The Lyon Trilogy (4 page)

Ha, he's been telling that same lie for
ten years now, so I wonder how on earth he got his reputation as a cad if he
wasn't meeting girls.

Of course he doesn't know, that I know
about such things, but women talk, and some of the things I've heard about my
one and only baby boy are not fit for mixed company.

He's his father's son after all.

Well according to Jared this Katarina is
young in years but very smart, we’ll just wait and see.

She sounded sweet as pie on the phone, and
I hope I'm not disappointed when we finally meet.

I went in the next day wondering if his mom
had said anything to him about the invite. All night I tossed and turned like a
crazy person, thinking about things I hadn't let cross my mind in quite some
time, like what should I wear.

I got cold bumps just thinking about it.
It had been a while since I'd worn anything other than a gunnysack, my
protective shield.

I'm coming to realize that it's silly, in
my head I know that, but it's getting the rest of me to go along with it that's
the problem.

Oh well, if push comes to shove, I can
always wear one of dad's old flannel shirts and some sweats.

Classy Kat.

Well if my biggest problem was what to
wear, then I'd say I was making progress. A few months ago just the thought of
being out in public surrounded by all those people would've sent me into shock.

I heard voices coming from the game room.
That's the room the guys hung out in, and ate or played pool and video games,
when they were having down time.

There was even a kids' corner, and when
I'd asked Colton about it, he'd told me in his gruff way 'bitches got shit to
do sometimes, so their old man brings the kid in, and we take turns watching
over the little tykes.'

I went down to the room to see what was
going on, since I'd done my morning's work and was bored out of my mind. I get
into trouble when I'm bored.

The men were having some sort of pow wow,
it looked like, because everyone was here. Colton stood in front of them giving
out orders for some upcoming riding event.

The way he stood with his arms folded
across his muscular chest, and his legs braced apart as he looked down at his
men like a king with his subjects, did something to me.

It might sound weird, but I wanted to
worship at his feet. I'd never seen a more beautiful human being in my life.
Too bad he would eat me for breakfast and keep going.

Men like him didn't fall for girls like
me, if only.

He turned that piercing green gaze on me
as if sensing my scrutiny, my inner turmoil.

His eyes traveled up and down my body
before settling once more on my eyes.

"Something on your mind, Sloan?"

Eeek, I just soiled my panties.

I should start charging him for those; a
girl could only go through so many panties before she ran out.

"Well!"

He hardly speaks, but he sure does get his
point across. I think one of his hard glares is worse than a shout.

"Going back to work, sir."

Oh shit, I remembered the sir thing too
late as I made a beeline for the office.

I could hear the soft drone of his voice
as he continued speaking to the men before there was a line of footsteps
tromping back to the shop.

It wasn't long before the door was opened
and you know who came in.

Working here, take your sexy eyes and
bitable ass on down the hall thank you very much
.

"What are you thinking about
now?"

"Uh...excuse me?"

I hate this stupid bun. If I wore my hair
down, then I could hide behind it, but with my hair pulled back like this he
could see my blush.

"You're blushing again, do I make you
nervous or something?"

I was shaking my head before he was
through, and why was that? I'd just realized that he didn't make me nervous at
all, and in fact this whole place made me feel safe. I had no doubt it was
because he was here. Weird.

Funny, I hadn't even thought of it until
now, but my dad and Jared were the only two males I'd been able to spend any
time around without going into panic mode.

The thought made me smile, maybe, just
maybe, I was healing.

What the fuck is she smiling about now. I
think Jared sold me a lemon, I just can't figure out what the hell is the issue
.

When she isn't blushing like a medieval
virgin, she's tearing into someone or smiling for no damn reason
.

"Are you trying to make me
crazy?"

"No sir...uh...uhmm...nope."

She shook her head again.

"I'm going to start tallying up those
sirs and hold them for future payment. Now was there something you needed before?"

"No...Ahem...no, nothing."

She was one strange duck, and now her
voice sounded like she was strangling.

Where the fuck is Jared, I'm gonna kick
his ass
. His 'little
sister' was driving me nuts, and she kept me up all night wondering about her,
the fuck, that's not my style.

Besides, I don't have time for some little
wilting flower with split personality disorder, or whatever the fuck.

"What's going on with you and
Jared?"

Real smooth Lyon, why don't you just drag
her by her hair into your lair
.

