Chapter Six
The white dress with red roses on it was one of Charlotte’s favorites.
The past week had gone by in a whirlwind.
Maeve and her mother each asked about her date, when Savage dropped her off at the bottom of her street.
He didn’t leave until she got to her front door, and she heard the distant sound of his bike as she entered her home.
Both were disappointed in how the night went. Of course, once they saw the bruise on her wrist, they wanted to commit murder. She was able to avoid the questions about how she got home. She told them she paid for a cab to get her home, and that was the end of it.
They didn’t ask how she was able to get out of the dinner, or what happened to Andy.
As for Andy, she expected Mrs. Bernadette to be banging at her door, threatening to sue her, or to hear from Savage that he was being sued.
None of that happened, which was a welcome relief.
She didn’t see Andy around town, and there didn’t seem to be any nasty rumors.
She also didn’t get a visit from her dad, which she was glad about as well. Charlotte hated drama.
The shop was close to being completed, which she liked, and Maeve had a light week of work.
Charlotte went to a couple of her classes, but Savage was busy with club stuff.
Her mother was rarely at home, so she didn’t go sneaking off to his apartment, although there were several times she wanted to, just to be close to him.
She loved spending time with Savage, and although they were due to have fun this week, she knew it wasn’t an official date. It wasn’t even close to any kind of date. Two people having fun. That was it. Although, it felt like more.
By the time Friday at five came, she was dressed in her favorite dress, that also might be Savage’s favorite as well. Her hair was curled, and she had on a light dusting of makeup, because she also knew Savage didn’t like her to be too heavily made up. She was brimming with excitement.
When five o’clock rolled around, and he hadn’t arrived, she felt that disappointment. Perhaps he’d been teasing her, or it might have been a joke. Within a minute, she had thought of all the reasons he was not going to turn up.
The moment the door opened and Savage walked through, she was shocked.
First, he wasn’t wearing his leather cut.
Second, he was actually in a pair of black dress pants and a crisp white shirt, along with a black jacket that matched what he was wearing.
He looked like a sexy but dangerous businessman, and she was taken aback, completely lost for words.
This was not the sexy biker she had gotten to know. It felt like a different side to him. This was a side that a woman he was interested in would discover. This was not for her.
In that moment, she felt jealous for the women of the future that might be able to steal him away, and she was never going to see him again. It was insane. They were just friends. That was all this was. Yet, she felt lonely and envious of a woman she had never met. Savage was a good guy.
“You look amazing,” she said.
“And you look beautiful.”
No one had ever called her beautiful, apart from her dad, but that didn’t really count, seeing as he was her father.
Weren’t fathers supposed to find their kids beautiful and be completely biased?
She glanced down at her dress, felt her cheeks heating, and was glad to have put on a slightly thicker foundation to hide it.
“Thank you.” Okay, now she was struggling to even think of what to say next.
“Are you ready to go?”
Is this what it felt like on an actual date? She hadn’t gotten these nerves with Andy. She’d been dreading her date with Andy. Her mother had assumed it was because of what her father would say, but that was far from the truth.
She knew if he was aware of her going on even a pretend date with Savage, he would have something to say about it. It didn’t matter now. She was ready.
“Yep, I’m ready.” She couldn’t help but smile with how happy she was.
Savage chuckled and held out an arm for her to take. She followed him, thankful she hadn’t chosen to wear heels this day and was in fact in a pair of low pumps. They were white to go with the dress. They made their way out of the apartment building, and his bike was waiting.
“Oh, should I go and get changed?” she asked, glancing down at her dress.
“You’ll be fine.”
She wrinkled her nose as he held out a helmet for her.
“Come on,” she said. “I’ve been riding on the backs of bikes since I was a kid.”
“I know, and if your dad ever finds out I took you out, he will be a little less pissed if he knows I took your safety seriously.”
“I spent hours on my hair.”
“And the curls will stay.” He winked at her.
She rolled her eyes but reached for the helmet, sliding it onto her head.
She was going to be stubborn and not fasten the support clip, but she should have known better.
Savage came in closer, and he made her heart rate speed up as he was so close, she smelled his cologne.
