Raw: The Ultimate Mc Collection (69 page)

I smiled in relief when I realized Mike was going to be one of those people in my life.  When I saw his easy smile, his down-to-earth genuineness shining from his eyes, clearly demonstrating his feelings towards me with no games, no pretense, no false gesturing - just kindness, affection, and warmth - I felt peaceful again.  

I pushed Todd’s message to the back of my mind, and I turned my attention back to Rosie as she described her weekend to me.

“…and Reaper took me to get a banana split!  It was my very first one! It was humongous! Have you ever had one, Ms. Daisy?” she asked, as she rattled on and on, barely stopping long enough for me to answer her questions.

She was such a happy kid, completely down-to-earth and easy-going like her father, and I kissed her on the cheek as I gently put her down on the floor.

“Yes, I love banana splits, Rosie!  Hey, why don’t you feed the fish for me?  I haven’t done it yet this morning. Just two shakes from the food container, okay?”

“Yes! I love feeding Sam and Jack!” Rosie said, as she bounced over to the corner of the room I had filled with our class pets.  We had two fish and a turtle named Bob.  The kids loved them.

I looked over at Mike and closed the distance between us.

“Hey, beautiful,” he said, his voice deep and low and cutting right into the center of my soul.

“Hi, there,”  I said, resisting the urge to reach up and kiss him.

“I’m sorry I had to leave.  I hope you aren’t upset with me,” he said.  “Did you get my note?”

“Of course I did,” I replied.  “I’m not upset at all, I completely understand.  How could I be upset after a night like that?” I whispered, smiling up at him.  I could feel the warmth radiating from him, and I shuddered as I imagined my bare skin sliding against his.

“Now, that’s what I like to hear,” he said, his eyes twinkling. “A satisfied customer.”

I laughed and glanced over at Rosie.  When I saw she had her back turned, I quickly raised up on my tiptoes and kissed his warm cheek.

“Mmm…” he moaned softly in my ear, his hand snaking around my waist and pulling me to him.  I laughed and reluctantly pulled away.

“Not here!” I whispered.

He let go of me, but leaned in close to my ear.

“I meant what I said in the note, Daisy.  I want to taste you again.  Very, very soon.  I couldn’t stop thinking about you all weekend.”  His voice was hot against my ear, and my breath turned shallow.  It took all my strength not to jump into his arms.  

“I think that can be arranged,” I said slyly, as I forced my feet to move in the opposite direction of his magnetic pull.  This man was going to test all my willpower, that was for sure.  I struggled to remember where I was and remain professional.

Rosie returned, and I was grateful to have her standing between us.  It made it a lot easier to keep my hands off her father.

“Ms. Daisy, when do I get to come to your apartment again?” she asked, looking up at me adoringly.

“Oh, yes, we need to schedule that, don’t we?  How’s tomorrow sound?” I asked, directing the question at Mike.

“Tuesday? Sure, that will work just fine,” he replied.

“Yay!” Rosie said.

“Okay, then, it’s settled,” I said. “Same routine as last week?”

“Sure,” Mike said, smiling at me, just as the other students began entering the room.  “I’ll get out of your way then.  Reaper is going to pick up Rosie again this afternoon, by the way.”

My heart sank with disappointment that I wouldn’t see him again today, but I tried not to let it show on my face.

“Okay, no problem.  I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

“Yes,” he said, his gaze pointedly directed at me. “You will.”

“Bye, Daddy!”  Rosie wrapped her arms around his legs and he reached down and scooped her up in his arms.  He kissed her and gave her a long hug before he put her back down.

“Be good, Rosie. See you tonight, baby.  I love you!”

“I love you, too, Daddy.”

As he walked towards the door, he stopped as he reached the threshold and looked back over his shoulder.  My eyes were glued to him, and he smiled and winked, a private look just for me.

I took a deep breath, and sighed wistfully after him.  If my days were going to be peppered with sightings of Mike, I was really going to enjoy this job.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

MIKE

“I need you to do me a favor,” I said to Demon as he sat in my office at the clubhouse.  “You’ll have to do it in your civvies. Don’t wear your cut.  Take one of the club vans and do some surveillance for me the next few days.  I need you to follow someone, but under no circumstances let them see you.”

“Sure, boss, no problem, whatever you need,” he replied. Demon was always quick to do a job, no matter what was required.  He was also really great at blending into the background, and that was exactly what I needed.

“Excellent,” I said, as I pushed an envelope across the desk to him.  “Here’s the info on her.  You’ll find her work address, her home address, and pictures of her.  I want you to follow her.  Write down everything she does. I want to know everywhere she goes, when she goes there and what she is doing there. Take pictures of every person you see her with.  Anything you think might be of interest to me, you let me know right away.”

“Okay, no problem,” he opened the envelope and raised an eyebrow when he saw the pictures inside. “Wow.  Anything in particular I’m looking for, boss?”

“Yeah. Dirt. Anything I can use to blackmail her, anything I can hold against her.”

“I see.  Okay, I’m on it,” he said, standing up.  “Anything else I need to know?”

“Yeah.  Don’t tell anyone what you’re doing.  This is just between us.  Not even Reaper.”

“Got it.”  

“Thanks,” I said, shaking his hand before he walked out the door.

“You’re welcome, boss.  My pleasure.  I’ll be in touch.”

I watched Demon walk out of the clubhouse, and knew I had chosen the right man for that particular job.

My cell phone vibrated in my pocket, and I pulled it out, looking at the caller ID before I answered.

“Mr. Sullivan.”

