Page 20

“A re you sure you don’t want to go with me? It’s been a minute since you’ve left the clubhouse. Surely you’re going crazy,” Hayes asks as he rubs my back.

I smile softly at him. “I’m fine with staying here. There’s too many people coming and going for me to feel cooped up. Besides, going with you to visit your lawyer is not my idea of a good time.”

His jaw clenches. “I can’t wait for this shit to end so you can go do whatever you want and so I can take you on a date.”

“Oh, a date…” I tease.

Hayes pulls my hair. “Yes, a date. That’s what you do when you’re with someone.”

“I’m looking forward to it…as long as it’s not to the lawyer’s office. Now go.”

“Fine.” He leans down and kisses me softly before pulling away. “Call me if you need me.”

“I will. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

I watch as he walks away, and when he steps outside, I take a deep breath, letting my bravado fall. Ever since the rabbit, anxiety has been bubbling under my skin, silently growing day by day. I can’t bring myself to leave the clubhouse. I know it’s not logical since the guy clearly found a way inside, but I feel like there is safety in numbers.

There is never a time when I am by myself here. Even when the guys have things to do, Hayes always leaves several men here to watch the clubhouse, and by extension, me. I won’t lie, though. The urge to glue myself to his side is strong. I feel safest by his side, but I can’t do that to him. To us. Too much of a good thing can turn sour. We need our space too.

Still, I probably could have convinced myself to leave with Hayes if he was going anywhere else, but I have no desire to watch him sign paperwork.

Why the lawyer wouldn’t let him sign online is beyond me, but he doesn’t work for me, so it’s not my business.

Leaving our room, I shut the door behind me and make my way to the main room with a book in hand. There are guys milling about, but I ignore them and make myself comfortable on the couch. Opening the book, I begin to read the first page when I feel someone staring at me.

“Can I help you?” I ask without looking up.

“You need to look at me when you speak. Hasn’t your man taught you any manners?” the man hisses.

My body tenses as I look up and see the guy who thought I was a sweetbutt. “Funny, and here I thought you weren’t supposed to talk to me after our last encounter.”

His eyes narrow, and he opens his mouth to spew more hate, I’m sure, but he’s cut off.

“Hey, Bails. Is this dickhead bothering you?” Happy asks.

The man’s jaw clenches.

“Yeah, apparently he didn’t get the memo that only cool people are allowed to be in my presence.”

Happy tosses his head back and laughs maniacally.

Sure, my comment was funny, but it wasn’t that funny.

His smile turns devious as he slams his palm down on the man’s shoulder, making him flinch. “Get lost and leave Hellcat alone, yeah?”

The man grumbles but walks away.

“Seriously, what crawled up his ass and died?” I ask under my breath.

Happy falls down onto the couch next to me. “The man is struggling with the way us young guys do shit.”

“That’s no excuse.”

“You and I know that, but he doesn’t.”

I hum.

“So, where’s your man?”

“Oh, he had some club business to attend to.”

Happy bobs his head. “Cool, cool. Well, do you need anything? I was going to head to the shop to work on my bike, but if you want me to stay and keep you company, I can.”

I smile. “Thank you for offering, but I’m good,” I say sincerely.

Happy might be a little…different, but he’s always been nice to me and made me feel welcome.

“All right. Well, if you need something, have one of these assholes call me,” he says as he jumps up.

“Bye, Happy,” I say with laughter in my voice.

I shake my head and smile as I watch him all but skip away.

“You need anything, Miss Bailey?” One of the prospects pauses next to me.

“I’m good.”

He nods and walks away.

Seriously, I don’t think Hayes knows how good of a group of guys he has here. They might do some questionable things, but they all mean well.

My phone rings in my pocket, making me groan. At this rate, I’m never going to make any progress in my book, I think, as I pull my phone out of my hoodie pocket.

“Hey, Dad,” I say when I answer.

“How’s my little girl?”

“I’m good, you?” He coughs into the phone, making me frown. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. It’s just allergies.”

