Smokey Read online

  She began laughing again. “I’m not nervous around you.”

  “Exactly.”

  This made her stop and frown. “You’re not making any sense. You know that, right?”

  “A woman who knows men would know to steer well clear of me. Instead, you talked to me at the bar as if it’s a regular thing between the two of us.”

  Ava stared at him. Her face a complete blank.

  He couldn’t read her, and he wanted to know what was going on in that head of hers.

  “If this is your way of trying to warn me away from you, you’re doing a really bad job of it,” she said.

  “On the contrary. I’m trying to fuck you, Ava,” he said.

  She didn’t stop walking. He stayed beside her, step by step.

  The silence stretched on, the minutes gradually building.

  They were getting close to some houses, and he saw them coming even closer, which would mean he’d have to part with her if that was where she lived. He didn’t like the thought of leaving her alone.

  “Is that all you want?” she asked. “Sex?”

  “Is that a deal-breaker?”

  She came to a stop. Her hand went to her forehead as she shook her head left and right. “I’m so confused right now. We’re talking in riddles. It must be the alcohol, but I’m not going to agree to anything.” She smiled at him. “It was a pleasure to meet you.”

  Her speed picked up, and he found her so utterly adorable. The way she moved and talked. He liked it.

  Every woman he’d come across either gave him a withering stare or thrust their tits in his face. He was used to more women throwing themselves at him, begging for his mark. They wanted the bragging rights to have taken the president of the Hell’s Bastards MC. It was fun until it had stopped.

  Now he used women to scratch an itch. He had a feeling Abriana was to blame—the woman he’d arranged to marry one of his men. She’d distracted him. He wasn’t attracted to her in any way. It was what she represented to the club, to Ugly Beast. The brother with the ugliest-looking face had been able to find true love. They now had a newborn daughter and every time he saw them, he witnessed a whole new lot of possibilities. Did he want that? Women had yet to prove they were worth his time. All he’d ever been was disappointed in them and by them.

  They walked toward one of the few houses on the outskirts of town. It explained why she didn’t mind the walk. It wasn’t too far to the bar.

  She stopped at the gate of a sweet-looking house. Small, but it just screamed hers.

  Ava turned toward him. “Thank you for the walk home.”

  “Can I see you again?”

  “I don’t even know if I’m going to remember this conversation, Smokey. It was nice to meet you.” She held her hand out and he frowned.

  Taking hers within his own, he shook her hand. She smiled at him. Her eyes were a beautiful, bright green. Her lips begged to be kissed.

  He was never the kind of man to let an opportunity pass him by. Pulling her close, he gripped the back of her head and slammed his lips down on hers. She gasped, parting for him, and he plundered inside.

  She moaned as he deepened the kiss.

  Running his hand down her back, he cupped her generous ass. He knew it would be the perfect fit for him. Her body was made for him and him alone, and damn it, he wanted to fuck her, hard. To consume every single part of her.

  This went against everything he stood for. Smokey stepped back. “Good night,” he said.

  Her lips were swollen, and she didn’t say a word. She turned on her heel and walked up to her home. He saw her hand raise to her lips as she fit the key into her lock. After she looked back one last time, she was inside her house.

  He waited until he heard the locks click into place, which they did.

  Spinning on his heel, he saw Hunter waiting for him.

  “We were going to the bar for me? Why is it you got the pussy, as did Brick and Kinky?”

  “You’re becoming way too picky.”

  “Oh, bite me. You know as well as I do you took the best fucking pickings.” Hunter looked back at the house. “You willing to share?”

  “Hell the fuck no.”

  He’d shared women with Hunter in the past, but with Ava, he didn’t even want to consider it.

  “Whatever. One hot woman and you won’t even share. When did you get so spoiled?”

  He chuckled. “I guess having a club work their asses off for me.”

  Hunter rolled his eyes. “Who is she?”

  The kiss had been good for two things. One, he got to feel those plump lips on his, which was more than fine by him. He wanted to kiss her a hell of a lot more. Two, distracted from the kiss, she’d forgotten all about her purse.

  A gentleman wouldn’t look inside. But Ava wouldn’t tell him her full name.

  Walking beside Hunter, he opened the purse and flicked it open.

  Hunter had his cell phone out with the flashlight.

  Ava Sinclaire. Well, he was going to get to know everything there was to know about this woman.

  “Club pussy or just some fun?” Hunter asked.

  “Time will tell.”

  Pocketing her purse, he listened to Hunter bitch and moan all the way back to Ryan’s Place.

  Several of the cars had already disappeared from the parking lot. The club’s presence had a tendency to do just that. They had the power to send people running. Load of pussies.

  Entering the bar, he saw Ryan cleaning a couple of glasses.

  “You know why I’m here,” he said.

  Ryan put the glasses down. “I know, and I got everything for you in the back.”

  Kinky was already rounding the bar, grabbing Ryan by the scruff of his neck. “Then why don’t you show us?”

  The rest of the clientele left. Rumors would be running rife, but if everyone knew what was good for them, they’d keep all the real details private.

  Chapter Two

  Ava wouldn’t panic.

