WRECKED: CHOSEN FEW MC - BOOK TWO: OUTLAW BIKER/ALPHA ROMANCE Page 5

  “She and Jake okay? I’m sure he needs her.”

  “Needs her? He’d totally crash and burn without her there. He can’t be bothered to take the right amount of meds at the right time, probably wouldn’t eat right, and the only reason he gets to rehab is because she browbeats him.”

  “You spend a lot of time with them.”

  “They’re family.”

  “How about a family of your own?”

  “I got enough family to deal with at the moment.”

  “Yeah, but you have needs.”

  “A woman, you mean.”

  “Yeah, a woman.”

  “Well… Audra has a suggestion for you.”

  Greg smiled at Audra. At one time he’d been ready to fight Dirk over this woman. Dirk hadn’t been able to see his own feelings for her, and Greg had felt an attraction. The bad guys made sure that nothing happened between them, but it almost had. But after Dirk rescued Audra, they’d bonded, and he and Audra had never talked about it. She was happy with Dirk, and therefore that was the way things should be. Still, the incident, that brief moment, did give them a connection. He still liked her, cared for her.

  “You have a suggestion for me? About a woman?”

  Audra laughed. “More of an offer.”

  “An offer.”

  Once again she laughed. “Hey, Sheila.”

  Her call summoned a slinky brunette out of the office. She had hair down her back, and wore a tee shirt and denim shorts—the semi-official biker chick uniform. Her face was thin, almost regal, and Greg found her very attractive. He’d seen her around, but not paid much attention to her. Apparently, that oversight had been noticed.

  “Sheila here is wondering why you never ask her to dance when you come into the clubhouse. Right, Sheila?”

  “I guess I wondered, all right. A hot guy like you…” she turned in front of him, moving slowly and running her hands over her ass. “I was wondering why it is you don’t seem interested in making a play for this? It isn’t like I glare at you. Do I?”

  Wrench smiled. The pitch was direct and unsubtle. And she was nicer than a lot of the girls he’d bedded. “I could indeed. You’re a lovely package, Sheila.”

  She licked her lips. “This lovely package is packaged to go, if I get the right offer from the right guy.”

  “What makes an offer the right offer?”

  “If I got to know the right guy, say a nice looking guy like you, and he wanted an old lady, someone he could be serious about and keep around, then I’d be interested in getting together to see if we could make some sparks fly.”

  “That’s a bad image for a mechanic, Sheila.”

  “Well, whatever. We could find out if there was any magic and if we got together, well I can I guarantee a good looking guy wouldn’t regret it. I do know how to make a man feel so very good.”

  The way she said it made him tingle. “I just bet you do. Thing is, right now I have Tiny breathing down my neck about his bike. So, how about this… you go on over to the club. I’ll be there later on, after I get at least a little work done on these damaged scooters. If I see you there, I’ll buy you a beer, we can dance and see where that leads us.”

  “I promise it can lead into interesting places. Don’t work too late. I might think you aren’t coming, and it isn’t like I never get other offers.”

  Then she turned and walked away, her hips moving her ass in an exaggerated motion. Greg watched her walk away. “She is hot, Audra, I grant you that.”

  “And she thinks you are.”

  Dirk nudged him. “You been alone a long time.”

  He grinned. “Not totally alone.”

  “I’m not saying you never get laid, dope. I’m saying you been on your own, no old lady, for a long time. That can eat you up.”

  “Yeah, but so can hooking up with the wrong woman.”

  Audra laughed. “Well, at least you have a candidate now. She might be right or wrong, but she definitely wants you and you find her attractive, too.”

  “She is that.”

  Audra kissed his cheek. “I’m going to the club, too. You coming, Dirk?”

  “In a few. I want to talk to Wrench about something.”

  She grinned. “Guy talk?”

  “Something like that.”

  “I should stick around or plant a bug or something. This might be interesting.”

  “Get on outta here,” Dirk laughed.

