Axe's Fall: Insurgents Motorcycle Club (Insurgents MC Romance Book 4) (12 page)

“Okay. Let’s talk about the design of the extra square footage and the structural impact.”

Each time Baylee offered her input, Logan interrupted her. She was about ready to walk over and sucker-punch him when her phone pinged. She opened the text.

Axe:
U look hot in ur skirt.

Baylee looked up and met Axe’s hungry glance. Quickly, she turned her eyes away and focused her attention back on Stan. Another ping. She glanced at Axe, but he watched Stan.

Axe:
Are u wearing those sexy lace panties u had on the night we fucked?

She choked then began coughing.

Peering at her, Stan asked, “Are you okay?”

Axe slid a glass of water to her, a wry smile painted on his face.

After she took a sip, she moved the glass away. “I’m fine. Go ahead. I’m okay, really.” Baylee switched her phone to vibrate then stared straight ahead, intent on Stan.

Her phone pulsated. She willed herself not to look at it, not to look at him. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him watching her, his amused expression mocking her.

Another vibration. She was tense beyond belief. Even though she didn’t want to encourage him, she
had
to read his texts. Wishing she were stronger, she opened the messages.

Axe:
I’ll take ur reaction as a yes on the panties.

Axe:
Glad ur so bothered by me.

She had to put a stop to this.

Baylee:
We’re in a meeting. I’m sure u need to know what’s going on so u can tell your club.

Axe:
I’m only sure of one thing. I want to lick ur pussy. I miss ur taste.

Baylee’s widened eyes shot over to him. He licked his lips, his tongue bringing back delicious memories.
Focus.
James was in front of the group with another engineer Baylee did not recognize. Charts and diagrams covered the two easels, James pointing to them as he spoke.

Another pulse.

Axe:
Ur scent is amazing. Fuck, u’ve given me a hard-on.

She discreetly typed under the table.

Baylee:
Do u want to get me fired? Stop. Please.

Axe:
Having too much fun.

Baylee:
Please.

She looked at Axe, her eyes pleading.

Axe:
Only if u promise to have dinner with me tonite.

She squirmed in her chair, pushed her hair behind her ears then chewed on the end of her pen.

Axe:
Are u wearing a bra?

She sighed loudly.

Baylee:
K. I’ll go out to dinner with u. Only as business colleagues.

Axe:
Sure, no problem. My thoughts exactly.

Yeah, right.

When she looked up, her eyes met his briefly before he diverted his attention to the two engineers at the head of the table.

For the next hour, Axe gave the team his undivided attention, but Baylee could only think about him. His closeness was driving her crazy, and his leather and citrus scent embraced her. The whole situation was insane. They’d already had sex, so what was the harm in having a casual sex arrangement? It would only be for the summer. No strings attached. She’d be going back to Denver in a few months, so why not have a good time while she was in Pinewood Springs?

The truth was she couldn’t resist him anymore. She had tasted the forbidden fruit, and she wanted more—a whole lot more. Axe seemed to be eager for it, and it was becoming harder to stave him off, to play like she was the good girl. She wasn’t. She desired to have dirty, nasty things done to her by him. And the fact that he was a filthy talker excited her even more.

Axe wasn’t even a real client. The club was but, ultimately, he didn’t call the shots—Banger did.
Get a grip, Baylee. Think about what you’re doing.
She would have to tread carefully because desire, ambition, and treachery were everywhere. Her desire for Axe was overwhelming, but she badly wanted the partner position with her firm, and she wouldn’t put it past Logan to stab her in the back when her defenses were down. If she decided to have a summer fling with the sex god, they’d have to be discreet.

“If there aren’t any questions, we’re all done here,” Stan said as he helped James fold up his charts.

Baylee gathered her office things, preparing to leave. The team shuffled out the door and she followed, head down, reading an email from Claudia.
Bang!
She slammed into something hard. Rubbing her head, she looked up and stared into Axe’s muscular chest.

“Sorry,” she muttered.

Axe pulled her close and said huskily, “I’ll pick you up at seven o’clock.” His teeth grazed across her ear.

“I’ll meet you. Since you like texting so much, send me the name and address of the restaurant.”

“I said I’ll pick you up.”

Stubbornness shone in her gaze. “I’ll meet you, or I won’t go.”

Axe’s face grew tight and he gripped her arm. “I’ll let you have your way
this time
, but next time, I call the shots.”

He swaggered down the hall.
He’s such a chauvinist.
But she knew she was in trouble. The whole time his fingers touched her skin, she was burning up, and the way his breath caressed her neck made her panties damp.

Yep, I’m in big trouble
.

“M
cFahey fucked us
over big-time. I’m glad I killed the sonofabitch!” Jax pounded his fist on the table after hearing Axe tell the members there wasn’t a zoning permit issued for the strip mall.

“If we’d known the piece of shit double-crossed us, we’d have made him die a slow and painful death,” Rock, the Sergeant-At-Arms, said as he ran his finger over his hunting knife. “I’d have peeled the fucker’s skin off then gutted him.”

Angry voices tried to one-up each other as they described the terrors they would’ve subjected the crooked councilman to had they known of his treachery. At that moment, McFahey was a lucky sonofabitch to be rotting in a deep grave on the side of the mountain.

