Page 46 of Falcon

He leaned down, his lips inches from mine. “I can and I will.”

I tried to push him away, but that was useless. He was like a brick wall. “From what? The same kinda guys that pop into strip clubs out of town with their friends on motorcycles?”

He grabbed my shoulders. “Daisy, listen to me. Shit’s up in the air right now and I can’t keep you safe if you’re not with me.”

“What shit? Shit that only the men in the little secret room get to know about? If someone is after you, or us, don’t you think it would be helpful if I knew? But I don’t believe you. I think you just don’t want me around other men and you won’t admit it.”

He pulled me close against him again and I struggled to get free. “Daisy, calm down.”

“Fine. Let me go.”

A knock came and Eagle popped his head around the corner. “Hey, man, sorry to break this up but your next appointment is here.”

“I’ll be right there,” he said. Once Eagle walked away, he still didn’t let me go. “We’ll talk later. I’m sorry I can’t make it better right now. I just need you to trust me.”

“Well, I’m still mad.” Barely. He made it impossible to stay mad. “And I want a phone. I have no money and no phone. I need a sliver of freedom. You say I can do what I want, but that’s not true.” I pushed against his chest again and he pressed his lips to the top of my head before he finally let me go. “I’ll be twiddling my thumbs in the break room if you need your concubine.”

I stomped down the hall and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge before I plopped down on the sofa in the break room. There was a small TV, but I was tired of sitting around and I knew jack shit about working at a tattoo shop.

Maybe I could go to school? I didn’t have to dance. I just didn’t want to sit around and just be Falcon’s woman. Everything felt great, but even though I’d thrown caution to the wind, jumping in with both feet with him, he could change his mind. I’d seen my share of doomed relationships. He seemed into me now, but would he stay that way? There was no shortage of beautiful women around him all the time.

I was convinced that the mule of a man couldn’t admit he just didn’t want me to dance. It would be annoying, but at least it would have been honest. Fucking men and their egos. And all of these men had an abundance of it.

Looking around, I realized Eagle was here, but I hadn’t seen Lacy. I stood and stomped toward the front. I was totally digging the new biker girl look, but the boots were great for stomping around, too.

I shot a look into the room as I passed Falcon, but he was already working on placing the drawing on his client. Eagle looked up from the desk and smiled. “Hey, Daisy. You need something?”

“Where’s Lacy?”

He shrugged, then looked back at his tablet. “At the clubhouse. She said she gets bored here. She can do girly shit at the clubhouse all day.”

“You don’t drag her around everywhere?”

His brows rose as he looked up. “Uh, well…”

“Unbelievable. At least you’re not as crazy as he is.” Okay maybe not crazy but definitely possessive as fuck.

“Not many folks are, but what’s up?”

I smirked. “And honest, too. But leave it to me to fall for the crazy one.” I put my water down and leaned on the counter. “He makes me go everywhere with him and won’t let me work.”

“We need help here. Want a job?”

I rolled my eyes. “No, thank you. That’s the problem. He’ll only let me be where he is.”

“That sounds like a conversation the two of you need to have.”

“I tried. Shot down.”

“He just wants to keep you safe. You’re precious to him.”

I let out a heavy sigh. “Damn it, Eagle. Why are all of you so slick talking?”

“It’s the cut,” he said with a wink as he grabbed at the leather.

I rolled my eyes again, but this time playfully. “I guess I’m stuck here for now. What do you need help with?”

He stood up and waved me around to sit in the chair he had just vacated. “This is our scheduler. We book ‘em, and we send two reminders. We got this fancy texting system now, so it’s easy work, but if someone doesn’t confirm, we call them. You’ve been around. Sometimes we have appointments for two hours, sometimes six. If someone doesn’t show up for a sitting, it fucks us.” He hit a few buttons then said, “And here’s our waitlist. If someone cancels or reschedules, we go down this list to see if we can get somebody in on the opening.”

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