“I’m just going to go to the bathroom,” she said.
Smokey nodded, and as soon as she left, he turned to the brothers. “Why aren’t you eating?”
“We don’t know her. Ugly Beast made a valid point. It’s one thing for you to fuck her. It’s quite another thing to allow her to cook for us,” Brick said.
“Oh, fuck this shit. You’re all happy to eat her baked goods.” Raven climbed off the wall where she’d been sitting and went to the table.
Smokey watched as Raven took a slice of bread and dipped it into another bowl. She scooped out a generous amount and took a bite.
“Oh, fuck,” she said. “This is good.”
Before anyone could take one to try, she picked up the dip and the bread, and moved away.
“Hey!” one of the brothers called out.
“You losers were too lame to try the food. This is mine.”
Smokey smiled as the club descended on the table.
This was what Ava saw when she came out of the clubhouse.
She stopped and watched them all at the table. “They finally got hungry?” she asked.
“They did. All it takes is one person.” He winked at her.
“Did you do this?” She put her hand to his chest.
“Nah, I don’t do any kind of shit like that.”
“I was worried that no one liked what I picked, and I did research what goes well at a picnic.”
He kissed her forehead. “Stop frowning. The club knows you’re an easy target. They’ll get used to you. You’ve just got to stop letting them get to you.”
“Thank you,” she said.
“What for?”
“For making them eat it.”
“Babe, I can’t make them do anything. Is there anything you can’t do?” he asked. She could cook, bake, keep house, fuck. So far, she was the perfect woman.
Was that why he couldn’t keep away from her?
He wanted her.
She wasn’t like the whores who stuck around hoping for any cock to notice them. Ava didn’t look toward any of his brothers. Her gaze was always on him.
“There’s a lot I can’t do.” She smiled. “I just hope you don’t find out what it is.”
Chapter Seven
“You don’t think this looks stupid?” Ava asked, turning left and right for him to see.
“Hell, no, it doesn’t.” Smokey let out a whistle.
Tonight, Smokey had invited her to a club party. The only warning he’d given her was that it wasn’t going to be tame.
The men were going to play, and he wanted her to join him.
She didn’t have any party clothes and told him so. In response, he’d turned up to her house tonight complete with the appropriate attire. Staring down the length of her body, though, she had to wonder. The skirt went above the knee, and it was way too indecent to go out in.
The bra and shirt he’d purchased for her, well, her tits were squeezed together so tightly it gave the word cleavage a whole new meaning. She was so far out of her comfort zone it wasn’t even funny. She gave a little wriggle and Smokey chuckled.
“What is it?”
“I don’t know. You don’t think it’s too revealing?”
“That’s its purpose. I want to be able to see you.”
“I don’t know. This feels … strange,” she said. “Look.”
Smokey stepped away from the doorframe and moved toward her. His hands went to her hips. “What are you finding difficult with how you look?”
“You’re going to have club women there.”
“So?”
“And I … look at me. I’m thirty years old. I don’t equal them. I never will. I should just stay home tonight.” She pulled out of his arms and collapsed to the bed.
There were moments late at night when his arms were wrapped around her that she could allow herself to dream and imagine that he belonged to her. They hadn’t changed the dynamic of their relationship.
It was still sex. Great sex.
Smokey was teaching her stuff she’d never even heard of, let alone seen.
He’d awakened her body, but he’d also opened up her heart. She hadn’t been looking for love, far from it. After Derek, she’d sworn off all men. They were all rat bastards, but Smokey was different.
It didn’t matter, though.
There was no way in hell she intended to bring up the possibilities of a relationship. The club wasn’t exactly warming to her, even though she adored them all. She loved stopping by with extra baked goods, or listening to them talk about nothing. They treated her as if she was a nobody, and that was fine.
She got it. To them, she wasn’t anyone important.
“I’m not going to this party without you. I’ve been looking forward to it all week. I even broke my rules for you. I promised myself no matter what, I wouldn’t shop for a chick. I did all of that for you.” He grabbed her arm and she followed his tug as he moved her in front of the mirror. “Now I don’t know what shit is going on in your brain and quite frankly, I really don’t give a shit. I love what I see.”
He wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed his chin against her shoulder. “We’re going to that party, and you’re going to have fun. Do I need to threaten to put you over my knee?”
She snorted and rolled her eyes. “Fine, but if they all laugh at me, we’re coming right back here, watching a movie and drinking cocoa. Deal?”
“Deal.”
He took her hand and walked her out of the house. She groaned when she saw his bike waiting for them.
A couple of times now, she’d ridden on the back of it. Each time, she’d ended up screaming and begging him to stop. So embarrassing.
“It’ll be fine.”
“Seriously? Couldn’t we, like, walk?”
“In those heels?”
She glanced down at her feet. He’d purchased a pair of stiletto heels. They were quite high, and she felt a little dizzy just glancing down at the floor.
“Fine. It seems you’re winning all the arguments tonight.”
“It doesn’t take me long to do.” He winked at her.
He climbed onto his bike and waited for her.
She threw her leg over the bike and climbed on, trying not to jostle her weight or show him how heavy she was. The women at the clubhouse were slender. Each woman, apart from Abriana and Raven, had been sure to tell her how easy it was to diet and how important it was to count calories.
Ava got the message big time. They were slim, she was not. Big deal.
She held on to Smokey as he started up the bike and took them off into the night. A small scream escaped her, and she held on even tighter to Smokey, not wanting to let him go for even a second.
“I’ve got you, babe. You just got to have a little faith.”
She closed her eyes when she felt the panic rise up inside her. They were going to crash. In the back of her mind, she knew it wasn’t possible because of how good of a driver Smokey was, but she couldn’t stop herself.
“You’re doing good, babe. Not long to go now.”
Still with her eyes firmly shut, she squeezed Smokey even tighter, praying for the ride to end. When it did, her fingers ached from the tight hold she had.