Silver and Chrome: A Bad Boy MC Romance (3 page)

By
the time I reach Jez again, she’s practically throwing herself at me and I let
her hand graze my cock.

“You
attracted to blondes all of a sudden?” she says with a harsh laugh as she
brushes her own dark and messy hair back away from her face. I’m harder than I
should be after just verbally sparring with Blondie, and Jez is probably
feeling jealous. Not in a possessive way, but in a way that demands she prove
she can jam my dick down her throat better than any blonde bimbo can. And
that’s fine by me. A little added sexual motivation is never a bad thing. Especially
when I’m feeling so fucking horny.

I
glance back to the bar to see if Blondie is still watching me. I’m curious what
she’d think about Jez so openly rubbing my cock through my jeans. She’d
probably act horrified, but then run home to roll around with an expensive
vibrator for the rest of the night as she imagined being in Jez’s spot.

It’s
disappointing to see that she hasn’t even noticed. Her attention is turned away
completely as she stares at a new face in the crowd. I might not know this girl
at all, but I know anger, and that’s some undisguised rage she’s got plastered
all over that gorgeous face right now.

It’s
a man that pushes his way to the bar, and as he comes into view, I’m surprised
to see someone even more out of place here than she is.

What
the hell is a guy in a three piece suit doing at Axle’s?

CHAPTER
TWO

EVELYN

“What the fuck are you
doing here?”

“Evelyn,
dear, how much time have you been spending in this… place?” Edward wrinkles his
nose, his gaze drifting to the pool table where he likely watched those two
assholes beating each other moments ago. His lip curls. “It seems to already be
affecting your choice of language.”

Seeing
Edward again, even after two weeks of avoiding his calls, still makes my hands
and teeth clench. I feel like punching his lights out, but maybe he’s right. Maybe
that’s just the atmosphere around here getting to me. Especially after talking
to that brute in leather a minute ago.
Who the hell does that guy think he
is? And what kind of a name is “Bash,” anyway?

“How
did you find me?” I demand, wrenching my thoughts away from that arrogant
meathead and back to my present problem. Besides, he’d just love to know I was
thinking about him. Which I’m totally not.

I
glare at Edward as he looks around, as if confirming to himself that this place
is as bad as it seems. Which it is. I don’t know how I let Jackie talk me into
coming here. This is totally her scene, not mine. She initially said that we’d
celebrate the first job interview I’ve landed since leaving VI, but that didn’t
convince me. It just sounded lame. Besides, I’d rather save my celebrations
until
after
Monday’s interview,
if
it goes well.

So
then she argued that a change of pace would do me good, and that argument rang
true. I’d spent most of the last couple of weeks cooped up in my apartment,
desperately sending out résumés and waiting by the phone. So I let myself be
swayed, and yet here I am, staring back at the same problem I’m here to forget.

“You
have to admire modern technology,” Edward says, his eyes still roving through
the crowd of people with obvious distaste. “Everyone with a phone can be
tracked, these days. The wonders of GPS.” Finally his eyes slide back to me. He
has a self-satisfied smirk on his face that I just want to slap off.

Edward
is a man of resources, but he always took delight in staying just on the edge
of doing anything illegal. It surprises me that he’s admitting to this.

“You
hacked my phone? I should call the police.” Well, not him, of course. But
someone he paid. Still, that might still lead back to him.

“No
hacking required, my dear. Don’t forget where you got that phone. You’re lucky
I don’t charge you with theft after you failed to return VI property. I’m well
within my rights to have my IT department track down our stolen handsets. Lucky
for us you never changed any of the default settings.”

Shit.

“Fine,
take your stupid phone and get out of here.” I reach into my purse and pull it
out. It was stupid of me not to remember that this was a work phone. I’ve been
using it for both personal and work calls since I got to Chicago, but getting a
new one will be a small price to pay for getting Edward out of my life.

“Meh,
you can keep it,” he says dismissively. “You’ll need it when you come back to
work, anyway.”

