Page 29

CHAPTER 29

Toxic

I woke up the next morning with Billie in my arms. Letting out a deep breath, I soaked in my satisfaction. All was right in my world now that she’d accepted my claim and was my old lady. It was worth the wait.

Most people might laugh at how fast this all went, but if I’d had my way I would have had her in my bed the day I met her and made her my old lady at the same time. This was a long wait for me.

I brushed my fingers over her hip. She had the covers kicked off and had slept restlessly. I put on my mental to do list to buy a new mini split AC unit and have it shipped here. Their swamp cooler didn’t do a damn thing to cool down the house once it got over one hundred degrees. And in Arizona there were a lot of days over one hundred.

It was around seven a.m. We’d both slept in because I’d woken her in the middle of the night to fuck her again. I’d kept her in bed for the rest of the day yesterday, texting Butcher to take care of the animals. I’d had to send him an explanation of what to do, and I knew he was going to bitch at me for making him do it, but these were extenuating circumstances.

I wanted to lay in bed with her all day, but animals needed to be fed, and so did Butcher. It took me a minute to tear myself away from her side since she was naked, but I forced myself to get up and get dressed.

By the time I made it out into the kitchen, Butcher was already there, waiting for me with a scowl on his face.

“You made me feed those damn horses,” he complained. “Made me get up at the ass crack of dawn for the last month. And now you don’t even have the decency to get up and have breakfast made.”

I chuckled, my good mood restored now that I had what I wanted. “I’m getting to it. Damn, what’s got you in such a pissy mood? Can’t just be the horses making you mad.”

“It’s the horses, it’s always the damn horses,” he muttered, taking a drink from his coffee cup. He eyed me over the rim. “Looks like you’re doing better.”

“Yeah.” I leaned back against the counter while I poured my own cup of coffee.

“Amazing what good pussy’ll do for you, right?”

I chuckled and shook my head. “Right. Even better, Billie’s my old lady.”

He stilled, then a grin formed on his face. “Well, shit. Finally. I was wondering if you were going to have to go with my methods to get her to accept you.”

“Kidnapping her, you mean?” I asked with an arched brow.

“Yup.”

I laughed at that and turned to get some breakfast started. I was starving and I knew Butcher’s good mood was only going to hold out for so long on an empty stomach.

I’d made it halfway through cooking breakfast when Billie made her appearance. She’d showered and looked damn good in a pair of tight jeans, a tank top, and her usual boots. Her cheeks were a dull red and I realized it was because she was remembering that Butcher had walked in on us yesterday. She’d get over it; all the old ladies did. With this bunch everyone became an amateur exhibitionist at some point.

Popping two pieces of bread into the toaster, I then cracked an egg into the skillet. Placing two pieces of bacon in the pan, I cooked it all. As soon as the bacon and egg were done, I put them on one of the pieces of toast, plopped a piece of cheese and some butter on the other side and put them together. Wrapping the sandwich in a paper towel, I walked over and handed it to Butcher.

He stared at the breakfast sandwich, then looked up at us in disbelief. “You’re fucking kidding me?”

“I’ll take care of the horses. You get the rest.”

He snatched the sandwich and took a bite. “This isn’t enough.”

“There’ll be more once you’re done.”

“Asshole,” he muttered, but he clomped out of the house to go do my morning chores for me.

I wanted him gone so Billie could relax while she ate her breakfast. She’d eventually get over her embarrassment, but I wanted to make it easier on her. Thankfully Butcher knew me well enough to know exactly why I was getting rid of him.

“Morning,” I said to her.

She watched me silently with those gorgeous brown eyes, though she gave me a small smile.

I wasn’t sure what she was thinking, but I had no problem giving her the time to figure out how to say whatever was bothering her. Moving around the kitchen with ease, I finished up breakfast and sat everything down on the table.

“Have you changed your mind?”

Raising my head from where I’d been shoveling scrambled eggs onto my plate, I looked at her in confusion. “Huh?”

She nibbled her bottom lip. It was a habit that drove me nuts for a month and now it made me want to drag her back into her bedroom. I didn’t because she needed to eat. “About wanting me to be your old lady,” she explained. She met my gaze.

I couldn’t read her expression. She was keeping it neutral. I narrowed my eyes. “You’re asking me if I’ve changed my mind about making you my old lady?”

She gave a nod. “Now that we’ve slept together… I-” She stopped, swallowing down whatever she’d been about to say.

I wasn’t sure if that was because of the dark expression that I knew was on my face, or if she didn’t want to hear the answer. “What kind of men do you know?”

She looked down. “I’ve only dated one guy, but…he left an impression.”

“I’d say.” I reached out, tipping her chin up. Once her eyes met mine again, I spoke, “You’re mine, Billie. I’m not letting you go.”

Relief entered her eyes and she gave me a shaky smile. “You might change your mind once you realize how bossy I can be.”

“Hate to break it to you, Lightning, I figured that out a long time ago.”

“You’re just as demanding,” she pointed out. She was relaxing in her chair now. Reaching out, she started to dish food onto her plate.

“True. But I don’t try to act like I’m not.”

There was a knock on the door that interrupted us. We both stared at each other, then I got up to answer it. I scowled at the man on the porch. “Thought you went back to Wyoming?” I asked.

Warrant grinned, then shoved his way past me into the house. “Naw. Lock asked me to hang out for a bit. I guess the Phoenix guys might be needing your help.”

“I haven’t heard anything about that,” I muttered, going to sit back down.

“I guess Ruck called Lock this morning. Said they’re having some issues and might need your club’s help. Lock figured having more men would be helpful, so you’ve got me for a little longer.”

