Hot as Hades (14 page)

“Are you okay?”

“I’m good,” she said, standing to grab a cushion from a nearby rocking chair. She tossed it on the swing and sat down on it. “That’s better.” At Daisy’s look, she explained. “I got a tattoo the other day and it’s
killing
me.”

“A tattoo on your ass?” Daisy had only just met Elizabeth, but couldn’t picture the librarian getting ink, let alone one on her rear.

She bit her lip and a flush bloomed on her cheeks. “Yes, Ryker took me to the tattoo parlor.”

Um, okay.
Sounds like an intimate story.
So she dropped the line of questioning.

Eddie reappeared flanked by two prospects and Shepherd. She also had a sound system in one hand, which she plugged in and set on the railing. The two younger men carried a blue and white cooler between them and set it down in front of Lexie’s chair. Daisy stood up to get a better view.

With a flourish, Pretty Boy threw open the lid to reveal a pinkish liquid inside, which smelled strongly of alcohol. Slices of fruit floated in the mixture. It resembled a watery alcoholic fruit salad.

Sailor peered into the depths of the mysterious liquid, from over Lexie’s shoulder. “What the fuck is that nasty shit?”

“Jungle juice,” Pretty Boy said proudly. “It’s four different kinds of moonshine, watermelon, grapes, cantaloupe, and two bottles of Sprite. He handed Lexie a blue solo cup. “Happy birthday!”

Lexie scooped up a cup of the drink and took a sip, then she beamed at Pretty Boy. “Thank you!” she said brightly, hugging the young prospect, which he returned enthusiastically, cradling her against his body.

Daisy watched as Elizabeth scanned Shepherd’s face and Daisy followed her gaze. His features darkened for a moment and then a blank expression settled on his handsome face. Daisy knew she had missed something, but the amount of alcohol in her blood made it nearly impossible to concentrate.

“Okay ladies, we are nearly ready,” Eddie said, clasping her hands together. “We have one more guest arriving. When she does, the entertainment for the evening will begin!”

Shepherd took the chair nearest Eddie, next to the swing where Elizabeth and Daisy sat. She ruffled his blond hair. “Thank you for bringing the boys around. I appreciate the help.”

“Anything for my favorite aunt.”

She stroked his cheek. “You look thinner than usual. Have you been eating?”

He shrugged. “Just been busy is all.”

Eddie smiled at him. “Well, you need to take time for yourself. Why don’t you come over for dinner tomorrow night? I’ll make you some fried chicken.”

“I’d love to, but—”

“You’re coming over,” she said stubbornly. “I can’t have you wasting away before my eyes.”

 “How can I say no then? I’ll stop by at six.”

Daisy couldn’t help but watch the interplay between the two of them. Moments like this made her miss her mother. While Nancy, her foster mom, had been a nice woman, it wasn’t the same as having your family look after you. Eddie might be a hard ass, but she seemed to have a kind heart. Shepherd was a lucky man.

Sunny had struggled to keep food on their table and a roof over their heads, but she’d tried damn hard to keep her family together. If her pimp, Roger, hadn’t gotten her hooked on drugs, Daisy might have been able to save her. She’d kept trying to get her mother to leave her Roger, start a new life, with a new job. Daisy often wondered what would have happened, if she’d succeeded.

She also feared history was repeating itself.

Because she hadn’t found Rose at the strip club, she’d assumed her sister had been taken to the whorehouse. She’d read about outlaw MCs who lured young women, convinced them to work for the club.

They all seemed to follow the same pattern. A young handsome biker would pretend to fall for a girl, really wine and dine her and gain her trust. Then, ask her to sleep with another man, as a way to prove her loyalty, usually another biker in the club. They called it a “love donation” In effect, a love donation meant she would be willing to do anything for the biker.

Eventually, the woman would be trained as a prostitute. Usually after the biker had gotten her hooked on drugs, or moved her away from her family, so she didn’t have many options.

 She couldn’t,
wouldn’t
let Rose suffer the same fate as their mother.

Just then, a black jeep pulled up and a willowy young woman jumped out wearing a pair of battered blue jeans, duct taped combat boots, and a Ramones T-shirt. She had short, spiked black hair, shorn on one side of her head, and she slung a nearly threadbare red messenger bag across her body.

“Hi, Dani!” Eddie called.

She waved back and was about to climb the stairs, when she stopped in her tracks next to Elizabeth’s sedan. The girl jumped off the porch and then shimmied under the vehicle.

