Burning Desires (Blue Bandits MC Book 4) (2 page)

“Kelsey,” she said, feeling a little less like an out of place shoe and more like the confident woman she was. “It’s nice to meet you, but I really do need to help Tally.”

She motioned with her hand towards the bar and took a step closer to it. Hammer nodded and she moved around him headed over to where Tally was setting up shots for a group of men behind the bar. She was just lifting the fold up to step behind the bar when Hammer called out to her.

“It was nice to meet you too, Kelsey.”

Kelsey’s lips lifted in a little grin as she stopped next to Tally, asking what he needed. He rattled off three drinks and Kelsey got to work making them. After that she was kept busy helping Tally, mixing drinks and serving them up. It wasn’t until three hours later that she even had the chance to think about Hammer again.

She was wiping down the tables as they prepared to close up shop for the evening. It was three am and she was dead on her feet, having worked since five that afternoon. She felt as if she were being watched and glanced around to see why the hairs on the back of her neck were raised. She spotted Hammer sitting in a booth a few feet away with his long legs propped on the table in front of him watching her. She drank in the sight of him.

Her eyes landed on the hard thick muscles in his arms that she hadn’t gotten a good look at when he’d caught her earlier. Kelsey enjoyed that view for a moment before she followed the line of his shoulder up to his face. Seeing the sly smile curled on his lips beneath his beard, she knew he must know exactly what she’d been staring at. Turning away to wipe down the next table, she tried not to peek up at him while she finished cleaning up.

Kelsey wondered what club he belonged to as she absently continued clearing the empty beer bottles and the trash from the remaining tables before wiping them down. She knew he was wearing a cut but the few moments she’d spent staring at him hadn’t been enough for her to focus on the emblem that would let her know which one.

As she was finishing up the last table, she dropped the empty glasses into the tub she’d set on the table nearest the bar so she wouldn’t have to carry the heavy thing very far. Kelsey was about to lift it off the table when strong male hands were suddenly lifting it. Kelsey looked up to see to whom those hands belonged, finding Hammer grinning at her.

“Where’s it need to go?” he asked when she only stared at him.

Kelsey felt heat enter her cheeks. Shaking her head at her gawking, she turned and headed towards the bar, calling over her shoulder, “Follow me.”

“Sure thing, darlin’,” Hammer said, carrying the tub behind the bar and into the back room. Kelsey didn’t worry about being alone with him because Tally was still back here cleaning the dishes. Tally looked up; seeing Hammer, his brow rose and Kelsey shrugged.

“I thought everyone was gone?” Tally asked, holding the dishrag he’d been using to clean the bar glasses.

“Everyone except Hammer is,” Kelsey replied.

“Well, I don’t know why you locked up with him still here.”

“Shit, I knew I forgot something,” Kelsey said, realizing she’d never locked the front door. Damn it, why hadn’t she remembered that.

“I’ll get it. Kelsey, can I talk to you for a second first though?” Hammer asked, a small sexy grin curling his lips.

“Sure.” Kelsey followed him to the door to the back room, standing there while he watched her. His eyes were intense as he gazed at her and Kelsey couldn’t help shifting slightly because it made her a little uncomfortable.

“I was thinking I might like to get better acquainted and wondered if I could have your number?” Hammer asked.

Kelsey wanted to jump up and down while pumping her fist in the air because Hammer was seriously hot and he’d just asked her if he could get her number. She wasn’t a beauty, she knew, decently pretty sure, but nothing like Hanna and Greta.

They were both stunning with perfectly shaped bodies to go along with their perfectly symmetrical faces. It was actually annoying how gorgeous her sisters were because when men met them they almost fell over themselves to ask them out, but she normally had to work hard to get one to even notice her. Hammer must have a thing for clumsy women, she thought with an inner snort of laughter.

“Sure,” Kelsey finally replied, containing her excitement by taking the phone he held out to her and entering her number. He grinned brightly, taking his phone back before he winked at her.

“Great, I’ll call you soon, darlin’,” he declared, before he turned, exiting the back room. “I’ll lock up. Night, Kelsey.”

