Throttle's Seduction: Insurgents Motorcycle Club (Insurgents MC Romance Book 7) (7 page)

“I gotta get this, honey. Be back soon.” She went over to Kimber’s table, and Throttle watched with interest as she stood at the booth.

After she wrote something on a notepad and went to another table, he saw Kimber lean back and laugh at something Cowboy said, each note of her laughter hitting him in the groin. Saying something to Cowboy that Throttle couldn’t hear, she slid out of the booth and walked to the hallway where the bathroom was. Without thinking, he jumped up and followed her, settling himself in a corner as he waited for her to come out of the ladies’ room, hoping Peggy wouldn’t come and look for him.

A few minutes later, Kimber exited the bathroom, adjusting her short black skirt. “Hey there,” he said in a deep, hushed voice. From the way she jumped and whirled around, he knew he’d startled her.

Locking on his face, she took a step back. “Oh… Hi.”

Not wanting Peggy to come up to him, he grasped a startled Kimber by her wrist and tugged her behind him as he pushed open the door which led to the alley. Outside, the heat surrounded them, and the smell of rotting food invaded his nostrils. With her wrist still in his hand, he moved them away from the diner’s dumpsters.

“What are you doing?” she snapped as she jerked out of his grip.

Good question. What the shit
am
I doing?
“I want to talk to you.”

Taking a couple steps back, she stared at him. “About what?”

He shrugged. He hadn’t been thinking clearly. All he knew was that for some illogical reason, he wanted to be close to her. His gaze traveled up her body then landed on her face. “You look pretty when you’re all fixed up.”

A smirk danced on her glossy lips. “That’s a half-assed compliment.”

He held his hands up. “No, I didn’t mean it that way. I just meant you look good without the coveralls and grease.”

“You dragged me out in the stinking heat to tell me that?” He gave her a half-smile. “Unbelievable,” she said as she rolled her eyes.

He felt stupid all of a sudden, like a teenage boy talking to his crush for the first time. This wasn’t him at all. He didn’t act like some bumbling teenager who couldn’t control his damn dick. This whole thing was fucked. His muscles tensed and he frowned. “You work in a bike shop and you’re out with a fuckin’ cowboy? How the hell does that work?”

She lifted a defiant chin. “Tell me how who I’m out with is any of your damn business.”

“I don’t give a shit who you’re with. I just pegged you as a biker chick, not a rodeo one. That’s all.”

“Well, I’m neither. I’m an individual who can’t be fit into a mold.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

“He your boyfriend or something?”

Fixing her eyes on him, she said, “Something.”

In one long stride, he stood in front of her, his hands itching to dig into her skin and pull her to him. His gaze lingered on her mouth, her bottom lip shiny and tempting. He so wanted to taste it.
Whoa. What the fuck is wrong with me?

Kimber leaned in closer to him and he lowered his head, her warm, minty breath fanning over his face.

“Kimber?” a deep voice said from behind Throttle. She jumped back as though she’d been stung by a bee.

He spun around and saw the cowboy standing right outside the doorway, a befuddled look on his face. Throttle glanced at Kimber and saw her fidgeting with the snaps on her tight-as-hell top. He chuckled under his breath, every bit of him enjoying her discomfort.

“Hey, Riley,” she muttered.

“What’s going on here?”

“Uh… I was just going over some stuff from work.” She jerked her chin at Throttle. “He’s a member of the club I was telling you about, remember?” She sidled over to him and then laced her fingers through his. Riley threw her a boyish grin, and Throttle wanted to slam his face into the brick wall.

“Okay. So you know him from work?”

She bobbed her head up and down too many times, saying, “Right. That’s right” over and over.

Her date extended his hand to Throttle. “I’m Riley.”

He looked at it, then the guy’s goofy, grinning face. He snorted and bumped Riley as he walked past him and entered the diner. From behind him, Riley said, “What’s up with him? Did I offend him or something?”

“No,” Kimber replied. “He’s just a jerk.”

