Chapter Six
A few days later, Grace was standing in the bubble tea shop, and she hated to admit it, but she was a little depressed. She didn’t want to be feeling this way, and yet she was, and she had a horrible feeling it was because she hadn’t seen a certain biker.
Even though she had gone to the women’s shelter, each time she did, she either just missed Reaper, or he hadn’t turned up, which shouldn’t bother her. It really shouldn’t, yet that was exactly what was happening.
She hadn’t seen him, and she couldn’t stop replaying that pie in her mind. It wasn’t like it was even a very good pie. It wasn’t. Well, that wasn’t accurate. Any sweet pie with a dollop of sweetened whipped cream was heavenly. The company just happened to be more so.
She ran fingers through her hair and released a breath.
This wasn’t good. This wasn’t even funny.
Reaper was a biker, and she should steer clear of him.
Only, he was a good biker. She sensed it, which was crazy.
All bikers were bad. All of them had terrible reputations, and she didn’t want to get involved in that kind of crazy.
She didn’t want to end up like her sister.
Grace glanced over at the time, which was just after eight at the bubble tea shop.
It had been another hot day, and seeing as the tea shop offered a variety of drinks from hot to cold, as well as baked goods, she had been on her feet since ten that morning.
She was tired. Her feet hurt, and she wanted to go home. Today, she wasn’t going to the shelter.
As she made her way to the door, to flick the sign to CLOSED, she frowned.
She must be going crazy, or there had been a spate of black SUV purchases in the past few weeks.
She was sure that was the exact black SUV she’d seen near the women’s shelter, and even around her home.
Only, she hadn’t gotten the license plate, so it was probably her imagination.
Grace liked to think she could trust her instincts, and right now, her gut was telling her to be careful, something wasn’t right. She looked toward that SUV, and she didn’t like it. What if it was some kind of stalker? What if it was a shelter admit ex-husband or boyfriend?
Working at the women’s shelter, she always knew there was a risk to her life.
She heard a couple of tales of some of the workers being beat up, or even killed, but it was for a good cause.
Women deserved to have people who were willing to take that risk, and to stand up to the bullies that threatened them.
Although, that black SUV was terrifying her.
This was insane.
She turned off all of the lights and decided to continue to clean up, seeing as she was on a closing shift.
That would take her at least an hour, and then it would have moved on.
So, for the next hour, she cleaned the entire shop, mopped, doing more than she usually did, forcing herself not to look outside.
By the end of the hour, when she feared she would end up being on the late shift because the whole shop was clean and sparkling, she forced herself to go and look.
The black SUV was still there and she could see the shadow of a person.
“Shit!” She didn’t like to cuss, but every alarm bell was going off inside her. She was scared. The streets were dark and lonely at this hour.
There was one person she knew she could call, and it was a long shot.
She started with putting a call in to Gena, and she tried not to alarm her, but she told her what she knew.
Gena didn’t even stay on the line, but told her to stay at work, not to leave the shop, and she would send help.
Grace didn’t know what that meant. She was aware of the shop’s security cameras that were stationed within and outside, that worked twenty-four seven.
Minutes later, her cell phone rang, and she looked down to see it was Gena.
“Hello?” she asked.
“Reaper is on his way. Stay in the shop. Keep the lights off, and just wait. He’s coming to get you.”
“I think I might just be overreacting.”
“We can never be too careful in these situations. It’s best to do it this way. I’ll get a report soon,” Gena said, and then hung up.
Grace kept looking at that black SUV. What if it was completely innocent? What if he was waiting for someone at another business?
Grace didn’t know how much time had passed, but it wasn’t long before she heard the beautiful rumble of a bike, and then she watched the SUV immediately pull away, and she frowned. What the hell did that mean? She went to the shop door, unlocked it, and stepped out.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Reaper asked.
“It drove off,” she said, pointing in the direction where the SUV had taken off. She couldn’t even see the red lights.
“What?”
“Before you arrived, it literally drove off.” She looked toward Reaper who was staring off down the road. “I’m so sorry. I must be going crazy and just worrying for nothing.”
“Or, it heard me approach and knew I was coming for you,” Reaper said, and then he took off, going across the road.
“What?” she asked, holding tightly onto her bag and following him.
“Someone was waiting here and for a while as well,” Reaper said.
There was a pile of used cigarette butts that had been flicked out of the car. Their ends not stubbed out but burned down, and it stunk like an ashtray.
“Someone’s watching me?” Grace asked, and looked toward Reaper. “Why?”
“Did you get the license plate?” Reaper asked.
She shook her head. “I think they’ve been following me for a couple of weeks.”
“A couple of weeks?”
“Yeah, I noticed one outside my apartment, and then it was outside the women’s shelter, and now here. Are you not going to tell me I am just jumping to conclusions?” she asked, and then laughed.
“Why would I do that?”
“I don’t know.”
“Would you rather feel that you’re going out of your mind, or know that you’re valid in your concerns about being stalked?” he asked.
“Stalked?”
Reaper nodded. “I don’t like this.”
She didn’t either. “I have no idea who it could be.”
“I’m staying with you tonight,” Reaper said.
“Wait? What?” she asked, although at his suggestion, she couldn’t help but feel a little, well, a lot happier about that.
“Tell me your address. Don’t argue with me. If you’re correct, that could mean a serious threat to your life, and I’m not willing to risk it.”