"Jared, like what?"

Good, she didn't seem to pick up on the
undertone of pissed off in my voice.

One of the reasons I'd been up all night
was because of that little byplay I'd witnessed between those two yesterday.

"Forget it, I'm in the shop."

I turned and left before I made an even
bigger ass of myself.

I don't know why she was getting to me she
wasn't even my type. Except for those eyes of hers she didn't really have
anything going for her, and she wore her hair like an old school marm. Her clothes
were less than anything approaching attractive, and she was nuts.

Not a very enticing combination, so why
the fuck was she the only thing I could think of for the last twenty-four
hours?

Fucking Jared.

Instead of going to the shop, I decided to
go for a ride and clear my head. There was no point in staying around here with
her so near, and I wouldn't get anything done anyway.

I was gone for about an hour before I felt
it was safe to return. I'd done some thinking while I was gone, and I had
realized that part of my problem was Char's stupid prediction, which made no
sense because I didn't believe in that shit anyway.

So there was really nothing like a
blooming attraction, or anything going on, just the power of suggestion I
guess.

I turned the corner and almost had a heart
attack. She was standing on the seat of a power bike holding onto the
handlebars while my crew stood around watching her.

I didn't run, or yell, or make any fast
movements. I didn’t want to scare her, and make her fall.

She flipped herself over the bars and back
into the seat in a seated position.

That's when I moved forward, well when my
legs finally worked anyway.

The crew was whistling and applauding
while she grinned the biggest fucking grin I had ever seen on her face behind
the helmet.

Everyone grew quiet when they saw me
coming, and some of the men started to scatter.

"Off."

She climbed off the bike, removed her
helmet, and placed it under her arm. She had her head down, biting into her lip
no doubt.

I'm sure she expected me to lash out at
her, and though that had been my first inclination, I wouldn't take her joy
away like that, neither would I embarrass her in front of the men.

"Good job."

Fuck, the smile on her face rivaled the
sun for brightness.

"Don't you clowns have better things
to do?"

"Yes, boss." They grinned as
they walked away, giving Kat more praise as they left.

"Come with me." I turned and
headed to the office, Kat behind me chattering away like a magpie.

I held my shit together until we got to
the office.

I opened the door, and waited for her to
precede me, then closing it I pushed her back against it.

"You ever pull a stunt like that
again, and I'll tan your little ass you hear me?"

"What...I...you, but you said."

"I know what I said, it was a nice
stunt, but not for you."

"But why, you don't say anything when
the guys do it?"

How could I explain it to her, when I
couldn't explain it to myself, all I know is that the thought of her being hurt
made my blood run cold.

"I'm really careful, Colton, promise,
you don't have to worry, and I wear all my protective gear see."

She showed me the arm and kneepads she
wore over yet another ugly ass suit.

She seemed so fucking happy, unlike her
usual withdrawn self. How could I take that away from her?

"Isn't there anything else you like
as much, anything safer?"

I was caving, but how could I put out that
light in her eyes?

"No, not really."

There she goes with that soft little girl
voice again.

I studied her for a moment. The kid had
very little to make her happy it seemed like, so it wouldn't be right to take
this away from her too, but damn couldn't she find a safer hobby?

And why do you care, Lyon, thought you
weren't interested!

I ignored the annoying voice in my head as
I looked at her.

"Okay, I'll make you a deal. If you
want to do these stunts, then you'll have to wait until I'm there to make sure
you're safe, okay?"

"I don't want to take you away from
stuff, I'll be careful I promise." She wouldn't look me in the eye as she
blushed.

Damn this girl was some kinda shy.

"Take it or leave it, Katarina,
either I'm there or you don't do them."

"Fine, I'll only do them when you're
here."

She actually pouted, and it was cute as
hell.

I guess that ride was a waste of time
because she was once again planted firmly in the forefront of my mind.

The rest of the afternoon went by without
my little daredevil pulling any more stunts, and I stayed out of her way as
much as possible because she was just confusing the hell out of me

I wanted to knock some of the guys' heads
together for letting her do that shit, but that would only raise a lot of
questions, and since there was no real boss, or an underling divide, these nosy
fucks wouldn't think twice about sticking their noses in my damn business.

Don't let anyone fool you that women were
the only ones who did that shit, men were some gossiping shit heads.

