Page 2

CHAPTER 2

Kilo

T he deer in headlights look Camila was giving me would have made me laugh if I wasn’t feeling a bit guilty. As soon as she refused to go on a date with me this morning, I’d palmed her keys out of her purse. I wasn’t above doing shady shit to get my way. Not when it involved a gorgeous dark-eyed girl.

She was quiet. And wary. I wasn’t as oblivious to her discomfort as I made out to be, but I wanted her to relax. To get to know me. Because damn, did I want to learn more about her. I sensed that there was something more to her unease, but now was definitely not the time to pry.

Her family moved in a few weeks ago. Had I known, I would have offered to help them unload, but they’d been finished by the time I’d gotten home. I’d spent every day since trying to get a look at Camila as she came and went. Her jet black hair had a slight wave to it, and it was usually in one of those buns on top of her head, but today she’d worn it loose.

Makes me want to wrap it around my fist and…

My thoughts ended abruptly as I saw a younger carbon copy of Camila sitting at the dining room table. She had the same wide eyed expression on her face as her sister. “Hi,” I said with a smile.

Big smile so you don’t frighten the poor girls to death.

“I’m Kilo.” I shifted mental gears to ‘child appropriate’ to keep from saying anything bad.

She looked down at the hand I extended, then around me at her sister. Manners won out, just like they had with Camila a few minutes ago, and she shook my hand. “I’m Carmen,” she said in a quiet voice.

It wasn’t exactly fair. I’d kind of bullied my way into their house, but damn Camila made it hard to catch her attention. I’d had to make a deal with Freddy this morning to chuck that damn football at her feet. I’d given him a death glare when it came close to hitting her, but the little shit had just shrugged and run off with my money. Nothing but a bunch of little hustlers living on this block.

I sat down at the table, making myself at home. I knew I was making them nervous, though I wasn’t sure why. I was a nice guy. Mostly. To my friends anyway. And damn did I want to be friends with Camila. Turning in my chair, I watched her wring her hands as she came into the kitchen. “It smells great.”

“Thank you,” she replied, looking like she didn’t know what to say or do.

The sound of a car door shutting had her stilling and she and her sister exchanged glances. I wondered if it was their father and they were worried what he’d say? I hadn’t seen a man the entire time they’d been here, but I wasn’t home much either so maybe I’d just missed him.

Another carbon copy of Camila walked through the door. “Mijas, I’m ho-” the mother’s greeting cut off as she looked up and saw me.

The genuine fear and worry in her gaze made the guilt flare to life again. Jesus these women were jumpy. Big smile, big smile. “Hi,” I told her, standing up. Bad move. She shrank back a step and I let my hand fall, shoving it into my pocket instead. “I’m Kilo,” I said with a friendly smile. “I live next door.”

Her eyes darted to her oldest daughter, then she looked back at me. “I’m Lucia,” she replied. She had a heavy accent, but I had no trouble understanding her.

“It’s nice to meet you, Lucia,” I told her. “I was just returning something your daughter dropped.” Understanding now that I wasn’t just intruding, but these women were afraid of me, I bowed out gracefully. “It was nice to meet you. I should get home.”

Turning, I winked at Camila, then moved past a motionless Lucia, and walked out the door. “Going to be harder than I thought to get to know her,” I muttered as I went back over to my house.

Opening the door, I turned on the lights, went to the fridge and pulled out a packaged burrito. “It’s not carne asada,” I said with a sigh as I unwrapped it and tossed it into the microwave, not bothering with a plate.

I went to my bedroom, stripped and got into the shower. My mind drifted to Camila as the hot water pounded down on my head. I braced my hand on the front wall of the shower and closed my eyes. All I wanted was to get to know her. Wasn’t sure how I was supposed to do that when she spooked like a rabbit every time I came near.

