Axe's Fall(34)

     



 





Chapter Nineteen





Baylee turned left into the clubhouse parking lot, relieved to have  found it after thirty minutes of driving up and down the same stretch of  highway. It was only after Banger had guided her on the phone as she  drove that she'd discovered it down a narrow road off the highway. It  was set so far back that no one could see if from the road.

She'd filed the permits with the court earlier in the morning, but  Banger needed to sign a few documents before the construction crew could  start breaking ground. Since she'd agreed to go to the clubhouse to see  him, her stomach had been rolling and gurgling. She hadn't heard from  Axe, and she wondered if he'd be at the club. She hated she'd taken  extra time fixing up before leaving the hotel; she'd even curled her  hair, and she hated doing that. In her pretty coral dress and strappy  wedge-heel sandals, Baylee looked amazing. The high-low hem showed  enough leg, and her sleeveless arms were toned and golden from the spray  tan she'd had the day before. Finding a salon that offered spray  tanning had made her day-a bit of cheer in an otherwise "Axe-less" day.

Her gold bangles jangled as she opened the heavy front door. For a few  seconds, she couldn't see anything. Then, as her eyes adjusted to the  low lights, she saw men in jeans and leather on bar stools, at a couple  of pool tables, and at a few regular tables. The minute she locked eyes  with a couple of them, the hoots and wolf-whistles began.

"Fuck, what a hottie," a tall, bearded man said as she passed.

With head down and cheeks flaming, she made her way to the bar, praying  Banger wasn't one of the men in the room leering at her. As she waited  for the bartender to finish serving some of the men, she surveyed the  room and noticed a few women kneeling in front of a few guys, their  dicks in the women's mouths. Baylee turned away in embarrassment and  focused on a pretty dark-haired, busty woman who wore a scrap of  material which barely covered her rounded butt. The woman, hunched over a  seated man, was saying something in his ear, her breasts practically in  his face. He turned his face away then his dark eyes locked with  Baylee's. Covering her mouth with her hand, she watched as Axe leapt out  of the chair, knocking the brunette against a tall man who caught her,  his arms wrapped around her waist.

Baylee spun around, her back to Axe, a lump forming in her throat.  "You." She pointed to the bartender. "Where is Banger's office?" Her  breath hitched, her voice cracking on the last word.

He tilted his head toward a hallway. "Last room on the left."

"Hey, aren't you gonna say hi?" Axe asked from behind her.

"You seem busy." Her eyes darted to the brunette straddling the tall man while he sucked her breasts.

Axe looked over. "You mean Rosie? Nah, nothing was going on."

Baylee tossed her hair. "You know, Axe, you are a free agent. I mean,  what we're doing is just for fun. So do whatever the fuck you want, I  don't care." She swallowed the lump in her throat, yanked out of his  grasp, and headed down the hall. Behind her, Axe's boots stomped on the  linoleum as he followed, the jingling of his chains grating on her  nerves.

A second after she knocked on the president's door, a voice boomed, "Come in."

Grasping the doorknob, she started to turn it when Axe's arms circled  her waist, drawing her in to his chest. He nuzzled her neck and  whispered in her ear, "Don't be like this. You know you're the only one  for me. I haven't looked at another woman since we met at the wedding."

His breath scorched her neck, and goosebumps pricked her skin. She fell back in to him, enjoying being in his arms again.

"You comin' in?" Banger asked.

Baylee wriggled out of Axe's embrace and opened the door. The president  reclined on a brown leather desk chair, his legs on his desk, crossed at  the ankles. His blue eyes were filled with surprise when she walked in.

She started to close the door when Banger looked over her shoulder and said, "That you, Axe?"

"Yeah," Axe replied from behind Baylee, entering the room. "Banger, this is our architect, Baylee."

Banger smiled widely, the lines around his eyes crinkling. Nodding, he  ran his gaze up and down her body. "Now it all makes sense." He winked  at Axe, who grinned like a Cheshire cat.

Baylee resisted rolling her eyes, but if she had a bat she'd knock them both over the head.

