Chapter 1
My World
Block
The best times at the Riot clubhouse were during holiday hog roasts. Summer or winter, it didn’t matter, Block and his brothers didn’t mess around when it came to good food. For the Fourth of July, they always went overboard, though. He was in charge of the low-country boil, which finished cooking just moments before Tiny said they needed to carve the hog.
Mensa opened the back door for Block. He stepped forward, only to find his way blocked by Heidi, the green-eyed woman he couldn’t get out of his mind. A few days ago, she’d crashed brunch at a country-themed restaurant… more like, her best friend, Victoria, had inadvertently done the crashing. Regardless, in that one hour, Block had learned enough about her. She encompassed everything he didn’t want in a woman.
Then again, he didn’t want a woman.
Not one under thirty, and not one who spoke her mind and dripped with attitude even when her mouth was shut. Yet she had invaded his head.
He wouldn’t get the picture of her standing before him out of his mind anytime soon either. She wore cut-off jean shorts with a thick brown belt sporting the largest cowboy-style buckle he’d seen in decades. It featured an American flag fashioned from rhinestones. Rather than take in her toned legs, his eyes wandered up. The halter top she wore was red, white, and blue with stars on a diagonal and red and white stripes on the opposite side. He caught sight of her belly-button and felt his mouth go dry. As he made eye contact with her, the humongous hoop earrings caught his attention. The gleaming silver hoops didn’t quite reach her shoulders, but the dangling metal fringe on the bottom did graze her curvy shoulders.
Even as he stared at her, the blonde-haired vixen didn’t move. “Sorry, old man. Had no idea you were out there.”
Hearing her call him ‘old man’ riled him up. In his world, it was a term of endearment, but coming from her it was anything but. The heavy, hot pot in his hands increased his irritation. “Move, woman.”
“Excuse me works also,” she said, stepping back.
“Common courtesy says you defer to the person with the hot food,” he said, moving to the counter. He put the pot down and glanced over his shoulder in time to see her fake smile. She aimed a wink at someone in the common room, then bounded out to the patio before he could stop her.
He settled the pot on the stove and added more Old Bay seasoning for good measure. After he secured the lid on the pot, he went out back – and froze. Heidi had clear plastic gloves on her hands, though her fingernails threatened to pierce the flimsy material at any moment. Standing next to Tiny she looked even more petite. The expression of sheer determination on her face captured his attention.
“Don’t stare at me like that…” her eyes darted to the name patch on his cut, before she added, “Block.”
He ignored how much he enjoyed hearing her say his name. “Woman like you has no business getting up in that pig.”
“Bullshit,” she said at the same time as Tiny.
She smirked. “See. He knows.”
“You’re gonna get hurt.”
She straightened, eyes blazing, and he felt that in his dick more than he should have.
“Then I get hurt, and that’s on me.”
His voice went tight. “No. It’s on Tiny for letting you get in there.”
She stalked to him, pulled off the gloves, and tossed them in a trash can. “I take care of myself. I get hurt, it’s not on any man.”
“That isn’t fuckin’ true,” he said, moving closer to her as though magnetized.
“True in my world.”
He dipped his chin to keep eye contact. “You’re in my world right now. Women like you don’t get it.”
Her brow arched. He noticed how precise it was.
Waxed.
His blood rushed south as he thought of where else she might be waxed.
“Women like me?”
“Loud, bossy, opinionated, argumentative. The kind I don’t like.”
Her voice lowered to a hiss, forcing him to lean closer. “If you don’t like women like me, then why the hell are you up in my space?”
“Y’all gotta get out of the way,” Mensa boomed.
From the corner of his eye Block saw them moving the meat. Instinct took over. He grabbed her hand and dragged her to his room. He closed the door behind them, turned to answer her question, only…
She gripped his neck. If it weren’t for the ambient light in his room, he’d have thought she meant to strangle him. But the intent shining from those gorgeous eyes went straight to his cock and everything became crystal clear.
“This is a one-off, Block,” she whispered as she pulled his lips to hers.
He wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing her before she kissed him. Everything about this was surreal. Their age difference fell by the wayside as he pulled her closer. Her spunky attitude became a distant memory as his tongue found hers. She tasted great, she felt phenomenal against him, and best of all, she took the words out of his mouth. He would only give into this bizarre attraction one time. Take what they both wanted and be done with it.
***
Forty-five minutes later, Block tore through the crowded clubhouse. Holiday weekend bash: the rooms and hallways overflowed with women he’d never seen before, groupies he had seen before but never touched, as well as his Riot MC brethren.
Again he barged out the back door – and froze. His lips pressed into a hard line. His gaze locked on Heidi angling into her tiny Miata. That scrap of fabric masquerading as a shirt was sexy as fuck. Partly because it was so patriotic, but mainly because it was a halter top and she had the creamiest skin he’d ever seen. Skin he had said he wanted to taste again… right after he got his second wind.
“Goddammit,” he muttered.
He didn’t do this shit. Didn’t doze off, which allowed a woman to leave the bed before him. Didn’t have sex that combustible and get left alone. And he damn sure didn’t chase after a woman who left his room.
