There wasn’t much to take in, really. The house was a modern three-bedroom raised bungalow with a garage, a basement, and a medium-sized backyard with a stone-tiled patio. A large granite counter separated the kitchen from the living room. The interior was a mixture of browns and grays, most of the furniture straight from the Home Depot catalog. A 60-inch flat screen. A few abstract paintings. No potted plants. Three grown men didn’t need much.

Lauren let out a deep breath. “It’s…cleaner than I expected. No offense.”

I chuckled. “Well, we do what we can, plus the cleaning lady that comes in once a month.”

She looked at me. “Are you sure it’s okay for me to stay here?”

“That’s what Jake said.”

Even I was surprised. I thought the reason Jake had stayed unmarried all these years, in spite of Billie’s constant nagging and the women who flirted with him at the bar, was because he didn’t trust women. He was also the one who made the rule that we weren’t supposed to bring a woman to the house. So why did he suddenly decide to let a woman we’d only just met live with us?

”And do you always do what Jake says?”

I nodded. “Yeah, because he’s the leader of my MC.”

“MC?”

“Motorcycle club. It’s called Black Storm.”

“I see. That’s where he went?”

“Yeah. Someone was looking for him at the clubhouse.”

Lauren touched the back of the couch. “Have you been living together long?”

“A few years, ever since I joined the club. There’s also another guy, but he’s away right now.”

Lauren’s eyebrows arched. “And he won’t mind me living here?”

“He’s cool.”

Honestly, he would probably throw a fit, but that was a problem for another time.

Lauren glanced down the hall. “Will I be staying in your room?”

“Yes. I’m your boyfriend, after all.”

She nodded slowly. “Right.”

“But don’t worry. I’ll sleep on the couch until you remember me. I spend most of my time here in the living room, anyway.”

It was the same thing I told Jake when I insisted on letting Lauren stay in my room instead of his, which was his initial proposal since he could always sleep in the garage or in his shop. No way. It was nice enough of him to allow Lauren to stay in the house. The least I could do was give her my room.

Lauren frowned. “Are you sure? But…”

I held a finger to her lips to cut off the rest of her sentence. “No more buts.”

She did stop talking, but she also looked up at me with unguarded eyes, eyes that at first gleamed with innocence and concern, then shone with interest. Fascination? Attraction? All I knew was that I couldn’t look away, and as my gaze stayed glued on hers, I felt the silence grow hot and heavy, just like my balls.

Fuck. It had been too long since I last jerked off, longer since I’d been this close to a woman.

I was suddenly aware of how soft her lips felt against my finger. They were full and shaped into a bow, too, just the way I liked them. I had an urge to run the pad of my thumb across them, then maybe slip it in between to touch the tip of her tongue. I imagined her licking my finger, then taking all of it inside her warm mouth and sucking on it. My cock throbbed inside my pants.

Lauren stepped back with flushed cheeks, making me wonder if she had read my mind. If she had, she didn’t seem to approve.

“I think I’ll go rest now.” She grabbed the paper bags. “I still feel a little lightheaded.”

I drew a deep breath in an effort to calm the heat in my veins. “Of course. My room is the one on the right furthest down the hall, just before the bathroom.”