Sexy Bastards Anthology: Bad Boy, Biker, Alpha, Motorcycle Club, Contemporary Romance Collection (35 page)

His phone buzzed again.

This time, curiosity getting the best of me, I leaned over and glanced at the phone. There was a text from someone named Wendy.

Call me
, s
exy,
it read.

I felt a stab of jealousy but reminded myself that there was absolutely no reason to be pissed off. I knew what kind of man Taylor was and that the only person I had any right to be angry with was myself.

Sighing, I sat back in my seat and waited for them to finish with the car.

Chapter 10

Taylor

After helping Horse with the vehicle, I got into his cab and handed him the keys.

“Thanks, brother. Let me know what you find out. She doesn’t have a lot of money right now, so hopefully it’s not an expensive fix.”

“I’m thinking it might be the fuel pump.”

“Okay. Just let me know.”

“Sure.” He smirked. “You know, those windows were pretty steamed up when I got here.”

I smiled. “Yeah, so? We were talking.”

“Without a shirt?” He looked toward the truck. “She shirtless, too?”

“No,” I said, chuckling. “My shirt was wet, so I took it off.”

“Who is she?”

“Carter’s sister-in-law,” I said.

“She cute?”

I looked over my shoulder at the truck. “You could say that.”

“You going to fuck her?”

I wasn’t in the mood for locker-room B.S. “I don’t know. We’re really just friends.”

“Friends? Since when do you have female friends?”

“What are you talking about? I’m friends with Raina and the other Old Ladies.”

“That’s because you haven’t fucked them,” he replied matter-of-factly.

“Whatever,” I said, knowing that it was probably true. “Anyway, I’ve gotta get her home. Thanks again for getting out here so quickly.”

“No problem. I was just closing up shop, so you caught me at a good time.”

After we shook hands, I ran back to my vehicle.

“Okay, we’re all set,” I told Lauren, grabbing a small, white towel from the back. I began drying my face and chest. “Horse is going to look at it and let me know what’s wrong sometime tomorrow.”

“Great.”

“Jesus, I’m soaked. I need to get out of these clothes.”

“I bet,” she answered, sounding distracted.

“You okay?”

“I’m fine. By the way, your phone has been going crazy.”

I reached over and grabbed it from the dashboard. Noticing several texts from Wendy along with a voicemail, I decided to hold off on checking them. I also decided that I was going to cancel our date. 

“I’m obviously keeping you from something. You can drop me off at home now and get back to whatever you were planning on doing.”

“Just like I said before, you’re
not
keeping me from anything,” I replied. 

“What about that bottle of wine?”

“I like wine,” I replied, which was the truth. I didn’t drink much of it myself, but there was nothing wrong with it.

She smiled. “Right.”

I started the truck and began driving toward Mitzy’s. “Seriously, though. I have nothing important planned for tonight and obviously, your plans are ruined.”

“Yes, I’m a little relieved though, to be honest,” she said, staring ahead. “I wasn’t in the mood to have dinner at Barbara’s.”

“Why?”

“I love her, don’t get me wrong, but she’s so judgmental and bossy. She’s always harping on me about one thing or another.”

“She’s like that with Carter,” I replied. 

“Yes, but someone like him needs to be directed.”

“Why is that?” I asked, amused.

“He makes stupid decisions, especially when he drinks.”

“I can’t argue that,” I said. “But, he’s grown up quite a bit since high school. Hell, we had a bachelor party for him and he refused to touch any of the strippers.”

“I thought you weren’t supposed to touch the strippers.”

“Depends on the strippers,” I replied. “Anyway, the point is, he’s totally in love with your sister, which surprised the hell out of me.”

“You’re not even a little jealous?”

“Jealous? Fuck no. I only had one night with her and like I said before, it wasn’t anything special.”

“Aren’t all of your nights like that?” she asked, this time with an edge to her voice.

“What do you mean?”

“Come on, Taylor. I’ve heard all the stories about you. I even know they call you ‘Tail’ because you get laid so much.”

For some reason, it sounded dirty coming from her lips. “Yeah, so? I like sex.”

“Just not with the same woman more than once,” she said, twirling a piece of hair around her finger.

I shrugged. “Yeah. That’s true most of the time. With you, it’s different. I’d love to have sex with you again. In fact, I was thinking that we could continue where we left off at your place.”

“No. Definitely not.”

That wasn’t the answer I’d been expecting. “Why?”

“Because that was a mistake earlier. Look, you and I barely know each other and I can’t keep messing around with you. Like I said before, I’m not interested in having meaningless sex with you or anyone else, for that matter.”

I sighed.

“Taylor, I’m grateful for your help tonight and,” she blushed, “you definitely know your way around a woman’s body. If I was looking to get laid, I’d definitely give you a call. But, that’s not what I really want or who I am.”

“It might not be who you think you are, but the woman you were a half hour ago seemed to know exactly what she wanted.”

“I wasn’t thinking clearly.”

“Thinking clearly is overrated.”

She smiled and shook her head. “Taylor…”

“Lauren,” I said, nearing Mitzy’s house. “I say we talk about this in more depth at your place.”

“Talk?”

“Yeah.”

My phone began to ring again and I swore.

Lauren frowned. “You’d better answer Wendy’s call.”

I looked at her in surprise.

“I wasn’t trying to be nosy. Her name flashed across your cell.”

I decided to answer the phone. Apparently, I had nothing to hide from Lauren. She knew all about me. I frowned. “Hello?”

