Page 10 of Lulu

How far had Millie and I made it before we’d run into the ravine? I glanced back towards the direction of the clinic and found that I could still see the building. We’d gone farther than I’d thought, but walking there was still doable.

“You’re not walking back.”

How had he known what I was thinking?

I reluctantly left my car and trekked up the slight hill to where he was standing next to his bike, a smirk on his handsome face that I would have loved to smack off.

“I’ll have it towed to my garage to see if it can be repaired.”

I’d reached him now and stopped to glare up at him. “You have a garage?” His comment had solidified that I knew very little about him.

“Don’t sound so surprised. I own several businesses.”

“Pff.You’re a regular upstanding citizen.”

He threw his head back and laughed loudly, the sound carrying over the desert. I was mesmerized by the movement of his Adam’s apple and the ripple of muscles in his thickly corded neck. The urge to put my mouth there came out of nowhere, and I didn’t know if I wanted to bite him or suck him.

“When’s the last time you paid taxes?” he asked the moment he pulled himself together.

I held my tongue stubbornly.

“You’re thirty-years-old, sweetheart. How you going to explain to the IRS why you never paid taxes?”

His amusement pissed me off. And how did he know how old I was? “Easy. I was a kept woman since I was sixteen. Didn’t have to file taxes.” That wiped the amusement right off his face.

His expression sobered and a hard gleam came into his eyes. I could almost feel the anger coming off him in waves. “You became a club girl at fucking sixteen?”

It suddenly occurred to me that we were standing on the side of the road having a conversation that had little to do with anything. “Just get me back to my clinic, please.”

I made a move to go around him to get on his bike when I found my arm being grabbed, and I was spun back around. “Answer my fucking question, Lulu,” he growled. “And don’t try to feed me some bullshit that the club didn’t know you were jailbait.”

I laughed softly. “Of course not! I didn’t join the club until I was eighteen.” I hesitated from telling Brody the rest. Not that it was any of his business. But he was a smart man, and nothing got by him.

His frown grew. “And the two years prior to that?”

I released a harsh breath and pulled my arm from his grasp. “What is this? An interrogation? It’s really none of your business.” I wasn’t exactly proud of prostituting myself at the age of sixteen at Crystals Palace. I’d lied about my age back then, and the owner at the time had turned a blind eye as long as you made him money. He’d had a fake ID made up for me in case the cops had come around. Turned out they hadn’t cared much either.

I heard Brody growl behind me, obviously annoyed because I hadn’t answered him, but he let the subject drop. I climbed onto his bike and gave him a smug smile when he walked up to me. With his long legs, I couldn’t wait to see how he got on without knocking me off. As if guessing the reason behind my smirk, he caught me unaware by lifting his leg over the back of his bike and mounting behind me. I was forced to shift forward as he sat down.

The feel of his big body settling behind me made me feel instantly hot all over, especially when I felt the lower half of his body pressed snug against mine. I felt the heat between his legs, the strength of his muscular thighs tight against me. My heart raced when he leaned forward and said against my ear, “All comfy, sweetheart?”

I refused to let him know how much his unexpected move was getting to me. It felt more intimate than it should have. It wasn’t the first time I’d been in this position, but knowing that Brody was the one behind me made me hyper aware of him. It wasn’t fair that the man could turn me on with very little effort.

“I’m very comfy,” I responded sweetly, grimacing at the slight tremor in my voice.

With a gruff laugh he started his bike and took off, spinning his back tire. The jerk of his bike caused me to fall back into him, but with his powerful arms on either side of me I felt safe from falling off. I knew Brody wouldn’t let anything happen to me. He may not have liked me, but like most of the men I’d surrounded myself with, he had the same qualities and protective tendencies when it came to women and children.

It didn’t take us long to reach the clinic. As soon as I saw the front door I groaned. Apparently one of the Soul Reapers’ bullets had hit the glass, in addition to the damage they’d done to the door inside. “God, we’ve only been open for a week,” I mumbled as Brody shut his bike down. I dreaded calling Elizabeth with the news that we needed repairs.

And then there was Buttercup. What was I going to do about her?

“You’re not staying here tonight.”

“Excuse me?” What was he, a freaking mind reader? “You’re talking to an adult here, Savage.” My use of his last name emphasized my irritation with him. I climbed off his bike. “And look at the front door. Someone has to stay here until it’s fixed.”

“Don’t give a fuck. I’ll board up the door and Buttercup can stay one night alone.” He got off his bike and pulled out his phone.

I grinned at his use of the dog’s name and ignored the rest as I made my way back inside. I went directly to the supply closet and grabbed a broom and dust pan to sweep up the broken glass on the floor. While I began to sweep, I could hear Brody talking to someone directly outside the entrance door and tuned him out.

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