Page 13 of Tinsel & Chrome

Holiday

“Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean, can’t you just tell them everything and that I’m really sorry for hacking into the club’s system,”

I say as I hand the helmet to Alaric, or Deal as he said his brothers call him.

“I could, but it’s best if you explain it all. I’ll help you either way, but if you want full support from the MFMC, you need to tell the club members, and the prez will have the final say. Just trust me; once you start talking, they’ll fold like a house of cards.”

His lips twitch, and I have no idea how he can find any of this funny. They have to be furious I snooped into their system. Though honestly, I don’t know how they figured it out. I’m going to have to meet the man Alaric called Tracer from the Alabama Chapter. Maybe he’d be willing to share a few skills.

“What’s that smile for?”

He asks as we walk toward what I presume is the clubhouse entrance.

I don’t get the chance to answer as we walk in, and the heads of at least a dozen men turn in our direction.

Holy smokes, I should be shaking in my shoes with their presence. Instead, I stare back. There should be a law against so much hotness in one room.

“It’s not a requirement,”

Alaric says, then laughs along with the other men.

I feel the heat rise on my face as I realize I said that out loud.

“Sorry.”

“Come on in, darlin’. Let’s hear what you have to say. See if you can win us over. I can already tell Deal is sunk.”

I’m introduced to everyone before I’m led to a chair. It should probably feel like an inquisition, but it doesn’t. For a room full of men, who might look like models, but put off a deadly presence, I’m calm as I sit and begin to tell them everything I shared with Alaric.

Overall, the men stay quiet except at the beginning when I mention seeing Alaric for the first time. There were a few snorts and chuckles, but nothing enough to break my stride.

When I finish, I look over at Alaric and he winks. I smile even though my stomach is in knots.

“Deal, get her something to drink while I hold a meeting in my office.”

I watch as Hardware, the club’s president, who I was informed of earlier, rises along with five other men and heads toward a doorway at the back of the room.

“What do you want to drink, Hols?”

“You are the only one to call me Hols other than my sister,”

I smile and follow him across the room to a setup that could compete with any restaurant or bar I’ve been to.

“I have water. I’m not an alcohol drinker. And I’ve had enough caffeine today to kickstart a dead person’s heart.”

He snorts and hands me a bottled water.

“They won’t be back there long.”

“How do you know that?”

“You caused the same effect on me.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Yeah, I get that. So did they.”

What age do women have to get to understand men? And why can’t they say what they mean?

As I open my water and take a drink, footsteps from the back can be heard. I look toward the doorway as the six return.

Hardware’s eyes fall on me.

“Not sure how we are going to do it. But we’ll help.”

My eyes fill as an imaginary weight is lifted off my shoulders. I had carried the weight for over a month from the moment I heard my sister’s name spoken.

“Whoa, whoa. No crying in the goddamn clubhouse,”

Hardware shouts, and I can’t stop the laugh bubbling up and eventually out.

Good grief, these men are something else.

“I knew it. Same effect.”

I glance at Alaric.

“Still don’t understand what that means.”

“I know, babe. I know.”

I follow him with my eyes as he walks across the room shaking his head.

Yep, never going to understand men.

I sit and listen as the men talk and joke with each other. It doesn’t take long to figure out why they use the term brother. They are closer than if they shared the same blood.

As Alaric leads me to the door to leave, Hardware tells him to bring me to the Christmas party next weekend.

“Hey, Holiday. What would a woman consider the ultimate present?”

asks one of the men whose name I can’t recall.

“For me, it’d be a man standing by the tree wrapped in nothing but tinsel.”

I slap my hand over my mouth and look up at Alaric.

“Yeah, you said it out loud.”

I exit the clubhouse with laughter following behind and my face on fire from embarrassment.

Alaric insists on walking me to my door, and when I open it and turn to tell him thank you for everything, he places my face in his hands and leans down and kisses my forehead.

Stunned into silence, I just stand there until I feel his hand on my shoulder. He turns me around, gives a tiny shove and then shuts the door.

“Lock up, babe. See you next week,”

comes from the other side of the door, and then I listen to his footsteps fade.

What the hell just happened?