Claiming Sunshine (4 page)

Chapter 3

              It was Sunday night, and she couldn't help but hope that Scooter would be around this week. He was constantly in her thoughts and it was confusing the hell out of her.

             
"When do you get paid?" Sam asked, breaking her train of thought.

             
"I think Thursday or Friday. I pull the time cards tomorrow, and then either Georgie or Scooter will write the checks when they have time. At least that is how it went last week," she said, as she sat on the couch, flipping the few channels that were on the TV.

             
"I don't know about you working with all those guys," he said, and walked out.

             
She ignored him and stayed put, pulling the quilt from the back of the couch over her and resting her head on the arm of the couch.

              "Nikki! Wake up." She is jerked out of her sleep. Sam is standing over her. "Why are you sleeping on the couch?"

             
She goes to lift her head and her neck is sore from sleeping all cockeyed. "I must have fallen asleep."

             
"Ya think? You know I can't sleep without you, now come on, lets go to bed." He walks down the hall.

             
Fuck that, she thinks, and lays her head back down. What an asshole, jerking me out of my sleep. She closes her eyes only to be jerked out of her sleep again, with the quilt being ripped off of her. "I said get up and get to bed, Nikki. You know I need you there."

             
"Maybe if you weren't such an ass, I would. I am staying put, you have a nice night. I will see you in the morning." She pulls the quilt back up, and lays her head back down, bracing for the yelling that she is sure will ensue.

             
"Are you kidding me right now, Nikki? I work hard, and don't ask for much and you can't even get your ass off the couch and go sleep with me, your husband? Whatever Nikki!" He stomps down the hall and slams the bedroom door. She falls back asleep.

             
The next morning is tense because he totally ignores her and the girls, except for what he has to say to them. He leaves without a kiss for any of them, and is gone. She is relieved. All the times before, she would have been begging him to talk, making a scene. It just felt different this time. She has a job, making ok money, and doesn't feel so trapped in this with him. "Maybe it's time for him to step up and make me happy for once," she mumbles to herself, while she's starting the truck to warm it up.

             
Since she gets the girls to school by 8:15 each morning, she just drives over to the garage and waits for either Charlie or Georgie to open the gates, so she can get an early start on the day. So far, no one has complained about her overtime of 20 or 30 minutes each day. She hopes that it winds up on her paycheck. She spends her lunches either sitting in the truck eating her sandwich or at the picnic table next to the garage, with a few of the guys, but never Joel.

             
It's Monday, so her first line of business is to figure up the time cards that Georgie pulled and put on her desk. She gets to work with the calculator, not paying attention to who is coming and going. She catches a figure in the open door going into the garage and she looks up. There he is.

             
"Hey, Sunshine," he says, throwing her a wink again. "Did you miss me?"

             
She just sits there, looking at him.

             
"Hello? Anybody there?" he laughs, waving his hand in the air in front of himself.

             
She takes in his tall muscular build. He is wearing leather riding pants that are soft and worn, a white t-shirt and his black leather vest. His arms are stretching that poor t-shirt and his dark hair is tousled in every direction, still damp from a recent shower. Damn, he looks great.

             
"Yeah, sorry I was just really into these time cards," she says, looking back down at her work.

             
"I wanted to talk to you about that. Georgie told me that you are getting some overtime in there...."

             
"Oh, if that's a problem I'll stop. It's just that I drop the girls off at school, and then I really don't have much to do, and it would be a waste of gas to just go home again," she says, interrupting him, worried about getting in trouble and having him, of all people, pissed at her.

             
"Are you finished there, Sunshine? Can I say somethin' now?" he says, stepping into the office.

             
"Umm, I'm sorry. I just didn't want you to be mad."

             
"Oh, it's going to take more than that for you to piss me off. I just wanted to tell you that it's fine, and that you have done such a great job this last week, and as long as you have the work to do, you can come in when you want. Oh, and don't worry about punching in and out when you pick up your kids." He gave her a wink, turned towards the door and then stopped and turned around. "How about we do lunch again today? I like to get to know my employees." He doesn't wait for an answer. He just walks out and says over his shoulder... "I'll see you around noon, Sunshine."

             
As Scooter is walking back to the clubhouse, he is mulling over what he just did. He just can't stop thinking about her. “She is married you dumb fuck,” he whispers to himself. He can't stop thinking how much better he would be for her. He was raised to take care of a woman and make sure everything is as safe as it can be for her.

             
He enters the clubhouse, where they are all waiting for him in the room at the back.

             
Since he has been the President of the Northwest Knights for over 4 years, he is in charge of these meetings, sitting at the head of the table. All his members and brothers there, waiting to hear how the last run went, and what their cut, money-wise, was going to be. The brothers that went, get the bigger cut, but the rest get a share too, because they are all in it together and doing their part.