“Are you sure?” I press.

Dad huffs into the phone, making me cringe. “I’ve been taking care of myself for decades, kid. I’d know if I was sick, and I’m telling you I’m fine.”

“Yeah, but it might be smart to do one of those online appointments with your doctor just to be safe.”

“Bailey, I didn’t call for you to try and parent me.”

“I’m sorry, I can’t just shut off my worry.”

“And I love you for it. Now tell me, what have you been up to? Hayes treating you okay?”

“You know he’s treating me like a princess,” I say softly so none of the guys hear me.

He treats me like a princess, but something else entirely in private. I feel my cheeks heat at the thought.

Dad hums. “Well, I guess that’s all I can ask for.”

“It is.”

“How are things going with Laura?”

“They are going…” I hedge.

The last thing I want to do is make him worry about what’s truly going on.

“Well, you know these things take time.”

“They do much to my dismay,” I say, making him laugh.

I hear the doorbell ring in the background. “I’m going to let you go, sweetheart. Tommy just got here to watch the game with me.”

“Okay, Dad, have a good night. Call me if you need me.”

“I will.” He hangs up before I can tell him I love him.

Dick.

I put my phone back into my pocket and start to open my book.

“Bailey, can I talk to you for a second?”

Groaning, I tip my head back and see Tiny standing behind me.

“What’s up?”

He frowns. “Is now a bad time?”

“Not at all. I’m just being moody.”

“Okay… well I thought you would like to know that we found Laura.”

I sit up and spin toward him. “What! Where?”

“She’s at one of those spa things in New Mexico where they don’t allow technology and shit to try and recenter oneself,” he says, making a face.

I can’t help but laugh, knowing exactly what he’s talking about. “That’s honestly right up her alley. She’s been talking about doing one of those for a while now.”

“Sounds like a waste of money.” He shrugs. “But I’m not one to judge.”

“So what happens next? Do we just wait until she gets her phone back and calls me or wait until she comes home?”

Tiny shakes his head. “Nah, I’m going to send someone to check on her.”

I bite the corner of my lip. “Are you sure? That’s a long way for a brother to drive just to check on someone.”

“No, don’t worry about it. I actually know a guy who lives not too far from there. He’s going to check things out, and if we need to, a couple of us will ride out.”

“And this buddy doesn’t mind?”

“No, not at all. He’s a nomad. Loves being on the road.”

“Okay, well, I guess keep me updated then.”

“Of course. You good here, or do you need me for anything?”

The fact that all the guys ask me the same thing has me feeling a little better about everything. It’s obvious they accept me into the fold. I only hope they realize I care about them and this club too.

I shake my head. “Nah, go do whatever it is you do.”

“Cool. I’ll see you later,” he says as he starts to walk away.

“Hey, Tiny,” I say, making him pause. “Thank you for everything.”

His eyes soften. “No problem, Bails.”

He turns away and leaves, making me look back down at my book. Maybe now I will be able to get five minutes alone to get lost in another world. One that’s a little less messy than my life currently.

Leaving the law office, I get back on my bike. While our lawyer might not be the worst, I still don’t like the guy. I feel like lawyers are paid way too much for shit that they take their sweet time doing. Add in the fact we have to have one on retainer in case shit hits the fan…yeah, he makes a shit ton off of us a year.

As I head down the street, a shop catches my attention. They have flowers outside spilling out of a bucket.

I’ve never bought her flowers. I know she likes them, because when we were kids, she would quite literally stop and smell the roses and every other plant when she could. Turning, I drive around the block and park in front of the shop and make my way inside.

“Hi, welcome to Blooms. I’ll be right with you,” a woman says from the back.

“Take your time.”

I look around the shop and become overwhelmed. Shit, I didn’t realize how many options there would be.

I touch the leaf of a plant that almost looks like a tree with how tall it is.

“All right, sorry about that. How can I help you today?”

I turn around and see the woman is the size of a pixie. I’d bet a thousand bucks she lies on her driver’s license and says she’s five feet tall when she’s maybe four-ten. The woman probably needs a booster seat to see over a steering wheel.