Who did Heidi think she was?
He didn’t know, but he knew who he was. As he watched her car roll out of the forecourt he decided one thing for sure.
She was going to find out exactly who she left behind.
As he trudged back to his room, he thought about his past.
He’d had groupies, but even then he didn’t tell them it was a one-time thing because it wasn’t. Groupies liked attention, and he liked giving that to them. Two, three times, then he’d make it clear he’d had his fill.
An Old Lady wasn’t for him. Once he hit forty, he had resigned himself to reality. He wasn’t going to lock down with one woman. He didn’t envision himself with kids at fifty-something.
Heidi wasn’t a groupie, though. She got it. Maybe too much.
Just thinking about her earlier feistiness had him hard again.
That made him angry at himself. He didn’t have time to go after a spitfire like her. Part of him wondered why he’d want to… then it hit him. She gave him a taste of his own medicine. Nobody beat him at his own game, and that bothered him.
Maybe he wouldn’t prove to her who she’d left behind.
Things worked out in strange ways. She didn’t need a man seventeen years older than her. Seventeen years…that made him just old enough to be her father. That dynamic didn’t appeal to him.
Who was he kidding? Age wasn’t part of the dynamic between them. Antagonistic sexual tension, that was their dynamic. He’d wanted to give it to her slow during round two, but that wasn’t to be. That was for the best.
“You are a crazy motherfucker,” Mensa said, as Block entered the hallway.
“What?”
“You screwed Victoria’s best friend. You are fucking crazy, man. Gamble’s gonna kick your ass.”
“Bullshit,” Block muttered. “Besides, it ain’t any of his business, and it damn sure ain’t any of your business.”
“That’d be true if I hadn’t heard you two. She—”
Block had him pinned against the wall with a hand at his throat. “Shut the fuck up, Mensa.”
“Okay, okay,” Mensa rasped.
He let go, shaking his head. “Leave me the fuck alone and don’t run your fuckin’ mouth to the others.”
“Sure. But, party like this one, everyone’s caught on to you two. So don’t fuckin’ blame me if other people bust your balls.”
With a growl, Block went into his room.
Yeah. One-and-done was definitely the way to go with Heidi Majors.
* * *
The next morning Block snuck out of the clubhouse before any of the others were up. Mensa hadn’t lied. All the other brothers had caught sight of him watching Heidi leave. Cynic, Har, Finn, and even Roman gave him shit about it. He didn’t need more of that.
Work served to distract him from life’s problems. He had a stack of papers on his desk at the private equity firm where he worked. His company intended to purchase a locally-based project management firm. Acquisitions were always labor-intensive. By the end of the day he hadn’t thought about Heidi once.
As soon as he left the office, all that changed. He refused to hit the clubhouse. To his surprise, Joules and Sandy stood in his driveway when he got home.
He pulled up alongside their trike, and dismounted. “Hey. What brings you two by?”
Sandy grinned. “Too much leftover food from yesterday. I thought you might like some pulled pork.”
Sandy’s knowing tone of voice irritated him. He aimed hard eyes at Joules.
Joules shrugged. “You know how she gets.”
“I know you oughta take care of that.”
“I am not something to be taken —”
Block glared at her. “I appreciate the food, but you wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for all the brothers talking about last night.”
She shook her head. “No, we really do have too much left over. And I’m pretty sure your fridge is bare, so we brought you dinner.”
“For a week,” Joules muttered.
Sandy grabbed a paper bag from the saddle bag. “Not quite, but here, Block. No matter what you think, we didn’t come to get in your business. I was just teasing.”
He nodded. “Right. Thanks for the food. Do you two want to—”
“No,” Joules said, getting on his trike. “I took the week off. We’re headed wherever the road takes us. Later.”
Sandy climbed on behind Joules, a huge grin on her face. As they left, she waved to him over her shoulder. In a bizarre way, Sandy reminded him of Heidi… or maybe Heidi made him think of what Sandy had been like when she was younger.
He shook his head to clear those thoughts. The goal was to get Heidi Majors out of his system, not dwell on how much she had in common with a well-meaning, if overbearing, ol’ lady.
***
He sank into his hot tub, put his bottle of beer on a ledge, and stared at the sky. The stars were just coming out. The cicadas were quieting down and the sound of frogs filled the air. Even with the noise of nature, his house was too quiet. So quiet, it had become a feeling.
He’d been ready to sell, but… “Shit. Don’t think about that asshole and his bitchy wife,” he muttered to himself.
The warm bubbles soothed the tension gathering in his back. Living in a house that was too quiet was worth it for this slice of relaxation every night.
He got out of the tub before his skin became wrinkled and wrapped a towel around his waist. His cell dinged after he walked inside the kitchen.
The screen showed a text from a groupie. His dick twitched at the idea of a quickie, but thoughts of Heidi poured into his mind. Her sounds, the way her legs felt wrapped around his waist, and her mouth…
He groaned. Then he sent the groupie a text to turn her down.
Heidi had fucked with his head. That made her trouble. Something he didn’t need. And it was a definite sign he should leave things alone.
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