could do that (I made a mental note to talk to her about cooking).
Even though I’d told him not to do something so nice for us, he did it anyway.
Something told me that he’d take care of his woman like that, and I could only imagine how beautiful that would be.
And that foot rub. Lord above, that man’s fingers were pure magic on my feet. Other parts of me desperately wanted to know how skilled those fingers could be.
Yeah, this was no time to think about that.