huff out a breath and stand. “Fine, but you better have a coffee for me by the time I finish putting on my makeup.”
“No time for makeup. Just braid your hair and let’s go. You’ve got five minutes.”
“Five…? Have you lost your mind? For real?”
“Four minutes and forty-five seconds. You want to stand here and keep arguing with me?”
I give him my best eye-roll and stalk to the door, slamming it shut.
My gaze immediately falls on the stack of clothes on the vanity. He picked my outfit already. “What the?” I cock a brow. It’s not a bad outfit. I like the shirt he picked, and it’ll look cute with the jeans. When he told me to pack at least one pair of jeans I humored him, but I never thought I’d actually wear them.
He taps on the door. “Three minutes, Hot Rod.”
I stick my tongue out at the door and scramble into the clothes, determined to prove I can meet his damn deadline. I walk out, wrapping the hair tie around the end of my braid just as he counts down from ten.
I glare at him. “I’m only being nice about this because you were so accommodating last night.”
He grins. “I was accommodating several times last night, and you enjoyed every minute of it.”
Damn this man, I can’t hold back the smile at the reminder of the fabulous sex we had. “Fine. I did. But I was talking about you dressing up for me for dinner.”
He wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me tight against his body. “Got no problem givin’ you the things that make you happy when it’s in my power. Just don’t expect me to be a different man than the one you’re looking at, Ashlynn.”
Suddenly the vibe in the room has shifted. It’d been light and teasing, and now his words hold a deeper meaning than what I’d been expecting.
The words are gone from my throat, and all I can do is stare up into those penetrating eyes of his and nod.
His gaze roams my freshly washed face. “Like you better without all the makeup. You’re beautiful just like this.”
I melt inside. “Babe.”
He grabs my hand. “Come on.”
We ride the elevator downstairs, and I have to double-step through the lobby to keep up with Rusty’s longer stride. He pulls me out the front doors, and there stands Devon next to his limo, smiling big. He opens the back door like he would for any guest.
“Miss Fox. Good morning.”
“Do you know where he’s taking me?” I ask him.
He runs his hand over his lips like he’s closing a zipper.
I climb inside the big car, and Rusty passes Devon a slip of paper. I suppose it’s the address, but who knows?
We pull away from the hotel and out onto the boulevard. Devon drives us for about fifteen minutes, finally stopping in an older section of town. He pulls to the curb in front of a two-story building. The sky is just beginning to lighten enough for me to see.
I crane my neck to check the place out. The front yard is a concrete parking area that’s gated in a way the surrounding houses are not. The way he talked I thought maybe we were renting motorcycles from a dealership. This is no dealership obviously.
Devon looks in the rearview mirror. “This the place?”
Rusty glances out the window at the two motorcycles and an older black Chevy El Camino parked beyond the gate. “This is it,” he confirms. “Thanks, man.”
We climb out, and Rusty makes a call as Devon drives off.
The front door opens, and a man in a Devil Kings cut comes out and unchains the gate. He and Rusty shake hands. “Hey, Rusty, I’m Fish,” the man says.
“This is Hot Rod,” Rusty says, by way of introducing me.
The man nods at me. “Nice to meet you, Hot Rod.” He jerks his head at both of us. “Come on. Got a soft tail for you to use.”
We walk over to one of the parked bikes with two skullcap helmets sitting on it.
“Thanks, Fish. I appreciate you takin’ the trouble. Means a lot.”
“No problem, brother.” He jerks his thumb over his shoulder. “I’m the only one here besides the prospect who rode the bike over for me. But if you want to come inside…”
“Naw,” Rusty says. “Kind of on a time limit here.”
Fish digs the keys out of his pocket and tosses them to Rusty. “Have fun.”
Rusty snags them out of the air with a fist and