“Hey, I’m looking for something for my old lady,” I tell her.

She rolls her lips as she fights back a smile. “Is old lady code for wife?”

“Something like that,” I mumble.

“Well, what does your woman like?”

I shrug. “Pretty things. She used to always stop and smell plants when we walked through the neighborhood.”

She nods knowingly. “Do you want stems or an actual plant?”

“What’s the difference?”

“Men.” She sighs, shaking her head. “Stems are cut flowers. They go in a vase for you to stare at, and then when they die, they die. An actual plant is something you can keep in a pot indoors or plant outside, and it will stay alive as long as you tend to it.”

“Well shit, I didn’t realize how complicated this would be,” I say as I run a hand over the back of my head.

Her eyes drop to my cut before she looks back up at me thoughtfully. “I’ll help you figure this out on one condition.”

“What’s that?”

“You let me deliver whatever you buy. My babies don’t need to be beat up by being shoved in a saddlebag.”

I toss my head back and laugh. “Bailey would love you.”

“I’m a ray of sunshine, so she should. Now tell me, what’s your girl’s favorite color?”

“She wears mainly dark clothes, but she likes colorful flowers. She likes the oranges and reds. Not a real fan of yellow but tolerates it.”

She hums as she looks around her shop. “Okay, I think I got it. How about we start with stems today, and if she loves it, you can come back and buy her actual plants?”

“Works for me.”

I watch as she flutters around, grabbing flowers from different buckets. As far as I can tell, everything she’s grabbed looks like chaos in her hand, but then again, what the fuck do I know?

“Has your shop been here long? I’ve never noticed it before,” I ask.

“You probably didn’t notice because you weren’t in love before now, but I’ve been here about a year.”

I don’t bother trying to deny it. If Bailey wanted me to tattoo that I was in love with her across my forehead, I would.

“Business is good?”

“Can’t complain too much. I’m lucky, though, and usually close up by six, so I’m home before it gets too late.”

“Don’t you miss the after-work crowd then?”

“I’m sure I miss out on some, but with our delivery service and people being able to order online, I make it work. I’d rather be at home before it gets too crazy out there, you know?”

“I don’t, but I see the logic.”

“Men really don’t know how well they have it. Now, follow me,” she says as she makes her way to her workstation.

Leaning against the counter I pull out my phone and see that I have a new email from Dex.

Well, shit.

Opening it, I read what he’s found.

The guy who approached Bailey at home and then broke into the clubhouse finally has a name. He popped through facial recognition. His name is Clitus Waters, and he’s from here. He also went to college with Phillip. Not only that, but they were in the same frat.

Looky there, I think as I eye the fraternity photo of them standing next to each other with the other new pledges their freshman year of college. Something about the name and the guy’s appearance seems familiar, but I can’t place it.

Quickly, I type out a reply and thank Dex for sending me the information and hit send.

“Ope,” the florist says, making me look up.

I watch as she arranges them so no one color is next to each other until finally it takes shape. Using a tool, she snaps a rubber band around the stems before wrapping them in brown paper.

“What do you think?”

“I think you know what the hell you’re doing. That looks great,” I tell her honestly.

She smiles brightly and bounces on her toes as she claps. “Yay! I’m glad you like it.”

“How much do I owe you?” I ask as I darken my screen and put my phone back into my pocket.

“Thirty dollars.”

My eyebrows wing up as I pull out my wallet. “That’s it? Even with a delivery fee?”

She shrugs. “I have a feeling you are going to be a loyal customer, so I’m giving you the friends and family discount.”

Shaking my head, I laugh and hand her a fifty-dollar bill. “Keep the change.”

“Don’t mind if I do,” she says as she plucks the bill out of my hand. “Now tell me, where am I dropping these off?”

I give her the address and head out of the shop. The sun is shining, and I smile. Not only do I know who my enemy is, but I’m about to make my girl smile, and there’s nothing better than that.