Page 11 of Dark Biker Protector

"Okay," I breathed. "You want...you want a coffee or something?"

"Sure," he replied, nodding, as he sank down on to the couch. I headed to the small kitchen and made him a cup, the way I’d seen him take it the other day. My hands were still a little shaky, but the pounding in my chest had started to ease slightly now he was here.

I made my way back through to the living room, and grinned when I saw him, slightly nonplussed, petting Cinnamon, who had jumped up on to the couch next to him.

"Not a cat person?" I asked him, as I passed him the coffee cup. Our fingers touched for the briefest moment, and I could have sworn I felt a pulse of electricity passing from his fingertips to mine.

"Not an animal person," he remarked. "Never really had the chance."

"Well, if anyone’s going to change your mind, it’s Cinnamon," I giggled as my cat head-butted Chuck’s his strong, calloused hand. "He’s not good at taking no for an answer. That’s how he wound up living with me. Basically followed me in to the apartment one night and then he never left."

He cocked an eyebrow.

"Are you allowed to have pets here?"

"No," I admitted. "But he’s little! Look, you hardly even notice him..."

He chuckled. He didn’t laugh much, and I liked the way it sounded. Full, rich, like it was coming from some place deep down inside of him. He wasn’t putting it on just because he thought I wanted to hear it. No, he was laughing because he thought I was actually funny.

I felt a little fizz deep down in my belly. Oh, no. I couldn’t let myself get drawn into anything with this guy, not for a second, not knowing everything that he was into.

Cinnamon crawled into his lap, padded against his legs, and then curled up into a ball and fell asleep. I couldn’t help but smile as I watched him pet the little cat; he clearly didn’t really get what he was supposed to do, but he was trying, and I found that really endearing.

"You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to," I told him softly. "I mean, I know you must have more important things to do than-"

"I’m fine," he replied, lifting his gaze to greet mine. For a moment, I forgot what I had been trying to say – and damn, that was a tough thing to do to a motormouth like me. Even though I knew he was a decade and a half older than me, I had to admit, he was seriously hot. A little rugged with that smattering of stubble over his jaw, his shaven head – nothing like the guys I had been with before. Franco himself had come from a rich family, and he’d always seemed brittle, ready to snap at any moment.

Not Chuck, though. Chuck Stone was different – Chuck knew how to carry himself, knew how to present himself to make sure that nobody got under his skin.

"You want me to stay the night?" he asked me. I glanced to the door. Could I really ask him to do that? It wasn’t as though I had anywhere for him to sleep except the couch...unless I invited him to bed with me, that was.

"Yeah," I murmured, lowering my eyes slightly. I couldn’t believe I was asking for this from him. It didn’t feel fair. But, if he was offering, who was I to say no?

"I’ll get you some blankets," I told him, rising to my feet and getting to work. "Fair warning, though, Cinnamon’s probably going to want to sleep with you on the couch."

"I think I can make room for him," he replied, glancing down at the car on his lap. My heart squeezed slightly at the sight of the two of them together. Not that it should have, of course – not that I should have been letting my mind stray anywhere even close to the direction of that.

I rushed through to the bedroom to pull together some pillows and blankets for him, my nightmare all at once forgotten.

Because having this man in my house, my cat on his lap, my coffee in his hand...well, it felt more like a dream.

Chapter Six – Abbey

I tried the door of the tattoo shop, but it was locked tight. I shook it a couple of times in the frame and pulled a face. Chuck had told me to come down here and meet him at the shop before we headed back to my place, but it looked like something might have gotten in the way.

I knocked on the window a couple of times, and a few seconds later, Star wandered out from the back and unlocked the door for me. She greeted me with a warm smile.

"You alright?" She asked me, and I nodded.

"Yeah, I’m fine," I replied. "Is Chuck here?"

"He’s in the back," she replied, jerking her head towards the room behind her. "Talking to some of the guys. There’s something going on with that...well, I guess I shouldn’t say."

My interest was piqued at once. I knew she was right, she should probably keep go in there under wraps for the sake of the secrecy of the Dogs, but, as I’d started to get a little closer to Chuck, I’d been curious to find out more about what he did here, what kind of command he might have had over the men who worked for him.

I leaned on the counter, not sure whether I should go looking for him or keep my distance for the time being. He had been reluctant to let me get close enough to write a story about the Dogs, and I doubted that had changed, even as the two of us had gotten a little closer these last few weeks.

All at once, the door that led out into the tattoo shop opened, and Chuck passed through it, followed by a couple of guys in beat-up leather jackets. He nodded to me in greeting, and then turned back to the men who were following him.

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