It was sweet, yet woodsy, and she liked it.
“There,” he said. “Let’s try and not get me killed by your dad.” He patted the top of the helmet, and she rolled her eyes.
“Are you afraid of my dad?” she asked.
“Absolutely. I’ve seen what that man can do.”
She couldn’t help but laugh, and she moved in close.
Savage climbed onto the bike, straddled his machine, and she moved in close, relishing the fact she had to touch him.
It felt good. Securing her dress into place, she had no choice but to put her hands on him.
She was gentle, but Savage grabbed her arms and forced her to hold onto him tightly.
“Sorry,” she said.
“I don’t want you falling off the back if I go over a speed bump.”
She smiled and hugged him tightly. Seconds later, he started the bike, and she had always enjoyed being on the back of her dad’s bike.
That hadn’t changed. Even now, she loved being at Savage’s back, but for an entirely different reason.
With her father, she was his daughter. That was all.
With Savage, for a woman to ride at his back meant something.
Most old ladies rode on the back of their men’s bikes.
It’s why her mother would always ride at her father’s back.
However, she was starting to understand that the few times her mother didn’t, and she did, it was her father making a statement.
Not that she could blame him, as her mother had numerous affairs and hadn’t made life easy for him.
She pushed those thoughts out of her mind and just enjoyed being with Savage. She didn’t need to think about her parents. All she had to do was focus on the two of them, seeing as that was most important at this moment.
They rode for a long time. She didn’t get tired at all; however, the helmet was a little annoying, as she wanted to feel the wind on her face.
She didn’t take it off, and they finally arrived after a good hour’s drive to what appeared to be a bar.
It was out in the middle of nowhere, but it looked like a really nice, family-style bar.
There were tables outside and a parking area.
Soft music played from inside, and there were a lot of couples and families.
She didn’t see any sign of other biker clubs. Savage parked in the back and held his hand for her to take as she shimmied off the bike. She didn’t fall on her ass, but that happened when she was a kid, until she had gotten used to being on the back of bikes.
Once she was steady, Savage didn’t let her hand go, and he turned off his ignition and climbed off.
He surprised her even more by keeping hold of her hand and spinning her close, so she was constantly within touching distance.
This meant a lot to her. It made her heart race, and in that moment, she was so freaking happy, she couldn’t help but smile.
****
Savage knew he was crossing a great deal of boundaries doing what he did.
If Doc ever found out, that would be the end of him.
He didn’t think his Prez would remove him from the club, however, if this went any further with Charlotte, he would be able to kiss his time at the club goodbye.
The guys would all see it as a betrayal.
He wasn’t fucking playing with Charlotte, though.
He wasn’t looking to get a quick fuck out of her.
He enjoyed spending time with her, and it was scaring him.
From that moment at the fucking fair, he hadn’t been able to get her out of his mind.
The need to protect her was so strong, he couldn’t even fathom his own feelings because of it.
He’d chosen this place as it didn’t have any motorcycle clubs close by.
He would be able to come here, unnoticed, without wearing his patch.
They would be able to have some fun without it getting back to Doc.
Also, this was an actual date. Charlotte didn’t know that yet, but this was his very first date.
The smile on her lips made him so damn happy.
All he ever wanted to do was make her happy.
He was not a nice man. He had never had anything nice, other than the club, good things didn’t come to him.
Savage had gotten used to a life that liked to shit on him from a great height.
He knew life was hard, and that was one of the many reasons he was being careful with Charlotte.
They found a small table, and the waitress came over.
He ordered the large burger with extra cheese, and the house special with the fries.
Charlotte ordered the same, and the music had gone from a slow number to something quite fast. He noticed she kept looking toward the dance floor.
Seeing as their table had already been registered, no one was waiting to take it.
“Come on,” he said, reaching for her hand.
“What?”
“It’s time to dance.”
“But our food?” she asked.
“We’ll see when it comes. I’m sure it’s going to take longer than a dance.”
He had to tug her away from their table, and he wondered why, but he saw the panic in her eyes.
“I can’t dance,” she said.
“Neither can I.” He gave her a little spin and pulled her into his arms. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t try.”
