Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 78487 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78487 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
I haul Gabe out of the fountain and throw him over my shoulder.
“Take him through the back,” Jack says. “No one else needs to see him like this.”
There’s an old service entry around the back of the clubhouse. Back in the hotel days, it’s where the deliveries were received before they were taken inside to the kitchen. I carry Gabe in and down the corridors until we reach his room.
“Jesus Christ,” Paw says when he flicks on the light. “It stinks like the inside of a garbage refuge in here.”
Gabe’s bed is covered in a sea of photographs.
Pictures of him and his wife.
Paw scoops them off the bed, and I drop Gabe onto the mattress.
He rolls onto his side and wraps his arm around his pillow.
“Come on, he needs to sleep it off,” I say. I want to get back to the party. Face it, buddy, you want to get back to your girl. “Jack will sort him out tomorrow.”
We return to the party and I see Merrick has joined Rory at the booth. The man looks like a male model and is never short of female company. So when I see him flirting with Rory, my blood pressure shoots through the roof.
“Calm down, big fella,” Paw says. “He’s just being friendly.”
“Yeah, but his kind of friendly gets you pregnant,” I mutter.
RORY
For some reason, Ares can’t get me away from the handsome biker with the bright blue eyes and dimples quick enough, and the death glare I see Ares give him makes me feel a little giddy.
“I want you to meet someone special,” he says, leading me across the room to where an older woman stands at the bar. “Dolly kind of runs this place.”
“I thought Jack was president.”
“He is, and what he says goes. But when it comes to the clubhouse, Dolly rules the roost.”
“Like a clubhouse mom?”
He smiles. “Yeah, like a clubhouse mom. But don’t let her sweet face and kind eyes fool you. She can be frightening if you make her mad.”
We walk over to a blonde bombshell with big hair and a dazzling smile. She’s dressed in a pair of tight jeans, knee-high boots, and a denim jacket covered in sparkles.
When Ares introduces us, Dolly pulls me in for a warm hug. “It sure is lovely to meet you, sugar.”
No sooner has the greeting left her glossy lips and she’s rousing on the prospect for almost dropping a tray of freshly cleaned glassware.
“Lord help me… if you drop that tray, I’ll tan your butt harder than a hide in a tannery.”
The prospect looks worried. Like he’d rather face a hundred rival motorcycle gangs than have Dolly spank him.
“Sorry, Dolly,” he says with a grimace.
She turns back to me, her eyes twinkling. “Don’t mind me, honey. It’s up to Jack to keep these boys in line, but it’s up to me to house train them.”
A beautiful blonde woman with wildflowers in her hair and a big pregnant belly appears beside Dolly. She has the sexiest lips on a woman I’ve ever seen.
Her eyes twinkle. “You must be Rory. I’m Bronte, Jack’s wife.”
Of course, the president is married to the most beautiful girl in the world.
“When Jack mentioned Ares had brought a date, I had to come and introduce myself.”
She pulls me in for a hug.
God, she even smells perfect.
When she lets me go, she lets out a sudden gasp. She grabs my hand and places it on her belly so I can feel her baby kick. “Oh boy, this kid is itching for some attention. Feel that? He’s definitely going to be a football player.”
“When are you due?” I ask.
“Not for another four weeks. But that feels like a lifetime away.” She looks at my whiskey with wishful eyes. “What I would give for one of those.”
Dolly notices my glass is almost empty. “How about I get you another one?”
“Sure, that would be lovely, thanks.”
She turns to Ares. “How about you, honey.”
But Ares is already looking at me with a strange expression on his face. Not a bad one. It’s more a look of contentment and happiness.
Dolly offering him a drink breaks him out of it. “Yeah, sure, that’d be good.”
While Dolly fixes our drinks, I excuse myself to find the bathroom.
It’s down a long hallway, past what I guess are bedrooms. Inside, I’m surprised by the condition. It’s so clean and tidy. Then I think of Dolly, and it makes sense. She definitely runs a tight ship, and I can see her demanding nice facilities for the women.
While I’m peeing, the door opens, and someone enters. I hear high heels click-clack on the floor, then the door to the cubicle next to me closes. I finish up, but while I’m washing my hands, I hear a woman’s voice in the cubicle.
“Oh, dang it,” she says.
The next thing I know, the door opens and a cute, dimpled face appears in the crack.