“Get out from under there!” Eddie called, putting her hands on her hips.

 “There’s an oil leak!” she called, her voice muffled by the steel above her. “Axel fixed it a couple months ago, but I think it sprung another one.”

“What is she doing to my car?” Elizabeth asked, coming to the railing.

“Dani! Get out from under there this instant!” Eddie cried. “You are going to get motor oil all over my floors and I just had them steam cleaned!”

She slid out, and a large streak of oil had spread across her chest. She wiped at it absently and it stained the palm of her hand. Then, the oil spread to her face when she rubbed at her nose.

Eddie glanced at the prospect nearest to her. “Fetch, pick Dani up and take her to the bathroom before she turns my clean house into Axel’s garage.”

Daisy vaguely remembered seeing Fetch at the diner the other day. Like all the rest, he was a hottie. Fetch had long red hair pulled back into a ponytail, with pale white skin, bright blue eyes, and a pierced brow.

The prospect dove off the porch and slung Dani over his shoulder. She shrieked in protest and slapped the man’s back. “Put me the fuck down!”

“Give ‘em hell, baby!” Sailor called.

“Sailor is Dani’s mom,” Elizabeth explained.

Daisy nodded, feeling like she needed a spreadsheet or something.

Fetch took the struggling woman in the bathroom. A few minutes later, she emerged squeaky clean and wearing a fresh shirt, courtesy of Eddie. Pretty Boy gave her a cupful of jungle juice, which seemed to mellow her out.

 “I wanted to take you to see male strippers for your birthday,” Eddie explained to Lexie. “But your dad threw a shit fit, so this will have to do.”

Dash walked onto the porch, to join Fetch and Pretty Boy. He had a muscular build and tawny skin, which hinted at Latino heritage. He wore impossibly tight, ripped jeans, and a black muscle shirt with a slew of safety pins on them. His black spiky hair formed a faux hawk and he had killer dark brown eyes. Tattooed on one forearm he had the word
naughty
inked, on the other
nice.
With his punk rock look, Daisy placed Dash squarely in the naughty camp.

Eddie snapped her fingers. “Stand on the lawn and then strip, boys!” She hit play on the sound system and the
Keep Your Hands to Yourself
by Georgia Satellites started to play.

They looked at Shepherd in askance and he nodded.

Daisy’s eyes rounded. Apparently, she couldn’t get away from stripping for even one night.

“Fuck yeah!” Sailor crowed. She dug in her purse and produced a few one dollar bills. Then, she raised a speculative brow at Shepherd. “Are you gonna take it off, too?”

“I ain’t a prospect,” he replied tightly.

“You got a dick, dontcha?”

He glowered at her. “Sailor, do me a favor and
never
mention my dick again.”

Daisy nearly choked on her moonshine tea.

Elizabeth turned a hectic shade of red, but didn’t look away from the men currently shucking their clothing. Lexie had wide wary eyes and Dani just looked bored.

Surveying her would-be strippers, Eddie made a disgusted noise in the back of her throat. “Come on, boys. Try a bit harder. Tease us. Put on a show!”

Most of them awkwardly removed their clothing, not even bothering to dance. Pretty Boy seemed to be a natural though, he knew how to tease. Daisy had to admire his technique. He glanced at them over his his broad shoulders. Then, he winked at Lexie, who pressed a hand to her mouth.

Daisy looked at Elizabeth again to find her examining both Shepherd’s and Pretty Boy’s faces.

What the crap?

She eventually gave up trying to figure out Elizabeth’s deal and watched the striptease. Except for Pretty Boy, who seemed to relish the extra attention, the rest of the prospects looked a little green. Now bare-chested, they started to unbuckle their belts, but they might as well have been in the changing in the men’s locker room, for all the effort they put into it.

Eddie groaned. “You boys do know the meaning of the word tease, don’t you?

Meanwhile, Sailor seemed to be having a good time. She hopped off the porch and stuck a dollar bill in Fetch’s boxer shorts. Then, she patted Dash’s bottom and did a sexy dance with Pretty Boy to boot. Dani went to the railing and snapped a couple of pictures of the nearly naked men on her phone.

She nodded to Daisy sagely. “Blackmail. It always comes in handy.”

Meanwhile, Pretty Boy strutted to the center of the group, standing in front of them and showboating. He lowered himself to the ground, balancing on his elbows, and proceeded to thrust against the grass, his hips undulating in a relentless motion, which made all the women howl in encouragement.

