Chapter 1: Jessica
Looking around the bakery, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of accomplishment. I know it wasn’t my store, but it felt like it. It was hard to imagine, looking at the bakery, that the majority owners were a local MC, the Archangel’s Warriors. When I’d hired on here at the end of July, I couldn’t believe my luck. I’d found a bakery needing a baker in this small Tennessee town I’d decided to settle down in. It was far enough from my family that they should never be able to find me, and I could hopefully build a life here.
I instantly liked Madisen, the other partial owner. She’d been the one to interview me that day and she’d put me instantly at ease. From my first day on the job, she’d been one to give a lot of leeway in taking suggestions on what we should make and how to display them. I felt like we were instant friends. Something I didn’t have anymore, or for a really long time.
I’d been surprised when she told me she was with one of the Warriors. The one they called Rebel. Over these past few weeks, I’d discovered he was a big, overprotective, alpha male. She didn’t strike me as someone who would be with a biker, though after the last few weeks, it was a good thing she was.
You see, Madisen was having problems which were putting her in danger. One was the ex-boyfriend of a prior bakery employee. She’d run him off when he got physical with his girlfriend. The other was her stepdad, who had been recently let out of prison. Her stepdad apparently blamed her for his incarceration. These two threats had Rebel and his club on high alert, especially after a fire was set at the bakery and she’d been trapped inside.
Because of these threats, the club was having guys from the Warriors stand guard at the bakery every day while we were open. Besides me and Madisen, another woman, Trudie, worked with us. The bakery was doing a lot of business, which kept us very busy and the guards on their toes, watching who came and went. And what guards they were.
Now, I may not date, but I do notice when guys are hot. The Warriors were a bunch of hot, sexy men—muscles for days, tats to die for, and riding those metal beasts. I had to admit they could make my pulse jump, but none of them affected me like the one they called Ajax. The first time I saw him, I thought I might faint from the lack of blood going to my brain. He was beyond gorgeous to me.
He stood almost a foot taller than my five foot three. His hair was cut short, kind of like a military high and tight, only the top was longer, maybe three or four inches long and slightly gelled to stand up. The sides were shaved close to his scalp. His eyes were a deep brown color. He filled out his t-shirts and jeans to perfection. Muscles bulged in his arms, and I could see the tats down both arms. He made my insides quiver and, if I was honest, my panties get wet. Which wasn’t anything I’d ever had happen to me ever in my twenty-two years.
It was almost painful to be around him, because I knew he’d never be interested in a woman like me. There just wasn’t anything about me to attract a guy, especially one like Ajax. I’d learned that the hard way and more than once. Both my high school and college boyfriends had shown me this was a fact. I wasn’t about to go there again. I had the feeling Ajax rejecting me would break my heart if I let him, so I was just content to admire him from afar when he wasn’t looking.
The clanging of a pan dropping in the kitchen of the bakery pulled me from my thoughts. I needed to get stuff done and stop daydreaming if I was going to make it to the party the Warriors were having at their compound. Madisen had insisted I come. I tried to get out of it, but she wouldn’t take no for an answer.
The club was having a joint celebration. The club’s president, Bull, and his wife, Jocelyn, were announcing to everyone the sex of their twins. On top of that, his grandson, Hunter, had just turned five years old. It blew my mind to think Bull was old enough to have an adult daughter, let alone grandkids. He had two of them, Hunter and his little sister, Emerson. His daughter, Harlow, was married to the president of the Dublin Falls chapter of the Warriors. They were all coming over for the party. I hadn’t met any of them yet, and to be honest, I was a little scared to be meeting the rest of Bull’s guys, as well as all the ones from the other chapter.
The rest of the day went by fast and before I knew it, I was on my way to the Warriors’ compound. I tried to stamp down on the butterflies in my stomach. I hadn’t been to their compound before. As I pulled up to the tall gate, one of the guys who was wearing a prospect cut opened it. I knew about cuts and what prospects were from Madisen. I swallowed the nervous lump in my throat.