Throttle stopped, his blood boiling, but before he could go back outside and punch Riley in the face and kiss Kimber hard, the scent of citrus curled around him. A soft arm encircled his trim waist. “What were you doing outside, handsome? Your meatloaf’s ready.”

Wrapping his arm around Peggy, he pulled her close. She was the woman he should want to kiss. Without answering, he walked back to his table, squeezed her shoulder, and slid into the booth. He placed a forkful of meatloaf in his mouth.

“Is it too cold? You want me to nuke it for a few seconds?”

He shook his head.

“Let me give my customers their dinner, and then I’ll come join you.” Peggy rushed off.

He kept his eyes down on his plate as he shoveled in his food, but he sensed her when she walked into the room. He didn’t look up, his mind still reeling from the fact that if the cowboy hadn’t come out, he would’ve kissed Kimber. And she’d acted more than willing to be kissed by him. He gulped down his beer, pissed that he was stoked Kimber wanted to kiss him.

“You must’ve been hungry. You’re all done. Want some more?” Peggy asked as she slid into the booth, sitting across from him.

He shook his head. The only thing he wanted was to get out of Ruthie’s as fast as he could. He was furious with himself for giving a shit who Kimber was with, for wanting to kiss and be with her. He glanced up and caught her staring at him before she darted her eyes away. Satisfaction weaved through him, and he breathed out.

He placed his hand on top of Peggy’s. “I’m sorry I have to do this, but I’m not feeling so good. It kinda just hit me. We’re gonna have to go to Arrow Lake another time.”

Peggy’s face fell. “Really? Maybe you ate too fast. Why don’t you relax and wait a bit. I bet you’ll feel better.”

“Don’t think so. Sorry.” He squeezed her hand.

“Do you wanna come over to my place and lie down? I’ll take care of you. I can ask to leave now.”

He smiled ruefully. “I’m sure you’d take real good care of me. I don’t know what the fuck is wrong with me, and that’s the absolute truth, sweetheart, but I’m just gonna head home. How much do I owe for the dinner?”

She handed him the bill. “You sure you don’t want to come to my place? I was really looking forward to spending some time with you tonight.”

“Me too.”
I couldn’t wait to play with your tits. I fuckin’ can’t believe I’m walking away from this sexy sure thing.
“Another time, okay?”

Her eyes lit up. “What about tomorrow?”

“That won’t work.” He handed her a twenty-dollar bill. “Keep the change.” He scooted out of the booth.

“You’ll call me, right?”

He nodded as he pushed open the glass doors.

“Now don’t forget,” she said at his retreating back.

He waved his hand up in the air as he walked to his truck. When he started it, he looked at Kimber and her gaze caught his. He put on his sunglasses, backed out, and turned out of the parking lot. He couldn’t even begin to figure out why he blew off Big Tits. She should’ve been in the truck with him right then, and they should’ve been driving to Arrow Lake for some real fun. But he was headed back to the clubhouse, and instead of a busty blonde on his mind, a flat-chested brunette invaded it.

What. The. Fuck?

K
imber watched as
Riley’s red taillights disappeared into the darkness. He’d wanted to go dancing after dinner, but she wasn’t in the mood, and she had that asshole Throttle to thank for ruining her date. She’d be surprised if she ever heard from Riley again. Who would’ve thought she’d have bumped into
him
at the diner. The timing totally sucked. And the way he acted, telling her that she was a biker chick and all that crap? He had nerve, that was for sure.

She switched on her Harley and it roared to life, then she exited Jim’s station and headed to her house. Fifteen minutes later she turned off the engine, shut the garage doors, and stepped into her kitchen. She opened her fridge and pulled out a can of beer, popped it open, and took a long pull. The biker looked damn gorgeous in his tight black jeans and muscle shirt, his tats moving whenever he flexed his muscular arms.
Fuckin’ stop it, Kimber. Right now!
It didn’t look like Riley had any tats on him, but then she’d stopped paying much attention to him from the moment she’d spotted Throttle. She groaned. She couldn’t start something with the dude. The only thing he had going for him was that he was gorgeous. And, yeah… he had a kickass Harley.