****
Grace held on so sweetly, and Reaper wanted to make the journey last. He never had a woman on the back of his bike. Never saw the appeal, and now he understood why the men with their old ladies loved to take them out. She held onto him tightly.
He felt the warmth of her against his back. He took it slow, keeping a close eye on all of their surrounding areas so he didn’t run the risk of bumping into the black SUV. There weren’t too many cars on the road.
Arriving at her apartment building, he saw she wasn’t in the good part of the city, but at least not the worst part. He parked his bike, locked it up, and then followed her up to her apartment, knowing she was nervous.
This was the longest they had been together, without distance between them. He figured she was going to argue about him staying with her, but her fear was tangible. Whoever was stalking her scared her more than her fear of bikers.
They walked to her door, and she slid the key into the lock. “Let me go first,” he said, stepping into Grace’s apartment, and he was immediately swamped with her sweet scent.
Her apartment was clean, tidy, with only a few belongings. She didn’t have a television, not that he blamed her. Most of the shows on television right now were fucking shit. He looked around the room, and there was no sign of any forced entry. No sign of anything out of place.
“Do you think they could break into my apartment?” she asked.
“We don’t know what we’re dealing with.” He looked into her small bedroom, as well as the tiny bathroom, seeing a black lace bra he couldn’t help but approve of.
It looked so silky and sexy, and he would love to strip it from her body.
His cock started to get hard, and he quickly left the bathroom and turned to find Grace standing there with her hands clasped together.
“Are you intending to stay the night?” she asked.
“That’s the plan.” He removed his leather cut and put his hands on his hips, which also happened to flex his muscles, and that was just ...
coincidence. Her gaze dropped to his arms, then toward his pecks, and he saw the blush staining her cheeks.
Grace was not as unaffected by his presence as she seemed to want to be. He found her reaction to him adorable.
A cat came out from a box, taking him by surprise. “What the fuck’s that?”
“My cat.”
He wasn’t a fan of cats.
“Great...” He rubbed his hands together and stepped around the massive cat.
“Have you eaten?” she asked.
“No.”
“Oh. I’ve got some chicken, and I made a pasta salad yesterday. It shouldn’t take me long to cook.”
“How about I cook, and you go and take a shower? You’ve been working all day,” he said, stepping into her very small kitchenette.
She glanced down at her body and nodded. “You’re sure?”
“All stoves are pretty much the same, and chicken, you cook it through if you don’t want the shits,” he said.
She wrinkled her nose. “That’s ... actually quite accurate.” She shrugged. “Okay then.”
Grace glanced back at him, and he opened her fridge to see there wasn’t a lot of food. He didn’t get to read a lot about her, as it didn’t feel right to know more than Grace was willing to give.
He grabbed the chicken and rummaged through her cupboards.
He liked her a hell of a lot more, seeing the variety of different chili sauces on display, as well as a multitude of spice blends.
Grace clearly didn’t like bland foods, and that he could work with.
He found the pasta salad and took a bite, it had diced carrots, peas, celery, peppers, and a spiced dressing, and it was delicious.
Reaper wasn’t used to this. At the club, they had a chef handle all the cooking.
He seasoned the chicken with a bit of Cajun spice blend, and he served up the salad, but he did have to add a little bit of diced cheese. The fucking cat watched him cook the entire time.
The chicken was finished just as Grace stepped out of her bedroom, and he saw her hair was damp and her face was clear of any makeup.
She was gorgeous with makeup, and even more stunning without it.
She looked fresh-faced, and there was a flush to her cheeks.
She wore a pair of bed shorts, as well as a vest top, and he could tell she wasn’t wearing a bra.
Hard not to notice with a body like hers.
Did she even realize he noticed that? Her nipples were tightly puckered, even though the apartment was quite warm.
“Dinner is served,” he said.
She didn’t have a dining room table, and there was only a small sofa, so he sat next to her with the food on his lap.
“I’m sorry, I’m not used to guests,” she said.
“That’s all right. I rarely eat at the table in the clubhouse anyway.”
She nodded.
He glanced over to her, and he wanted to say more, but instead he took a bite.
“Who do you think it could be?” Grace asked.
“I don’t know, but I am going to stay here the night. That way you don’t have to worry if you think they might try to break in.”
“Do you think that’s a possibility?” she asked.
“Yes,” he said.
She looked terrified.
“Which is why I’m staying.”
“There’s no way you’ll be able to sleep on the sofa,” she said. “You’re going to need to take the bed.” She pointed behind her. “I’ll take the sofa.”
“Fuck that, no way,” he said. “You sleep on the bed. This is your apartment.”
“But you shouldn’t be uncomfortable. You’re too tall for a love seat.”
“I can handle it. Trust me, I’ve slept on worse.”
“But I don’t like it and it makes me feel guilty. Why don’t you sleep in the bed with me?” she asked.
He thought he had seen her blush, but nothing prepared him for the deep red her face went.
“I don’t mean you and I sleep together. I mean, we share a bed, and it will be big enough, and that way, you’re not uncomfortable out here. Or we can even do head to toes.”
“You mean sixty-niner?” It was so cute to see her blush from his teasing.
This was going to be a nightmare for him, sleeping close to Grace, without touching her. He was going to need all the restraint he had.