             
To his left, is his Vice President, John. He is the son of the last president, Jack. He is Scooter's next in command. Scooter runs most things by John, just to see if that is how his pop would have handled things. Scooter is doing his best to keep the true spirit of the club alive, even though Jack was long gone. He was killed in a regular ol' bar fight with a local, that mysteriously disappeared a few months later. They found his truck up by the ski resort, but he was just gone. The cops sniffed around for a while but didn't look too hard, since the guy had been in and out of jail for assault and robbery. John was a true to his word brother. He was the proud dad of an only son, Jim,13, that his wife was doing her best to steer away from the club. His wife, Jenny, was a great woman, just a little intense sometimes. She knew what she was getting into when she married John, but still had some opinions of her own to throw around. He just let her go and pretty much told her what she wanted to hear, to keep her happy. Every now and then, she would find out that the opposite was true and all hell would break loose for a bit, and then settle down. Each time that happened, Scooter would be reminded why he didn't have anyone in his life.. just too much of a pain in the ass. Now, however, there was Nikki.

             
To his right, was his Sergeant in Arms, Clyde. He went by Drifter because he liked to move around a lot, and that is why he was so good at the hits. He could get in, and get out, without a bunch of bullshit. He didn't get attached to any situation or person, and this club had been his family since he was old enough to ride his bike down to the garage, doing odd jobs for Jack back in the day. He had been dealt a shitty hand in life, with a non-existent father and a drunk mom. He pretty much raised himself and when he discovered that he could make a few bucks around the garage, he was hooked. They patched him in when he was 15, and Sergeant in Arms when he was 18. He had been the hit man ever since. Although he was a mountain of a man, and good looking, at least the ladies thought so, he never did anything but pull a club whore into his room every now and then. Never the same one twice. Either he liked variety, or none of them would go in twice. Most of all, he was loyal to the club and felt like he owed his life to Jack and his legacy.

             
Then there was Crueger, the treasurer. He was married to a loyal woman, Ruby. No kids, just the two of them. She would do anything for him and he returned the favor. He treated her like a queen. He was older and liked being in charge of the business end, keeping all the books for the club and the front business, JD's Auto Repair. He also loved going on the runs, whether they were for easy stuff like pot or the rough stuff, like guns and dope, he was all in.

             
There were four prospects in the club at this time. More than usual, but they were all doing so well that none of them had been cut loose.

             
The other brothers and members were all just members, with no specific titles.

             
Joe was young. He had been recently patched in after a brutal year of prospecting. He was a good kid that did what he was told, but sometimes was late, and that is what kept him prospecting for so long.

             
Dean was an older man. He was one of the originals. He was also the previous Sergeant at Arms. He wasn't married and made it clear that he didn't want to be. He had his share of the club whores for years, and still occasionally took one into his room. He was careful though because he also kept a thing going with Anne. Anne was the woman that the club had hired years before to run the bar, cook and clean, at the club house. He wouldn't commit to Anne, but he knew if she caught him with one of those bitches in his room, she would kick his ass. He was careful when she was working but when she wasn't, he did what he wanted. So far, he hadn't been caught. The whole club had bets on when she was going to catch him and how bad she was going to hurt him when she did. 

             
Then there was Crazy Nate. In his mid 30's, he was just about as nuts as one man could be. He was just as loyal though. He was a great partner for Drifter, helping him with some of the hit work. He was rarely left alone though because he was a loose cannon, so he wasn't trusted on jobs on his own. 

             
Scooter was telling them all how the last run had gone and what was up next. When he was done and excused everyone, he had Drifter stay back and asked him to get some info on a Samual Dalton. Drifter, without a single inquiry, said he was on it and left the room after writing the name on a cocktail napkin and stuffing it in a pocket.

              It was noon and she kept looking towards the building in the back for him to come out. Finally the door opened and he came out with two other club members, all talking and laughing. They finished their conversation and the two others headed for their bikes, while he headed for her.

             
Her heart was racing when he made his appearance in the doorway. "You ready Sunshine?"

             
"Yeah, let me get my purse," she said, almost tripping over her own feet, as she went to the hall tree by the door.

             
He grabbed her arm. "Careful" He righted her.

             
She walked with him. His bike was parked close to the garage and the picnic tables where Georgie and Charlie were eating. Just as he was handing her the helmet, a guy from the club house whistled. "Pres, we need you in here for a minute before you take off."

             
"Hey Sunshine, you want to see what the inside of a real clubhouse looks like?"  Not waiting for an answer, he took her hand and started leading her across the lot, towards the door that he had come out of a few minutes before.

             
They enter the building and she waits for her eyes to adjust a bit. There are long tables and chairs set up in the middle of the room. A bar is along the wall directly in front of them with an older woman behind it, wiping things down and a few members bellied up. There is a hallway to the right and a couple pool tables to the left, and a big door straight back. She takes note of all of it and how much it really does look like the clubhouse from the show.

             
Just as she is looking to Scooter for what is going on, two of the guys that are sitting at the bar start yelling at each other. “Fuck you, I saw her first! You can't just take her into your room and do her when I had dibs on her!” One of them yells.

             
Her heart starts to race as one of them pulls his gun from the back of his jeans and points it at the other's head. Scooter tells Drifter to get her outta here.