Kelsey stood staring at the door he’d exited for a moment before she allowed herself to do a happy little jig. Excitement coursed through her because it had been a while since she’d been asked out by anyone. She twirled around pumping her fist in the air, letting out a little crow.

“You know that’s not going to go over well with your sisters, right?” Tally asked when she’d finally stopped dancing around. Kelsey felt some of her enthusiasm dwindle at that but she refused to allow his words to completely dampen her spirits.

“It’s none of their business,” she snapped, before walking over to the bin Hammer had set on the counter for her to begin throwing away the trash and empty bottles.

“That don’t mean they aren’t going to give you hell about going out with one of them bikers, Kells,” Tally informed her.

She knew he was right; they were so beyond overprotective it was ridiculous. Kelsey felt the rest of her joy drain away as she realized that she was likely going to get into another fight with them over this and sighed. She was tired of the way they treated her. She wasn’t a teenager anymore and they needed to allow her to live her life but convincing them of that was not going to happen overnight. She’d taken the first steps but she knew she still had a long road ahead of her.

Feeling a bit bummed, she finished helping Tally clean up. When they were done, Tally walked her to her car and she headed back to her apartment. Kelsey was so tired by the time she entered her bedroom that she didn’t even bother to shower, just pulled off her shoes and shucked her pants before falling on the bed in an exhausted heap. She was asleep in seconds, her last thought that she couldn’t wait for her first date with Hammer. 

Chapter Two

Kelsey woke to a pounding on her door. Lying on the bed, she moaned. Ugg, that must be Greta or Hanna. No one else would be pounding on her door at ten thirty in the morning. Letting out a little huff of annoyance, she rose from the bed. Walking to the dresser she grabbed a pair of shorts, slipping them on.

Two days ago, Hammer had called to ask her to go to a bonfire party with him tonight. Kelsey had agreed which was likely why one or both of her sisters were at her door. She wanted to growl in frustration.

When she’d told them she couldn’t work tonight, they’d demanded to know why. She’d told them she had a date and when they wouldn’t stop asking her question after question she’d finally told them where she was going and with whom. It had not gotten better after that. Greta had freaked, commanding her to call him and cancel.

Ha, as if!

She was not canceling her date because her sisters didn’t like the fact that she was going out with a Blue Bandit. Exiting her bedroom and walking towards the door, she felt her head pound when the banging started up again. Gritting her teeth, she stomped to the door, her hand snatching it open, her glare directed at Greta who stood on her doorstep.

“What do you want?” Kelsey asked snidely, her hand holding the door open but blocking Greta from entering.

“Why are you being so difficult?” Greta snapped back, her glare just as hot as Kelsey’s.

“Because you have no business treating me like I’m twelve,” she told her sister before stepping back, headed to the kitchen to get some coffee.

Err––she really hated having to fight with Greta. Hanna was at least halfway reasonable, but Greta was like a mule and she never listened.

Entering the little kitchen, she walked to the counter hitting the button on the coffeemaker to make herself some coffee. She had a feeling she was going to need it in order to deal with this conversation.

“I know you’re not twelve, Kelsey, but that doesn’t mean I think you dating a biker is a good idea,” Greta told her as she entered the kitchen, sitting down at the table along one wall. “Grab me a cup too,” she said when Kelsey poured coffee into her mug.

Kelsey wanted to growl and refuse because her sister was a pain in the ass. Instead she grabbed another mug and filled it, then carried them both to the table, giving one to Greta before sitting down across from her. Taking a long sip of the coffee, she let out a blissful sigh. She loved the thick rich taste of the expensive fresh grounds she ordered from over in Red Devils territory.

“You didn’t grab the cream?” Greta asked, a frown on her face.

“You know where it’s at, Greta, get it yourself. I don’t know why you insist on ruining perfectly good coffee with that stuff anyway.” Kelsey wrinkled her nose because adding anything to coffee this good was a travesty. Greta grunted, standing up to grab the cream from the fridge before taking her seat again. She poured a ton of cream into her coffee, making Kelsey cringe a second time because that was just nasty.

“You’re really cranky this morning, aren’t you?” Greta commented.

