Axe's Fall: Insurgents Motorcycle Club (Insurgents MC Romance Book 4) (22 page)

“Baylee. Stop. Will you listen to yourself? Why would the killer be in this town and not Denver? You’ve never been here, and I don’t recall your mom or dad ever coming here. It doesn’t make sense, does it?”

Running her hand through her hair, she gazed up at the ceiling.

“Does it?” he prodded.

“Um… Not really, but he
is
here. I know it.” Gary’s placating smile made her doubt her earlier convictions. “He is,” she repeated weakly.

“Maybe you’re working too hard. Why don’t you take this weekend off and go back to Denver? See your friends and your dad. It’d do you good to be back in your house. It can’t be too much fun living in a hotel.”

He thinks I’m a paranoid nut. What if he’s right? It really doesn’t make sense that the killer would be in Pinewood Springs.
She rubbed her forehead.
I don’t know what’s up or down anymore.

“You know, the anniversary of my mom’s death is in a couple of weeks,” she said softly.

“I know. It’ll be sixteen years?”

“Seventeen.”

“Maybe that’s what’s made you so upset.”

“My journal was stolen from my hotel room.”

“And you think the killer came all the way up to Pinewood Springs to break into your hotel room to steal your journal? Really, Baylee?”

Tracing over pen marks on the desk with her finger, she avoided his eyes.

“Take some time off. I insist. It’ll do you a lot of good. You’ll see. You’re so isolated up here. Logan tells me you rarely want to go out of your room. He told me he’s always asking you to join him on outings, but you usually say no.”

Yeah, Logan would say that. Stick the knife in deeper, asshole.

“I keep busy.”

“You know, Logan would’ve been more than willing to take you to work and keep an eye on you. I could even have moved you two to connecting rooms to assuage your fears. You didn’t have to call in a thug from an outlaw motorcycle club. It wasn’t necessary. I wish you would’ve come to me first.”

“I feel way more secure with Puck than I ever would with Logan.”

For a few seconds, Gary stared hard at her then clasped his hands together, placing them on his knee. “Do you have something with Axe?”

Baylee stared back without answering.

He nodded. “I know you’re aware of the firm’s policy about getting involved with clients. Logan and a couple of the engineers on the team have noticed that he is quite taken with you… and you with him. You’ve come to work many times on the back of his
Harley
.” He wrinkled his nose. “Baylee…”

“Axe is a representative, but the club, especially the board, is the client. Axe has to pass everything through the president and vice president.”

“Even if that were true, you know he is not the man for you. If your mother were alive, she would never approve of an outlaw biker covered in tattoos, and your father will be very disappointed.”

“You’re mistaken. The only thing on my mind is proving I can do a stellar job on the strip mall project. I’m vying for the partner position.”

“Now, that’s what I like to hear.” Gary smiled. “Brief me on the zoning requirements and your second designs you submitted the other day.”

Gary stayed in her office talking business for a couple of hours. After he butted his nose in her affairs, he calmed down, and they had a good working session and made some progress.

Baylee was hard at work when a delivery man rapped on her doorframe, holding a huge bouquet of pink roses. Her insides fluttered, and excitement coursed through her body. After signing the delivery slip, she opened the card and read it.

To a beautiful
woman who is most persuasive. I’ll call you. With much respect, Palmer.

Her shoulders slumped. The flowers were from Palmer, but she’d wished they were from Axe, even though he’d told her he wasn’t the flower-giving type. The phone rang and she answered it.

“Hello?” she said.

“Hi, Baylee. This is Palmer. Did you get my flowers?

“Yes, they just arrived. They are lovely. Thank you.”

“Why don’t we have dinner tomorrow night? I have the zoning permit, and I threw in the building one, as well.”

“Wonderful. Thank you so much, Palmer. It makes my job much easier.”

“Anything for a beautiful lady. Tomorrow night at seven?”

“That would be fine.”

“Excellent. I’ll pick you up at the hotel.”

“Sounds good. Thank you again.”