“Oh, Thank goodness, Taylor, I’ve been trying to reach you all evening!”

“Sorry, I got caught up in something.”

“Oh, that’s okay. What time are you going to pick me up?”

“Plans have changed. I can’t make it tonight.”

She took a moment to answer. “You can’t? Why?”

“Something came up,” I said, looking at Lauren, who was watching me with an unreadable expression.

“Oh, well what about tomorrow night?” she asked, sounding disappointed.

“I’m not sure. Let me get back to you on that,” I replied, pulling into the circular driveway.

“You still want to go out though, right?”

At the moment, my only thoughts were on Lauren. “I’ll call you,” I said, hanging up.

“Nice,” said Lauren dryly.

I shut off the engine. “I barely know Wendy. It’s not like I’m breaking her heart or anything.”

“Maybe not, but you could at least act like you care.”

“Lauren, that’s not fair.”

She let out a ragged sigh. “You’re right. It’s not. You’ve done nothing but help me tonight and I’m being a bitch.”

“That’s okay. I’ll let you make it up to me,” I replied, wiggling my eyebrows.

Lauren stared at me in disbelief. “Goodbye, Taylor,” she said, grabbing the door handle.

“Hold on.”

She ignored me and got out of the truck.

I watched as she ran around the front of the house in the rain, toward the guesthouse in back. Not one to give up that easily, I got out and followed her.

Chapter 11

Lauren

“Lauren!” called Taylor, as I unlocked the door to the guesthouse.

Sighing, I turned around just as he caught up to me. “What?” I asked, looking up at him.

He gave me a disarming smile. “I’m not done with you yet.”

I took a step back. “Taylor, I’m not having sex with you.”

He chuckled. “Relax. I came for your phone number. You have mine, but I don’t have yours.”

“Really? I would have thought that your contacts list was already plum full of women’s numbers.”

“You’re brutal,” he replied, leaning a hand against my doorframe. “And not to mention, far too presumptuous.”

“So, you’re saying that you
don’t
have every single woman’s phone number in Jensen on your phone?”

“I’m sure some of them are married,” he replied with a cocky grin. “If they don’t care, why should I?”

I rolled my eyes. “Why do you need my number?”

“You want your car back, don’t you?” he asked.

“Oh. Yes,” I replied, feeling foolish. Here I was, acting like a jealous girlfriend. “I’m sorry.”

“No worries,” he said, his eyes twinkling. “I forgot my phone in the car. Could you write it down on a slip of paper?”

“Sure,” I said, noticing that the rain was finally letting up. “Why don’t you come in?”

“Thanks.”

I put my purse down on the coffee table and went into the kitchen to do what he’d asked. I then walked back to the living room and handed him my number.

“Thanks.” Taylor folded up the piece of paper and stuck it into his wallet. “Looks like it might be a nice night after all,” he said, glancing out the window.

“It was supposed to clear up around nine,” I replied, looking at the time. It was eight-thirty. “Anyway, thank you for helping me with the car.”

He turned around. “Sure. The house looks great. I barely recognize it,” he said, looking around.

“I guess that Mitzy had it renovated.” The walls had been recently painted a warm almond color and she’d had the carpeting removed, replacing it with a dark-stained hickory wood paneling.

“I see that. She has good taste. I love the furniture, too.”

“Actually, most of that is mine,” I said, nodding toward cream-colored leather sofa. There was also a matching chair and a storage ottoman that I also used as a coffee table. 

“You also have great taste.”

“Thanks. Most of my other stuff is in storage,” I replied.

“No television?” he asked, looking above the fireplace at the painting. It was of a woman standing on the beach. She was holding the hand of a little girl, who was bending down to pick up a rock.  

“Not in here. I’ve got one in my bedroom.”

“Did your mother paint this?” he asked, moving closer to look at the signature in the corner of the portrait.

I smiled. “Yes.”

I didn’t remember anything about her, since she’d died of breast cancer when I was only two. My father had said that her biggest passion in life, besides Barbara and me, had been her paintings. She’d spend hours at the beach, painting sailboats, ocean-views, and sunsets. The picture above my mantle was of the both of us and I cherished it more than anything else that I owned.

“Is that supposed to be you?” he asked, smiling at me.

I nodded.

“Wow. Your mother was very talented. Are there any other paintings?”

“I have some in storage,” I admitted. “There wasn’t enough room here to put them up.”

“That’s a shame. I would love to see them sometime.”

I smiled. “Sure.”

He cleared his throat. “Well, I suppose I should get going. Are you sure you don’t need a ride somewhere? I could give you a lift to Carter and Barbara’s if you’d like.”

“Actually, I think I’m going to just stay home and relax. I’ll let them know what’s going on with my car.”

“Okay. If you need anything, call me. You have my number,” he said, walking closer to me.

“I will,” I said, taking a step back.

He smiled down at me in amusement. “Do I really make you that nervous?”

“No,” I lied.

“You make me nervous,” he said, running a finger down my arm.

I flinched and took another step back from him. “Why?”

“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m having a hard time walking away. That’s never happened to me before.”

Our eyes locked. “What does that even mean?” 

He laughed grimly. “I wish I knew.”

Don’t fall for it,
I told myself.
This is why he’s had so many women…

“How about I make all of this much easier for you?” I replied, opening up the front door. “Have a good night, Taylor.”

He let out a weary sigh. “Goodnight, Lauren.”

I stood aside and watched him go.

This time, he really went.