Page 9 of Lockout (The Vikings MC: Tucson Chapter #11)
“But what does all that have to do with Lock?” Jordan asked. She glanced over as a couple of the guys disappeared down the back hall.
I was guessing that Lock had just called church. Probably to talk about my…situation. I winced, realizing he was going to drag the club into this even though I’d told him not to.
“He doesn’t want me,” I responded.
All the women looked around at each other. They seemed to be having a silent conversation. Isla broke the silence first. “I know this is my first time meeting you,” she said. “And I don’t know Lock that well, either, but I’m really good at reading people. That man is into you,” she declared.
I blinked. “Yeah, sexually,” I acknowledged.
Isla made a face and shook her head. “No. Well, yes. But no. He watches you everywhere you go. He caught you before you hit your ass when Billie all but tackled you.”
“That doesn’t mean anything. These guys are really protective,” I replied.
She shook her head again. “I’m not explaining it right.
Men who want to fuck women, only do the bare minimum…
you know?” When we all stared at her with blank expressions she sighed and continued, “They’ll call you for a booty call.
Or like…show up just enough that you can convince yourself they’re interested, but they never do more.
They don’t hold your hand. Or come get you when your life is in danger,” she added, pinning me with a look.
“That’s a heck of a range there, from holding hands to life saving? There might be a few stops in between,” Gwen said.
“Hang on,” Kit said with a laugh. “How do you even know all this?”
“Yeah, emotions aren’t really something you pick up on very well,” Jordan added. “Kinda like your biker. Have you been going through my diary again?”
She shrugged. “No. Well, yes. Don’t worry about that. It’s not about emotions. It’s about behaviors. And I know behaviors well. I watch people for a living.”
“You kill people for a living,” Eva pointed out.
“True, true, but I spend weeks watching them first,” Isla countered. “And the way Lockout just acted with Keely? He’s into her. For more than sex,” she clarified before I could say anything.
“I agree,” Seek said. “He’s been getting more and more…”
“Irritable,” Jenny suggested.
“Yeah, irritable is a nice way to say it,” Seek replied. “It’s like you leaving twisted him up in knots, and every day those knots have been tightening.”
“Trust us,” Jenny said with a twinkle in her eyes. “Lockout wants more from you than just sex.”
“He’s probably not going to admit it though,” Susie pointed out.
“Yeah, since he hasn’t yet,” Tori added.
“Why wouldn’t he just take what he wants?” Daisha asked with a frown.
“That’s the million-dollar question,” Seek said. Her eyes narrowed on me. “The other question is what’s holding you back?”
I gave her a weak smile. “You want me to just waltz up to that gorgeous sexy man and tell him that I want to marry him?”
Dani gasped and clapped her hands together. Billie was pulling my sister close and squeezing her to within an inch of her life.
“No,” I said, pointing at them. “Don’t do that. I can’t do that!”
“I have a suggestion,” Isla said.
They all groaned.
She scowled at them. “What?”
“You’re going to tell her to walk up to him and offer to sleep with him,” Billie said with a grin.
“Hey. It works. You lure him in with pussy and before he knows it he’s trapped.” Isla shrugged and finished the wine in her glass.
Sloane let out a gentle cough and everyone focused on her. “I think Isla’s right.”
My jaw wasn’t the only one hanging open. We were all floored by Sloane’s admission.
“It allows you both to get closer,” she said. “And then maybe both of you can let down some of your walls.” She gave me a wry smile. “It worked for Rip and I. If we hadn’t been forced into marriage, and into a physical relationship, I’m not sure I would’ve ever been ready to trust a man.”
“She’s making sense,” Seek said.
“Hey!” Isla interjected. “When I said it you all looked at me like I was crazy. But she says it, and it makes sense?”
They all seemed to consider that and as a group nodded. Isla threw her hands up but she was grinning. “Fine. Whatever.”
“Or you could just have him knock you up,” Dani said.
Staring at her in horror, I choked out, “What?”
She shrugged. “I thought we were throwing out things that worked for us?” She looked around then winced. “Got me Smoke, didn’t it?”
Everyone laughed at that.
I looked at the group of women and huffed out another laugh. “Fine.” When their eyes widened, I said, “To Isla’s idea,” I clarified, glaring at my sister, “not Dani’s.” She shrugged, but was grinning at me. “How the hell am I even supposed to start that conversation though?”
“I wouldn’t recommend a conversation at all,” Jenny advised. “I’d just kiss him.”
My brows shot up. “Well, that would be one way.”
“No wonder you’re pregnant,” Eva teased, bumping her shoulder into Jenny’s.
“Come on, what’s the worst that could happen,” Billie prompted.
What’s the worst that could happen? Lock could tear my heart to tiny pieces and throw them in my face like confetti when I fell completely in love with him and he got bored of me?
But it wasn’t like I was going to be able to resist him if I was staying here.
And I could set aside my no sleeping with a guy before a commitment, for him.
There’d be no avoiding him in the clubhouse, and our time apart just made my need for him build into something that was damn near impossible to resist anyway.
“Okay.”
They all grabbed onto whoever was sitting next to each other in excitement. “Okay?” Seek asked.
“I’ll give it a try,” I promised.
The squealing made me laugh. Who would have thought, with everything going on, that they could make me forget. Make me feel so…light.
“Now can I tell you the rest of it?”
“Yeah,” Seek said with a grin. “Now we’re ready to hear what’s going on.”
I settled back with my wine, my heart thudding hard against my chest as I thought about what I’d promised to do.
The idea of seducing Lockout was as exciting as it was terrifying.
But the girls were right. What was that saying?
Better to have loved and lost than never loved at all. I was going to put it to the test.