l on a pair of running shoes. Simple tennis shoes had not been all that comfortable the day before, so I was going for the arch support of my running shoes today.
Even though I was leaving my hair down, I still grabbed a ponytail holder for my waitressing shift. I was ready, but I still had to wake Hawk as I’d promised him I would a few hours before. Biting my lip, which was still sore, I reached out and laid a hand against his scruffy jaw.
He rubbed his face against my hand before lifting his hand to cover mine. His eyes barely opened as he turned his face and kissed my palm. “You leaving?”
“Y-yeah,” I murmured, wondering if I was going to have to change my panties before I left or not. That simple, innocent kiss to my hand had my body all kinds of stirred up. Damn, one kiss and I’d turned into some raging nymphomaniac ready to jump him at the slightest touch of his skin against my own.
His lips lifted in a smile against my open hand. “I’ll bring you some lunch.” He kissed my hand again and I wasn’t quick enough to close my mouth before a small moan broke free. His tongue circled my palm twice before he finally released me. “Drive safely, baby.”
I wasn’t sure how I was going to do that when my mind was still stuck on the way his tongue had made my body heat raise from normal to white hot in a matter of seconds. But I gave him a smile, murmured a “see you then” and went dazedly off to work.
Somehow I found my way to Jack’s garage. Raven had given me directions the night before so I knew where I was going. I’d been expecting a small garage and lots of grease everywhere. What I found was a classy bike shop where he sold parts, with a five-car garage in the back where there were already men working on a range of different automobiles. I saw what looked like a classic Harley Davidson in one bay, a simple mom van in another, and even a muscle car in yet another bay.
I parked the Chevelle and got out only to notice that I’d caught the attention of Jack’s mechanics. Five men were watching me from the garage as I shut the door of Hawk’s car and tossed my keys into my purse. I took them all in for a moment. One was an older man with hair grayer than Jack’s, but the others varied in ages from early twenties to mid forties. I didn’t look long enough to see if they were attractive, as I didn’t care if they were or not.
A door that seemed to connect the bike shop to the garage opened and Jack walked out, a grin on his face. “Morning, sweetheart. Glad to see you decided to take me up on my offer.”
I didn’t return the smile. I wasn’t there to play happy families with the man that had abandoned my mother when she had needed him the most, or even to make friends with him. “Yeah, well, the money you promised was just to good to pass up.”
If I was expecting his smile to fade at my cold tone I was disappointed. If anything the grin grew wider and he actually chuckled as he nodded his head toward his men. “Let me introduce you to these dickheads and then I’ll show you where you’ll be working.”
He walked into the first garage bay where the old man was working on the classic Harley. “Gracie, this is Snake. Snake, my granddaughter, Gracie Morgan. She’s gonna be taking care of the garage’s office work.”
I couldn’t keep my eyes from widening at the older man’s name. “Snake?” I questioned. “Is that your real name?”
Jack threw his head back and laughed out loud and Snake gave me a grin as he wiped his grease-covered hands on an old rag. When his hand was clean he offered it to me and I hesitated only for a moment before shaking it. “It’s the only one I know now, Gracie. My momma gave me the name of Chester, but Snake suits me better.”
“It sure as hell does,” Jack assured him, still chuckling. “If you need anything, Gracie, you just let Snake know. If the other boys give you a hard time you come talk to me. Make sure you talk to me before you tell Hawk so I can take care of it before he takes care of them. I like these dickheads and don’t need that boy burying any of them unless I know first.”
I rolled my eyes. “I don’t tattle, Jack.”
“No one said you did, girl. But if anyone gives you a hard time, I expect to be told. Yeah?”
I blew out a long sigh. “Yeah.”
He nodded and then introduced the other four mechanics. There was Clutch, who was the youngest of them. He was probably just a year or so older than me and he had a grin that told me he was an easy sort of guy to get along with. Onyx was the forty-something man who gave me a small smile but otherwise went back to working on the mom van. I figured that like Snake and Clutch, Onyx wasn’t his real name but instead was the one the MC had given him. But I could definitely see why they’d called him Onyx. His black eyes gleamed like the gemstones. I could also see that Clutch and Onyx were related, not because they looked so similar, but from their eyes alone.
Harley told me that his name was the one his momma gave him. He was no older than thirty if I was guessing, and he gave me a smile that was a mixture of friendly and appraising. He didn’t make me feel threatened, exactly, just really uncomfortable. I forced a smile back at him and rushed to shake the last man’s hand. His name was Trigger, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to know how he’d gotten that club name. The man was a little older than Onyx, but despite his name I actually felt kind of safe when his big hand clasped mine.
“Nice to meet you, Gracie,” he murmured. “I knew your momma. She…” he broke off and shook his head. “She was a really good girl. You look just like her.”
I swallowed hard and gave him the best smile I could produce, considering I was so close to tears that someone other than myself would think her such a good person. In my eyes, my mother was the best mother ever. Despite what my father had done to her she had been fiery and full of life. I just hated that the man who had cost her the rest of her precious life shared DNA with me. “Thanks, Trigger.”
“I’m going to put Gracie to work now, boys.” I gave Trigger another smile and turned to follow Jack into the garage’s office. “Bash usually works here a few days a week too. Monday thru Wednesday. Thursday thru Saturday he takes care of club business for the most part. When he was enforcer, he sometimes had to take care of inner club issues for a few other charters. Now that he’s president, that stuff falls to Spider to take care of,” Jack told me as he showed me into the office. “Anyway, don’t be surprised when you see him Monday morning.”
“Okay,” I said and nodded before taking a seat behind the desk he had led me to. It was neat enough, with a few papers that looked like order forms already waiting on me. There was an older computer already on with a screensaver of a motorcycle driving from side to side.
For the next forty or so minutes, Jack told me what he expected of me and gave me a crash course on how to put in orders, who to call for parts, and how to set up appointments. I also found out how to give customers prices and how to write up a bill for them. It was all basic things that I caught on to fairly quickly. By lunchtime I was confident in my ability to run the office for Jack and he was more than comfortable enough to leave me on my own while he went out to pick up a few parts that Trigger needed for the truck he was working on.
My stomach started to grumble, letting me know that I hadn’t stopped long enough to grab so much as a toaster pastry breakfast. Hawk had said he would bring me lunch but I was starting to wonder if he had forgotten. Disappointment filled me not because I’d been looking forward to whatever meal he was going to bring me, but because I’d been excited to see him.
Sighing, I picked up my purse. Jack had told me to just hang the sign that I was out to lunch when I was ready to take my break. I turned it over so that everyone would know I would be back in half an hour and headed out. As I walked toward the Chevelle I heard one of the guys call my name and I lifted my head with a forced smile when I realized it was Harley.
I stopped and waited as he jogged toward me. “You going to lunch?”
I shrugged. “Yeah. Want me to bring you guys back anything?”
“Nah, we’re good. We ordered a few pizzas, actually, so if you want to stay and eat with us