Page 59 of Renegade

Hell, it was worth a shot.

The thing that threw me though was the fact that she’d asked me to stay. That wasn’t in the book; not like there were any actual guidelines for me to follow. I was flying blind here.

I just needed to buckle down and be patient. If I could handle Silent Phoenix MC, then surely, I could handle a feisty redhead for a few more weeks.

A few more weeks of this and then I’d fuck her brains out and move on with my life. I’d probably need to find a couple of hot twins to make up for the deprivation I’d been experiencing.

My jeans immediately grew tighter and I cursed. I was going to have to think of something else or spend the evening in agony. My brain was a sadist so I immediately thought of Lauren begging me to stay.

Fuck me.

I fired up the grill and then glanced at my watch. It was almost seven; I had about five minutes before she arrived.

Yep. That’d work.

I ran upstairs and into the bathroom. My jeans were on the floor within seconds and two minutes later, I was sane again. I washed my hands and pulled my pants back up before strolling back downstairs.

“Hey!” Lauren said from the screen door leading out onto the front porch and I jumped in fright.

I unlatched it and let her in. “Hey. How long have you been waiting?”

Translation: How much did you just hear?

She gave me an easy smile. “I just pulled up a second ago—I hadn’t even gotten a chance to knock. You’re out of breath. Were you working out?”

I rubbed at the back of my neck and let out a small laugh. “No, just got the grill going and then ran upstairs to make sure everything was put away.”

Lauren looked around. “This place is amazing. I don’t know the last time I saw a house with a wraparound porch. And because you’re in the country, you don’t have neighbors. That’s gotta be nice. I hear my downstairs neighbors arguing all the time.”

The place had been a steal. It had needed a shit ton of work, but between David and myself we’d gotten it back to almost perfect. And just when I thought it was too much for the two of us, Grey had shown up and put his skills to work.

“You help me, I help you. What’d I say?”

It had felt like more than that though. When he said it, it had come out like an apology, as if he’d regretted pulling me into the club’s dealings.

“Is this the original flooring?” Lauren asked, before kneeling down and running her hand across a section of it.

I’d been more than a little preoccupied at getting busted doing the five-knuckle shuffle that I hadn’t taken the time to really look at her.

As she caressed the flooring, I had plenty of time to do just that. Her hair was braided and hung over her left shoulder, but her red sundress was what really caught my attention. It was short and cut just low enough for me to see right down it with the way she was bent over.

A fucking sundress?

Was she trying to kill me?

I shook my head.Five-dater. “It is the original flooring. What do you say we get those steaks on the grill and get to know each other a little more?”

She stood back up and smiled again. Her smile was like that of a child’s—given completely and without provocation. It was as if everything amused her.

We stepped out on the back patio and the evening sun highlighted the freckles across her nose and cheeks.

Goddamn. Could she be any more adorable?

Adorable?

What the fuck, Mike?

“What can I help with?” She offered, but I shook my head.

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