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Her cheeks turn a pretty shade of pink, making me curious as to where else I could get her skin to turn pink… Or even red… Fuck, where the fuck are those thoughts coming from?
“Oh, I’m Presley. Presley Wyatts.”
Sugar looks down at her with sympathy. “So what was that, darlin’?”
She doesn’t bother to hide her emotions at all, so we can all see her panic rising at the question. I don’t even know what happened. I was working on my bike and saw Sugar helping some woman to the sidewalk, so we came out to check on things.
“Nothing. I just panicked, I guess. I should probably get going now, though. Thank you for helping me,” she stammers.
Sugar doesn’t look convinced. Hell, even I don’t believe a word she just forced out. Something else is going on. Which obviously my prez, Rage, picks up on because before she can grab her keys that Sugar is holding out, he snatches them. She looks like she is about to collapse with fear, so I step in, not being able to keep my distance from her and feeling a need to comfort her.
“Hey, it’s okay.” I lay my hand on her shoulder. “Why don’t you come into the office, and we can chat? We are a part of the motorcycle club here in Jacksonville, and we know most everyone, so we just want to make sure everything is good.”
She nods very hesitantly, looking around, scanning everyone walking. It’s midday, so there are usually quite a lot of people out roaming around here. Our bike shop, Custom Sons, is in the middle of town, about a ten-minute ride from our club property where our main house is. This particular part we call Main Street since it is where most of the shops are. The bike shop is on the corner of connected buildings, so we have access to the backside as well for more parking since everything out front is parallel parking. We head inside, Rage and Sugar in front and me guiding Presley in with a hand on her lower back.
We go in through the main door of the shop, which opens up to a reception area. We currently don’t have a receptionist. The last one we had to fire because we couldn’t get her to leave us alone and just work. To the left are vast floor-to-ceiling windows that look out at the garage where we do all the bike work. Beyond the desk is a hallway that leads to a storage closet, a bathroom, and then stairs that go up to two offices and a breakroom.
We lead Presley down the hall and towards the stairs. She tenses, so I lean down to whisper in her ear, “It’s okay. We are just going up to the breakroom.”
She nods, but her posture remains rigid. We walk into the breakroom, and I guide her over to a round table with chairs. Once she sits, I push her in and sit next to her. I honestly don’t know what the fuck I’m doing. I am never a gentleman, and I usually keep my hands to myself. Women usually only want to be around me for my money or to be a part of the club, so it’s really hard to trust them.
But something possessive and almost primal in me is calling to this angel next to me, making me want to whisk her away, keep her for myself and protect her with my life.There’s something wrong with me.
Rage kicks out the other mechanic we have working here. He is not a part of the club, but he wants to be. We just aren’t taking new prospects right now. He and Sugar take seats at the round table with us. Presley is on guard, her eyes scanning the room constantly. She is pinching the palm of her hand so hard it’s turning red.
I put my hand over hers, and she glances at me. “You’re safe here. I can promise you that. Nothing will happen to you when you’re around anyone from our club or on any club property, which includes this shop.”
“He’s right. You’re safe here. We just want to make sure you’re okay. We do what we can to help anyone in our town. So just tell us what’s going on.” Rage says.
Presley nods and looks conflicted, like she is debating with herself about what to say. She scrunches her nose up, and it’s absolutely fucking adorable.Adorable? What the fuck, Axe?
She finally exhales and says, “It’s nothing crazy. I tried to get a job across the street at the bakery and it just didn’t go well.”
After pausing she continues on, “I have been here for about two months now. I just have been trying to find a job and adjust to my new life. I decided that we… I mean, I needed a fresh start. That’s it.” She shrugs. I look at Sugar and Rage and see that they don’t believe her. If one thing is clear, it’s that this girl can’t lie to save her life. Luckily, though, I can help with the one thing she did bring up.
“What kind of work are you looking for?” I ask, clasping my fingers atop the table.
“Anything really. I have a business degree, but right now I’ll take anything I can get.”
I nod while looking over at Rage. I may be the manager at the shop, but it’s still club-owned and ran, so we have to run things through Rage and the club.
He inclines his head. “Well, we need a receptionist here. We had to let go of our old one. I will warn you, though, she didn’t keep up on things and uh, it’s not looking too good, and we need a lot of help. I’m not proud of that, but we stay busy, so it’s hard to keep up with the paperwork side of things.” He shrugs.
For the first time since I met Presley about a half hour ago, her eyes light up with actual happiness. It shocks the shit out of me. “Wait,thatmakes you happy? A horrible fucking mess?”
She smiles at me, almost bouncing in her seat, and starts nodding. “Well, the job offer is a huge part of it. It’s been a long two months of looking for a job, and I was losing hope, but also I love a task. I love fixing problems. Well, if it’s not my own, anyway.” She mumbles the last part, but I’m close enough to hear her.
“Well, alright then. I will bring it to church this week, but I don’t see why anyone would say no. Start next Monday. Does that work?” Rage says.
“Wait… What? You don’t want to interview me or anything?” She thinks for a moment, scrunching her nose again. “And… church? Why would you ask your church about me working here?”
I can’t help it. I burst out laughing so loud Presley jumps in her seat and turns her wide eyes on me.
“What’s so funny?” She almost looks annoyed that I am laughing right now, but her annoyed look is just so fucking cute it makes me laugh harder. Rage and Sugar chuckle and she swings her glare towards them. “I don’t understand. Are you all laughing at me?”
Sugar is the first to recover and says, “No, darlin’. Well, yes. But only because the church that Rage mentioned is our club meeting we have about once a week. It’s not an actual church.”
She scrunches her nose again. Fuck me, I don’t know why I love that so much. “So why is it called church?”