  She’d keep the smile on her face and pretend everything was fine.

  Women lost their purses all the freaking time. It was no big deal.

  The purse had her driver’s license. Bank cards. She’d even written down a couple of passwords because she hadn’t had the time to memorize them yet. All of that was now in the hands of a potential thief.

  Just keep smiling.

  She’d gone to the bakery, and it was only as she was looking through her bag for the keys that she realized her purse was missing.

  Damn it.

  The details of last night were a little hazy to her. She hadn’t drunk a lot. Tequila wasn’t even a drink she’d enjoyed in the past, but last night had been special.

  Now, she was cursing everything.

  Smokey.

  He was the only person she remembered from last night. She didn’t know if their conversation actually happened, or if she made it up, which fucking sucked.

  She handed out fresh cream cakes, lemon pies, and cookies. Her gingerbread men were pretty special, and kids loved them.

  Decorating was something she’d been learning for many years. All those hours of being stuck home alone, waiting for her ex to arrive, she’d taken all that time to learn how to bake and decorate cakes.

  A couple of builders from the local construction yard came in for their sandwiches. She was a bakery that offered sweet and savory treats. With the breakfast wave over, she leaned back as the oven pinged to let her know the fresh batch of cookies was done. It always surprised her how much sweet stuff she sold in a morning.

  Her little bakery was proving to be a treat she hadn’t seen coming.

  Still, no matter how often she thought about her success, it didn’t detract from the fact her purse was still missing.

  She’d have to go to the bank, cancel all of her cards. Who the hell did she need to alert about a missing driver’s license?

  So much to do.

  She was never visiting Ryan’s Place again. The tequila was great,
but the morning after was proving to be something to juggle. This was supposed to be stress-free.

  This was anything but stress-free.

  With the cookies cooling, she returned to the main store.

  Several items had already disappeared off the shelf, and she quickly rearranged, removing the cards to neaten it up.

  The morning continued to be busy, leaving her only short ten-minutes spots of no customers. She really did love staying busy.

  However, she was close to tearing her hair out just before the lunch rush. She was going to have to close the shop to go to the bank. She couldn’t handle the pressure of not knowing where her purse was.

  She was about to find the closed sign when the doorbell rang. “I’ll be out in a second,” she said.

  She didn’t have the patience to find the sign. She wrote Closed! Back Soon on a piece of paper. Grabbing the sticky tape, she headed to the main desk only to come to a stop.

  Smokey stood on the other side of the counter, a smile on his face, with two of his men from last night.

  “Hi,” she said.

  “Well, hello. This is a small world.”

  She looked at his men who were glancing at the goodies on offer. “What can I do for you?” She frowned. “Did I tell you I owned a bakery?”

  “No. You didn’t, and I have to wonder why. Everything looks so good.”

  She smiled, feeling her cheeks heat. Were the compliments he’d paid her last night real? She wasn’t used to men saying nice things to her or about her.

  “Er, thank you. I hate to ask you to leave but I really need to get to the…” She stopped as Smokey held up her purse for her.

  “Missing this?”

  “You … how?”

  “You dropped it last night. You’d already gone into your house, and well, I didn’t want to send it through the mail when I could see you in person.”

  “You wanted to see me in person?” she asked.

  “What do you think?” He still held her purse.

  Her heart had stopped pounding.

  She put down the sign she’d written and reached out to take the purse. “Thank you. I’ve been freaking out about this all morning. I didn’t know where it was, and yeah, thank you.” She held on to it and smiled. “Can I get you anything? On the house. I don’t know if that’s the right term for baked goods.”

  “What do you have in mind?”

  Ava pointed at the displays. “Have a look and tell me what you want. I’ll be right back.” She rushed toward her small office. Pushing the purse into the bag, she glanced at herself in the mirror. With baking, she had to put her hair into a net, but once all the baking was finished, she needed to serve customers. Hygiene was very important to her. Did she want her hair down?

  No, she wasn’t going to go crazy for a man she barely knew.

  As she stepped back into the main shop, Smokey’s gaze followed her.

  “Did you decide?”

  “He hasn’t decided, but I have,” a large man said from the right. “Three of those cookies, please.”

  “Coming right up.”

  “Hunter’s paying,” Smokey said.

  “Dude, she said it was free.”

  “No, she said what I’m having is free. You pay, Hunter. As do you, Kinky.”

  She looked at the disappointment on the men’s faces. “Er, if they want…” Smokey looked at her. “Or not.”

  “They can pay their way. You don’t need to be out of pocket for them.”

  The guilt was there though.

  The freebies were on offer for Smokey, but she didn’t mind extending it to his friends. “I honestly don’t mind.”

  “You’re running a business, Ava. They will pay their way.”

  “Lady, it’s sweet, but you don’t want to argue with the boss.”

  She didn’t know who was who, so she merely smiled and rung up their purchases, being sure to put a discount on them, ignoring Smokey’s stare as she did. He could attempt to boss her around all he wanted to, but she wasn’t going to let him get away with it.

  Single.

  Independent.

  And loving every second of it.

  His men left the store, but she noted they didn’t go far. They stood right outside the door.