  * * *

  After Audra had left the garage, Dirk settled himself on a stack of tires and watched as Greg went back to work.

  “So what’s bugging you?” Greg asked him.

  “Your problem is bugging me—wondering what your problem is.”

  “My problem?”

  “Consider the girl that was just here. Delicious, ripe, loves bikes… I’m thinking about the way you acted. The body Sheila has gives me shivers, and when she practically begged you to take her home and fuck her, you send her off to drink with the guys.”

  “I said I’d catch up with her later. I will.”

  “And it sounded to everyone in the room, including Sheila, like a kiss off. I could see it in her face. She didn’t think you meant it for a minute. At the very least, if I wasn’t totally strung out on Audra, I would be delighted to bang her senseless. You don’t seem interested in taking her on a test run in your bed and have some fun. Even if you aren’t looking for an old lady, I’d think that possibility would strike your fancy.”

  “So who says I’m not looking?”

  “Me.”

  Greg snorted. “Well, you’d be wrong.”

  “Really?”

  “It so happens that lately I’ve been thinking about what’s missing from my life. I’m pretty lucky, considering how things have gone. The garage is my dream and keeps me busy. I’ve got lots friends around me, some of whom don’t even worry about my love life. It’s pretty sweet. But I’ll admit to feeling lonely—there’s an emptiness. For a long time my guilt kept me from realizing what it was. I couldn’t let go of what I lost. When I felt that way it was enough to shag any decent girl that was interested. And yes, Sheila is a notch or six above decent. She’s prime.”

  “And what’s the score now?”

  “I need more from life, and messing around with a one-night stand, going after a piece of ass while my head and heart are looking for a woman who is a keeper doesn’t satisfy me. I need a woman that I can have something with like you have with Audra. I can’t have my head in both places at the same time. It doesn’t work. On top of that, I do like Sheila. I think enough of her not to use her and throw her away, but I already know that her attraction is the kind that would wear off sooner, rather than later. And while she might be up for a fun time, I get the impression that she wants more too. She wants a guy who will make her his old lady.”

  “Well you sure don’t act like a man on the hunt. I don’t see you even talking to single girls much, and you haven’t mentioned anyone special.”

  “You don’t see me all the time, man. How many single girls come in this garage anyway? And it so happens that, in addition to finding out what damage Tiny did to his bike, until you interrupted me, I was thinking about who just might be special. Someone I think is more than hot. Someone who might be able to fill the void.”

  “Just thinking about her?”

  Greg sighed. “You know what’s weird? Having the club Enforcer, a guy named Cutter, consulting with you on relationship matters is what. Who’d think that the Enforcer was also supposed to give advice to lonely hearts?”

  “The club Enforcer is on break. His knife is safely in his boot and your buddy Dirk is talking at you.”

  “My schizoid pal, Dirk the Cutter.”

  “Do I have to wake up Cutter?”

  “Look, man, I met someone recently. Just met, is all. Now I’m testing the waters, going slow.”

  “Why slow?”

  “For one thing, I don’t know if she’d even consider letting someone like me get close. She’s
from a different world and she’s just getting over the shock of me being who I am. She isn’t used to bikers, ex cons, and other riffraff, and I definitely qualify for two out of those three categories, with an option on riffraff.”

  “But you’re a nice ex con biker, who is possibly riffraff, whatever that is.”

  “I appreciate the uninformed vote of confidence.”

  “So she’ll like you.”

  Greg held up a greasy finger. “There is one other complication, a solid reason for taking my time and figuring out what I’m doing. And it’s one even you will understand. If I do push things, if I were to convince her to hop into bed with me and it came out badly, there would be ramifications beyond hurt feelings.”

  “She has a jealous old man?”

  “Far worse—a much higher power. The wrath of another lover is peanuts by comparison.”

  “What?”

  “The woman in question is Carly’s teacher. Carly thinks she is tops and has been hinting at a possible match. I’ve pooh poohed her teasing suggestions to throw her off the scent until I get this sorted.”

