He chuckled when she took one step back as though needing him out of her personal space to engage her brain.
“Perfect,” he said. “It’s a date.”
“What should I wear?”
“It’s casual. Jeans are good. I want the opportunity to see that ass wrapped in denim. Plus, we’ll take my bike.”
“Bike?”
The loud and familiar rumble of motorcycle pipes flooded the parking lot then cut off at the same moment Holly’s gaze dropped to his chest. For the first time since they emerged from their apartments, she seemed to notice what he was wearing.
“Oh, shit,” she muttered on an exhale before gnawing the lipstick off her bottom lip.
“Yo, LJ, get your giant ass down here, brother. Hey! That the sexy neighbor girl you were telling me about? The one with the tits and ass? Hey, sexy neighbor!”
Goddamnit.
Screw was clearly visible through the slats of the second-floor railing. The mouthy motherfucker sat astride his Fat Boy next to Maverick and Thunder, one of the MC’s newer prospects.
As LJ opened his mouth to tell Screw to fuck off, the heavy pounding of feet approaching from the staircase had both him and Holly turning.
“Oh, shit,” she said at full volume this time as a furious man in uniform stormed straight toward him.
He wore a badge indicating he was the new town sheriff. LJ had wondered what the fucker looked like. Now he knew. He looked like a rabid animal out for blood.
“What the…I didn’t do shit.” LJ said as the sheriff drew closer.
Holly stepped between him and the charging law enforcement officer, hands on her hips. LJ grabbed her waist with the intention of hauling her behind him until she said, “Dad, stop!” in a deadly, but low command that had him freezing in his tracks.
Dad?
Dad?
Fucking Dad?
Oh for fuck’s sake…
“Holly, are you okay? Get out of the way, honey.” There was genuine panic in the sheriff’s voice. What the hell did he think LJ was going to do to her?
“Dad—”
“Did he threaten you? Touch you? Scare you?”
“Dad—”
“Get your fucking hands off my daughter unless you’d like to spend the night in jail.” His voice was as quiet as Holly’s had been, probably to keep LJ’s nosey brothers in the parking lot from hearing, but no less lethal than a raging shout.
“What the fuck?” Maverick’s pissed off voice floated up from the parking lot. Great, that guy was already over the top pissed at the sheriff’s office. He did not need any fuel on his fire. Especially when the sheriff seemed all too willing to toss their asses behind bars.
“Dad!” Holly screamed this time. The biting sound seemed to snap the sheriff out of whatever fury-induced trance he’d fallen into. His gaze finally left LJ’s hands—which he sure as fuck didn’t remove from the soft hips of the woman in front of him—and landed on his daughter.
“What the hell are you doing, Dad? Why are you even here?” She was nearly vibrating with frustration beneath LJ’s hands.
“Step away from him, Holly.”
She blew out a long breath and shook her head, but she didn’t move away. In fact, she leaned the slightest bit back, which bumped her directly into LJ’s chest. The moment their bodies connected, some of the tension leached out of her. LJ couldn’t help himself. Blame it on the same devil that gave Holly those great tits. He gave her hip a slow, sensual squeeze. When her father’s eyes narrowed in on the action, LJ smirked.
“No, Dad. I’m not going to step away.” Her voice held a slight tremor despite the strength of her words.
“Need us up there, LJ?” Screw called from below.
“Nah, brother. I got this. Hang tight, I’ll be down in five.”
“Dad, this is LJ. He’s my next-door neighbor, and a…friend,” she said.
“Holly,” the sheriff said in a voice that was almost pleading. “Don’t do this. You have no idea—”
“Dad, LJ is the guy who kindly helped me carry a million boxes up all those stairs the other night. He’s been a complete gentleman since I met him.”
LJ bit back a bark of laughter. Good to know he’d been a gentleman in his actions. Had she been privy to what was going on in his head or with the relationship between his fist and his cock while thinking of her last night, she might amend that statement.
“Look, Sheriff, I don’t know what’s going on here,”—whopper of a lie. He knew exactly what was going on. New sheriff hated the fuck out of bikers and was losing his shit over his daughter living next to one. And associating with one. Being touched by one. What would the guy do if he knew his daughter was gonna be fucked by one sooner rather than later?—“but I got shit to do, and it sounds like your daughter has plans as well. So why don’t we just move alo—”