Page 25 of Indecent Lies

Everyone she knew, including boyfriends, fiancé, father and uncles, relied on staff to do everything for them. God forbid someone break a nail by opening their own beer bottle.

What was she saying? They wouldn’t drink beer, too common as one boyfriend exclaimed. What a pussy.

Nor had she ever concentrated on a man’s neck so much. Jeez.

It was thick and strong and her eyes constantly strayed to it, wondering how it would feel under her hands…her lips. If he owned scarves or turtleneck sweaters, they needed to be donated because it would be a crying shame to cover up such sexiness.

Anyway, that’s how she ended up in the middle of Tait’s bed, swamped in one of his old t-shirts for a nightie.

He’d about frog marched her through the doorway in efforts to probably get her out of his sight.

She could hear him walking around outside of the bedroom, she’d left the door slightly ajar, not too sissy to admit the dark bothered her sometimes.

She listened long after his noises stopped.

He must be on the couch, she thought. The couch, although lovely, one of those L-shaped sectionals, it was far too small for a man like Tait to sleep longer than a power nap.

More than an hour later, she couldn’t settle.

It was well after midnight and she was too jittery to cozy down in the comfortable bed and sleep.

Maybe it was all that syrup she’d eaten from Tait’s plate keeping her awake, but she slid out of bed and crawled to sit at the bottom with her feet just barely touching the carpeted floor.

It was far too quiet.

And her brain was extra busy.

Did she really run out of her two hundred thousand dollar wedding like that?

Was she really sort of kidnapped for a week?

Did a guy who didn’t really know her anymore buy her back and then put her in his bedroom?

She could be hallucinating. Weddings brought on that kind of stress.

No one back home would believe a word of it.

Oh, it’s just Penelope being silly again.

Silly Penelope was how everyone thought of her when she dared to have her own thoughts and ideas.

One thought though kept circling back and that was registering the look on Tait’s face the couple of times he mentioned his MC.

Roux explained this past week what it all meant, the hierarchy, and the importance of the MC to each brother. That’s what they called each other. They weren’t blood, but they were loyal. Roux said even closer than birth family sometimes.

Why had he been away for months, why was his house locked up the way it was?

Why did he look sad as a box full of abandoned kittens when he mentioned his club?

“Hey, Tait, are you awake?” She yelled through the door loud enough to wake the neighbors.

“If I wasn’t, I would be now. What is it, Poppy?”

She smiled at the sound of his sigh.

He’d grown into a middle-aged grumpy old man.

“Why were you away?”