Page 9 of Xactly What She Needs

They look at each other silently for a few seconds before turning back to me. Truthfully, their silent communication is slightly creepy, but I hold my ground, something I’m immensely proud of in that moment.

“Should we order everything or do you just want a credit card?” Xander asks while Jax nods slowly.

I raise an eyebrow. “Do either of you think that I would trust the two of you to order anything after seeing this catastrophe?”

Xander nods his head once. “Right, card it is.” He eyes me warily, like I’m the dangerous one. “I’ll just get you one of your own.” He gives me a smile that makes my belly flip. “Less chance of any of us having to bother you.”

“Perfect,” I say with a smile.

3

It’s been two weeks since Bri started working here and the woman is driving me insane. Granted, I doubt that she’s trying to, but just her presence in those damn jeans everyday has made me grumpier than usual. After her first day, where she dressed up, we told her just to wear whatever was comfortable. We’re not exactly trying to impress people with our wardrobe. Hell, even Jenny has come into work in sweatpants and slippers, which I would’ve said something about if she wasn’t holding a heating pad in one hand and a chocolate bar in the other. I figured it was best for the safety of every male in the building to ignore what she was wearing. I may not be the smartest man on the planet, but even I know enough not to mess with a hormonal woman during that time of the month, especially if she has teenage hormones rampaging through her.

But dammit, ever since the first day, Bri has come in wearing jeans that look fucking painted on. And if it’s not jeans, it’s those black stretchy pants thing that women wear and those fuckers leave nothing to the imagination. The woman is torturing me without even trying to. And I feel like a dick for even looking at her like that when I have a basic idea of what she’s been through. The last thing she needs is me leering at her like some creepy bastard.

I’ve taken more cold showers in the last two weeks than I ever have and that includes my teenage years when I was a constant walking boner.

And the worst part, I can’t even bring myself to take the edge off with one of the chicks who hang around the club. I’m an asshole, but thinking of Bri while fucking some other chick is lower than even I’m willing to go. She's been doing such a great job, that it makes me feel even worse about how my mind and body react when she’s around.

The woman is brilliant and has completely transformed our business. I mean sure, I use a pretty cutting edge program when it comes to designing looks for the cars, but I never had thought about using any sort of technology for anything else. Especially for all of our parts and shit. But now, we have these scanning guns and tablets thattellus exactly what we have. I’ll admit, it’s saved a shit ton of time when ordering supplies.

We even have an updated time clock system and personalized badges. There is literally nothing that she hasn’t changed and it’s all for the better.

Most of the guys try to stay out of her way. As assertive as she is when working, she still gets extremely skittish when all the guys are around. She tolerates Jax and I pretty well, but even we’ve seen her jump around us. We figured out pretty quickly that she doesn’t like going into the main garage. We’re not sure why, but it’s also not my place to ask. She looked like she was on the verge of a panic attack when we were setting up the inventory for the scanning guns. We all took it upon ourselves to stay late and finish it up for her, so that she wouldn’t have to go back in there.

Luckily, she stays in the main office or the reception area and seems to flourish there. She also doesn’t seem to have any issues with Marrow, who set up her new tax accounting system for her. I swear to God, she looked like a kid in a candy store when it was all done. She looked downright gleeful, making me wonder how shitty our old system actually was.

“Move.” Is grunted right before I’m shoved to the right, barely missing hitting my hip on the counter.

I narrow my eyes at Jax as he takes down a coffee mug and starts to fill it up. “What’s crawled up your ass?” I question as I stare longingly at my empty mug in front of the coffee maker. I was just about to fill it up when he pushed me.

He barely spares me a glance before taking a swig of the steaming hot liquid. I hope the fucker burns his tongue. “You’ve been standin’ there day-dreamin’ forever. I wanted coffee.”

“I have not. I just walked up and got my mug out of the cabinet.”

He raises an eyebrow. “I stood here and watched you for five minutes before I got annoyed,” he states evenly as he walks to the small table before taking a seat.

I resume my spot and fill up my mug. “I’ve just got a lot on my mind,” Isay, beingas evasive as possible. No need for anyone, especially him, to know the real reason I’ve been so distracted lately.

“Hmmm.” Is his non-committal response, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

I turn around while holding onto the precious elixir in my hands. “What?”

“You seem to have been distracted for the last two weeks.” Observant bastard.

I shrug while taking a sip of my coffee to buy myself an extra second. “A lot has been going on. We’ve had a ton of big changes lately. It’s only normal to be a little off kilter,” I defend.

“Right,” he chuckles. “And the source of your distraction wouldn’t happen to be the woman implementing all of those changes, now would it?”

“I have no idea what you’re talkin’ about,” I lie through my teeth. Teeth that I’m suddenly clenching.

“You’re actin’ like I don’t know you better than you know yourself,” Jax states smugly. I really wish he would talk to me as little as he does everyone else.

I narrow my eyes. “What’s your point?”

He gives me a once over, his eyes missing nothing. “My point is that we don’t need you distracted. We finally have this place running well and the last thing we need is for you or your dick to fuck it up for us.”

I slam my mug down onto the counter and cross my arms. “What the fuck do you think I’ve been doin’?” I shake my head angrily. “I purposely have been keepin’ my distance so that I don’t fuck everything up,” I growl in annoyance, with him and the whole situation. It’s just my fucking luck that I’ve never even had to try to get a woman before. That’s always been one of the perks of the club. And now, the one woman that I actually want is completely off limits for a shit ton of reasons.

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