Chapter 23 #2
“Nope,” Dani said, shaking a finger at me. “I’ll talk to you about that and any other biker questions you have later. For now, we’re talking about you and Toxic.”
I huffed out a breath. “Guys, there is no me and Toxic. He wants to sleep with me. Just like he apparently sleeps with most women.” I laughed to relieve some of the embarrassment.
“And even if I did sleep with men I barely know, it’s not a good idea.
There’s just too much going on with this company trying to steal my ranch. ”
“That’s the thing though, Billie,” Seek said, ignoring the second half of my speech. “He hasn’t slept with another woman since he met you.”
“How would you know?” I asked, genuinely curious.
“The guys have been talking about it,” Jordan said with a laugh. “Not much happens with one of these guys without his brothers knowing about it. And of course, they can’t keep secrets from us, we have our methods.”
I took that in stride and said, “Well, yeah, but the ranch has been keeping him busy.”
They all looked at each other and seemed to come to some kind of decision.
“It’s not because of the ranch,” Seek told me. “It’s because of you.”
“She’s right, B,” Dani said. “Toxic doesn’t do anything out of obligation. Not that we’ve seen anyway.”
I frowned. “That can’t be right. What about the fact that he runs his family’s ranch up in Wyoming?
Even if all he’s doing is the book work and the ordering and setting up cattle to be taken to auction,” I listed the items off on my fingers, “it’s still so much work.
And that’s not even the majority of the logistics that have to be taken care of to run a ranch. ”
“Wait,” Kit said, holding up her hand. “He runs it?”
“Are you sure his dad doesn’t?” Sloane asked.
“Yeah, I’m sure,” I shrugged. “He told me he runs that side of it and his cousin takes care of the physical stuff.”
They all looked at each other with shock written all over their faces. Then they started smiling like lunatics.
“What?” I asked, looking around at them.
“He’s already told you more about himself than us and we’ve known him for years,” Daisha told me.
“A lot of years for some of us,” Kit added.
“That doesn’t mean anything,” I pointed out.
“Yeah, it does,” Jordan said with a laugh. “But you don’t know him that well yet so you don’t see the significance.”
“And despite Isla’s point,” Seek said, eyeing the assassin, “we don’t want you to just sleep with him. We’re hoping you’ll fall in love with him.”
“Jesus,” I choked out. “Why?” The question sounded more like a bullfrog croaking than anything.
“Because we love him and want him to be happy,” Sloane told me. “I’ve long suspected he’s just been filling his time with women and drinking because he’s been waiting.”
“For you,” Gwen added with a soft sigh.
I shook my head. “I doubt that. Look, I appreciate that you think I’m even good enough for your friend.
That’s sweet. And trust me I’d…” Breaking off, I gathered the courage to tell this group something personal.
“I’d love to be a part of this.” I waved at them.
“A big family is something I’ve always wanted and never really had.
You guys have made this huge extended family from each other and that really appeals to me. But I think you guys are wrong.”
“We’re not,” Seek insisted.
“Okay,” I said, holding my hand up. “Let’s say for a second you’re right, and he’s wanting to date me.”
“Make you his old lady,” Kit said. “Toxic probably wouldn’t date. He’s an all in or nothing but casual kind of man.”
“I- Okay. Say he wants to make me his old lady,” I conceded. “I can’t.”
“Why not?” Tory asked.
“It better not be Will,” Dani muttered.
“It’s not Will exactly,” I said, “just the lesson he taught me. I can’t date a man like that again.”
“Toxic is nothing like Will, Sweetie,” Dani told me.
“Drop dead gorgeous, sexy as sin, women throw themselves at him even if I’m around, natural born flirt,” I was ticking each item off on my fingers.
“You’re forgetting the key differences,” Dani insisted. “Toxic wouldn’t ever cheat on you. He’s not the type. He’s fiercely loyal.”
“How do you figure?”
“He never gets involved with a woman who has a husband or boyfriend. It was pretty much his only requirement that I could ever tell,” Kit said. “He didn’t exactly have a type. Short, tall, thin, curvy, heavy, blonde hair, brown hair, none of it mattered.”
“That’s not making me feel any better,” I muttered.
“There’s no point in hiding it,” Seek said. “The guy always had a lot of…companionship.”
“Nice way to say he’s a hoe,” Jordan said with a snicker.
“But that’s the point,” Seek continued. “Nothing used to get in the way of him having fun. He’s been sober more in the last couple weeks than I’ve ever seen.”
“Just think about it,” Sloane urged. “Give him a chance to show you that he’s not going to disappoint you.”
“And if you catch him with another woman, shatter her hips,” Isla said, offering up what she clearly considered sage advice. “Only need to do it once for word to get around and women will treat him like a leper.”
We all stared at her. She was smiling at us, pleased with herself.
Biting back a laugh, I shook my head at her. “Okay. I’ll give him a chance, but I’m not sleeping with him.” My ovaries whimpered. I didn’t comment on the hip shattering suggestion. Best not to give her too much encouragement.
“No problem,” Kit said. “It’s probably good for him that you make him work for what he wants.”
“Aw,” Isla said at the same time. “Poor guy.”
That made everyone laugh and glance over at the men again.
“It won’t kill him to have to put some effort in. We just want to make sure you haven’t written him off completely,” Dani said. “Keely wanted me to let you know that she approves.”
“Gee, that makes me feel so much better,” I said in a dry tone. “She hasn’t returned my call,” I added. “Everything okay?”
“She’s been really busy. Some kind of top secret mission she refuses to tell me about,” Dani replied.
I didn’t know what kind of help I could be to my friend, but I hoped she was being safe. Tucking my legs under me, I settled in to hang out with my new friends.
I wasn’t sure what to make of their urging for me to consider Toxic as relationship material.
I’d been hurt pretty badly by Will. And even though it wasn’t fair, I saw too much of him in the way Toxic behaved.
At least around women. Otherwise they were completely opposite.
Toxic was strong, dependable, trustworthy.
Will had been just as unreliable in every aspect of life as he had with other women.
Maybe the girls were right. Maybe Toxic was different. But how could I trust him with my heart? Shoving the thought from my mind, I focused on the other women.