She placed her phone down.
Yes! I got the permits.
They could finally break ground and lay the foundation. As an architect, it was always thrilling when the actual building started and all the ideas, diagrams, and designs became reality.

Her mouth went dry when she realized she’d made a date with Axe for the following night. They were supposed to go out to dinner that evening, but he’d called earlier in the day and told her he couldn’t come over because he had club business. He wouldn’t tell her what it was, but he’d told her he’d see her the following night. Axe was not going to be happy when she told him she couldn’t go out with him because she was having dinner with Palmer. Even though he would be pissed, he had to realize it was very important for her to have the permits in hand, and she wasn’t going to jeopardize the project because Axe and Palmer couldn’t play nice in the sandbox. Axe would have to deal with it. This was business, and it benefitted the Insurgents.

She sighed, knowing she was in for a battle with him.

Exhaustion weaved through her muscles and Baylee packed up her laptop, deciding to skip out an hour early and have a glass of white wine at the hotel bar.

With her trusty bodyguard beside her, she stepped into the hotel bar, the familiar wood paneling and red-leather chairs a welcomed sight. Grabbing a table away from the lobby—she didn’t want to risk Logan joining her—she settled in the comfortable swivel chair and kicked off her shoes. Four-inch heels had to have been invented by a man—they were pure torture, but damn pretty and sexy. Digging her toes in the plush maroon carpet was nirvana. Turning her head, she spotted Puck at a table behind her. She smiled.

“Would you like something to drink?”

He shook his head.

“You don’t mind if I do?”

“You can do whatever you want. Axe just told me to keep you safe.” He crossed his massive, inked arms.

She nodded.
So, he
is
capable of forming sentences.
Her phone rang, and Axe’s name flashed. Her heart soared.

“Axe.”

“Who the fuck sent you the flowers?”

“Hello to you too.”

“Who sent them to you?”

Baylee glanced at Puck, who watched with an impassioned face. “News travels fast, huh?”

“Who?”

“Palmer Rodgers sent them.” She heard his low growl. “I impressed him, which is good news, because he’s signing off on the zoning permit. He’s throwing in the building permit, as well.”

“What color are the roses?”

“Pink. Did you hear what I said?”

“I heard you. You’re done with him?”

Baylee paused, breathed deeply, then said, “Not quite. I have to get the permits.”

“He can drop them off at your office.”

“He could, but he’s in all-day meetings tomorrow, so we’re meeting for dinner.” She licked her lips. “It’s just a quickie dinner. I’ll have both permits in hand tomorrow night.”

“You don’t really believe his bullshit line, do you?”

She whispered, “It’s just business, Axe. You know that.”

“I thought we had a date.”

“We can get together later, or the next day. I can’t blow all this because you’re feeling insecure or threatened.”

A very long pause ensued. When he spoke, Axe’s voice dripped ice. “I’m not fuckin’ insecure. Threatened? That’s a load of shit. I don’t like being number two. Tell the motherfucker you can meet him the day after tomorrow. We have plans.”

“Axe, you’re being unreasonable. I have to get the permits, you know that. I said we can meet later, at around ten o’clock. You can come to the hotel, and we can have some fun.”

“I don’t have to wait in line to have fun, baby. Plenty of willing chicks who’re dying to show me a helluva good time. So are we on for dinner tomorrow, or not?”

Baylee’s skin pricked. Why the hell was he being so unreasonable about this? He was acting like a macho asshole who wanted his way. Well, too bad; she needed the permits. She compromised by asking him to come by later, and then he threw the threat of fucking other women in her face? No way was she putting up with
that
nonsense.

“I can’t make it. Sorry. I explained all this to you. If you want to be unreasonable, then that’s your choice. If you don’t want to come by later and be with me, that’s your choice, as well. As far as I’m concerned, this discussion is over.”

Axe laughed dryly. “Suit yourself. Have a good time with asshole.”

