My Dark Biker (3 page)

I pressed a kiss on Jack’s downy head before answering. “We don’t have many visitors. I guess it does get lonely when it’s just him and me all the time. It’s probably why he’s so happy to have people around while mommy’s busy, right buddy?”

Jack merely popped a thumb in his mouth and started sucking. The gesture reminded me it was almost time for a bottle soon. I excused myself and went back to my car for Jack’s bag. I grabbed his already made bottle from inside and handed it to him, all the while ignoring Aiden. He seemed about to bust his pants for being ignored, which I gathered wasn’t something he was used to.

Jack’s eyes started getting droopy, making me realize it was past his nap time. I knew that if I kept him up he’d be grumpy later on. Without sparing a second thought, I cradled him in my arms and started rocking him back and forth. I looked around me and saw male faces staring back at me with soft expressions.

Although Aiden’s face remained passive and blank, he met my eyes and surprised me with his words. “You can bring him up to my office. I have a cot in the closet. I can make it up for him to take a nap. There’s an electric fan there as well, he’ll be comfortable.”

I stood in front of him, with my son in my arms and my mouth gaped open in shock. He was offering to let Jack sleep in his office after what he’d said to me earlier? I shook the fog away from my brain as I continued to stand before him, stunned.

“I don’t have all day to show you shit, so we need to get started,” Aiden said, returning back to his usual dick self.

I pressed my lips in a tight line and followed him up the stairs.

As I watched Aiden make the bed, I scolded myself on being crazy enough to leave my child in an office, being looked after by a gang member. Yes, I’d be working a stairwell away, but still, I didn’t know what was going to happen to my child. I tried to push the worries and anxieties aside as my new boss stepped aside to allow me to place the baby in the makeshift bed. Aiden turned the fan on as put the baby to sleep. 

Jack lay on his back, and I lingered longer than necessary, concerned that something might happen to him while in this stranger’s care. After all, he wasn’t just a stranger; he was the president of a well-known gang in Fargo, North Dakota.

“I’ll even put Daryl and Thick on babysitting duty while I show you how to do shit in the shop,” Aiden assured in his usual gruff voice. Although I wasn’t assured at all, and nagging guilt was deeply settled in me, it was sweet of him to do that.

“Alright.” I pressed a kiss on Jack’s cheek before standing up. I caught a glimpse of the weird expression on Aiden’s blue eyes, but as soon as it had come it faded away.

My grumpy boss pressed a few buttons on his phone and pressed it in his ear. Moments later, he was growling, “Yo, Daryl. Come up here and look after the kid while I show Abby how to use the program.” I heard a muffled answer and moments later, the door opened. Daryl came in with some other guy named Thick.

I expected Thick to be as big as his name described, but I was wrong. I ran my eyes over his physique and saw that he was neither big nor thick. Rather, he was well-built and nearly as muscled as Aiden, though slightly on the lanky side.

“I’ll be downstairs for a few minutes, half-hour max, before I come back,” Aiden said, as he made a move toward the door.

Instead of following him right away, I stayed a bit longer to give Thick instructions. “He normally takes a nap for an hour or two. Don’t disturb him as he can get pretty cranky and won’t be able to go back to sleep. Please keep an eye on him. I’ll come by when I can.” Daryl nodded and patted my shoulder before reassuring me that everything would be okay.

From the door, I smiled at him and said, “Thanks, guys.” I left Aiden’s office with heavy heart but reassured that he was in good hands.

Chapter 5

Aiden showed me how to use the computer program to book appointments. I jotted notes down throughout the process and made sure to remember the basic stuff that didn’t need writing. Whenever Aiden turned to look my way, I nodded briskly making sure that I was getting everything he said.

After a while, my head was so filled with information, I thought it would burst. Things were jumbling together, and some bits went into one ear and continued to go out through the other, making it incredibly hard for me to remember all of the things Aiden kept babbling about. It also didn’t help that my mind was still on my son. I hope Daryl wasn’t mad at me. I so owed him. However, I continued to nod my head as if I understood it all, even though I was such a friggin’ liar.

“Did you catch all that?” Aiden asked when he stopped talking, leaning his forearms against the wooden table that separated us.

Shit.
Eff me. Eff me a hundred times.
I did not get all of that at all, but I found myself nodding anyway. “Yeah, I got it. Don’t worry,
boss,
I’m going to be fine.”

Reassured, Aiden walked away, leaving me alone staring at the front door, as if a customer would barge at any minute.

I glanced down at my watch and saw that it was already twelve o’ clock in the afternoon. I sat down on the desk’s chair and worried about Jack. I knew that most likely there was nothing to worry about it. He was fine and surely I would hear him cry if something happened. Still, my heart was pounding.

The thumping of steps coming from the stairs echoed through my brain, forcing my eyes to look up. Thick was descending the stairs; his head bent to avoid hitting the low ceiling.

I was a second away from bolting out of my seat and storming into Aiden’s office when Thick materialized in front of me. “He didn’t wake up at all when you left him. Slept like the baby he is. Snored too.” Thick’s lips curled up on the side.

A relieved laugh bubbled up from my chest. “He didn’t wake up at all? Didn’t even ask for me?”

My new co-worker shook his head and left a moment later. I sat back down and stared at my chipped nail polish. I was so relieved to hear that Jack was doing fine, and might still be asleep at this very moment.

I busied myself with the paperwork on the table and spent time going through my written notes to ensure that I wouldn’t screw things up. By the time the clock struck two, I heard thumping coming from the stairs. I looked up to see Aiden carrying a yawning Jack in his arms.

I stopped what I was doing and continued to look at them. My son’s arms wrapped around my boss’ thick inked neck. It was an interesting sight. Aiden’s intense blue eyes met my green ones, our gaze never breaking away.

