Page 3 of Ordinary Girl

“My friend and I, we were supposed to be having dinner but she had to call it off at the last minute. And as I was alreadyhere I thought I might as well have one quick drink before I head home.”

He keeps his distance. He’s obviously very good at reading situations, he can tell I’m wary. But interested. God help me, I’m interested. I’m not a robot! I might have sworn off relationships but I haven’t stopped wanting human contact, a conversation with someone other than Ana, her friends, my work colleagues; my bank manager or business advisor telling me three times a day how close my business is to failing. How my life could fall apart at any given moment. It might be nice to escape that for a couple of hours, after all, that’s what tonight was supposed to have been about. And it’s not like we’re on our own, this place is full of people, I think I’m pretty safe.

“Would you mind if I joined you?”

I leave a beat or two before I answer. I’m just making sure, in my own mind, that I really am okay with this. That I really do want to have a drink with a man I’ve only just met, because this is new territory for me. I’ve never done anything like this before.

“I’d like that.” I smile. Yeah. I’m okay with this. “So, are you going to tell me your name?”

He returns my smile and takes a step toward me. “Call me Skip.”

Skip

I never married. I never wanted to. The club was the only family I needed, the only one I wanted. Women on tap, brothers to hang out with, we had work to do. A permanent old lady was only ever going to be too much of a distraction. Still would be. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want company. That I don’t want to talk to someone besides my brothers; the club girls who frequent our compound. Sometimes I want more. Something different. I get off on different. I like taking risks.

“Okay. I’ve told youmyname, you gonna tell me yours?”

This woman here, I made a beeline for her the second I saw her, sitting alone at the bar, checking her watch. I knew she’d been stood up before she told me as much. Beautiful in an ethereal way with her long blonde hair and lightly tanned skin, I wasn’t letting her get away.

“Sofia. My name’s Sofia.”

“Sofia…” I repeat her name slowly. Look right into her eyes. I’m one charming son-of-a-bitch when I want to be. And these are the times when I call that charm into play, when I’m not being the president of a biker club. When I leave the familiarity of my own town behind and visit places I’m not known; not recognized for the shit-stirring the Vikings can cause. Sometimes. We’re not total assholes. Not all of the time.

I watch as she rolls her eyes before fixing me with a wary look. “You’re not going to churn out that ‘beautiful name for a beautiful lady’ line, are you?”

“Youarebeautiful.”

“Thank you.” She smiles. And it’s a killer smile. “You just don’t seem like the kind of man who reels off cheesy chat-up lines, that’s all.”

“What kind of mandoI seem like?”

She takes a sip of her drink, and I focus on her pale pink lips as they barely touch the rim of the glass, it’s insanely hot! And then her eyes are back on mine and it’s all I can do to control my aching cock.

“Mysterious.” She rests her elbow on the counter, her chin in her hand, and she laughs. And the sound she makes, it’s fucking beautiful!

“Mysterious, huh?”

She doesn’t say anything, she just smiles at me, again, and I feel something kick up inside me, a feeling deep in my gut that’s new. Different.She’sdifferent.

“I’m not that mysterious, I promise you. I’m a pretty ordinary kinda guy.”

I don’t come to these places, meet these women, to tell them the truth. I come here to escape the club for a few hours. To have a taste of what my father gave the life up for, I guess I really do have his genes. I want to be with women who challenge me, not those who want to sleep with me purely because I’m president of a notorious biker gang.

“What do you do, Skip?”

“I run a few businesses – an auto repair shop, a diner, and we’ve just opened up a tattoo and piercing studio.”

She frowns slightly. “Some pretty diverse businesses there.”

She’s right. They are. And most of them are fronts for the money laundering we got going on within the club, but that’s not something she needs to know. We run legit businesses too, but she doesn’t need to know that, either.

“I enjoy taking risks.” I hold her gaze and she doesn’t flinch, doesn’t waver. “So, how doyouspend your days, Sofia?”

She briefly drops her gaze, starts fiddling with the hem of her sunflower-yellow dress. And when she looks back up she’s got a smile on her face, but one that hasn’t reached her eyes. She’s forcing that smile. “I’m an accountant.” She shrugs. “It’s all pretty boring, really.”

“We all need accountants, sweetheart.”

“Maybe… Look, I should be going. It’s getting late and I have a meeting I need to prepare for in the morning.” She slides down from the bar stool, flattens her dress down over a body I’m pretty sure is damn hot, and I don’t want her to go, I don’t, because this isn’t how this usually works. Women don’t walk away from me, they always want more. These nights always end with sex and a swift goodbye before I leave this secret life behind and go back to my real one. I call the shots. Me, not them. “It was nice meeting you, Skip.”

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