Double-crossing an outlaw club was a stupid thing to do, and the perpetrators never lived to tell others not to do it. Death was a welcome gift after hours of slow torture before a brother made sure the betraying sack of shit breathed no more. Much to the chagrin of the Insurgents, a bullet through the back of McFahey’s head was no punishment.

“The fuckin’ asshole screwed the club over, and it makes us look like dumb shits in front of the professionals. Like we don’t know what the fuck we’re doing,” Axe said bitterly. He was so pissed off that his stomach was doing weird shit, like twitching whenever he thought about having dinner later on with Baylee. That woman did something to him; his blood pumped and his dick woke up just by thinking of her.

She’d looked so hot in her tight skirt and blouse, and the way her cheeks had burned red when he’d teased her made him want to leap across the table and kiss her hard, deep, and wet. During the team meeting, she’d driven him fuckin’ insane. The suits had blabbed on and on, and all Axe had wanted to do was fuck Baylee. He knew how good it could be; after all, he’d had all of her deliciously sweet body for a night, one taste of her making him crave her even more. She was like a drug he couldn’t get enough of. He was even willing to make a fool of himself to his buddy Derek by calling and asking about her so he could track her down. He was ready to act like a pussy just to contact her again.
And now she’s here, on my turf.

“Axe, can you fuckin’ pay attention? Are we interrupting a wet dream, or somethin’?” Banger asked.

The men whistled and hooted.

Straightening in his chair, Axe scowled. “No, I was thinkin’ about the strip mall, that’s all.”

“Bullshit, you were thinking about fucking someone. I know that look,” Jax joked.

Guffaws echoed throughout the room.

“All right. Keep it down. What’s going on with getting the zoning permit secured?”

“I told them we’d talk about that at church.”

“We’re not gonna be able to get shit from the city if we go alone. I thought this was taken care of.” Banger rubbed his hand over his face.

“McFahey swore he passed it through. One of the architects is gonna meet with the zoning director and see what the problem is. The architecture firm has the preliminary blueprints. The engineers wanted to know why this became a problem so late in the game,” Axe explained.

“How the fuck do we know? Something’s not right here,” Hawk said as Banger nodded. “We gotta get to the bottom of this.”

“I’ll let you know once the architects meet with the city.” Axe leaned back in his chair. There was no way he was leaking out the fact that one of the architect’s was hotter than fuck. No way. Baylee was his plaything for the project, and no one was getting near her—he’d make sure of that.

He frowned when he thought of the fucking suit. Logan. He had shifty eyes, and Axe didn’t like him at all. He didn’t trust him, and he couldn’t figure out if Logan was trying to get into Baylee’s panties or was trying to fuck her over. The suit was a snake in the grass, and Axe had to keep his eyes on him. No one was getting near her, and no one was hurting her. He’d pound them to the ground if anyone tried anything with her.

After church, Axe joined his brothers for a beer and a shot of Jack. He had a few hours to kill.

“So, who’s the bitch you’re fucked-up over?” Jax asked.

“No one.”

Throttle came over and clapped Axe on the shoulder. “You think we believe your bullshit? You haven’t fucked a whore in almost two weeks. Who’s the bitch?”

“Why the hell are you keeping score on who I fuck and when?”

“ ‘Cause I can’t let you turn into a pussy like Chas, Jax, and Hawk.”

“Who’s a pussy?” Hawk said as he joined them at the bar.

“You. You’ve had that dreamy-eyed shit look going on since you and Cara met. Now you’re going to the mall to pick out china. Fuck.” Throttle threw back his Jack.

“I draw the line on china and shit.” Hawk laughed. “Cara and Sherrie are doing all that, and not lovin’ a woman is being a pussy.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Throttle grumbled.

“Gotta go back to the shop. Ask Chas and Jax, they know.” He stopped at the doorway and said over his shoulder, “Go ahead and ask Axe, too. He’s been bitten.”

“What the fuck?” Axe swung around on his bar stool, but Hawk had left, the roar of his Harley blaring through the open doors.

“Well, Axe?” Throttle poked.

“I’m outta here. Later.” He drained his beer and walked out into the sun.

*     *     *

Nausea mixed with
the butterflies fluttering in her stomach. Why was she so nervous about going out with Axe? It was ridiculous. Two weeks before, she’d let a complete stranger do very intimate things to her, and she’d relished every moment, passion electrifying every part of her body. But she was scared to go out with Axe, the very same man who’d brought her to mind-blowing orgasms. All of a sudden, she was shy? What the hell was going on with her?

After slipping on a simple black dress, nothing too revealing, Baylee checked herself out in the mirror and frowned. Her ample breasts made it impossible for her to hide any cleavage, but it was the best she could do. Before leaving her room, she swiped on clear lip gloss over her raspberry-colored lips then walked out to meet the sex god.

*     *     *

The restaurant Axe
chose was located on the outskirts of town, nestled in a valley. Baylee spotted the name of the eatery, Le Crystal, on an unassuming sign partially hidden by a weeping willow.

When she pulled into the small parking lot, she noticed Axe’s electric-yellow Harley. She parked in the space next to it. Up close, his bike looked massive, powerful, and gorgeous—just like the owner—and the chrome reflected the sun’s fading rays.

Inside, she greeted Axe with a big smile. “I checked out your bike. It’s awesome.”
Like you.
Her gaze skimmed over him, taking in his tanned skin and chiseled cheeks.