The phone went dead.
Did he just hang up on me? This is ridiculous!
Baylee stared at the blank screen. She wanted to call or text him back, but her anger got in the way. How dare he hang up on her! She was having dinner with a pompous ass in order to get the stupid permits so the project for
his
club could begin, and he was giving her a hard time.
What an arrogant, pig-headed asshole.
She refused to call him back. He was in the wrong, and he owed her an apology.
Men!
She should’ve stayed on her celibate-until-made-partner plan. This whole whatever-you-call-it thing she had with Axe was getting too complicated. Why did she let him get to her so much? Why the fuck had she fallen for such a prick?

Baylee gulped her wine then turned to Puck. “Thanks for telling Axe about the flowers. I thought your job was to protect me. How did you figure me receiving flowers into that equation?”

Puck lifted his eyebrows and shrugged.

Shaking her head, Baylee stomped out of the bar, Puck at her heels. Without even a glance at him, they rode the elevator in silence, then she went in her room and slammed the door. Heat flushed through her body as she pounded her fist on the mattress several times. The fact that Axe didn’t understand pissed her off. He acted like she
wanted
to go out with Palmer instead of understanding she
had
to for business reasons. Axe was out on club business that evening, and he expected her to understand why he couldn’t be with her, and she did. So why couldn’t he extend the same courtesy to her? How could he even think she was interested in Palmer? She couldn’t believe Axe couldn’t tell she was crazy for him.

Men! They’re a pain in the ass.

A soft knock on the door shifted her attention. Looking through the peephole, she saw Puck standing outside with his arms crossed over his enormous chest.

“What is it, Puck?” she said after opening the door.

“Blade, another prospect, is coming to relieve me since Axe won’t be here tonight.”

“Oh… okay. I guess you do have to sleep.” She smiled.

Puck just stared at her.

“Thanks for letting me know.”

“He’ll be here in about twenty minutes. I’ll let you know when he comes.” Puck turned around.

“Thanks,” she said to his broad back, closing the door.

As promised, twenty minutes later, another soft knock rapped on the door.

When she opened it, a tall, tattooed and pierced man with blond hair stood before her.

She looked around for Puck.

“Puck left. I’m here for the night. He’ll be back in the morning.”

“Okay. You’re Blade, right?”

“Yep.”

“Can I get you anything, like a drink or a sandwich?”

“I’m good. Brought stuff with me.” He patted the backpack he had slung over his left shoulder.

“If you need anything, please let me know. Don’t worry about waking me up, either.”

Blade lifted his chin then turned around and moved the padded office chair closer to the door.

“Goodnight,” Baylee said.

Ignoring her, Blade plopped down on the chair and took out his phone. She shut the door, exhausted. After changing into her pajamas, she pulled down the covers and slipped between the sheets. With her sentry standing guard, she drifted off into a deep sleep.

P
uck was back
at his post the following morning. Baylee was dying to ask him how Axe was, but she knew he wouldn’t tell her anything. He was definitely a man of few words. Half-expecting Axe to call her, she pretended it didn’t bother her, but her clenching stomach told her otherwise. Each time her phone rang, a light-hearted feeling would seize her only to be replaced by heaviness when the calls weren’t from him.

No calls. No texts. Nothing.

When the lunch hour drew near, Baylee couldn’t stand staying in her office, wondering if she’d hear from Axe. She had to have some fresh air. She’d heard the sandwich shop around the corner was simple and very good, so she walked over, enjoying the sun’s rays.

In the restaurant, she scooted into a single booth, and noticed Puck stood in the small vestibule. He practically took up the whole space, and it made her laugh. She wished he’d sit with her and have a sandwich, but she knew he never would. His job was to protect her, not keep her company.

Coming into the eatery was Axe’s uncle, his eyes fixed on hers. Puck was gone, and panic set in. When she needed Puck the most, he’d abandoned his duty. The uncle waited for an available table; the shop was so tiny it only fit twenty people at a time. She scanned the room then breathed a sigh of relief when she spotted Puck stuffed into a booth, watching her.

She ate quickly and scampered out of the shop just as Axe’s uncle was shown to a table. Was it a coincidence he was at the restaurant? She hardly thought so. She was grateful Puck was there. It was amazing how much more confident she was with her massive bodyguard watching her back.

*     *     *