Dearest Biker MC The Complete Series Box Set Page 8

  “Suit yourself,” I said with a shrug.

  “I wanted to talk to you,” my father cut in. “When are you wrapping things up today?”

  “Around three,” I said as I looked over my shoulder. “Unless it’s important enough you need me sooner. I’m having one of the cooks come in early to start cleaning the vents, but I can have him take over the kitchen instead if you need to talk.”

  “It’s not that important.” My father checked the time on his phone. “It can wait until you’re off.”

  There was only about forty-five minutes left on my shift, so by the time I handed each of them their food and they headed out into the dining room, they wouldn’t have to wait more than half an hour for me to get out there. I tried not to think about what my father wanted. I would have preferred he told me what he wanted to talk about rather than just tell me that he wanted to talk, but I’d long since learned not to question him about that.

  He would tell me when he was ready to talk to me, and that would have to wait until after my shift. Clearly, it wasn’t anything too groundbreaking if he didn’t want me to cut out early. But still, with all the secrecy I had in my life right now, I couldn’t help but wonder.

  At last, Scott, my head cook, showed up. He went to work cleaning the vents, and by the time three o’clock rolled around, I was ready to be off and he could take over. I removed my apron and grabbed a slice of peach pie before heading out into the dining room.

  Adam and my father were in one of the corner booths, talking and laughing. At least, they were in a good mood, I thought.

  “Right on time,” my dad said as I sat down.

  “I blame the military,” I replied. “If you’re not early, you’re late.”

  “Pretty sure I’ve been saying that your entire life,” he reminded me. Of course he had, my father was also ex-military.

  “What did you want to talk about?” I changed the subject. “Must be pretty important if you came all the way down here.”

  “For the first time in a while, this is something we can be excited about,” my father said as he rubbed his hands together. He grinned as he looked from Adam to me and back again. I took a bite of my pie as I waited, curious but not trying to show just how much it was eating at me.

  “The Living Hope Hospital has contacted me, asking if we would like to be part of a charity ride for the children’s wing of the hospital. I agreed up front, but I was hoping that the two of you would be willing to ride with me – and the rest of the boys,” my father said.

  “Wow,” I raised my eyebrows. It had been quite some time since we’d been asked to do anything like this, and I was happy to know it didn’t have anything to do with any of the rival clubs. “Of course, I’d do that.”

  “Good. Adam?” He turned to my comrade.

  “You know I’ll be there,” Adam said with a grin. “It’s just a matter of getting the boys on board.”

  “That’s not going to be hard,” my father replied. “But I want you both to work together to get the word out. I was also hoping that we could represent the Army and Navy in some way doing this. It’s been a while since we’ve really reminded the world that we have a proud background, too.”

  “Maybe even the Marines. Hell, we could do the entire military service, if you like,” Adam said. “Unless you want to just stick to the branches that we’ve been in.”

  “I want to raise as much awareness and money for those kids as we can,” my father replied. I always thought it strange, for as tough as nails and no nonsense as he was, my father really had a heart for kids who were sick or injured. He would do just about anything to get the money to help them out.

  “I’ll get right on that,” I said. “Do we know the dates, how far we’re going, shit like that?”

  “Not yet. I’m just talking with the guy in charge of organizing this thing at this point. But, I’ll get you that info as soon as I have it. As long as I know the two of you are on this, I can focus more on the details,” my father said. We both nodded.

  This was exciting, and I was proud to be able to lend a hand. Like my dad, I cared for the kids who were in the hospital, and I wanted to do what I could to help them get the care that they needed. Besides that, charity rides were a lot of fun. I liked the attention we got, I liked being dressed in the full leather, and I liked riding with the other members of the MC and showing the world that we were unified.

  The meeting with my father went longer than I thought it would, and it was nearly seven by the time I got home. I checked my phone, finding that I had four missed text messages from Vanessa. None of them were very important, but I felt bad for not replying.

  She had to think that I was ignoring her. I put the phone to my ear trying to call. Explaining what was going on over the phone would be better than just sending her another text. She’d appreciate that. But, my heart sank when she didn’t answer.

  She’d been pretty consistent with texting me, and it was incredibly rare for her not to answer me when I tried calling her. But the call was sent to voicemail. I simply hung up. I didn’t want to talk to a machine, I wanted to talk to Vanessa. If I couldn’t right now, then I’d have to make time for her later.

  Where the hell was she?

  14

  Vanessa

  “That’s the last of them; is there anything else you want me to get to?” I asked my boss before untying my apron. It had been a hectic day at work, and I was beyond ready to leave. I already knew I was going to get some sort of lecture from my father, and I wasn’t looking forward to it.

  We had made plans to get together for lunch that afternoon, but I got so caught up at work there was no way I could take the lunch hour. My boss often told me to stop and grab something to eat, but he didn’t want me to take a full hour when he knew that there were things to be done.

  I could have argued with him that I needed the hour and there wouldn’t have been much he could say about it, but I liked to stay on his good side. I wanted raises, and I knew the best way to get those was to act like the job was the most important thing in the world.