She turned on the TV and channel surfed, images of new cars, puppies, buildings, and people flickering by quickly. She’d almost
kissed
him. She covered her mouth with her hand as tingling swept up the back of her neck. And she’d wanted to. With Riley sitting at the booth, she was ready to play kissy-face with a guy who irritated the hell out of her. How ridiculous was that?

If Riley called her again—and it was a huge
if
—she’d make it up to him. She had to forget about Throttle and concentrate on her studies, her work, and exploring something with Riley. There was no way she’d let a hot man in leather deter her, even though she’d always been a sucker for leather and Harleys. All she had to remember was what a jerk he was and all would be cool. She took another gulp of beer. She had a handle on it.

No problem.

*     *     *

Throttle opened the
shop door, welcoming the gust of icy air that shrouded him. He waved at Hawk as he came up to the counter. “How’s business?”

“Good. Didn’t expect to see you. You’re not working?”

“Rags is on it this morning. We hired a few guys to help out on that landscape job over in Fernwood.”

“How come you’re not working it?”

Throttle’s skin pricked. “What the fuck? You’re not my employer. I had shit to do earlier.” He pushed his boot against the corner of the counter. “You got a problem with me being here?”

“Not at all. I’m just surprised. Fuck, you’ve come to the shop more in the past couple weeks than you have all year. Just find it curious.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “I thought I’d come by to help you out with all the fuckin’ boxes you had in your office. You told me you needed the help, but I’ll just fuckin’ leave.” He spun around and stomped to the door.

“Dude, calm the fuck down. I could use your help. I’ve an errand I gotta do, so you can man the phones and plug all this shit”—he waved the papers in his hand—“into the computer.”

Throttle turned back and followed his buddy into the office. “Take a seat.” Hawk gestured at the desk chair. “I’ll show you how to put in the inventory on a program I came up with. It kicks ass and makes keeping track of products a whole lot easier.”

As Hawk showed and explained the software, Throttle wondered if Kimber was at work. He was going to ask, but Hawk had made such a big fucking deal about him coming to the shop to help out that he kept silent. He shook his head. Hawk knew exactly the reason he’d come by, and he was right—Kimber. Throttle wanted to see her again, be close enough to breath in her scent. The things she did to him were incomprehensible, and it pissed him off and excited him at the same time.

“So it’s pretty easy. You got a handle on it?” Hawk picked up his keys on the desk.

Throttle nodded, pointing at the stack of boxes on the file cabinet. “You want me to unpack and categorize those for you?”

“Those are from Jerry. Damn, I can’t keep his ornaments in the shop. I’ll take care of it when I get back. I just need you to plug in the items and codes. I should be back in a couple hours.”

Throttle swung the desk chair to face the computer. “See you when you get back.” He typed in the first item. He knew he should’ve been working on the big job he and Rags had landed, but instead he’d hired an extra person to take his place while he sat hunched over typing a bunch of numbers, hoping to maybe get a glimpse of Kimber.
Fuckin’ pitiful.

After forty-five minutes of tapping numbers into the computer, he regretted his decision to come to the shop.
Knock. Knock.
He looked up. “Come in.”

The door opened and Kimber walked in, her hand flying to her throat. “Uh… Is Hawk here?” She moved her head around searching for him in the small office.

Enjoying her discomfort, he swiveled to face her. “No. I’m manning the store. What do you need?”

She stood silent, her gaze fixed on his face.

“So you wanna just admire my good looks, babe? I’m down with that.” He sniggered.

Her face flushed. “Hawk told me he’d leave a part I need to finish up a bike I’m working on. When will he be back?”

He shrugged. “What part do you need? I can help you with that.” He winked at her.

She pressed her lips together. He slid his gaze up her body, admiring the way her blue coveralls encased her hips. Desire teased at his stomach. Looking up at her, he gave her a lopsided, cocky smile.