Enough(6)

Weasel growled and turned back to the work area, so I moved up front, and Rock followed.

“Don’t mind Weasel and Angel, they’re always sour.” Rock laughed. “I got enough sweetness to make up for them both.” He winked at me.

I laughed and scoured the books. “Did I miss the appointment?” I bit my lip.

“Nah, Angel called me this morning saying a girlfriend of hers needed a piercing, so I came in with them.” He still grinned. “You settled in?”





Chapter Two: Lila

Rock and I joked all afternoon. Tears rolled down my cheeks from the jokes he and Zayn cracked. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d laughed so much. Rock did great imitations, and Zayn’s sarcasm bit deep.

The bell jingled and I tried to swallow the rolls of laughter with no luck. Dare stood inside the front door, entirely too damn kissable with his wrinkled brow.

“What’s the joke?”

Zayn wiped at his watering eyes. “Rock told the story of the first time he met Weasel.”

Dare smirked. “Shit. Not often you see a guy’s dick before his face. The old horndog.”

I burst out laughing again, trying not to picture said horndog’s package. I didn’t need a visual. Thankfully, he’d taken his package and sour attitude away almost an hour ago.

“What did Angel say?” I glanced from one to the other.

“It wasn’t his old lady, some other chick.” Rock shrugged. “Not in a hurry to cover up, and that only pissed old Weasel off more.”

Suddenly the story lost its humor. Cheating was not a big deal among these guys. Figured.

But the guys didn’t pick up on my change in mood. They laughed and threw out jabs for another few minutes. Rock’s client arrived and broke up the powwow.

“Hey, can we talk about the order?” I asked Dare after Rock, Zayn and the client moved to the back.

“Yeah.” He strode toward me, then kept coming until he crowded me in the tight space behind the counter. “I missed you last night.” He paused.

Stepping back, I gulped and found myself backed into the wall.

“At Blue’s. You have to come with us tonight.”

I craned my neck up and up to meet his gaze. “Uh, we’ll see. About the order, we need more inks, needles, paper and antiseptic.” I bit my lip.

I peeked up through lowered lashes. He glowered down at me with a vertical line between his brows.

He leaned even closer. “Don’t.”

“What?” I squeaked, and pushed against the wall, but he’d trapped me. My pulse spiked and I swallowed the nervous fear.

“Bite that lip, unless you want me kissing it.” His callused index finger stroked my bottom lip. He stared down a few more seconds before he turned and strode away.

“Order whatever we need.” He didn’t look back.

I slumped with my clammy palms pressed into the wall, heart pounding in my ears. Kiss echoed through my mind. While I should protest, resist his commandeering manner, I might surrender. Not two seconds later my sense returned.

No way, kissing led to sex and I’d be back in my same old place. I’d promised myself it’d be different this time.

A busy few hours flew by as I navigated clients, inventory and the order process via phone since we had no computer. By the time we slowed down at seven, I was starving, out of sorts and ready for this day to be over.

Now that I understood my closing chores, I had the reception area gleaming, had counted down the drawer and started working out the deposit on a piece of scrap paper so I’d be ready to fill it out and split within minutes of flipping the closed sign. Rock and Zayn sauntered up front, both full of smiles.

“You two look suspicious.” I frowned. “You put a bucket of water over the back door? What do you have planned?”

Both guys went wide-eyed with innocence stamped on their faces. “Nah, we’d never prank you, just the guys.” Rock moved closer, leaning on my clean counter.

“Off—I just cleaned all the damn prints off that.” I made shooing motions and he stepped away.

I re-cleaned the smudged area. “You gonna tell me what’s pasted happy faces on such dangerous bikers like you two?”

“Dare called. He says close up and get our asses to Blue’s.” Zayn headed to the front door and flipped the sign before locking up. “He says not to take no for an answer from you. He’s buying the booze and the food.”

“Blue’s has food?” I might yet survive the night. To prove my point, my stomach chose that exact moment to grumble and gurgle with gusto in the quiet room.

“Yeah, burgers, bar food, and your stomach already voted.” Rock grinned at me, and I swear I’d never seen him without a smile “You’re going.”