The Davenport Christmas Chronicles - Piper Davenport Page 0,35
and Sergeant. The rest of the crew decided to take advantage of your woman’s hospitality apparently.”
I chuckled. “She’s certainly hospitable.”
“I know we’re early, but we had two bikes break down damn near back-to-back and had to trailer them. I knew we needed to get to a proper shop when Trouble couldn’t get ’em patched up, so I changed our route, and drove straight here. I figured we could make our repairs, and still have time to loop back around to the stops we bypassed. If that’s okay with you, of course.”
“Our shop, tools, and manpower are at your disposal, but first, come on in and get something to eat and drink. We’ll figure out what you need while you take a load off.”
“I appreciate that,” Cowboy said.
* * *
Maisie
“I’m Maisie,” I said to the pretty brunette grabbing a beer from the cooler.
“Oh, hey. I’m Trouble. Nice to meet ya.”
“Trouble, eh?”
She smiled shyly. “I was kind of a pain in the ass when Cowboy found me. I refused to give him my real name, so he started calling me Trouble. It stuck.”
“Admittedly, I’m not sure I can call such a beautiful young woman ‘Trouble,’” I said.
“Stephanie’s the name I was given as a baby,” she said. “But nobody calls me that. Ever.”
I smiled. “Got it. How about I introduce you to my daughter. You’re about the same age.”
She shrugged. “Sure.”
I took her over to the pool tables where Poppy and Devon appeared to be in a battle with two of the Burning Saints’ members, Sweet Pea and Doozer. Doozer was almost as tall as Sweet Pea, and far more demonstrative. Sweet Pea had a quiet cool about him, whereas Doozer was most definitely the class clown.
Doozer slid away from Sweet Pea and made his way to us, his mouth wide with a huge smile. “Well, hi there beautiful.”
“Hi,” I retorted, and he laughed. “This is Trouble. Trouble, this is Doozer, Sweet Pea, Sparky, and my daughter, Poppy.”
“Hey,” Trouble said, her face pink, but her head up and confident.
“Right, well, you guys get acquainted. I’m going to sort out the pie situation.”
“I love pie,” Sparky said, and Poppy elbowed him gently.
“Yeah, honey, we know.”
I chuckled and headed back to the kitchen. I couldn’t help but wonder what Trouble’s story was. She was young, maybe a little younger than Poppy, and she was stunningly beautiful, which made her look a bit older. I could tell she’d had a rough life, but she still cared about looking pretty, considering she wore heavy makeup that was perfectly applied.
I glanced back to see Doozer in the throes of expert flirting, and Trouble looked like she was trying to appear unfazed, but I had a feeling she was lapping up the attention. Who wouldn’t be intrigued by the tall, dark, and handsome biker?
“Maisie,” Hatch called before I’d reached the kitchen, and I turned to face him.
“Hi, love. Where are the other guys?”
“They’re hauling their bikes off the truck. Two of them broke down on their way, so we’re gonna try and get them fixed for them. They still have a few more stops to drop off donations.”
“Worst time for their bikes to break down, eh?”
“No doubt.”
“Are they hungry? I can heat up some leftovers. I was going to get desserts set out, but I can get the ladies to help me with all of that.”
“Yeah, Sunshine, that’d be great. Outside of gas breaks, they haven’t stopped, so Cowboy says the crew’s pretty hungry.”
“Right, darling, leave it to me. I’ll get them fed.”
He leaned down and kissed me. “You know how much I love you?”
“Yep. You tell me every day.”
He grinned and kissed me again. “Good. I’m gonna go help the BFK guys with their bikes as soon as I can find their mechanic,” he said scanning the room.
“What’s his name?”
“Trouble.”
I smiled and pointed towards the pool tables. “I think you’ll find her playing pool with Doozer.”
Hatch smiled and raised an eyebrow. “Her? That explains why I couldn’t find the dude.”
My man left again and I grabbed my ladies. Since Danielle was trying to get the playroom cleaned up, Payton and Cassidy offered to sort out dessert, while Darien and Kim started to pull leftovers from the fridge.
“Any idea where Flea and Grace are?” I asked.
“I think Flea’s out helping with the bikes,” Cassidy said, and craned her head toward the great room. “Grace is playing pool with Poppy. Remington’s there too. Not sure where Finch is, though.”
“He’s probably off discussing something lawyer-y with Mack,” Darien complained. “I