She headed toward the door, making a mental list of things she still needed to do today.
“Good luck tonight!”Cathy called out as Sadie opened the door to leave.
“Thanks!”She waved at the two women, then pulled the door closed behind her.
Driving her car around to the back of the building, she was still in shock that Jed had agreed to babysit Oliver.Part of her felt bad for pressuring him into doing it, but the other part truly believed he owed her.She crossed her fingers that he knew what he was doing.
He showed up at six o’clock, which gave her fifteen minutes to go over her nephew’s routine with him and to make sure he had saved her number in his phone in case there was an emergency.By the time she got off work, she’d found Jed lying on the couch with his feet crossed at the ankles and facing toward the door.One hand was bent behind his head, and he was pulling the other from inside one of his boots, sitting on the floor next to the couch.The light from the television illuminated his tired features as he grinned at her.He had a five o’clock shadow, and his hair was a little out of sorts, but it only made him look sexier.
Glancing at the television, it looked like he’d paused the seriesStranger Things.She’d wanted to watch it but never got around to it because she couldn’t watch it with Oliver awake, and when she had any spare time, she would rather read to unwind.Although maybe she should forgo the hot, steamy biker romance books she’d been reading lately because seeing Jed sprawled out on her couch with one arm bent behind his head, all relaxed and smoldering good looks, was giving her imagination ideas.Sexy ideas she had no business having.
“Stranger Things?”She dropped her purse on the end table next to the couch, then removed her coat and laid it on the back of the recliner.She unwound her scarf and dropped it on top of her coat.His playful grin flatlined as his eyes dropped to the fading bruises on her neck.She thought he might say something about it, but he kept whatever he’d been thinking to himself.He probably didn’t want to discuss how she got them and how they’d ended up here at this point.Probably a good decision on his part.She wasn’t in the mood to beat that dead horse.She was too tired.
Her eyes dropped to where his navy colored Henley had ridden up, giving her a good couple of inches of his tight stomach to view.Her tongue slipped out to wet her lips before her eyes flew to his to see if he’d caught the action.By the way he was smirking, he did, and it appeared that he was happy with himself for getting a reaction out of her.
Uhhh.The man was insufferable.Fine.So she was horny.The only time she’d had sex in the last two years was when she’d been with Darren, and that shouldn’t count since neither of them really wanted to do it.Not that Darren wasn’t any good, because the man rocked when it came to sex.What they’d done was more of a physical release to ease the pain than being emotionally connected as a couple.She’d never had better sex and felt less connected to a partner in her life.
“Have you watched it?”One side of his mouth hitched up at the corner, and she had to tell herself not to shiver.Despite all the arguing between them, she was still drawn to him.She always had been, and there lies the problem.He’d been the star in more than one of her fantasies thanks to those biker romance books.
An image of him lying just like that, but naked, flashed through her overheated brain, and she almost melted into a puddle on the floor.She took a seat on the arm of the recliner and prayed he couldn’t read her mind right now.“I’ve been wanting to but never had the time.”
“You want to watch it now?I can start over.I’m only on episode three.”
“I don’t know.It’s getting late, and I have to be up early in the morning to take Oliver to school.”
“Okay.Maybe next time.”He sat up and pulled a gun out of his boot before slipping it on.So that’s why he had his hand in his boot when she came in.As he stood, he put the gun at his back under his cut.“For protection, and Oliver never knew I had it on me.”
“Okay.That’s good.”She stood as he moved toward the door.“How was Oliver?Did he go to bed okay for you?”
Jed’s smile grew at the mention of her nephew.“Oliver was great.The kid is really into cars.He thinks having one that looks just like my car is awesome.I told him I’d have to give him another ride in it sometime, and he got really excited.He ate pizza.We played cars.”He ticked off each thing like he was giving an official report, but her brain was stuck on a picture of Jed playing cars on the floor with Oliver.“We watchedThe Secret Life of Petsmovie, then he brushed his teeth and went to bed.I read him three stories.”
“You really didn’t have to read him three stories.One would have been enough.”
“I know, but he’s a great kid.”He lifted a hand and set it on the side of her neck.He pulled her toward him and lowered his mouth to hers.She was so surprised by the move that she opened her mouth on a gasp.He took advantage of her shock and slipped his tongue inside.It would be so easy to give in to anything he wanted.She’d been so lonely for so long, it would be easy to hand her heart over to Jed and lose herself in everything he had to offer.The only thing stopping her was knowing he wasn’t a one-woman kind of man.All too soon, he ended the kiss and pulled back.“If you don’t have anybody to watch him tonight, give me a call, and I’ll come over.”
“Really?You wouldn’t mind?”She felt like she had a little brain fog because he couldn’t have possibly volunteered to babysit Oliver again.
“Like you said, it’s my fault you're in this predicament.”He turned the knob and opened the door.“Goodnight, Sadie.Sweet dreams.”He slipped out into the night, closing the door behind him.She automatically locked the door and set the alarm he’d had Jackson install over the weekend.
She turned the television off, pitching the room into darkness.The light from the parking lot was more than enough to see by.She peeked in on Oliver and smiled when she found him fast asleep.His mouth was slightly open, and one leg had come out from under his covers.She quickly covered it up and kissed his forehead.
In her room, she undressed, pulling on pajama bottoms and a long-sleeve t-shirt that used to belong to her brother.It was way too big on her, but it was soft and worn and reminded her of him.Pulling the covers up to her chin, she touched her lips where Jed had kissed her.Damn, he could kiss.It was with a wistful upturn of her lips that she fell asleep.
* * *
Tinker
Tinker was in a foul mood.That fucking cunt Tori thought she was too good to suck his cock.She said she didn’t like the way hetalkedto her.What kind of bullshit was that?She was a clubwhore.Who did she think she was?Race had told him his first night back that the whores decided who they did and didn’t want to fuck.What utter horse shit.He’d find someplace else to get his dick wet.
This wasn’t the same club he left behind.Back in the day, a brother could fuck anyone he wanted, anytime he wanted, without having to leave the clubhouse.Pussy was like beer.Always there and always ready to be tapped.He couldn’t believe he’d been forced to resort to seeking pussy elsewhere.
Climbing into the truck he’d just bought with the money the club had been putting into his account for the last ten years, he wondered where he should go.He would prefer to be riding his bike, but with the freezing temperatures, he was afraid he might freeze his dick off.The truck he bought was a couple of years old, black with chrome wheels, four-door, and Four Wheel Drive.Other than his bike, he’d never owned anything so nice.Spotting a gas station up ahead, he pulled over to fill his tank.
While he waited for his tank to fill, he debated on where to go to find a woman he could fuck that wouldn’t have a list of demands a mile long and didn’t bitch and complain about every damn thing.He swiped a hand over his mouth.Being out of prison was a lot harder than he would have thought.Ten years was a long time to be gone.So many things had changed during his absence.Not just in the club, but in Redemption in general.
His favorite place to grab a beer outside the clubhouse was gone.In its place was a car wash.His favorite place to have a steak dinner was now a twenty-four-hour Chinese buffet.And his old neighborhood had been re-gentrified.Whatever the fuck that meant.
He missed the good old days when the club used to deal in drugs, guns, and whores.Those women never would have backtalked or told him no.He liked living on the edge, never knowing when war might break out.Everyone he used to know, well, the ones he actually liked, were all gone.