“Are
you joking?” I turn to look at Jackie. I’d forgotten she was sitting beside me.
She’s never met Edward, but I don’t suppose she needs a private eye license to
figure out who he is from our conversation. “She’s not coming back to work for
you, you cheating sack of shit!”

Since
meeting Jackie shortly after moving to Chicago, she’s become one of my closest
friends, although that isn’t saying much since I rarely get any time to
socialize. Still, her brash attitude and willingness to speak her mind has
often been welcome, since the Canadian in me always has the urge to apologize
and let myself get stepped on. I’ve been trying to learn to be more assertive
by taking notes from her. Right now, I’m very happy she’s next to me.

Edward’s
eyes shift over to my friend as if noticing her for the first time. They flit
up and down, taking her in and then dismissing her all within a second as he
returns his gaze to me. Edward has a way of sizing people up in an instant and
then determining whether they’re worth his valuable time. Apparently, he’s
decided that Jackie isn’t. Instead, he answers me as if I had been the one that
spoke.

“The
thing with Lindsey is over. It was a momentary lapse of judgment and it won’t
happen again. It’s time we moved on and you come back to work. I think two weeks
has been more than enough time to punish me. Matters of importance have been
falling through the cracks without you around to hold things together. Let’s
move past this and get back to the way things were.”

I
stare at Edward, conscious of the fact that my mouth is hanging open, but
unable to think clearly enough to remember how to close it. He’s just smiling
at me, as if he just explaining away everything and he’s simply waiting for me
to admit that I had been the fool to take things so seriously and leave like I
did.

He
brushes some imagined piece of fluff from the cuff of his five thousand dollar
suit, clearly uncomfortable at waiting for me to respond. I see Jackie open her
mouth again from the corner of my eye, so I finally turn to her and give my head
a little shake. She backs down, but is clearly bristling with the desire to
swear at Edward some more.

“I’m
not coming back, Edward. Take your phone and leave.” There are a lot of other
things I want to say to him, but people are starting to stare at us and I don’t
want to make a scene. I’m embarrassed enough at the whole situation and how he
treated me. I don’t need a bar full of strangers to know my business.

For
some reason, I have an overwhelming urge to look over and see if Bash is
watching us. I ignore it, but I bet he’s over there, laughing. Coming here was
a mistake.

“It’s
not just at work that I’ve missed you. You know I hate waking up alone.” Edward
doesn’t care what people think of him and never has, so to him, it’s irrelevant
that Jackie, the bartender, and everyone else in the immediate vicinity is
listening to him. Of course, to them, that statement probably sounds sweet, but
it’s not. It’s pathetic. Edward hates being alone. He always has. He’s looking
for more of a surrogate mother than a girlfriend. Despite his brilliant and
ruthless head for business, Edward is completely disorganized. He doesn’t miss
me—he misses what I did for him. He misses that I organized his home life as
much as his work life. The one smart move I made when I moved in with him was
not getting rid of my old apartment right away.

“Give
up, asshole. It’s not happening.” Jackie can’t hold her tongue anymore, but
Edward doesn’t even look at her this time. He’s already dismissed her. She
might as well not even be there.

“This
is silly,” Edward says. He reaches out and grips my wrist, giving it a little
tug. “You’re being unreasonable. Let’s get out of here and discuss this
somewhere else. My car is waiting outside.”

No
is not a word that Edward acknowledges. Unless he’s the one saying it. 

“I’m
not coming back, Edward,” I repeat a bit louder now. I can hear the rest of the
bar starting to quiet down and I don’t dare look around. I have no desire to
see all of the eyes that are staring at us. I have no desire to see
his
eyes, in particular. Bash.

“You’re
making a fool of yourself,” Edward hisses, his grip tightening even further. “You’ve
had enough time to pout. I’ve apologized. Let’s move past this and get back to
business. I have a few very important meetings coming up and I need your help.”

