Page 10 of The Biker’s Guilty Pleasur

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Reaper watched Grace, not for the first time, as he worked on some of the wiring near the first-floor kitchen. The lights had been flickering on and off for the past week, and he’d worked his way through the faulty wiring, attempting to replace as much as possible without disturbing the internal walls. He had a sneaking suspicion they were going to have no choice but to rewire the entire property, which meant plaster was coming off the walls and would require new drywall.

The budget couldn’t handle that, and Lord seemed to be a little pissed off at him lately, spending more time away from the clubhouse. His responsibilities at the club were never affected. He was there when they needed him, but they didn’t require him to be sitting on his ass, waiting for trouble to come calling. That shit seemed to come naturally to them.

For the past few months, all had been quiet, and he knew how quickly that could change. They didn’t need him at the club, but the women’s shelter needed him. He’d been promising to do the repairs for a long time, and now, it was like a domino effect, once one thing went wrong, it started the chain reaction of everything else.

It didn’t help that he was easily distracted by a certain messy blonde woman. Grace.

She didn’t even like him, and usually he was not attracted to women who showed open disdain for him. Grace was different. He noticed her gaze on him every chance she got. Even when she didn’t want to be looking at him, she was. He was out playing ball with the kids just the other day, and he happened to notice her watching from one of the windows. He might have flexed and enjoyed the kids a little more than usual.

She was nervous around bikers. He didn’t blame her. She should be. It would be easy to find information about her, at just the click of his fingers. He could phone his guy, give a name, and he’d have everything he needed within hours. He didn’t know why, but he didn’t want it to be so easy. He wanted to learn more about her the hard way.

Reaper twitched his screwdriver and jerked back as there was a sudden surge, and seconds later the lights went out, and the alarm went off.

“Fuck!”

He put down his tools and quickly made his way to the basement. He’d been distracted by Grace, and he’d touched the wrong freaking cable, sending a surge, and also giving himself a shock. It was nothing to worry about, as it cut out with no other problem.

“Is everything all right?” Gena called down.

“Yeah, it is, but I think we’re going to have to concede and I’m going to have no choice but to rewire this place.”

“You are? I don’t know if it is within the budget. We’re—”

“I’ve got a few guys who can help. I’ll get their details for you, and you can sign off on them allowing them to work. We can do the work through the day. It does mean the electricity is going to be off for some time,” he said.

“What about the food? The freezers? The fridges?” Gena asked. She hated asking for help, and he’d come to figure that within a few days of knowing her.

“I’ve got a backup generator I can let you use. All essentials can be hooked up to it, and you won’t lose any food.”

Gena blew out a breath. “This was the risk you told me I would be taking by throwing that problem further down the road.”

He did warn her that the longer she left it, the harder it was going to be.

She put a hand to her forehead as he came up the stairs. “I’m sorry, yes, please let me know the men or women that will be working with you. I’ll have to do a security check.”

“You know I wouldn’t bring anyone who isn’t up to the task,” he said.

“Thank you, Reaper, you’re a godsend. I honestly don’t know what we would do without you.” She put a hand on his arm, and then immediately pulled it away.

She never flirted, so he didn’t see it as anything more than friendly.

“I’ll get this safe for tonight, but the sooner we get this work done, the better.” He brushed past her and made his way back to where his tools were. Grace was there.

“It went dark,” she said, looking a little pale.

“Yeah, me and a few of my guys are going to be in here the next few days. Fixing this place up. You might want to avoid it,” he said, smirking with his back to her.

“Why avoid it?” she asked.

There was a slight tightness to her tone, and he knew he should just leave it alone. There was no point in poking the bear, but he couldn’t help it. She was just too adorable to not irritate.

“I know you’ve got an issue with us biker sorts, and, well, my friends are the only ones willing to do the job without pay, and they’re all bikers. We can tell when we’re not liked.” His friends didn’t know they were not going to get paid. He would square it up with each of them himself. They would be happy to help, although they would moan about it until the freaking cows came home.

For a second, he wondered if it was worth hiring someone else to do the work. Then again, he didn’t trust anyone else, and he knew with his club brothers the women and children here would be safe. Their safety was paramount.

He couldn’t help but think of his mother in that moment. Reaper tried not to think of his mother. It was a sore subject for him, so he quickly pushed that to the back of his mind.