The laugher that came made him laugh along with her.
He wasn’t kidding, there was no way he could dance; however, no one there really could dance.
Couples were just moving to the beat of the music, and Savage wanted any reason to keep spinning Charlotte so that she collapsed against him.
He absolutely loved feeling her, and listening to her laugher was infectious.
She giggled, he held her hands as she did a weird little tap dance, and he followed suit. She fell back against him as they both laughed, and the dance changed, because of course, the music would change to a slow song.
He stared into Charlotte’s eyes. The happiness still sparkled in her eyes, and he could not look away.
This was dangerous. He knew that. But it was a date, and he could tell her if she wasn’t feeling it, he would go with that vibe.
He’d never been nervous around any woman.
They were a dime a dozen, at least they had been.
Charlotte wasn’t just anyone. She was special.
He didn’t know who took that leap of faith first, himself or Charlotte, but their lips brushed against each other. She had no idea what she was doing. It was time for him to take over, which he did, by cupping her chin with one hand and kissing her harder.
Charlotte’s hands went to his chest and slowly moved up around his neck. He was waiting for her to push him away, to tell him that was a boundary she didn’t want to cross. He was freaking delighted as she circled his neck and pressed her body against him.
Tracing his tongue across her lip, she suddenly stroked her tongue to his, and he growled against her lips, as he just couldn’t help himself.
When it came to Charlotte, it would seem he had zero control, and his need became so freaking great.
Wrapping his arm around her waist, he pulled her in close, so they were flush against one another.
Everything faded around them, and all he could feel was her, and he didn’t want to let her go. She felt amazing in his arms. This was so fucking dangerous.
And then, reality set in as their table number’s order came up, and he had no choice but to pull away. Charlotte’s mouth was red from their kisses, and he imagined he had a little tinge of lipstick on his.
“It’s time to go and eat.”
She looked down and wouldn’t quite meet his eyes. He took hold of her hand, and they walked back to their table, where the waitress was waiting. She told them to enjoy their meal, before finally disappearing.
“Wow, this looks really good,” Charlotte said.
He agreed. But his gaze wasn’t on the food, it was on Charlotte who wasn’t looking at him.
He picked up a fry that was coated in cheese and took a bite. Of course, it tasted amazing.
“If you didn’t want me to kiss you, why didn’t you push me away?” He hated her closing him out.
He fucking hated it with a passion, and she raised her head. “What?”
“You could have told me to st—”
“I didn’t want you to stop. Do you regret kissing me?”
“Hell, no, but now you can’t even look at me.”
“You don’t regret it?” she asked.
He rolled his eyes and shook his head. “No, I don’t regret it.”
She let out a sigh. “That was kind of why I wasn’t looking at you.”
“What?” he asked, frowning.
Again, she averted her eyes, and he reached across the table, holding out his hand for her to take.
“I, kind of, that was, sort of ... um, this is ... okay, that was my first kiss, and I got nervous, because you might not have been planning to kiss me, and I took it too far. I’m not exactly sure who kissed who.
That detail is a little on the blurry side.
I think I might have kissed you, but I’m not sure. ”
“I was going to kiss you,” he said. “How about we agree we kissed each other?”
He was pretty sure he could see her blush even through the makeup.
“You were?”
“I was.”
Charlotte nodded. “Great. That’s cool. We were going to kiss each other.”
Savage laughed. “You’re cute when you’re nervous.”
She rolled her eyes. “I don’t know why I’m so nervous.”
“You’re on a date,” he said.
“But I thought this was kind of a pretend date?”
“We just kissed, how about we admit this is an actual date?”
Charlotte took a breath and nodded her head in a jerky kind of way. He knew she had questions, and he waited.
“Do you want this to be a real date?” she asked.
And there it was.
“Yeah, I do.” And the boundary had been crossed. Doc would be pissed at him. There were so many rules he was currently breaking, and he was not the best club brother right now. He knew the guys would be pissed off with him.
Charlotte had gotten under his skin. She was fucking young, and he should look the other way, but he couldn’t let her go on another date with a piece of shit like Andy.
He would treat Charlotte with the care and respect she deserved.