Page 5 of Mac (Demented Souls #7)

M ac turned away from the door he'd just closed, seeing Tuck off.

The last thing he'd expected was to be woken by Tuck a little after four this morning, but the president had wanted to get his opinion of something, something he couldn't lock the rest of the officers out of at the clubhouse. Especially since Mac wasn't an officer.

Despite the early hour, Mac had made coffee and they'd discussed a shipment of weapons Tuck was working on the deal to do the transport of, until the president was satisfied.

Mac wasn't sure what his friend had decided, but he was okay with that.

It was part of why he wasn't an officer.

He didn't want the stress of having to make those decisions.

Now, Mac went to get dressed. He had a few things he wanted to take care of at the shop before the rest of his staff got there.

And he needed to deal with the parts order that had been screwed up and make sure they got the right part this time.

As he made his way to the bedroom, thoughts of his sexy neighbor popped into his head.

He couldn't help but wonder what she was doing right now.

Was she awake? With a tilt of his head, he realized he had no clue what she did for a living.

He sighed and pushed her from his mind and pulled clean clothes from the closet.

As he got dressed, he thought about what vehicles he had in the shop and what needed to be done on each one.

Before long, he was almost ready to leave, but stood in front of the counter, drinking one last cup of coffee.

When it was gone, he set the mug in the sink and went out to the bike.

No matter how bad he slept, no matter how shitty his day might have been, getting on his bike and on the road always lifted his spirits.

B y the end of the day, Mac was ready to unwind.

He locked up and turned for his bike, going to go home on auto pilot when he stopped, staring at his bike for several long moments.

There was nothing waiting for him at home.

There was no reason he had to rush back there.

There was nothing to draw him to the clubhouse, not tonight.

Might as well go for a ride. Damn, that sounded good.

It only took him a moment to make the decision.

Ten minutes later he was on the road, headed north on highway 77.

The road sped along, until he was way past the edge of town and the weight of the day seemed to fall away.

For a while he thought of nothing but the wind in his face and the rumble of the bike beneath him.

Slowly, other things crept into his mind.

Things he needed to get done at the shop, chores waiting for his attention at home, then she popped into his head.

The long legs stretching out beneath her t-shirt.

Her hair tousled as if she'd just gotten out of bed.

He shifted in his seat as his jeans grew tight.

This was not the time for this. He pushed thoughts of her from his head and turned his mind back to the road as he turned on to the 79.

By the time he made it home, nearly two hours had passed, and he felt like a different person.

As he passed, he couldn't help but notice Elyse's car in her driveway, but the lack of lights in her windows made him reluctant to stop, so he pulled into the garage and closed the door behind him.

Tomorrow was Saturday, and the shop was only open half a day, not opening until late giving him a chance to sleep in if he wanted.

He usually had a few things to get done on Saturday morning if he didn't sleep in.

He went inside pushing any thought of tomorrow out of his mind, at least for now.

He settled into his recliner and flipped through the channels before shutting the TV off.

Nothing there caught his attention, so he picked up the book he'd been reading, a western he'd remembered he'd picked up after Gizmo started calling the prospect Sackett, and settled in.

T he next morning the sun woke him a little after 7 a.m. Standing on the front porch watching the neighbors as he sipped his coffee, he noticed the grass could use mowing, so he finished his cup and got busy.

Mowing the grass was one of his favorite things.

For most people it was a chore, for him, it was something he'd never had to do as a kid, growing up in an apartment building in the city he'd watched people mow grass and loved the scent of fresh cut grass.

Now that he had a yard of his own, it was something he never hired anyone else to do, unless he had to.

Sweat dripped into his eyes before he'd finished the front yard.

It wasn't the heat of the day, as it hadn't even topped ninety, and probably wouldn't the first week in November.

Though it wasn't unheard of. No, it wasn't the heat but the work that had him sweating and he couldn't complain.

Sometimes pushing the mower was a little more work than he'd bargained for, still, the scent of fresh cut grass and the satisfaction of looking out over his nice, neat lawn was worth it.

