wicked smile for me.
“But I’ll come back. Tonight. And I’ll bring some rope.”
“Oh!” I swear I almost had a spontaneous orgasm just thinking about it.
“You better get in there while the water’s warm, baby,” he said. He gave my aching bottom a slight pinch then left the room.
I followed him as he grabbed his shirt and cut and slipped them on. I leaned against the door frame as he found his boots.
“What time?” I asked. “I’ll order in.”
“I’ll text you,” he said. “It might be late.”
He came to me again and kissed me. Then he strode across the living room and let himself out the door.
Thomas, I thought, then froze.
I ran to the window. I shielded my naked body with the curtain and looked down. Torch was already mounting his Harley.
Thomas. Shit. I didn’t even think to ask him whether that was his first name or his last.
Chapter Seventeen
Torch
I went to Colt. I owed him my life in so many ways. He knew me about as well as anyone did. I found him alone in his office at the Den.
“You wanted to see me?” he said. He had his feet up on the desk, but that was the only casual thing about his demeanor. His eyes stared straight through me. It wasn’t by accident; he didn’t ask me to sit.
“Prez,” I said. “I did something that I think maybe you’re not going to like.”
“So you probably should have told me about it before you did it,” he said.
I didn’t like twisting in the wind like this but knew I had it coming.
“Sydney Bailey,” I said.
“I figured,” he said. He pressed his thumb and forefinger to the bridge of his nose and let out a hard breath.
“Sit down, Torch,” he finally told me.
I did.
Colt sat up and leaned on the desk with his elbows. “How deep are you?”
“She matters to me,” I said. It was the simplest way to put it.
“Does George have any clue?”
“I don’t know. I doubt it.”
Colt rolled his eyes. “Right. Torch, anybody with a pulse can see how you look at that girl. George had a front-row seat last night. And he knows you’ve been taking her home the nights she works. Trust me. He knows.”
“Has he said something to you?” I asked.
“Not in so many words,” Colt answered. “But he’s made it very clear his niece is here under his protection. And it’s pretty obvious that little fact is causing issues for him within his own family. They want her back.”
“She won’t go,” I said, my back going up.
“What’s the deal? Why is she so dead set against having anything to do with her parents? Was she hurt?”
“Nothing like that,” I said. “At least, not that she’s told me. She’s just tired of being told what to do. And she’s figured out there are more important things than money.”
“Torch,” he said. “Far be it from me to tell any man in this club where to stick his dick. But this one’s complicated. It’s not a good time for me to have to go lawyer shopping. There’s a saying about shitting where you eat.”
There was also some hypocrisy in his words. Amy had been the ex of our former club president. The guy was an evil bastard who deserved to die for what he did to Amy. But Colt bent just about every club rule when he hooked up with her. Same with Kellan. His wife Mallory was our headliner. She brought serious bank through the doors every weekend. But I wasn’t going to throw any of that in his face. Colt was a smart man. He already knew.
“You in love with her?” he asked.
I didn’t know how to answer. I’d never been in love with a woman. Not in the way everyone else talked about it. I just knew that the thought of anyone or anything hurting Sydney turned my blood black. I would kill for her. I knew it in my soul.
“I don’t know,” I answered. “I know she’s on my mind all the time. Things are, I don’t know, simpler in my head when I’m with her.”
“You’ve been through hell and back, brother,” Colt said. “I want you to be happy. You know that. I’m not your dad. I know that too. You don’t need my permission. But I know you. Christ, Torch. In all the time I’ve known you, you’ve never even dated. I mean, you’ve gone through your share of club bangers, but not lately. Lately, you’ve been living like a damn