“He woke up a few minutes ago. I thought he’d start bawling his eyes out for you, so I brought him down. I don’t wanna get a headache from a cranky toddler,” Aiden grumped and handed me my baby.

I flashed him a grateful smile and settled Jack on my lap, pushing hair away from his face. I picked up a bottle from the bag under my desk and fed him when I looked up my grumpy boss was still looming over us.

His tall, muscular frame towered over me. His eyes focused intently on Jack before they flicked to mine. Seconds after, he left in silence. I stared at his retreating back, wondering about his sudden mood change. He was still grouchy about, but seemed to be in a better mood, or at least I liked to think so anyway.

I thought back to the first day I met him. It was just a few days ago when he offered to help with the groceries. I nibbled down on my lip feeling guilty for my behavior today. Talking back to him when he could have fired me already or kicked my ass out of his shop and told me not to come back, but he did neither. Instead, he showed me how to work the program and told me to scribble down the customer’s needs if I wouldn’t remember.

Aiden confused me.

At five o’ clock, the guys from the workshop filed out, done for the day. Thick nodded my way, and Daryl sauntered over to my desk. He played with Jack and asked how my day went. I replied honestly, saying it was fine, filled with information, but overall uneventful. A crooked smile appeared on his face at my reply.

“Uneventful? Heard you talked back to him during your interview.”

I felt my face growing warm as I shook my head, trying to disregard the subject. “Well, not exactly. We were just having a misunderstanding, that’s all.”

He threw his head back and laughed. Shaking my head at him, I grabbed my son’s bag and went out to the parking lot with Jack in my arms. I tried to juggle him and his stuff and my stuff as I tried to insert the key into the hole, but I couldn’t manage.

“Here, let me,” Thick offered as he made a move toward me. 

Aiden’s voice stopped us both. “Thick. I’ll do it.”

I watched with stunned eyes as he grabbed Jack from me. I jammed the key into the door and threw the bag on the passenger seat, before taking Jack from Aiden again. I looked back at my boss and saw him talking to Dave, his back now turned away from me.

I tore my gaze away and hopped into the car, wondering about his need to help me out. Thoughts of him looking after Jack came to the surface of my mind, allowing me to maybe glimpse at Aiden’s soul.

He wasn’t as tough and intimidating as he tried to come off to other people. Sure, he could be a bit scary and all, but today I saw another side of him—something I was sure that no one else had seen before; his soft side. He was so gentle with Jack, and I found myself softening toward him.

At the same moment that thought popped into my head, my mind screamed,
“No.”
I couldn’t have myself softening up to him. He was dangerous. An intimidating biker who ran a gang club that many people—the sane people—feared. If none other, this was the enough reason to avoid him outside of the office.

Aiden Jackson was out of the question, and he was
certainly
out of the picture as far as lust was concerned.

I pushed thoughts of
him
away and drove home. One block away from the shop, the empty tank light went on reminding me exactly why I had to get Aiden out of my mind.

Chapter 6

“This is my number. You can call me whenever there’s an emergency,” I said, handing the babysitter a square of paper containing my new number.

“A new job? Again?” Kyla took the note from me.

I shrugged. “Yeah.”

“Didn’t you just get a job last month, too?”

I nodded.

For the past two years, I got into the habit of changing my phone number whenever I could, in the fear of having Vince call me. I hadn’t heard from him in a long time—not that I wanted to either—so you could call it paranoia, but I wasn’t willing to take the chance.

“Just keep me updated how he’s doing, okay?” I said.

I placed Jack down, looking at him as he made a dash for his toys.

Kayla looked at him with kind eyes. “You don’t have to worry about him. He’ll be fine. But I can text you if that will reassure you.”

I nodded and said, “Thanks.”

I ruffled my son’s hair and said goodbye to Kyla. I knew Jack was in good hands though I was still edgy when it came to having people care for him. I probably would always be.

I closed the door behind me and walked to my car. On my way to work, I stopped at the gas station to fill up my tank. I had a few bills in my wallet, and I was sad to let them go. The only thing that lifted my spirits was knowing that by Monday morning there would be good money in there. Money that I earned from a sensible job and not from stripping.

This money would be one I spent with joy, unlike the money I earned from my previous job. Being a stripper wasn’t easy, and it had always taken me a whole five minutes before I could go out there to put on a show for my perverted audiences. I hated every minute of stripping. I hated the lusty eyes that followed my every movement and made me feel dirty after each session. I never slept around like some other strippers at the club and had never sold my body for money, nor did I ever plan on doing so.

The lurid sound of motors started to cut through my thoughts. I looked up to see Thick, Dave, Aiden and the rest of the gang members swarming the parking lot. I turned the ignition off and hopped out of the car, making sure that I looked down. I didn’t even want to look at the emblem on their black leather jackets in fear of being caught. It was enough for me to work for these men every day; I didn’t want to get myself involved with their club business too.

“Hey, B!” I heard Dave say.

I didn’t know who he was calling so I didn’t turn around and just kept on walking, kicking a small pebble along the way.

“B!” Dave repeated.

I looked around and didn’t see anyone other than me and the bikers, who didn’t seem to care much for Dave’s hollering, walking through the lot. I gathered that not many people wanted to come over since A.) It was still early in the morning; and, B.) The bikers were around and intimidating as ever.

I figured Dave was calling out to me.

“Are you talking to me?” I asked, turning back to see him strolling toward me.

Dave nodded and didn’t even pant as he ran my way. “Yeah. I thought you weren’t going to look back.”

“You were calling out to ‘B.’ I didn’t know who it was until I looked around, and I figured you were calling out to me.”