Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 32280 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 161(@200wpm)___ 129(@250wpm)___ 108(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32280 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 161(@200wpm)___ 129(@250wpm)___ 108(@300wpm)
“Just need to talk to the prez,” I told him, pretending like I didn’t see his wandering eyes.
He grunted and pressed his hand to my lower back before leading me down the hall to Johnston’s office. He knocked. “What the fuck?” Johnston snapped from behind the door, and my lips quirked with a smirk. He hated being disturbed when he was working. I was probably the only person he hadn’t lashed out at yet. Had no idea why. The man apparently had a soft spot for me.
I’d once accidentally dropped an entire tray of glasses, shattering all of them, and all he did was pick me up and set me down at a table, ordering someone else to clean it up. Yet, when someone merely cracked a glass a few weeks ago, he’d lost his shit.
“Got a problem, prez.”
“For fuck’s sake!” Johnston exploded before he swung open the door. “What the—” He abruptly cut himself off when his eyes landed on me. “Get the fuck in here, Aaliyah,” he barked.
I slipped into his office and took a seat in one of the chairs in front of his desk. He shut the door in Lawson’s face, making me snort out a laugh, before turning to face me. “The hell are you doing here on your day off?” he asked, his voice a bit calmer now. “And in your goddamn pajamas, at that.”
I sighed and pushed my fingers against my forehead, where a headache was beginning to come on. “Got into it with Dirk. Pretty sure we broke up. He kicked me out.” I looked up at him. “I don’t have anywhere to go right now.”
Johnston leaned against his desk, crossing his bulky arms over his chest. His tattoos peeked out from beneath his long sleeves and crawled up his neck from beneath the collar of his shirt. “Always got somewhere to go, Red,” he said, calling me by that name he’d taken to calling me since I’d gotten hired. It made a weird feeling stir in my chest each time—a feeling I liked and probably shouldn’t. “You can stay here. I’ll put you in the room next to mine, make sure no one bothers you. You got your stuff with you, or do we need to gather up some guys and go get it?”
I shook my head. “I grabbed what was important,” I told him. “Don’t need the rest of it.”
Johnston arched a perfect, dark brow at me. “You sure? We can go. Fucker won’t touch you.”
I smiled up at him. He was always looking out for me, and it made warmth spread through my veins. “I’m sure, Johnston. I’d just really like to get in a bed. I’m still tired as fuck.”
He nodded and stood up straight. “Come on. I’ll have one of the guys get your bag out of your car while I get you in a room. How much sleep did you get?” He ran his eyes over me, and my nipples pebbled behind my shirt. His gaze stopped there for a moment, his eyes darkening the slightest bit, before he trailed them lower, stopping on my feet. He barked out a laugh. “Those fuckin’ slippers, I swear.”
I shrugged. “I was in a rush.”
Shaking his head, he opened the office door and beckoned for me to walk out ahead of him. I stood up and slipped by him, ducking under his arm that was holding open his door. He walked out behind me before shutting and locking his office, dropping the key into his pocket. “Geek,” Johnston called, grabbing the attention of the club Secretary, “go out to Aaliyah’s car and get her bag.”
“Already got it,” Law said, coming inside. He looked at me. “The fuck happened to your window? Dom and Drew are getting it fixed for you.”
I grimaced. Johnston tensed beside me. I could feel his gaze boring into the side of my head, but I didn’t dare turn around to look at him. “Dirk got pretty pissed this morning,” I said with a shrug, trying to blow it off.
“He touch you?” Johnston snarled, sounding dangerous and every bit of the outlaw I knew he was.
I quickly shook my head, lying to them, but what they didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them. Wouldn’t have been the first time Dirk put his hands on me. These men were protective of women.
Johnston growled quietly before grabbing my bag from Lawson and leading me down one of the halls where the living quarters were. He pushed open a door that was one up from the last one. “That one is mine,” he said, pointing at the last door. “If you need me, don’t hesitate to bother me.” He pushed open the door in front of us. “It’s not great, but it’ll do.”
I shrugged, taking in the mostly bare room. It had the necessities, and that was really all I needed. “Long as I can sleep and take a shower, that’s all I need,” I assured him.