It could be the moonshine talking, but Daisy’s mouth fell open, mesmerized by his performance. The boy had some serious skills. She couldn’t help but think about Cowboy, how he’d felt on top of her.

Pretty Boy got to his feet and slowly, provocatively, slid his jeans off, showcasing his hard, muscled thighs. When they eventually pooled at his ankles, he kicked them off and strutted up the stairs, dressed only in a pair of tight black underwear, which outlined every inch of his package.

Elizabeth leaned over to nudge her. “Damn! He could poke someone’s eye out with that thing.”

Daisy laughed.

 Eyes fixed on Lexie, Pretty Boy gyrated towards her and Shepherd came to stand behind the girl, hands gripping the back of her chair. The knuckles had gone white. The librarian perched on the edge of the swing, eyes wide, observing every single second of the scene.

“What’s going on?” Daisy whispered.

“I can’t tell you, but you can guess,” Elizabeth muttered, not bothering to look her way.

Pretty Boy straddled Lexie’s chair and thrust against her provocatively. She turned as red as Elizabeth’s hair. Eventually, she gave in to his teasing and settled her hands on his tight ass and squeezed as he thrust against her.

“Yes, baby, hold me,” Pretty Boy groaned. He said it to Lexie, but looked Shepherd square in the eye.

His nostrils flared and the two of them stared at one another, unblinking. Until the song eventually ended.

Afterwards, Pretty Boy leaned down and gave Lexie a tender kiss on the corner of her mouth before he slowly sauntered away from her with a cocky grin.

“Oh, I get it!” Daisy drunkenly muttered to her companion. “Shepherd has a thing for Lexie and Pretty Boy is moving in on his territory.”

Elizabeth just rolled her eyes.

***

An hour later, Daisy sat on the lawn, next to Eddie and Elizabeth, and all of them were propped up against an enormous oak tree. Daisy nursed a half-empty glass of alcoholic tea.

The rest of the party had gone off without a hitch. They’d done some spa treatments administered by reluctant prospects, munched on gourmet goodies, and Sailor had even taught them a couple dirty sea shanties which they’d drunkenly sung at the top of their lungs. Daisy’s favorite had been A
sshole Rules the Navy
and she made a mental note to add it to her iTunes list.

Around two in the morning, three motorcycles pulled up in the driveway, along with a blue pickup truck. Duke, Cowboy, a handsome black-haired biker, and an older man driving the Ford got out. She bet the oldest man was Goat, Sailor’s husband.

The biker with the red motorcycle looped an arm around Eddie and smooched her cheek. Then Elizabeth curled her arms around him and gave him such a slow intimate kiss, Daisy was forced to turn her head. Eventually, the lovers seemed to notice the world around them and Elizabeth made the introductions.

She nodded to him. “Pleasure to meet you.”

“Likewise,” Ryker said. Then he slapped Elizabeth’s ass. “You ready to head out, Pinky?”

 She gave a little yelp. “Hey, I’m sore there!” Then, she smacked his chest, but Daisy could see the teasing light in her eyes.

“Poor, baby.” Ryker pulled her in close and soothingly rubbed the place he’d hit. “How about I take you home and I’ll kiss it all better?” Before she could answer, he grabbed her up and carried her off to his bike.

She and Eddie just shook their heads. In the distance, Daisy saw Goat escorting Sailor and Dani to his truck.

 Cowboy hit the kickstand and headed straight for her. Daisy sucked in a breath. He looked damn good standing there in his faded jeans and Johnny Cash T-shirt. It had only been a few hours since she’d last seen him, but it felt like years. He held out a hand, which she gratefully took, and pulled her to her feet. “How you doin’, Wildcat?”

“Good,” she said, beaming at him, the memory of their earlier fight faded. The alcohol, combined with the striptease, had fueled a rush of desire for him she had trouble ignoring.

“Know what I love?” she said, placing her arms around his neck. He smelled good. Something she couldn’t define. A mixture of musk, man, with a splash of whiskey, and maybe a hint of wood smoke.

“What?” he asked, his expression teasing.

“Moonshine!”

He chuckled. “I bet you do. Eddie told me you were at the party and I figured I’d give you a ride back to Hades, make sure you get in safe and sound.”

 “Are you going to tuck me into bed?” She had a wild urge to wrap her legs around his hips and barely managed to keep it in check.