“Let
her go,” Jackie says, launching up from her stool. As she does, two suited men
step forward from the background. At first I think they’re about to help me,
but then I recognize them from VI. Of course. Edward would never set foot in a
place like this without bring his own security. Their eyes are on Jackie, ready
to stop her in case she tries to help me. Edward might have dismissed her, but
that’s easier to do when you’re paying someone else to watch your back.

“I
said no.” This time I nearly yell the words, and Edward’s eyes widen in
surprise; he’s unfamiliar with the assertive streak I’ve picked up from Jackie
over the last few weeks. I use his surprise to yank my arm and pull free from
his grasp.

“I
think it’s time you leave.”

The
voice is gruff, hard, and so full of authority that I’m sure everyone in the
immediate vicinity has the same urge I do: to stand up and head for the door. Instead,
everyone’s eyes shift to take in the new player in our ever-growing spectacle.

Shit,
not him again.

Bash
is standing next to Edward, and the differences between the two men couldn’t be
more obvious. Of course, there would be no contest if it came down to anything
physical. Edward is tall, but he’s thin and exercises more for health and a
desire for immortality than to get strong. His suit is probably worth more than
this entire bar takes in on a good night, his nails and hair are always
perfectly manicured, and his face is always shaved close.

Bash,
on the other hand, has dark hair that looks as though he’s slept in his helmet,
his face looks like it hasn’t seen a razor in at least a couple of days, and
the muscles of his arms that are uncovered by his leather vest are heavily
tattooed. I think if I’m ever asked to define the word “manly,” I should just
show a picture of this guy and I wouldn’t have to say another word.

As
soon as Edward takes a look at Bash he takes a step back, whether voluntarily
or because Bash is practically on top of him. As he does, both of his
bodyguards step forward and flank him. Bash doesn’t even look at them. His cold,
dark eyes are fixated on Edward. I don’t even think he’s blinked since he
spoke.

Now
the men on either side of Edward step back, even though Bash hasn’t made a
move. It isn’t until I follow their gaze past Bash that I see about six other
men wearing leather vests break through the crowd to stand behind their friend.

I’m
pretty sure no one has said anything yet, but I can’t be sure I’d have heard
them over the sound of my own heartbeat thumping in my ears.
What the hell
is going on?

I
look over at Jackie to see what she thinks, but she’s just got a stupid grin on
her face as she stares at Bash. She was the one that pointed him out to me in
the first place, before things at the pool table got physical. She always
notices guys like him, although I think he might even be more than she can
handle, which is why she started flirting with the bartender instead. Still,
she isn’t too shy to look, and as much of an ass as he is, I can’t blame her. He’s
the hottest thing around by a long shot. And so completely not my type.

“I
think you should mind your own business,
sir
,” Edward finally manages to
say. I’m impressed that his voice doesn’t crack. I can see a bead of sweat on
his brow. That’s about as rattled as I’ve ever seen him.

“Anything
that happens in this bar is my business. I heard the lady tell you no. Don’t
make me say it as well. When I say no, things tend to break. Sometimes bottles.
Sometimes chairs or tables. Often bones.”

Edward’s
thin tongue slips out and wets his lips. He turns to me, as if we are the only
two in the room. “You think you’ve been having trouble finding a new job so
far? I was going easy on you, dear. You think you can do better than me? When
I’m done, you won’t even be able to do worse.”

As
if to convince the bar of his bravado, Edward doesn’t even glance back at the
big man still staring him down. He simply turns on his heel and leaves, flanked
by the two men he arrived with. There’s a moment where the silence enveloping
the bar hangs like a thick cloud, but then it bursts and the conversations begin
again almost at once. The show is over, and aside from the group of leather-clad
bikers still standing around, there’s nothing to see anymore.

“Wow,
that was intense,” Jackie whispers as she sinks back down onto her stool. “I
need another drink.”

Bash
finally relaxes, turning to nod at this friends, who immediately return to what
they had been doing before. As they turn, I can finally see the details on
their jackets. There’s a design that looks like a heavily armored skeleton,
grinning at me with the words “Chrome Soldiers” in an arc above and “MC”
written below. If these guys are soldiers, then that makes Bash their leader.