BAD BOY ROMANCE: DIESEL: Contemporary Bad Boy Biker MC Romance (Box Set) (New Adult Sports Romance Short Stories Boxset) (7 page)

Chapter 4

Diesel sat parked in front of an empty house for sale a few doors down from where Kim lived with her grandfather. He didn’t dare get close enough to the door to cause trouble since she was already at war with her own family over him. He appreciated it but still couldn’t understand why. In a way, Spencer and Don were probably right about him not being good enough for her. But he wasn't about to send her back into Spencer's incapable arms either.

He heard her voice and the slamming of the door before her saw her form coming from where the bushes at the front of the house hid her.

Diesel couldn’t keep from smiling at the sight of her; mostly because she had actually put some effort into how she looked for their first date. He had gotten the impression that she was not the type of girl to dress up or be girly, but there she was in a low cut black top that was partially mesh and a pair of perfectly pressed skinny jeans. She was even rocking some studded black heels. He chuckled to himself, thinking about the date they were about to have and wondered if he should have warned her to wear more practical shoes, but then he wouldn’t have gotten the pleasure of seeing her strut to him in them.

He whistled at her playfully, and she rolled her eyes. Though, he saw a hint of a smirk forming on her lips before she climbed onto the back of his bike. It was a strange feeling to have a woman on the back of his bike again. It had been so long since his ex-wife had been on it with him since she had insisted on her own after a while as a member of The Shadows. “So, are you ready for this?” he asked as he watched her turned her head each way as if looking for something.

“Sure, but don’t we need helmets or something?” she asked sheepishly, and he realized that her only experience in a bike would have been with Spencer. He chuckled a bit as he looked back at her.

“Babe, I don’t ever plan on putting you in enough danger to need a helmet. I’ve been driving this thing since I was 15. Plus, I wouldn’t want to cover up those eyes for anything.” He nodded at her as he saw a blush forming on her face. Kim wrapped her arms around his waist firmly, making a chill run through his body. Was he really ready for feelings like that again?

“Alright then, let’s get going before my grandfather comes out here and causes a scene,” she told him, hanging on even tighter. She must not have had a very good experience on a motorcycle at all yet. Diesel smiled to himself and revved the engine, ready to follow his plan to give her a stress free and fun first date. They took off down the street smoothly, and he made sure to be thrillingly fast but careful about the way he was driving. He wasn’t about to scare her. He wanted everything to be just right.

He watched everything fly by as he headed into a rougher area of town. He hoped that it wouldn’t turn her off watching the medium-sized houses turn into trailers that were bunched together and smelled a bit of smoke and sewage as they passed by. Diesel knew it wasn’t the most attractive place, but it held a special place in his heart for many reasons. Most of the people that lived in the area weren’t as scary as people assumed, just a little lost and maybe not as clean or employed as the rest of Montreal. There were some gems there, though; gems that had kept him going when he was young and lost himself.

They passed the neighborhood where Diesel used to live as he rounded a corner onto a tiny, slow street. It was noisy one where lots of people were sitting outside and smoking; playing cards or soccer. There were even a few children playing chase in the street. It was nice to see that the place was still a little alive. Diesel pulled his bike into a small park that backed up against the middle school he once attended. There weren’t many people there, and it was definitely run down with graffiti on the play equipment and a very sad basketball court, but it felt like home.

He pulled up to the edge of the grass and turned off the bike. Kim’s arms slipped from around him, making him feel just a little cold without her there. They both climbed off the bike, and she looked around. Diesel watched her nervously as he walked side-by-side with her out into the park. Suddenly, she started laughing. “I guess my shoes may be a little much for this date,” she joked, and Diesel smiled, glad that she had sense of humor about it instead of flipping out about where they were.

“Nah, they look good on you. In fact, everything you’re wearing does.” Diesel winked at her, letting her in on his slightly impure thoughts. They were impossible not to have looking at her slender curves on display in those clothes. Kim shot him a look, and he dared to grab her hand and lead her towards the slightly pitiful basketball court. Like he hoped, there was a faded basketball rolling around on the concrete square. The neighborhood kids always kept one around for when they felt like a game. Diesel let go of Kim’s hand and picked it up, bouncing it to her. Kim looked surprised, but she was able to catch it.

“Yeah, I don’t think I’m going to be able to play basketball in these,” she said, kicking the shoes off and pushing them to the side. “And I have to say, this is the most interesting first date I’ve ever had so far.” Kim began dribbling the ball playfully. She clearly wasn’t an athlete, but she wasn’t horrible at it either. Then, she crouched down, showing a little more of her cleavage over the top of her shirt and grinned. “So, I guess it’s one-on-one, then?”