  So, I’d merely had an energy drink all day, working straight through until I was finally at the end of my shift.

  “Did you put the roses in the fridge?” he asked.

  “Yes, both the old and the new arrangements. We’re going to be just fine, as long as she doesn’t change her mind again,” I assured him.

  “She better not, or I’m going to have to tell her there’s no time to fill the order. We’ve fixed it for her three times, and I’m done doing it,” he replied. I wanted to laugh. He had to deal with getting the flowers and discarding or selling the flowers we no longer needed, but I was the one who had to deal with the customers and the arrangements themselves.

  But, I wasn’t going to argue with him. I was ready to get out of there, and the longer I argued the longer it was going to be before I met up with my dad.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said.

  “Have a good one,” he replied as I walked out the door. I texted my dad to meet me at a small sandwich shop not far from my house. Now that there was so much neutral ground in the town, we were able to meet up more places for lunch. It was a nice break from some of the other places we’d frequented.

  I pulled into the parking lot to find that my dad was already there. He wasn’t on his bike, so I headed inside, finding him sitting at one of the high tops in the middle of the room.

  “Sorry I had to keep you waiting,” I said as I gave him a hug and kissed his cheek. “I got so caught up at work that I didn’t have time to do anything but flowers.”

  “It’s alright. I got the chance to look around town a little more,” he said. “I feel better knowing the layout of where you live.”

  I tried not to roll my eyes. I hoped that this wasn’t going to turn into another lecture about how I should move back home or back to the same town he lived. But he merely nodded toward the menu hanging above the counter. “Are you hungry?”

  �
��Starving,” I said. For the first time in a while, I actually was. I hadn’t been eating much for the past few days, and it was starting to catch up with me. I knew I couldn’t live off energy drinks, despite the fact they did the job, especially when I drank them on an empty stomach.

  “Let’s eat,” he said. We rose and headed to the counter, both ordering sub sandwiches and chips before heading back to the high top table we’d chosen. The sandwich shop wasn’t busy, so we were able to speak freely in low voices and still hear each other.

  I didn’t think any of the kids behind the counter would care about what he had to say, but it was my father’s habit to always keep things that had to do with the MC under wraps as much as possible. I knew he was sleazy in many of his dealings, and with that being part of the reason I didn’t want anything to do with the club, I didn’t ask for many details.

  But today, he surprised me.

  “I was contacted by Greg Honduras, the operator of Living Hope Hospital,” he said. I looked at him in surprise.

  “Oh? What did he want?” It seemed strange that a man from a hospital in a town a couple hours away would want to talk to my dad, especially with the Folded Flags making it clear they were the bikers who were in charge of Santa Rosa.

  “He’s looking for riders to ride for a charity for the kids,” my father said as he took a bite of his sandwich. “He wants to raise as much money as possible for new equipment in the kids’ ward, as well as send some of the excess funds to research hospitals to fight childhood cancers.”

  “Really? And, he’s asked you to ride for him?” I asked, not bothering to hide my surprise. “Are you going to do it?”

  “He’s asked the Flags, too, so we can’t feel too honored. Then again, I’m not going to let Carl get the best of us here. We can be just as noble and upstanding as that bastard, and that’s what we’re going to do,” my father said with conviction in his voice.

  Of course, he’d feel that way. He didn’t care much for the kids themselves so much as how it would make him look to the public to ride for the charity. He didn’t like to be outdone by the Flags, though they were the ones who were most often the faces of such events.

  “Will you go?” he asked.

  I looked at him in surprise again. I hadn’t ridden in a charity event in years. Of course, I knew how to ride a motorcycle, and I was happy to help the kids. And, I was sure Zach would be there if the Flags were invited. But, I also wasn’t sure I wanted to ride with my father. I still didn’t like being tied to The Enemies.

  “Can I think about it?” I asked. “When is it? How many people are going to be there?”

  “I’ve got to work out those details,” my father said, clearly masking his frustration at my stalling. “But if I get you the information, would you make an effort to go?”

  “I’ll try,” I said. He gave me a look and I forced a smile. “Really, Dad, it’s for the kids. I’ll do my best.”

  “That would be great,” he said with a smile. “Thank you.”

  I pulled into the driveway in front of the garage with a sigh. My mind was still on the conversation I’d just had with my father, and I wasn’t sure what to do about the invitation. I did want to help the kids, and more than that, I did want to see Zach, but I was still rather frustrated with him for not answering me.

  This was important, and he could have made the time to say something. If my father knew that the Flags had been invited, there was little doubt in my mind Zach knew already, too, but I hadn’t heard from him.

  Lynne was drinking a beer as she lounged in a chair on the lawn, so I grabbed one out of the cooler and joined her.

  “You had a late day,” she said.

  “I met my father for a late lunch after work,” I told her as I cracked open the beer. I grabbed my phone, my heart skipping a beat when I saw I had a missed call from Zach. It had been the night before, but I only just now realized that I missed it. At least it eased my mind about not hearing from him.

  “What did your dad have to say?” Lynne asked. “He still wanting you to move back home?”

