Chapter 14 #2
“Just until I put my headphones on. After that,” she giggled and admitted, “I still heard ya.”
“Oh, God. I’m so sorry. How embarrassing!”
“Don’t be silly.” She giggled. “It’s not like you haven’t heard me. It’s one of the great things about living here with these stupid thin walls. Besides, it was good to know one of us was having a fun night.”
“You didn’t have a nice time at your dinner?”
“No, the dinner was a total bore, but I had a great time with Locke.” Haleigh looked like she was about to burst with excitement as she went on, “He took me to dinner, and then we took a long walk downtown and just talked and talked. It was the perfect night.”
“That’s awesome, Haleigh. I’m so glad you two hit it off.”
“I am too! I think we’re going to get together again tonight.”
“That’s great.” I looked over at the wall clock and groaned when I saw the time. “You’ll have to tell me all about it later. I’ve gotta get going. I have my appointment with Dr. Holt today.”
“Oh, yeah.” Haleigh grimaced. “I forgot you had that today.”
“I’m so dreading it.”
“I know, but maybe it won’t be too bad.”
“Maybe, but I’m not counting on it.” I started for the door. “I’ll catch up with you later.”
When I reached the parking lot, I was surprised that one of Conor’s brothers was parked next to my car. I immediately walked over and asked, “Hey, are you looking for Lynch?”
“No, ma’am. I’m here for you.”
“For me?”
He nodded.
“I’m not following.”
“Then, I guess you’ll have to take it up with Lynch.”
I was already late for my appointment, so I decided to hold off on calling him and got in my car. I drove over to the address listed on Dr. Holt’s business card, trying to ignore the sense of dread washing over me as I pulled up to her office. I parked and then took a moment to sulk.
Ignoring Conor’s biker friend behind me, I leaned my head back and closed my eyes.
A smile slipped across my lips the second I started thinking about the night I shared with Conor.
It was even better than I’d imagined. He was so attentive and manly, making all before him pale in comparison, and I couldn’t wait to see him again.
I was sitting on cloud nine as I forced myself out of the car and towards her office.
When I reached the door, I was surprised that my therapist wasn’t even there.
Instead, she’d just left a packet of papers for me to fill out and return.
I wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth, so I grabbed the papers and rushed back to my car.
I happily tossed the packet into the passenger seat, then messaged Rebecca to let her know I could meet up earlier. She was having coffee with a couple of her friends and insisted that I join them. I was a little apprehensive, but after hearing that Frankie was there, I decided to go and meet them.
When I arrived at the coffee shop, I spotted the black SUV I’d seen before in the parking lot. The man who’d been following me pulled up next to them and parked. I had a million questions going through my head as I grabbed my planner and headed inside.
As soon as I walked in, I spotted Rebecca sitting at a table in the back with her friends. When she saw me, a warm smile crossed her face as she waved me over. “Hey, Rae! We’re over here!”
“Hey! Let me grab some coffee, and I’ll be right over.
” I stepped over to the front counter and placed my order, then made my way over to Rebecca.
Conor’s biker friend was all but forgotten when I reached the table, and all four women turned to look up at me.
“Hi, everyone. I’m really sorry about intruding on your coffee break like this. ”
“Don’t be silly.” Rebecca pointed to the empty seat across from her as she said, “We’re glad to have you.”
“Great.”
Once I was seated, Rebecca introduced me to each of her friends, “I’m sure you remember Frankie. These two sweethearts are Delilah and Remington. Like Frankie and me, they’re also connected to the club. Delilah is with Hawk, and Remington is with Shotgun.”
Like Rebecca and Frankie, Delilah and Remington were both extremely beautiful, which made me feel just a tiny bit insecure. “It’s nice to meet you all.”
“It’s nice to meet you, too,” Delilah replied. “We’ve heard a lot about you—both from Rebecca and the brothers.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, they’ve been going on and on about you.” Remington leaned forward as she asked, “Is it true that you got arrested for parachuting off of some building?”
“Afraid so.”
“And Lynch bailed you out?”
“He did,” I scoffed. “Without having a clue who we were.”
Sounding confused, Delilah asked, “We?”
“My best friend Haleigh went with me, and we were arrested together.”
“Oh no!”
“Yeah, it was a real mess. Lynch really saved the day when he bailed us out.”
“That’s Lynch for ya,” Rebecca replied with a soft smile. “He’s always there when you need him.”
“I’m learning that about him.” I wasn’t ready to get into an in-depth conversation about Conor with people I didn’t know, so I tried changing the subject. “So, Shotgun and Remington, huh? Did you two plan that?”
“No, but it is quite the coincidence, isn’t it?”
“Just a little.” I chuckled, then opened my planner and said to Rebecca, “I won’t take up much of your time with all this. I just need your approval on the final menu and flowers.”
I handed Rebecca a copy of the menu and a picture of the flowers.
I tried to keep them both simple but elegant.
The flowers were a mixture of hydrangeas and white roses, and the food was all about southern hospitality with spiked sweet tea, grilled drumsticks, BBQ sliders, and a variation of other finger foods.
I was worried that Rebecca would think it was too simplistic, but after several moments, she gasped. “It’s perfect. All of it. They’re going to love it.”
“Let us see.” Frankie leaned in for a better look and immediately responded, “Oh, I love the flowers.”
“I do, too.”
Rebecca was practically beaming as she showed the others the plan, and they all agreed that Rebecca’s parents would be thrilled with both the menu and the flowers. Once they’d all had a chance to go over it, Rebecca handed the pages back to me and said, “I can’t think of a single change.”
“That’s great!” I put the papers back into my binder, then shoved it in my bag. “I’ll get the tables and linens lined up, and then we can discuss what you want to do about the entertainment.”
“That sounds great.”
“Wonderful.”
When I started to stand, Rebecca fussed, “Don’t rush off. We’d love for you to stay and hang out for a little while.”
“Okay, I believe I will.”
We all spent the next hour talking and laughing while drinking our coffee. It was wonderful. I loved hearing all the stories about these women and their hot biker men. They even explained why I suddenly had a biker following me.
By the time I left, I felt like I’d made four amazing new friends and had a little better view of how things went on with the MC.
Their life was far from perfect, but for reasons I couldn’t begin to explain, I wanted desperately to be a part of it.
Unfortunately, a future with them wasn’t in the cards for me.