Diesel nodded and crouched down in front of the hoop, waiting for her next move. She began to dribble around him, trying to dodge him and get to the basket. He went a little easy on her and let her waste slip through his hands as he grabbed at her, and she jumped up and flung the ball at the hoop. It bounced off and came crashing over the side where he caught it. “Better luck next time,” he said with a grin before getting ready to knock her socks off. He doubted she was expecting him to be any better than she was.

He threw his jacket to the ground and began to dribble as she got into position. It had been awhile since he had played, and his adrenaline was pumping through him with excitement. He felt like a kid again as he came towards her, swinging the ball under his legs and faking to the left before going right around her body. He made an easy two-pointer without effort, barely breaking a sweat and smiled smugly.

“Wow,” Kim started casually. “I didn’t know motorcycle club members were so into sports. You’re pretty good. Where did you pick it up?” she asked as she began to dribble again, getting ready to give it another shot.

“I was on the team in school, actually,” Diesel admitted with a crooked smile as she came at him. He could see that she was already panting from the effort, but it was kind of sexy. “I was a regular jock. Does that surprise you?”

“A little,” she admitted as she attempted another shot at the basket, hitting above and having the ball drop down to the hoop. It danced around the rim for several seconds before finally falling through. Kim raised her arms in victory and he laughed. “Watching you play, though, I can kind of picture it.” Their eyes met as he turned around to dribble the ball again, and he felt more like himself than he had in a while with her looking at him. It was the way she was seeing him as a real person; as more than some convict with tattoos and muscles. He was more than what he did for the MC; he just forgot about it sometimes.

Kim didn’t even fight him this time as he dribbled to victory, pulling a three-pointer this time. She clapped for him and cheered him on looking rather impressed. It had become the Diesel show, and as nice as it felt, he knew it was supposed to be about them. After a few more shots, he let the ball bounce until it rolled across the concrete and became idle. “Well, I’m pretty impressed so far. What’s next on the agenda, Diesel?” Kim looked at him from under hooded eyes, and he could feel the attraction bouncing back and forth between them. It took every bit of willpower he had not to just slide his hands all over her body right then and there. He had promised himself he would strive the best he could to deserve her even if he failed.

“How about a drive in movie?” he asked slyly, making her shoot him a confused look as she walked up to him. Diesel reached in his pocket and pulled out his phone which was more like a small tablet. He motioned for her to follow him over to a patch of grass near the bike, and she did, bringing her shoes along in her hand. The curious look on her face was quite cute to look at.

They sat down next to each other, and he turned on his phone, pulling up his movie files. “So, do you want to watch Repo, Breakfast Club or Carrie?” he asked, giving her options.

“Those are actually some pretty awesome choices, but I think I’ll go with Breakfast Club. I’m not into the whole scary movie on the first date thing; no offense.” He pressed the file for the movie to start and placed the phone where they could both see and hear it.

“Trust me, I’m not offended. It actually tells me a lot about you,” he said looking over at her as the opening credits began to play. Kim began to sing along to the opening song, and he was both thrilled and surprised to hear that she had an amazing voice. He looked over at her for a moment but said nothing just yet, not wanting to make her self-conscious. “You have a beautiful voice,” he told her eventually, saying it softly.

“Yeah, I used to be the lead singer of a band,” she told him with a shrug, but something in the look on her face told him there was a story behind that.

“What happened to the band?” he dared to ask, hoping she wouldn’t get mad.

“Things didn’t work out. They kind of betrayed me actually. We had gotten an offer for a deal in Seattle, but the contract was really bad. The company wanted to change everything about us and total control. The band turned on me including the guy I was with and signed without me. They sent me packing back here.” Diesel could tell by the tone of her voice that the wound was a recent one.

“Well, I think it was their loss. Maybe you could go solo,” he suggested, winking at her.

“Maybe I will.”

Chapter 5

Kim drifted into her grandfather’s house with a smile on her face. She had just come back from her fourth date with Diesel and felt great. They had been dating for a little over two weeks, and they had just eaten take out and watched movies at his place. She wasn’t sure why she had been so worried about their ability to just hang out. It had gone so well without putting him into the friend zone. In fact, she had felt the sexual tension between them, though all he’d tried to get out of her was a passionate kiss that brought her to her proverbial knees.