“Oh boy,” I said in a sarcastic tone. But I was just kidding. Warrant and I have known each other since we were kids. We were and would always be brothers. I’d trusted him to stay here with my woman after all.

“You know you’ve missed me,” he said, mouth full of a waffle. He paused, looking between me and Billie as if he just caught the tension in the room. He swallowed. “Need me to go do the chores?”

I chuckled. These men knew me so damn well. “No. Butcher’s taking care of it. Last thing we want is anyone helping him, more fun for us this way.”

Warrant made a face. “You sure he’s doing it right?”

“I’ll double check after breakfast.”

Billie straightened hearing that. “What does that mean? He’s not going to accidentally poison my animals is he?”

“Not accidentally,” Warrant pointed out.

I glared at him, then reassured her, “He wouldn’t do that. Your animals are fine. Except maybe the dog.” I looked around.

“She’s taken a liking to him,” Billie said with a smile.

“Is that what you call it?” I asked with a grin. “Seems more like she doesn’t want to let him out of her sight.”

She shrugged and took a sip of her coffee.

“What is it with you women and cattle dogs?” Warrant asked.

“They’re loyal and protective,” she replied.

“More like neurotic and obsessive,” he said.

“And compact.” She said, ignoring him, “If I have to pick her up and put her on Hank I can actually do it since she’s only like forty pounds.”

“Huh,” he said. “That actually makes sense. I always figured it was that their bratty attitudes matched your own.” He grinned at her.

She rolled her eyes and smacked his arm with the back of her hand. “Shut it.”

I couldn’t help the grin that spread over my face. They were already acting like a brother and sister might and they’d only met a couple days ago. I knew Warrant was trustworthy with her, and he was a damn good fighter and shooter. Having him backing up Isla and watching over Billie while I’d been gone had been a great idea. I’d have to thank Lock later for thinking of it.

“Since you’re here for a bit, want to help me out with the roof?” I asked Warrant.

“Sure. That’s way too much metal for this roof, Toxic.” He eyed me as he bit into a piece of bacon, then wagged it at me. “You losing your touch?”

“It’s the perfect amount for the house and barn roofs.”

He let out a hmmm in agreement.

It was almost drowned out by Billie’s gasp. “Toxic! I can’t afford that right now! Not with all the other repairs you’ve done.”

“No need to worry about that,” I told her.

“What does that mean?” she asked. “Of course I have to worry about it.”

“He’s already paid for it.”

I looked over my shoulder and scowled at Butcher as he came back in the door. I was planning to tell her that. Later. When I’d softened her up first. Billie had a lot of pride. She wasn’t going to want to take my money, even if it came in the form of corrugated metal or labor.

“What?” Billie said, looking shocked. “I can’t-”

“Just for that, you’re helping with the roofs, too,” I told Butcher.

“Shit,” he muttered. “It’s hot as balls out there.”

“Worse on the roof,” Warrant pointed out. “Gonna be a bitch to take off all those shingles.”

Butcher groaned as he sat down across from me and helped himself to food. “Not sure what’s going to be worse, the shingles or that fucking sheet metal.”

“It’s not sheet metal, genius,” Warrant said with a grin. “It’s corrugated.”

Butcher arched a brow. “It’s metal and it’s in flat sheets. It’s sheet metal.”

“Actually-” I started.

His gaze snapped over to me. “I know it’s not actually sheet metal. But that’s what I’m fucking calling it if you want my help.”

Holding up my hands, I laughed. “Call it whatever you want.” A third pair of hands was going to make the project go a hell of a lot faster.

“You need a fucking nap, Butcher? Or what?” Warrant asked.

“Or what,” I teased. “He needs to go home and spend some time with his old lady.” I was trying to be politically correct since Billie was sitting there watching us with a mixture of amusement and disbelief.

“Aw,” Warrant said. “He needs some pussy. Yeah,” he nodded, “that usually puts me in a better mood too.”

Billie stared at him with her mouth dropped open.

Warrant gave her an innocent look. “What?”

“Jeez, Warrant,” she said with a soft laugh.

“You work with fucking cowboys, Billie. You can’t tell me they watch their language all the time?” he asked.

“They cuss up a storm,” she admitted. “But they don’t usually talk about… sleeping with women in front of me.”

“Oh.” He shrugged. “Well, I guess that comes from the biker half of us.”

I glanced over at Butcher. “You good? I can have one of the other guys come over for a couple days. Give you a break.”

“I don’t need a break,” he told me. “If anyone’s going to watch your six, it’s going to be me. Just got that feeling.”

Uh oh.

That feeling was his politically correct way of saying he needed to kill something. The fight at Brently’s Chicago home must have stirred up that demon inside of him. But it wasn’t enough to calm it down. That was because Lock had used that skirmish as a way to take out his own frustrations.

Frowning, I watched Butcher. “We could go find some random shit bags. Take a drive down Miracle Mile, find a couple pimps or something.”

“Naw. It’s not that bad yet. I’m sure Brently will surface before I get that desperate.”

“Alright,” I said, but I was going to be keeping a close eye on him. If it got bad I could have him wrestle the bull.

Rip was searching for Brently, but who knew how long it was going to take for him to surface. It was obvious he knew we were after him and he wasn’t as dumb as I originally thought he was. It could take some time.

“We’re off to replace some roofs,” I said, standing up. “I’ll feed the horses before we head up.”

“I can do it,” Billie said. “It’ll give me something to do since you’ve done almost everything else.” She narrowed her eyes. “You and I will need to talk about that later.”

“Yeah,” I told her. “Later.” If I had my way we’d avoid that conversation until she forgot about the fact that I’d paid for that and everything else over the last month. I figure twenty years ought to do it.