  Dirk moaned. “Shit. Because if you bed the teacher, and it goes badly, and she gets pissed with you…”

  “I go to the top of Carly’s shit list.”

  Dirk shook his head, laughing. “And here I was thinking you just lost your nerve. That you are even considering taking a risk like that is foursquare hardcore, dude, especially when there is far safer game afoot. I’m thinking you need to stick to Shirley, er Sheila. Reliable pussy is getting scarce out on the prairie. Take it when it’s offered, especially if the teacher is just a maybe.” He laughed again. “It’s your gamble, but if it was me…”

  “Look, I’ll do what I promised. If you will leave me alone to do some work, I’ll come to the club tonight. I’ll have some drinks with her, dance, and I’ll see if we hit if off. Maybe there is more to her than I think, and that will solve all of the world’s major problems. But like I said, if she’s not special, I’ll back off.”

  “What if you like her? Sheila, I mean. How will you deal with Carly thinking you and her teacher would be a match?”

  “If I’m going out with Sheila, I’d have to shut down any forward motion with the teacher. As far as Carly goes, I could pull off playing like I was blind to her hints, or the teacher’s attractions.” He rubbed his chin. “But frankly, I’m leaning toward Carly’s view. This teacher, Melanie, has more obvious appeal to me. Her legs and ass are just as nice as Sheila’s, too. But I’m willing to take Audra’s candidate under advisement. Until I figure it out, not a word to Carly.”

  “Not a peep. As long as you promise to go for it. If you pass on Sheila and then don’t make a move on the other front, I’ll have Audra tell Carly you’ve lost your nerve with girls and are acting like one of the yucky boys in her class.”

  “Don’t push. I do have to bide my time, find the right opening. Like I said, she’s from another world. If I come on too strong I could spook her.”

  “Well, we wouldn’t want that. The point is to shag her and let her find out what a stud you are.”

  “Eventually. But I want her to see me as something more and for it to mean something.”

  “Even your wife wouldn’t want you doing nothing—you know that. She’d tell you the garage is a nice start, that she’s thrilled that you took my advice and started it, because it’s good for you. It’s a living, but without a woman to share it, it’s no fucking life.”

  “Yeah, I tell myself that she’d approve. The truth is I don’t know that I believe it.”

  “Another thing to remember—this teacher ain’t a bike, Wrench. She ain’t gonna sit around waiting until you get around to making her motor hum. If she’s hot, then there will be other guys coming along who want to take a ride. If she doesn’t know you’re interested, she might accept another offer.”

  “You leave the mechanics to me, amigo, and we will be fine. Now either go buy the ladies a beer or two and let me work or tell Tiny it’s your fault his bike is still in itty bitty pieces on the garage floor.”

  “Now that is what I call a perfect division of labor. You do the labor and I’ll cheer up the ladies.”

  As his friend left, Greg focused his attention on finding out how much damage Tiny had inflicted on that beautiful engine. He couldn’t take anything for granted. That kind of failure could stress other parts. It would have to be totally torn down and everything carefully checked or it would just seize up. Carly was going to love this mess. There would be a lot of work for her to do that she hadn’t had a chance to do yet. She liked new things.

  As he planned out the work, a vision of Carly’s teacher came into his mind, distracting him. She was an impressive lady and he was interested. But he wasn’t sure what to do. At forty he was too old to want to make a fool of himself. They would be good in bed together. There was no question about that but he sensed she was after more than that. She put a spring in his step, and he thought he caught a sparkle in her eye when he showed up.

  But how to approach her?

  His only connection to this woman was their common interest in Carly. Ms. Wilford knew Carly loved motorcycles and that he and Carly shared that fascination. Maybe that fascination was infectious. He and Carly preached the gospel of the open road. Maybe her teacher would be willing to take a ride, to find out what the attraction was. Even if she wasn’t interested in him now, she might accept an invitation for a ride as a way to understand Carly. Which, through his perverted logic, would give her a chance to get to know him and possibly understand why Carly loved him. Maybe, maybe, maybe.