My hand slid down my body and I grabbed my dick with a groan. It’d gotten hard the minute Camila’s gorgeous eyes flashed in my mind. She was a beautiful woman. And legal, thank fuck. If she’d told me this morning that she was seventeen I would have lost my shit. I was thirty years old, there was no way I would go anywhere near jailbait.

I stroked my cock, picturing her curvy body. She didn’t wear makeup and was dressed in simple jeans and a pretty green blouse this morning. But she’d caught my eye far easier than the bunnies at the clubhouse did with their short skirts and low cut tops.

The doorbell rang and my hand froze, mid-stroke. My head dropped back and I stared up at the ceiling in irritation. It was probably Overdrive. My club brother usually stopped by after work for a beer. I debated on leaving his ass on the porch while I rubbed one out, but figured I’d better not. He might catch sight of my pretty rabbit and make a move. Then I’d have to kill him. He was the Vice President of our MC while I was just the Sergeant at Arms. He outranked me but I’d have to whip his ass all the same if he made a move on my girl.

Wrapping a towel around my waist, I went to the front door. When the doorbell sounded again, I shouted, “Hold your fucking horses, asshole!”

I yanked open the door and nearly swallowed my tongue. If I thought Camila’s eyes were wide before, it was nothing like now. They were big and beautiful as they tracked down my body and got stuck on the place where my towel was held together by a loose knot. “Camila.” It came out as a damn purr, but fuck did I want to touch her.

“I- Yo-” She swallowed hard.

Her reaction made me grin. Thank fuck I wasn’t the only one affected here. I was beginning to think she wasn’t attracted to me. That would have been a damn shame. My eyes dropped down to the tin foil covered plate in her hands.

“Did you just bring me homemade tacos?” I groaned.

Her startled eyes darted up to meet mine. She nodded.

Reaching out, I grabbed her gently by the bicep and hauled her into my house. Alone at last.

She must not have been expecting that because those pretty lips parted as her mouth fell open.

I was doing my best not to be a creep and stare, but I was failing. The thought of Overdrive earlier had made my hard-on disappear, but now it was stirring again. “Give me a minute to put some clothes on,” I told her. Glancing over my shoulder, I ordered, “Don’t leave.”

It would be my luck if she scampered out of my house the second I hit my bedroom, but if she left the tacos, I’d consider myself fortunate. I pulled on a pair of jeans, not bothering with boxers, and a clean t-shirt. Lifting the material to my nose, I gave it a sniff test and nodded.

Yup. Clean.

To my surprise, she was sitting at my dining room table, looking around curiously when I came back. Seeing her sitting there was like a fucking dream. In fact, I’d had that dream. Only, she hadn’t been sitting in a chair, but was bent over the table as I fucked her from behind. I blew out a breath and tried to calm my damn dick down. She’d run for sure if I tried to make a move on her.

“I’m sorry about earlier,” she said, her voice soft.

I didn’t get the feeling that she was a timid woman. Her mother? Absolutely. But not her. But she rarely spoke, at least to me, and when she did it was in soft tones. I didn’t know her in the least though, so maybe my initial assessment was wrong. “No worries. Thanks for bringing me dinner.” I gave her an easy smile.

Pulling the tinfoil off the plate, I muttered a prayer of thanks because there were five heaping tacos there. They sure were going to beat the burrito sitting in the microwave. “Are these homemade tortillas?” I asked, picking a taco up and taking a huge bite.

“Yes,” she said, then laughed at my moan of delight. “I wasn’t sure how much you could eat.”

“Tacos?” I asked, giving her an incredulous look. “As many as you set in front of me.” I liked her laugh. Her eyes lit up and she lost that wary look.

When she ducked her head I realized I’d been staring so I went back to shoveling as much of the food into my mouth as I could, as quickly as I could. Fuck the woman could cook.

“You settling in alright?” I asked, after I’d made it through the first taco.

“Yes, thank you. It’s a nice neighborhood.”

