A throat clears behind me, causing me to jump and scream as I look around in confusion. My heart skips a beat and it takes mea moment to process Earl sitting on the corner of my desk as if it belongs to him, staring at me.
“What the fuck are you doing here, Earl?” My words come out strained and harsh. I’m not in the mood for this shit today.
He just smirks, running the pad of his thumb along his bottom lip. I stare at him, a mixture of anger and lust swirling inside me. Fuck, the thought of kissing those lips, of having them on my body, has me pressing my thighs together to ease the ache building in my core.
He smiles, knowing the effect he has on me. I imagine he’s taking great joy in it. Knowing that even though he’s broken my heart twice, he still possesses the ability to make me melt for him.
“I came to talk to you. Seems I had a visitor last night.”
He stands and I move across the room to my desk, being careful to maintain my distance from him. Reaching down, I pull open a drawer and place my purse in it, then take off my jacket, hanging it over the back of my chair and sit.
“And what does that have to do with me? Did the club whore not suck your cock good enough? Get another fucking one. You have enough of them running around the clubhouse.”
“Aww baby, I love that you think that. But there ain’t no whore in my clubhouse I want. There’s only one woman’s mouth I want on my cock and we both know that’s you.”
I roll my eyes, mostly because I don’t know how to answer. Because fuck me, not only would I love to have his cock in my mouth, but buried deep inside of my pussy as well. It’s all I’ve wanted for well over twenty years. But fate felt best to toy with my heart. I’ve not been able to date, nor did I think I could, until Jax walked through my door.
I sigh as a knot forms in my stomach. Wiping my palms on my jeans, there’s a relentless buzzing in my head and I’m unable tofocus. All I can think about is my son’s voice and how equally overjoyed and terrified I was to hear it.
“Earl, can you please go? I’m not in the mood to deal with you today.”
He comes around the desk and sits back down on the corner, angling his body so he’s facing me, even though I’m trying desperately not to look at him.
“I’m not going anywhere until you tell me why your fuckin’ cook visited me at my daughter’s house last night concerned about you.”
My eyes go wide as my heart starts racing. “He did?” I choke out, my lips trembling.
“He did. Now ya want to tell me what’s goin’ on? Who was on the phone?”
Can I tell him? Doing so would spill a secret I’ve long kept buried, even when the Hellions helped me all those years ago.
“I can’t.” Two simple words, but they’re still so hard to say.
“Is it about why you came here?” I’ll give it to him; he’s intuitive.
I don’t say a word, just pick up my pencil and begin jotting down what produce I need to order. There’s not a doubt in my mind that if I told Earl the whole story, he would rush to help me in any way I need. A knight in shining armor riding in on his chrome horse isn’t what I need right now. What I do need is to come to grips with this myself.
But I have hope. I may not hear from him again. I haven’t powered on my phone, so I’m not positive about that. When Earl leaves, I will. That way, I can break down in silence, away from all prying eyes. I make a mental note to lock the door when he leaves so no one can walk in on me.
He raps his knuckles on my desk before standing. “Fine. I’ll let it go for now. But I’ll be back and I want those answers, baby. If anyone’s botherin’ ya, I’m gonna take them out.” Earl places hishand on my shoulder, giving it a squeeze that has me turning to mush underneath his touch. He turns and heads for the door, leaving me alone in my office.
Opening the drawer, I pull out my purse, rifling through it until I find my cell phone. I power it on, softly praying there are no messages.
It seems like an eternity as I watch the screen transition from black to my screensaver; a picture of me and Earl, sitting on a bench in the park, his arm slung over my shoulders, me smiling at the camera while his focus is on me.
There aren't any missed calls, but there is a message from an unknown number
Unknown: I don’t hate you or blame you. You gave me an amazing life. I just want to see you. To talk to you.
He doesn’t hate me. But I can never contact him. If I did that, it could end in misery. There’s no way I’d put his life in danger. But there’s a chance it already is. He’s found me; could he have found him too?
Chapter eight
Earl
Ileft her office only because I could see the fear in her eyes. This has to do with why she came here all those years ago. We handled the situation for her and helped her get a new identity, but it seems as if she didn’t give us all the details. I’m going to need Bash to delve a little deeper than he did then, especially with all the new skills he’s learned and Colin helping him now.
AJ flashes a smile as I walk out of the kitchen, and I shake my head, seeing Jake parked at the counter right in front of her.
