Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 125517 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 628(@200wpm)___ 502(@250wpm)___ 418(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125517 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 628(@200wpm)___ 502(@250wpm)___ 418(@300wpm)
Puck perked up, as if he was a mistreated puppy being stroked for the first time.
“Cut it out, Puck,” Doom warned so softly that Arden wasn’t sure she had heard him correctly.
“Cut what out?” Arden asked.
“Nothing.” Doom glared daggers at Puck. “Going back to what I was going to say—”
“I wish you would,” she urged. “I still need to take Luc home and get to work.”
Arden saw a muscle start to bulge under the corner of Doom’s eye.
“We don’t need a housekeeper. What the women members do is take shifts at the warehouse.”
“I could take weekend shifts—”
“Let me finish,” he ground out.
“Okay.” She gave him another smile.
The muscle under his eye began to pulsate again. Should she tell him that he should have that tic checked out by a doctor?
“Work at least two shifts here at the club a week—”
So far, she didn’t have a problem with anything Doom was saying.
“And fu…” Doom cleared his throat. “Provide companionship to any of the brothers who want it.”
Arden’s eyes widened at the revelation. Staring around at the men’s expectant faces, she felt a surge of sympathy for them. She gave each of them a bolstering grin.
“I can do that.” Her gaze became pitying. “I can understand being homesick and lonely in a big city. I get lonely, too, sometimes. Anytime anyone needs someone to talk to, I would be more than happy to be there for them. As long as I’m not working,” she hastily clarified. “I love talking. I’m really good at it once I open up. I can talk forever. My friend says I could talk his head off when I’m in the mood.”
Glancing toward the table, hoping to earn Puck, Jesus, and Buck’s trust, she noticed the pained expressions on their faces.
Terrified that she had just talked herself out of a job, she sought to correct their misunderstanding.
Raising her hand in the air, she tried to win their support back. “I promise anything we talk about will stay just between us. I work in a medical office—I totally get you wanting our conversations to remain private.”
Turning toward Wizard, she gave him a hopeful glance. “Do we have a deal?” Worried sick about her parents and Luc, she gave Wizard an imploring glance, unaware her bottom lip was trembling. “Please. Once a week, I’ll even bring over a pan of Mama’s baked spaghetti.”
Wizard lifted an eyebrow at Doom. “It’s up to Doom. He’s my Sergeant at Arms. He’ll be the one training you.”
Arden turned to give Doom the same look that had worked on Wizard.
“Fine. You can become a prospect.”
Arden jumped off her seat. “Does that mean I’m in The Last Riders?”
“It means we’re considering it.”
“But, until then, you’ll help me with Luc?”
Doom gave her a curt nod.
“Thank God.” Arden glanced at her watch. “Can we go over my shifts some other time? I really need to get to work.”
“Please do,” Wizard said with his hand on his chin, watching the interaction between her and Doom. “I can save you some time and give Blue a ride home.”
“Thank you. I’d appreciate it.” Her smile turned into a frown. “There’s just one thing… Do you have any helmet he could wear? Last night, I saw him riding with Jesus, and he wasn’t wearing one.”
Wizard narrowed his eyes at her. “I’m sure there’s an extra one around here somewhere. I’ll even help Blue put it on before I buckle him on my bike. Safety first, as I always say.”
From his expressionless face, she couldn’t tell if he was mocking her or not. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, she slid the bottle of bourbon farther away on the counter so he wouldn’t take another drink.
“I’ll leave you men to it, then.” She smiled as she glanced around the room, her gaze ricocheting off Doom’s and Wizard’s deadpan faces to center on Jesus’s more welcoming one. Deciding to leave before they reconsider letting her join, she left, feeling their stares on her every step of the way.
She received a strange look from the biker outside guarding the door at the sigh of relief that she couldn’t hold back any longer. Then she hurried to her car.
Today wasn’t so bad after all. With The Last Riders’ help, Luc would get back on track with his studies and their parents wouldn’t have their health jeopardized by their son becoming a runaway.
As soon as the wheels of her car turned away from the club, Arden couldn’t prevent herself from rolling her eyes at the act she had put on at the end.
“Really?” She gave a disgusted snort at the men. Did they really believe she was so naïve that she hadn’t known exactly what “companionship” Doom was inferring? She hadn’t been born last century. Who knew reading historical romances would come so useful? All she needed was for them to believe her long enough for Luc to learn how to defend himself and for the bullies to be stopped.