All I needed was for them to get wind of
me sniffing around the flying nun, and my life would be hell.

I still haven't cornered Jared as yet to
give him a piece of my mind, but I'll get to that soon enough.

At knock off time I made myself scarce. I
certainly didn't need another replay of yesterday's little interlude between
those two, little sister my ass.

The next couple days were uneventful thank
God. I stayed away from the office as much as possible, and no one was the
wiser because we were knee deep in bikes.

Grimaldi, once he made up his mind, was a
no nonsense kind of guy. He'd already ordered ten bikes, and that was just a
drop in the pan, so no one wondered why I was spending more time in the shop
and less in the office.

As if having her plaguing my ass all the
time wasn't enough, my mother was up to something, and I couldn't for the life
of me figure out what it could be.

Whatever, it wouldn't be the first time
she was being sneaky about some shit, but usually I'd have a hint because she
couldn't keep a secret to save her life. This time, nothing, but she was all
sugary sweet and smiling all the damn time, and that shit scares the crap out
of me.

Dad's answer was that her and the hen pack
must be planning somebody's life for them. That's what he thinks her and her
busy body hen pack, as he calls them, get up to.

He better not let her hear him, or it will
be his ass. Mom takes her book clubs/ hen pecking sessions seriously.

I caught glimpses of Sloan here and there
in another one of her horrendous get ups. Seriously, each one was worst than
the last if that were possible.

Friday's was puke green, I kid you not,
and I wanted to say something but refrained. The guys, for some strange reason,
were taking it easy on her with the jokes. Usually my boys would've picked her
carcass clean like a condor on carrion but, nothing. I guess because of Storm.

I made it to the weekend with my sanity in
tact, but not seeing her Saturday and Sunday was a pain in the ass. I missed
the fuck out of our little skirmishes, and that pissed me off. I'd only known
her a week, so why should she take up so much space in my head, other than to
wonder what hair brained scheme she was getting up to that would break her fool
neck.

It's BBQ day, of course mom has dad and I
running our asses off fetching her last minute shit. I think we must've bought
every available bag of ice in Greenville.

"Colton, aren't you going to go get
ready for the BBQ?"

"Mom, seriously I just got through
running like fifty last minute errands, so can I please just catch my breath
before I have to go back out there in this heat?"

"Sorry for your suffering son, but we
don't have time for your little drama today, chop, chop everyone will be here
soon. You don't want to be all sweaty and cranky when your friends get here do
you?"

"Geez, mom, they're not twelve."

"Don't argue with your mother, and go
get dressed. You'll feel better after you do."

What was the point of arguing? I turned
and headed for the door.

On my way back to my place I realized that
I hadn't thought of Kat in a few hours, maybe because I was feeling guilty for
not inviting her, after all, everyone else from the shop will be here, so there
was no reason not to have invited her.

I wonder what she was doing today, since
the whole town would be in my parents' backyard, and the guilt intensified.

Oh well, it was too late now anyway.

I took a shower and threw on some jeans
and one of my tees, arms bared and tats well displayed. One swipe of my hand
through my hair was enough, since the shit never stayed the way I brushed it
anyway, let it do its thing.

The party wasn't in full swing when I
returned, but it was well on its way, and the smell of grilling meat permeated
the air as voices rang out with laughter and conversation.

I loved this shit, my friends and family
together having a good time, now all I needed was a cold beer and a cool place
to sit before mom started running my ass again.

I found Jared and some if the guys in a
huddle, talking shop.

"Don't you freaks know how to relax
and unwind, it's a party, leave work alone."

"Bro, that design you did for the
Grimaldi racing bike is killer, that shit is gonna blow everything else out the
water."

"Get a girl, bro, I thought you had a
date for this thing?"

"The girls dragged her off somewhere,
like, ten minutes ago."

"Probably doing the initiation
ceremony and teaching her how to fry Jared's ass."

"Shut up, Pete." Jared elbowed
him, as most of the crew except Jared started to scatter to look for their
women.

I hopped up on one of the picnic tables
mom had set up and looked around at all the beautiful people; my eye caught
something... new!

"Who the fuck is that?"

"Who?" Jared looked around like
he couldn't see the hot as fuck woman across from us.

Her back was turned, but if her front
looked anything like her back, then damn.