The place was crawling with people. While I saw some women, most were huge, ripped, tattooed men. What in the hell was I thinking? I must have been crazy to let Madisen talk me into coming here. I wanted to throw my car in reverse and get the hell out of here, but I knew I couldn’t. She was my friend and she wanted me here today for some reason. I just needed to put on my big girl panties and stay for a little while, then I could make my escape.
I parked in an open spot close to the main building and I’d barely gotten out of my car when two giants came up to me with smiles on their faces. I hadn’t ever seen them before. One of them, an attractive guy with dark hair, a shadowed jaw, and dark eyes, spoke first. I saw his cut said his name was Razor.
“Hello, gorgeous. Why don’t you let us help you?” The other guy, who was equally as attractive, nodded like he agreed. His cut showed his name was Torch.
“Yeah, we’ll keep you company, sweetheart,” Torch said with a smirk. I had no idea what they were up to or why they were acting like they wanted to keep me company. Was this some kind of joke? I started to feel overwhelmed and didn’t know what I should do. Torch reached out and gently took my arm. He started to lead me away from my car and toward a bench that was out away from most of the other people. Razor was behind us. I knew I needed to find Madisen and get away from these guys. I was about to protest, when I heard a growl and I looked up to find Ajax standing there, glowering at us. He looked pissed though I had no idea why. I was happy to see him.
“Get your fucking hands off her, Torch, or I’ll take them off. She’s not going anywhere with you two. Come on, Jessica, we’ll go find Madisen.”
“Wait a minute, brother, she’s not taken. I think she can decide if she wants to come with us or not. We’re just going somewhere to talk. We want to get to know her,” Torch protested. I looked between the guys. They were all facing off with each other. Surely, they weren’t going to fight over me? I tensed up before sagging in relief when I heard Madisen’s voice. I looked up to see she’d joined us.
“Hey, Jessica, it’s good to see you. I was hoping you’d get here soon. How was the bakery today? Let’s grab you a drink and get in the shade.” I cast her a grateful look. I turned to Torch and Razor. I didn’t want to appear to be rude. They were, after all, Warriors.
“It was nice to meet the two of you. Excuse me.” Rebel had joined the five of us. When Madisen and I walked away, he stayed behind with Ajax, Torch, and Razor. Ajax and the other two seemed to be arguing. I wonder what that was all about, and why had he gotten so pissed? Didn’t he want me here? Madisen took me to a table and grabbed a bottle of water from a nearby cooler, which she handed to me. She must have seen the frown on my face.
“What’s wrong, Jess?”
“I don’t understand. Why did those two want to talk to me so badly? And why did Ajax get pissed at them? Guys confuse the hell out of me.” Madisen gave me an incredulous look and laughed.
“What?”
“Seriously, you have no idea, do you? They wanted to talk to you because you’re a beautiful, sexy woman. Ajax didn’t like them paying attention to you. He’s jealous.” I stepped back in shock. Was she crazy? No one found me attractive.
“No, that wasn’t it. I’m not beautiful or sexy. I think they’re just being nice, maybe because I work for the club.” Madisen shook her head at me.
“Jess, I don’t know how you can’t see it, but it’s more than you working for the club or them being nice. Ajax can’t stay away from the bakery—” I hurried to correct her misperception.
“That’s because he’s on guard duty all the time.”
“No, he volunteers to be on guard duty to be close to you. He watches you all the time.”
“There’s no way a guy like him would ever look at me twice. He’s way out of my league. Now, you asked about the bakery.” I changed the subject. Talking about Ajax and how men didn’t find me attractive made me very uncomfortable. I wish I was beautiful like her and the other old ladies. I proceeded to distract her by telling her how the day had gone at the bakery. She didn’t seem too happy with me not wanting to talk about Ajax’s supposed attraction to me, but she let it go.
We’d been talking for a short time when Rebel came over to join us, and right behind him was Ajax. Madisen sent me a raised-brow look as if to say, see. I shook my head at her in warning. He was just coming over because of Rebel. I watched as Rebel pulled her into his strong arms. How I wished I had someone who loved me as much as he loved her. You could see it written all over his face whenever he looked at her. As we chatted, Ajax stood there silently with his arms crossed over his chest. He looked like he did when he was on guard duty at the bakery, stern and not to be messed with. Why he would think he needed to do it here, inside the compound, I had no idea.