The meeting with Banger went better than Baylee had expected. She hadn't  anticipated liking the president, but he was an easy-going man,  although she was sure he could be hard and ruthless if the situation  demanded it. After all, he couldn't be a softie and be the national  president of a one-percenter club. He was around forty-five and a  nice-looking man. What amazed her most was how solid he was-he was all  muscle.         

     



 

After the meeting, Baylee marched back to the great room, ignoring Axe  as he tried to convince her to go to lunch with him. Storming out of the  club, she slammed into Puck.

"Sorry," she said as she rubbed her head. The man was powerfully built.

"Didn't see you," Puck muttered, his eyes focused on Axe.

"It's okay." She headed to her car, smiling as she overheard Axe's and Puck's conversation.

"Why the fuck didn't you warn me she was coming to the club?" he asked in a low voice.

"Tried. You didn't pick up."

She glanced at Axe as he scrolled through his phone, then shook his head  and cursed. She slid into the driver's seat then zoomed out of the  parking lot, giving Axe nothing but a cloud of dust. A few minutes  later, she caught sight of Puck in her rear mirror, the chrome on his  Harley blinding under the hot, summer rays.

* * *

In the middle of the afternoon, as she replayed Axe and Rosie's scene in  her mind for the umpteenth time, Baylee decided that she may have  jumped to the wrong conclusion. Axe had turned his head when the  brunette leaned over him, and he definitely wasn't touching her. Maybe  he was telling the truth about her coming on to him, and he was just  getting ready to push her off when he saw Baylee. He kept repeating the  same story in the deluge of texts he'd been sending her all  afternoon-the ones she hadn't answered.

Maybe she'd hear him out and give him the benefit of the doubt. The  previous night, Palmer caressed her hand many times, and, to the  onlooker, it would seem as though they were an item. Looks could be  deceiving, however.

She missed Axe.

"Puck?" she called from her office doorway.

The gruff man looked up from his phone.

"Do you know if Axe is at the clubhouse?"

"He's at the shop. He's closing up for Hawk ‘cause him and his ol' lady got shit to do."

"I need the name and address of the shop, please."

A few minutes before six o'clock, Baylee switched off the motor and  tried to relax her frazzled nerves. Breathing in deeply, she touched up  her lipstick then locked her car door, noticing Puck against his Harley  as she walked into the repair shop.

Axe glanced up from the cash register, his head jerking back as he gave her a double-take.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey."

"Did you need something?"

She nodded. "You."

Tingles skated across her skin when he sucked his breath in. His eyes captured hers in a piercing gaze.

Axe came out from behind the counter and yelled to Puck, "Take off."

When he shut the door and locked it, Baylee's heartbeat skipped.

"Want a beer?"

"Sure."

He handed her the cold bottle then bent down and kissed her softly on  the lips. "I'm happy you came by." Pleasure lanced through her every  pore. "I'm gonna wash up. You can wait in the showroom. It's cooler."

"You sell motorcycles here?"

"It's Hawk's shop, and he has a few restored vintage bikes he sells."

Axe showed her a small room that housed about five motorcycles. She spotted Axe's bike. "You selling yours?"

"Fuck no. I like to keep it in when it's hot out. I'll be back after I wash up." He padded away.

"Is anyone else here?"

"No. I closed up. It's just you and me. Why? You wanna get kinky?" He chuckled.

"Just wondering."

"I won't be long."

Baylee settled down on the small leather couch and picked up a biker  magazine, flipping through the pages absentmindedly. She wanted to do  something unexpected when Axe came in. She always wanted to be  adventurous with the men in her life, but whenever she'd tried, it  wasn't their thing. They'd look at her as if she were a deviant, but  with Axe, there were no bounds. He brought out her nasty, sexy side, and  she loved him for it.

Without thinking, she hurriedly stripped down to her ivory lace bra and  panties, then went over to Axe's bike and swung her leg over, straddling  it. Her body tingled like a thousand live wires, and her heart thumped  against her chest as she waited for him to come in. She'd never been  this bold in taking the initiative before. Sucking in her breath, she  hoped she didn't chicken out before he came in.