Her ass was mouth watering, tight and high
and round and...Fuck, I had a hard on, and don't get me started on the hair, it
was wild and thick and fucking gorgeous falling to the top of her ass.

"Shit who is she?"

With my luck she'd be here with some
unworthy prick.

"Who, man?"

"Carol's friend."

Jared turned in my little sister's
direction.

"Who, Kat?"

She turned at that moment, and my fucking
world shifted.

Fucking Char and her fucking tealeaves.

* * * * *

Well, I couldn't find a good enough excuse
to get out of going to the BBQ, so by Sunday evening, yes the last minute, I
found myself in Port Angeles shopping, something I used to love, but I haven't
had any interest in for a while.

Everything seemed foreign as I perused the
shops, like I'd forgotten how it was done, the last sales girl wasn't much
older than I, in this one place, and she was super helpful.

She was all about body structure and what
looked best on which frame, but I just needed a pair of jeans and some chucks,
that's all.

Instead, I left the place with some dressy
cargo pants in dark blue, a white sleeveless silk tee, and three-inch spike
heeled wrap around sandals. When I tried to argue that the shoes weren't
suitable for a BBQ, Susan, the helpful shopper, told me the outfit wouldn't
work with anything else.

So that's how I ended up at a BBQ packed
with strangers, dressed like an idiot. Or at least that's how I felt before
everyone started complimenting me on how great I looked, starting with my dad
whose mouth had dropped open on first seeing me.

"Kat, you in there?"

That was his brilliant exclamation when I
came down the stairs, and it had gone a long way to making me feel good.

He'd gushed and made me do the turning
thing until I'd begged him to stop, and of course I still wasn't brave enough
to drive to a strange place alone, so he offered to take me and pick me up
afterward, cool.

When I first arrived I almost didn't get
out of his cruiser. No one warned me it was a mansion, holy...dad's flannels
would've so been the wrong choice.

The place was huge, and gorgeous
and...Freaking spectacular. There was glass everywhere and spirals and turrets
and flowers and birds and what the heck?

"Hi, chief, what you bring me?"

I looked around and saw what I thought was
a little girl coming towards my dad, until I got a good look. She must be my
age but she was tiny, like me, and she had the most infectious smile on her
face.

"Hi, Carol, give us a hug."

She hugged him like they were long lost
friends.

"Carol, this is my daughter Katarina,
Kat, this is, Carol Lyon, your boss's sister."

She squealed loud enough to alert
Washington, and I soon found myself in her arms as she hopped up and down.

"Heels, heels."

I tried to alert her to the fact that she
was one step away from breaking my neck, but when I looked down her heels were
higher than mine.

"Finally, we meet, I've been your
surrogate sister while you were away."

"See you later, chief, we'll save you
a plate."

"You'd better."

He got back in the cruiser shaking his
head and smiling as the human dynamo dragged me away.

"Bye, dad thanks for bringing
me."

I waved him off as she chattered non-stop,
hopping from one topic to the next without taking a breath.

All I heard was 'we have got to do
something about your hair', and the next thing I knew we were in a bathroom
three times the size of my bedroom, my bun was loose, and she screamed loud
enough to deafen ten people.

"All this hair and you did that to
it, shame on you."

She got out curling irons and hair spray
and goop and went to work.

"Hi, I'm Katarina."

"Yeah I know, we met already."

She looked at me like I'd hit my head.

"Yes but when, ten minutes ago, or
ten years ago?"

"Oh, that, mom says I never met a
stranger." She giggled as she attacked my hair with the hot iron.

When she was through with that she started
in on my eyes. I don't know what smoky sexy meant, and wasn't sure I wanted to,
but I must say, the end result was amazing.

I hardly recognized myself.  My hair,
after having been restrained for so long, was wild and free and dare I say,
gorgeous. She'd done something that made my eyes look wider and dreamy, and I
don't even want to think about it. All I kept thinking was I hope Colton will
be here, and why wouldn't he, it was his family's BBQ after all.

I didn't stop to think why he was the
first thought I had, or why I got so excited at the thought of him seeing me
like this. I just knew I wanted him to.

We went outside and she dragged me off to
a picnic table alone while she gabbed on and on about everything under the sun,
girl was a talker.

Jared came by and said hi and gave my look
a thumbs up, and he almost made me cry when he whispered welcome back Kat in my
ear before heading off and leaving me with Carol.