Mac put the mower away, poured a glass of iced tea and took it out to the chair on the porch to enjoy the nice day and admire a job well done.

A buzzing in his pocket made him pull out his phone, only to find he'd missed a couple calls and had several messages waiting.

A quick check told him the missed calls were from Sadist, one of his brothers and the VP of the Demented Souls.

Before calling Sadist back, Mac pulled up the messages to see what they said.

A bit of 'where are you' a 'we need you' a couple more 'where are yous' and the last one, it was from Tuck saying 'call in when you get this. Important.'

With a sigh Mac dialed Tuck's number and put the phone to his ear.

He'd really been hoping to have a day off.

Just a day to himself where he didn't have to solve anyone's problems or deal with anyone's shit.

Looked like today wasn't that day. The phone rang and rang in his ear, until it rolled over to voice mail.

Mac hung up without leaving a message and dialed Sadist. Again, it rang and rang.

Mack worked his way down the list of club officers until someone picked up. That someone was Ghost, their Master at Arms. Ghost was a strange one, he didn't talk much and what he did say usually unsettled Mac more than he wanted to admit.

"Yo," Ghost said in way of answer.

"Yo yourself. Tuck left me a message to call in, said it was important, but no one is answering. What's up?"

"We've got trouble. Having all our brothers check in. All good out your way?"

"Yeah." Mac frowned and wondered what was wrong now. It seemed like something was always coming up, one way or another, and he was wondering for the first time in almost twenty years if he'd gotten mixed up in the wrong thing.

"Here's Tuck." Just like that Ghost was gone and Tuck's voice came over the line.

"You all right?"

"Yeah, what's up?"

"Not entirely sure yet. but you weren't answering, and I got worried." Tuck sounded even more tired than he had when Mac last saw him the day before.

"I was mowing the lawn. It's hard to tell what vibrations are my phone and what's the mower."

"Good to know."

“ShouldI come in?" Mac stared out across the yard and the street beyond.

"Nah, not yet." Tuck didn't sound concerned. "Not anything big yet, we just want to check in, get in touch with everyone."

"Anyone else not called in yet?"

"No, you were the last."

Relief washed through Mac, glad none of his brothers were missing or hurt. Though he couldn't help but wonder what was going on.

"You sure you don't need me?"

"Not unless you feel like you need to come in. We're covered, At least for now. I'll let you know if that changes."

"Sounds good."

They rang off. Mac stuffed his phone back in his pocket, took one last scan of the yard and went back inside.

His stomach rumbled, it was time to think about something to eat.

He changed into clean jeans, checked his refrigerator, and found the contents lacking.

He sighed and wished he'd remembered to pick up groceries.

Guess that meant he'd be going out for breakfast. Damn, he hated going out alone.

That's when the idea popped into his head.

Before he could have second thoughts, he found himself out the front door and halfway across the lawn.

It wasn't until he knocked on the door that he had second thoughts.

What if she thought he was crazy? What if she thought he was some weirdo for inviting her to breakfast?

Before he could over think it much longer, the door opened, revealing his neighbor in shorts and a tank top.

"Hey, I'm going out for breakfast and, pleasedon't think I'm being weird or creepy, but I wondered if you would like to join me?"

She frowned and blinked. "I'm sorry." She tilted her head to one side. "You want to take me to breakfast?"

"Yeah. Why not? I realized I don't have the stuff to cook, and thought if I have to go out, I might as well have a little company. I thought you might like to have a bite if you haven't already eaten that is?"

"That's sweet." She blinked again then glanced down at herself. "But I'm not dressed to go out."

"You look great to me, but I was planning to take my bike, so long pants would be best."

"You mind waiting a few minutes while I change?"

"Not at all."He turned to go back to his place then stopped and turned back to face her. "If you've got shoes with a slight heel, that would work best, nothing high but boots or something like this." He lifted one foot and showed her the bottom of his own boots.

"No problem. I'll be out as quickly as I can." She closed the door and disappeared.