“Hello, Mike.  How are you today?” Jackson Sullivan asked, his voice loud and bellowing in my ear.

“I’m just fine, can’t complain,”  I replied, thinking of Daisy for the hundredth time since I had seen her that morning.

“Excellent to hear, Mike,” he replied.  “I’m calling about the job.  Do the Gypsy Riders want it?  Did you talk to your club?"

“I did,” I said.  “We talked it over, and we feel like the risk is minimal, and we’d be happy to help you out, as long as everything is exactly as you said it was before.  Have there been any changes?” I asked.

“Nope, everything is just the same.  We’ll do the deal Friday night at midnight.  That work for you?”

“Sure does.  You can count on us, Mr. Sullivan.”

“Excellent, excellent. I’m so happy you’re on board.  I’m confident things will go smoothly, Mike,” he said.  “Especially with the Gypsy Riders there.”

“I am too, Mr. Sullivan,” I said.  “I’ll be in touch on Thursday to work out the rest of the details.”

After we hung up, I walked into the clubhouse to find Reaper.  He was standing in his usual place, holding court behind the bar, a bottle of whiskey in one hand, a cigarette in the other, and a constant stream of jokes on his lips to entertain the various club members and girlfriends that always seemed to be hanging around and drinking all of our booze.

“Don’t you people have any work to do?”  I asked jokingly.  I didn’t really mind.  I liked having people around, I enjoyed the camaraderie.

“This is work, boss,” Reaper replied.  “It’s not easy drinking all this liquor.”

His audience roared with laughter, his jokes becoming increasingly funnier the more they drank.

“Hey, Reaper, I just confirmed the job for Friday night with Sullivan,” I said.

Reaper nodded in agreement.

“Sounds good, boss.  Anything you need me to do?” he asked.

“Nope.  Not a lot of prep required.  We’ll just meet up beforehand and go over things with Sullivan and his men, and it should go smoothly.”

“Alright, well I’ll remind everyone to be ready.”

“Great, thanks,” I said, turning to walk away before he stopped me.

“Hey, Mike, you never told me how your date with the teacher went,” he said.

No, I didn’t, I thought to myself.  There was something about the situation with Daisy that seemed so new and so fragile to me, that I didn’t want to risk ruining it by talking about it.  Not even to Reaper.

“It was nice,” I said, turning to walk away again.  Reaper didn’t question me further, but I could feel his eyes on me as I walked back into my office.

I sank into my chair and put my feet up on the desk, thankful for the privacy.  I pulled a bottle of whiskey out of my desk and took a few sips off it as my thoughts drifted.

It was damned near impossible to not think about Daisy.  Seeing her this morning, her pretty smile and killer body that I had so very much enjoyed ravishing, right in front of me again, it had taken all my willpower not to bend her over her desk right there in her classroom.  Although, I’m sure my cock would have protested amongst all the art supplies and school books and I would have been forced to carry her away to somewhere more private.  A janitor’s closet, or the teacher’s lounge.  I’m sure I could have found somewhere more appropriate.  Perhaps the principal’s office or the nurse’s bed?  

I laughed to myself when I remembered the expression on her face when I whispered in her ear.  It was fucking awesome knowing I had that effect on her.  Watching her squirm, watching her blush, knowing her body was yearning for more time alone together, just like mine was, made me happy.  It made me want her even more knowing there were no games involved, no holding back or hesitating, no need to pretend we were something we weren’t.

I closed my eyes, remembering the feel of my hands caressing her and I felt my cock harden, just as it did every time I thought about her. Just like it did every time I remembered the feel of her wrapped around me completely, my cock buried deep inside of her, the sounds she made as she squirmed under me, her blissful, breathy moans in my ear. 

My cock throbbed, thoughts of her torturing me endlessly.  What was it about this woman that had taken hold of me so quickly, so strongly?  It was her quiet strength, the intriguing duality of her innocence and awareness, the wholesomeness and kindness that she possessed in such vast quantities that she outshone any other woman in my life.  I almost felt like I was betraying Rose, but I forced myself to put her out of my mind at that moment.

It had been seven years, and while Rose was indeed special, a unique light in my dark life, she was still gone.  I couldn’t go around for the rest of my life, living in the past, and comparing every woman I met to Rose.  Rose was gone.  Rose was dead.  Rose was an old ghost.

I was alive. And Daisy? She was so fucking alive she made me feel electric just being in her presence.  I sighed when I remembered the feel of her hair on my face, the softness of her lips, the swelling curve of her breast as I kissed her nipple.  She was perfect, in every way.

I needed a woman like her in my life.  And maybe, just maybe, Rosie needed her, too.  Rosie had a good life.  I knew I was taking good care of her, but there were certain things a woman could provide for a growing girl that a bunch of rugged bikers would never understand. I knew this.  In the back of my mind, I had always known that someday Rosie would need a mother.

I had always pushed that thought away, not wanting to open my heart and life to anyone.  But maybe I just hadn’t met the right person.  Until now.  Until Daisy.

I was jolted out of my blissful moment by the vibration of my phone on my desk. When I saw it was Kelly calling, I hit the ‘reject’ button and turned my phone off, my blissfulness quickly replaced by a low boiling anger.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

DAISY

Tuesday morning I woke up with fear settling uncomfortably in the pit of my stomach.  I had spent the night with my gun on the nightstand and one eye open, tossing and turning constantly, with what little sleep I had gotten repeatedly interrupted by nightmares filled with Todd’s face, and the moments when I was awake taking me everywhere I didn’t want to be.