“Yes, I am. I wonder why? It couldn’t be that my sister decided to wake me by banging my door down when I have only had about four hours of sleep, now could it?”

“Oh, stop. How was I to know you hadn’t slept last night? You weren’t working.” Greta sipped her cream while glaring at Kelsey over the top of her cup.

“You know I have terrible insomnia. You should have waited till at least eleven thirty to come over here to bang on my door.” Kelsey took another sip of her coffee loving the bitter flavor as it hit her tongue.

“Sorry, I didn’t think about it,” Greta said, her look sheepish. Kelsey knew that her sister would have waited till later if she’d thought about it before she came over but she wasn’t feeling very generous this morning so she glared at her.

“Why are you even here, Greta?” she demanded, seeing her sister grimace.

“You know why I’m here, Kelsey. I don’t know why you think going to this party tonight is a good idea. Bikers aren’t someone you want to mess around with, Kells.”

Kelsey ignored her sister and carefully set down her cup, her patience wearing thin. She understood that Greta meant well but she was sticking her nose where it didn’t belong again.

“I don’t really care what you think, Greta. I’m a grown woman and I was asked on a date and I intend to go. Nothing you say this morning is going to change my mind so this conversation is useless.” Kelsey leaned back in her chair running a hand through her light red hair, her fingers catching on a tangle making her realize she needed to brush it.

“Why must you be so stubborn? You know that dating a biker is bad news. Are you just trying to be rebellious?” Greta asked.

“Rebellious?
Really,
Greta? I thought you said you knew I wasn’t twelve,” Kelsey grumbled, her head starting to ache again and her eyes burning from lack of sleep. She hated the insomnia that kept her up to all hours. It worked well when she watched the bar but otherwise it was a pain in the ass.

“What else am I to think, Kells? You’re going out with a biker for goodness sakes.”

“Yes, I am and it has nothing to do with being rebellious and everything to do with the fact that he’s hot and he asked
me
out.” Kelsey gritted her teeth trying to hold on to her temper, which threatened to explode. She was so done with conversations like these. When would her sisters learn that she wasn’t a damned kid anymore?

“He’s hot and he asked you out? Those are the only reasons? Kelsey, it could be dangerous. These people aren’t nice and they have a whole other type of life than we do. It’s not okay for you to moonlight in their world just because he’s hot.” Greta was leaning forward with her hands on the table, her face red and her eyes narrowed as she spit the words at Kelsey.

“Greta, that’s utter hogwash. Yes, they’re different but I like him and he has been nothing but a gentleman the two times I’ve been around him. Just because they have different rules doesn’t mean that they’re dangerous. Besides, if you thought they were so awful why did you bargain with them to protect the club three years ago when we opened it?” She didn’t want to argue with her sister anymore over this but she really didn’t understand why she was so upset over her dating Hammer. Kelsey liked him and she wasn’t backing down from her choice to go out with him tonight.

“We bargained with them because they were dangerous, Kelsey. That’s why I don’t want you to do something stupid. These are hardened men who end up killing people more than once a week and you want to go off with him like he’s just a fluffy teddy bear you can parade about with,” Greta practically screamed at her, standing to her feet before she began pacing in Kelsey’s small kitchen.

“Geez, Greta, first of all most of those people are trying to kill them. Secondly, I don’t think they’re going to shoot me at a damned bonfire party. And I know he isn’t a fluffy teddy bear, he’s a man. You have to stop assuming that I am a kid in over my head. I’m a twenty-four year old woman and I can take care of myself,” Kelsey told her, realizing that her sister was so insistent because she was really scared that something bad would happen to her. It made the anger she felt over her big sisters’ interference lessen some.

“You can’t know that for sure and there are other bad things they could do to you, Kelsey. I just want you safe.” Greta looked at her imploringly.

“I know that, Greta, but I’m still going. I’ll be careful and if I get into trouble I will call you and Hanna or Tally to come get me. That’s the most I’m willing to give you so take it or leave it.” Kelsey sliced her hand through the air to let her sister know she was serious and crossed her arms, leaning back in the chair waiting for her sister to respond.

Greta nodded, but she didn’t look happy about it. “All right, but I still think it’s a bad idea.”