  He knew so little about the woman. In fact, the main thing he knew about her was that he wanted to know more about her. He wanted to find out if what he instinctively felt really reflected some kind of mutual attraction.

  Offering a ride was worth a shot.

  The worst that could happen is that she’d say no. If she did, he’d manage to survive it.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  On Friday, with the promise of a weekend in the air, Melanie watched Donna make her usual run for the safety of her office the moment the harsh roar of Greg’s motorcycle cut through the hubbub of children’s voices. “I have some paperwork to do,” she said before beating a hasty retreat. Frustrated in not being able to find any reason to ban Greg from the schoolyard, she couldn’t bear to see how he was getting popular with many of the kids. He neither encouraged them nor chased them away. He just talked to them, mostly answering questions about his motorcycle. Many of the questions they asked were just to confirm something that Carly had told them, like how fast the bike could go.

  Even Greg’s parole officer hadn’t been willing to help Donna in her quest. “He said Greg was a model citizen,” she said in a huff. She handed Melanie a sheet of paper. “Look at this. The man spent ten years in prison for murder. How is it that the authorities see no problem with him coming to a school?”

  Melanie scanned the page. “Well, it wasn’t murder, Mrs. Turnbull. He killed a man in a bar brawl.”

  “So he’s a murderer.”

  “Not according to the justice department. What he is now, legally, is a reformed convict. He did his time. Even this report shows that he didn’t start the fight—it was more a matter of him using excessive force to defend himself. And it isn’t like he’s a sex offender or a drug dealer. If he’d been convicted of those they’d make him stay away from all schools.”

  “It makes me furious that we can’t have a say so about this matter.”

  Melanie handed her back the paper. “Well, it certainly seems that you’ve done everything you can do.”

  “Thank you,” she said primly.

  After that, even Donna accepted that she wasn’t going to find any legal restrictions, and the other staff said nothing. If anything, they found that he exerted a good influence on the kids. He was polite to the teachers and staff and other than his appearance, did nothing that would make him seem gloriously rebellious. His cordial manner contr
asted with his biker colors and the nasty growl his bike made. If it hadn’t been for the bike and his attire, he’d be a model parent. Even if he was an uncle.

  That first day, when Greg grabbed Carly by the waist and spun her around, he plunked her down on his bike. The other kids had watched enviously. Now, every day some of the children would gather round.

  “That’s a cool bike,” one said.

  Perched on the seat, a proud Carly surveyed her rapt audience. “It’s a Harley-Davidson Heritage Springer,” she told them, looking officious. “It has a 1550 cc engine with Samson fishtail pipes, which is why it sounds so cool.”

  Greg laughed at her. “You stay put and hold court for a minute while I take care of some business.”

  “What business?” she laughed. “Our business is fixing motorcycles.”

  Melanie eyed him curiously as he walked up to her and faced her, his soft eyes capturing her. “Hello again, Melanie. I hope I’m not out of line, but I wanted to thank you for being so good to Carly. She adores you.”

  The praise caught her off balance. “Thank you.”

  “Beyond that, I’ve enjoyed our brief chats.”

  “So have I.”

  “Wonderful, because I’d like to get to know you better. I’d like you to get to know me better.”

  With her mind reeling and her heart suddenly pounding, she stared at him. “Did you have something in mind?”

  “I’d like to take you for a ride.”

  “A ride?”

  He used his thumb to point over his shoulder. “On my bike. Tomorrow is Saturday. The weather report says it is supposed to be a gorgeous day. If you don’t have plans, I’d like to take you on a ride up the coast to a little place I know that has the world’s best burgers.”

  His intense look as he waited for her to answer made her wonder if he sensed the combination of excitement and nervousness the idea aroused in her. “I’ve never been on a motorcycle before.”

  “Wonderful. I can introduce you to something new.”