  “That’s going to be something he’ll forever want,” I said as I rolled my eyes. “But he was telling me about this charity ride that the MC got invited to. He wants me to go.”

  I found Zach in my contacts and sent him a text. I didn’t want to keep playing phone tag, and it was getting ridiculous not being able to get a hold of him. Clearly, he’d tried to reach back out to me, but I’d missed the call, and I felt bad about that.

  Now, I was going to try to make amends.

  Don’t know why I didn’t see your missed call until now. I hope your day’s going okay.

  I hit send and draped my forearms over my knees, holding my beer in one hand and my phone in the other. I was waiting for a text back, but I tried to act natural in front of Lynne. She didn’t know the extent of how much Zach and I were talking, and I didn’t want her to question it.

  Though I was happy to tell her the truth, that didn’t change the fact that I knew we still had to be careful. Hell, we had to be very careful if we were going to be seeing each other at this charity event.

  “Are you going to?” Lynne asked. She removed her sunglasses and looked at me with a penetrating stare. I shrugged.

  “I mean, it’s for the kids,” I said, ignoring the fact Zach was going to be there. “I’d like to be able to support them if I can. And, you know the more of us who show up, the more likely it will raise a lot of money.”

  She looked at me for a minute before she smacked me on the arm.

  “Ouch!” I said. “What was that for?”

  “What did you just say?” she shot back. “The more people who show up! You know what that means?”

  I stared at her for a moment, then my eyes widened. She was right. She didn’t even have to say his name, and I knew who she was talking about. My brother would almost certainly show up to this if it’s what my dad wanted. Though their relationship wasn’t the greatest, I knew this was just the sort of thing my brother would cling to.

  He loved to make a show, especially in front of my father. Fuck. I didn’t want to see him, and I really didn’t want to see him with Zach right there. My brother was arrogant and full of himself, and I had a feeling he’d try to start shit.

  “Fuck,” I said.

  “Yeah,” Lynne replied. My phone buzzed in my hand, and I was relieved to see Zach’s name on the screen. Finally.

  It’s okay. It can be hard to match schedules sometimes. What’s up, sexy?

  I smiled. I didn’t know how he always made things instantly better, but he did. Feeling good, I shot him another text as I took another swig of my beer. If I could talk to Zach, everything would be better. But suddenly, I didn’t want to talk about the charity. My mind was on other things, and if I couldn’t have him on me – or rather, in me – right now, there were ways around it.

  I was just daydreaming about your sexy self. Wishing you were here, wishing I didn’t have to use my own hand and fingers to make myself feel this way while I think about you.

  I hit send and was relieved Lynne had returned to her sunbathing. She had her sunglasses on, but I could see her eyes were closed. Now would be a good time for me to make my escape. I rose, but my phone buzzed again before I could take even two steps.

  I could call and help you out with that. Are you home?

  With another grin, I picked up the pace as I headed for my door. Phone sex wasn’t always my favorite thing in the world, but I suddenly wanted to do it more than anything. If I couldn’t have Zach right here with me, then I would happily have sex with him through the phone and connect as best we could that way.

  He would come down here and see me again as soon as he could, but until then, we were going to have to make do with what we had. And right now, I had my hand and my phone, and now I had Zach’s voice to whisper filthy things into my ear while I touched myself.

  I sat on my best and pulled down my pants, sending him another quick text with a misc
hievous tone.

  I want you to tell me what you’d do to me if you were here. I want you to make me cum with your words.

  Immediately, my phone started ringing. I answered on the first tone and put the phone to my ear, cradling it in my neck as I slid my hand into my panties.

  “Hello?” I didn’t understand why, but there was a part of me that was nervous. I’d only done this a couple times before, and it never felt quite right. But, with Zach, I wanted to give it another shot.

  “Hello, beautiful,” Zach’s voice replied. I smiled as I immediately started to feel more aroused. I didn’t know what it was about this man, but I knew he could do things to me no one else could, even turn me on through the phone alone.

  This wasn’t going to take long, at all.

  15

  Zach

  I had a skip in my step as I headed up the door to Vanessa’s apartment. It was Thursday night, and I finally had the chance to get out of work early, telling Scott that I had an appointment. He was used to me having meetings and appointments that I had to get to, and since I often rewarded him with a bonus on his paycheck for coming in early, he didn’t mind.

  I was more than ready to see Vanessa again. With the two hours between us, it was hard for me to hop down and see her whenever I wanted, especially with work. But, I was determined. We had great phone sex on Monday, which I appreciated, but since then there had clearly been something on her mind. I knew I had to figure out what was going on, but I wasn’t sure how to do it.

  She was stressed out about something, so when she asked if it would be possible for me to come over soon, I was more than happy to oblige. Hell, if I was lucky it might lead to explosive, mind-blowing sex. I wouldn’t argue with that if that was the case.

  Though, I wasn’t going to push her for it.

  I knocked on the door and was surprised when she merely called out for me to come in rather than opening it herself. Granted, I could have just walked inside as I had done the last time I came over, but that was a different circumstance.