I couldn’t believe she was still here, talking to me. She seemed to be building up to something. “What’s on your mind?”

“How did you get your name?”

I nearly missed her question because she asked it in such a quiet voice. Grinning, I took a bite of another taco. Once I swallowed, I started the story. “I was in the military-”

Her eyes flashed up to mine, surprise written all over her face. “You were?”

“Yeah. The Army. Anyway, we were on a convoy and I was driving a Humvee when our convoy was pinned down by long range fire.”

She was hanging off of my every word. Jesus. Did she have any idea what she did to a man? I was guessing not or she wouldn’t be over here with me, alone.

“The snipers were pinning us down so their comrades could come in with a rocket launcher and blow our asses sky high. Our backup was too damn far away.” I shrugged and took another bite.

If she’s willing to cook for me every night, and look at me the way she is right now, I’d marry this girl on the fucking spot.

I stopped chewing when I realized what I’d just thought. I wasn’t the settling down type. My freedom was important to me. But damn it felt good to be looked at like I was a goddamn hero.

“What did you do?” she breathed.

Clearing my throat, I continued. “Anyway, I was busy coordinating everything on the radio. My call sign was Kilo One Three. Later on, once our asses were safe again, I got to meet a bunch of the guys who’d helped us out. They didn’t bother to learn my name. Just started calling me Kilo One Three. Over the years it just got shortened to Kilo. Was so used to it by the time I joined the MC it was how I introduced myself, so it became my road name.”

She was smiling now. “That’s much better than what I thought.” She frowned as she realized her assumption from this morning was a little insulting, not that I really cared. “I’m sorry about that, by the way.”

“No worries,” I told her.

“Are you still in the military?” she asked, looking hopeful.

I wasn’t sure why she looked like she wanted me to say yes. Hated to disappoint her. “No. My enlistment ended and I didn’t go back.”

“Why-” The doorbell interrupted her next question and she jumped about a foot in the air.

“Give me a minute,” I told her and went to the door. When I opened it and saw Overdrive there, I tried to shut it in his face.

The fucker stuck his boot in so it just bounced back open. “What the fuck, Kilo?” he said as he shoved past me. He stopped when he saw Camila sitting there. A slow grin spread over his face. “Well, hello, beautiful.”

Her eyes met mine, then she stood up. “I should go.”

“Wait,” I told her. “You don’t have to go. He was just leaving.”

“I am?” Overdrive asked, looking offended.

She just smiled and headed for the door, so I followed after her. I opened the door and leaned on the frame once she was outside. “Thanks for making me dinner, Camila.”

She shook her head at me and waved before going back over to her own house.

I watched her walk away and once she was inside, shut my door and went back to the dining room. “Oh, you fucking asshole,” I snapped, snatching my plate away from Overdrive. It looked like a feral coyote had gotten to it. There wasn’t much left, so I glared at him. “That was my goddamned dinner.”

“Fucking good,” he mumbled around a mouth full of food. “Who was the hottie?” he asked once he swallowed.

“New neighbor. And you scared her off.”

“Damn.” He eyeballed me. “You interested?”

“Yeah, she’s mine, asshole. Go fuck one of your own neighbors.” I’d known Overdrive since we were in diapers. He was the reason I’d joined the Saint’s Outlaws in the first place. Still, the only time I spoke to him this way was when we were alone. I wouldn’t disrespect him in front of the club. Didn’t matter that this was how we teased each other, it could be seen as me not knowing my place. I wouldn’t allow that.

He made a face. “Mrs. Dillers is eighty, and a little too feisty for eighty, if you know what I mean? And the other couple are lesbians. Slim pickings over in my neighborhood. I like yours better.”

“Not happening,” I told him, taking beers from my fridge and handing him one.

He let out a heavy sigh. “Woman looks like that and she can cook?” He let out a whistle. “Don’t turn your back, Bro, or someone’s going to steal her.”

Not if I had anything to say about it.