  “They’re going to scare off my customers.”

  “This won’t take long.”

  “I haven’t been here long. I don’t want them to ruin this.”

  Smokey smiled. “It’ll take more than them to steer them clear of this place. I’d heard of it before I even realized this was yours.”

  Her cheeks heated. “You’re just throwing a compliment at me. You don’t mean that.”

  “Sweetheart, you’re going to realize one day that I don’t say shit I don’t mean,” he said. “Which is why I’m asking you to come to a party.”

  “A party?”

  “Yeah. At the clubhouse. Tomorrow night. I know where you live. I’ll pick you up. I’ll take a muffin.”

  She held her hand up. “I haven’t said I was agreeing to go with you.”

  “Why wouldn’t you want to come?”

  Ava couldn’t think of a single reason why.

  “I’m still waiting, darling.”

  “My name’s Ava.”

  “I remember.”

  “Then use it.”

  Smokey smirked. “Can’t take some sweet names?”

  “They’re empty names. You probably say them to everyone.” She rubbed at her temple. “I don’t think going to a party is a good idea.”

  “Why not?”

  “I’m not the party kind of girl.”

  “What kind of girl are you exactly?” he asked.

  She stared at him. No words came to her. She was a complete and total blank. “I don’t know.”

  “Then don’t you think it will be fun to explore exactly who you are?”

  Blowing out a breath, she shrugged. “You’re right. I don’t know. Sure. Who else will be at this party?”

  “People.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Is it a theme?”

  “Wear something sexy. Now, how about that muffin?”

  “What kind?” she asked.

  “I’ll take a chocolate chip. Do you have a thing for chocolate?”

  “Love it.” She wrapped up his muffin. “I hope you enjoy it, and thank you for returning my purse.”

  “Do you get drunk like that often?”

  “Hell, no. It was a one-off.”

  “The divorce?”

  “Yeah.”

  “And where is Derek nowadays?”

  Ava looked at Smokey. “I never told you my ex’s name.”

  “You must have.”

  She didn’t believe him. “I don’t know what Derek is doing, and to be quite frank, I don’t care. I moved on. I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

  “You sure will, Ava Sinclaire,” he said.

  She watched him leave the shop.

  Three women paused outside her shop. One look at the angry-looking bikers and they continued to walk. She also noticed they continued to ogle all the men.

  Shaking her head, she went back to checking on the remaining baked goods. She didn’t have time to think about her encounter with Smokey straight away as the lunch rush was chaotic.

  She sold out of everything and had no choice but to close the shop early.

  More often than not, she didn’t stay open for dinner. With the shelves empty, she cleaned up, set about the doughs to make her life easier in a couple of days’ time, locked up, and arranged for a cab to take her to Ryan’s Place.

  She hadn’t gotten her car yet, and now that she had her purse, she was even happier.

  Arriving at the bar, she paid the driver, climbed out, and saw her car was the only one in the parking lot. She also happened to notice the bar was completely closed. Like dead.

  Curiosity got the better of her as she walked up to the main door, and sure enough, stuck on the front was a notice of being closed until further noti
ce.

  “What?”

  It wasn’t any of her business, so she climbed into her car, started up the engine, and smiled as it purred to life. This was the life. Securing her seat belt, she pulled onto the road and drove the short distance back to her house. With her car parked in her driveway, she grabbed her bag and walked into her home.

  The scent of lemon greeted her, such a divine smell. She was a sucker for anything lemon or chocolate.

  After locking the door behind her, she placed her bag on the hook, along with her jacket. Reaching inside her bag, she grabbed her purse and took it out. She walked into her kitchen, taking some water from the fridge, and sat at her small table.

  She opened her purse and saw everything was as it should be. The money was all still there. Her bank cards and her driver’s license.

  Not that she thought Smokey would steal anything. No. It was his knowing her ex-husband’s first name. She hadn’t said Derek aloud. She was sure of it. Even with tequila inside her.

  Alcohol wouldn’t have made her that vocal. It just wasn’t possible.

  Running a finger across her lip, she tried to think, and there was no way he could have known. Not unless he got all the information from looking into her. People could do that, couldn’t they? Look into people they were interested in? Find out every single little minute detail?

  Why would Smokey look into her?

  Did she even care that he’d done some kind of background check on her?

  She closed her purse and sipped at her water.

  Smokey wasn’t a man she was used to. He was powerful, dangerous, and he clearly was used to getting whatever the hell he wanted, no matter what.

  “Oh, stop worrying, Ava. Nothing is going to happen. So, he checked you out. Big deal. Get over it and move on.” She finished her water, got to her feet, and ignored the niggling feeling working its way inside her.

  ****

  Smokey knocked on his date’s door and waited.

  He wasn’t going to take no for an answer. She’d love one of these parties, he was sure of it. If not, he’d get his answer about the kind of woman she was. He didn’t want a fucking prude, and no matter how badly he wanted to fuck her, there would be limits to what he was willing to do to get her in his bed.

  Like now.

  He wanted to party.

  The brothers were all back at the clubhouse enjoying good food, sex, and beer. Probably all in that order.