Feeling too exhausted to go straight to bed, she made her way to the kitchen to make herself some tea to calm down before she snuggled into her pajamas and flipped it on Netflix. But as she set the kettle on the burner, she could hear the shuffling of feet coming from the living room, and one of the lights flipped on. Kim turned around to see her grandfather there, looking at her like he had something to say. “I didn’t realize you had gotten back,” Kim said quietly, wondering what she was in for. He had been gone for a while, supposedly on business, but Kim had suspected he was just staying away from her and their tension-filled relationship. She knew he was disappointed in her choices.

“I just got here about an hour ago,” he responded, sounding more tired than she expected form such a tough man. His wrinkles were very pronounced around his eyes, and for the first time in a while, he looked his age. It made her heart drop to her stomach. “Might I have a word with you?” he asked sounding cautious. It seemed serious but like he wasn’t in the mood to fight at all. So, she trusted her instinct and went to sit with him on the couch while she waited to hear that familiar squeal letting her know the water was ready.

"What is it Papa?" she said, feeling a little like a child again as she was sitting next to the old man. It began to all hit her at once how she had missed the way things used to be, and she hoped whatever conversation they were about to have would lead them back to that.

"I don’t know if I've been totally fair about the way I've handled everything with you since you've been back. Firstly, I'm sorry to both you and Spencer for the way I tried to push you two together. I only thought that it would keep you from getting hurt again like you had been in Seattle. I thought it was what you would have wanted for yourself if you had been feeling like yourself." Kim only nodded. She had understood that better than he had imagined. She should have wanted Spencer too, but it just wasn't meant to be.

"I want to be clear here. I still do not think that Diesel is a good man for you to be with, but I do realize that you cannot help how you feel about a person. I also know that I have not fully explained why I don't want you involved with The Shadows at all. I have been thinking about what you said the other day about the fact that both Spencer and I are involved as well so that it shouldn’t make much of a difference."

The tea kettle began to whistle its high pitched sound through the house, startling them both. Kim had been so entranced in what he might say that she had totally forgotten about the mundane task. She nodded to let him know she needed a second and headed into the kitchen to pour them both a cup of tea. She figured he might need some too with as heavy as the conversation was getting.

Kim brought the tea and set it down on the coffee table in front of both of them, sitting back down herself with a sigh. "I know that The Shadows do some pretty shady stuff. I know that they're basically a gang. But I can't see Diesel hurting me any more than I see the two of you doing it." Kim shrugged, still not understanding quite what the big idea was but willing to listen for once.

"There are things I have kept from you, sheltered you from, regarding the activities we've undertaken. It's not just selling some illegal goods or beating a couple of guys up, or rumbles like you see in the movies. It's the real deal. The Shadows steal and sell guns illegally, sometimes even smuggling them over the border. They import drugs like heroine to be sold by dealers we partner with. And our rival gang, The Skeletons, are ruthless. Their second-in-command is the nephew of a prominent member of the mob. They have killed our members before and their families if they get a hold of that information, and our side has killed just the same. Diesel himself has done some horrid things."

Kim put her hand up to stop the flow of information so that she could process what she was hearing. Had she been naive to expect anything less than the horrible things he was both confirming and implying about Diesel and even himself? No wonder her father had never fit in or been able to survive trying to be a member.

Tears sprang from her eyes as she remembered losing her father and trying to understand growing up without him. She had been told bad people did something to him and that he'd made a mistake. As she got older she had been filled in with a few of the details; that he was a nice and normal guy who became obsessed with being like the rest of the family and part of the MC. His first time out had been his last. But she had never been told the specific details. She could clearly imagine it now; him getting destroyed by the brutal motorcycle gang without even a hope of fighting back.

"You should have told me sooner," she said quietly, staring at her tea like there might be a toad laying eggs in it. "You should have never let me get involved in any of this, even with Spencer. And I don’t understand why people like you and him would eve associate with such people and activities. No wonder my father was killed. there was never any hope for him in this mess, and I don’t know that there will be for me either."

The worst part of the whole thing was that Kim was trying so hard to be angry at her grandfather for all of it, but she just wasn't. Kim looked over at her grandfather’s defeated look and realized he was hurting over the way they’d been to each other lately as well. She wasn’t going to let it continue to go on. Kim reached up to him and squeezed his neck in a hug, perking him up slightly. “Thank you for sharing this with me even if it was a little late. I hope you respect the fact that I want to hear Diesel’s part in all of this from his own mouth before I really dig in and think about this.”

Her grandfather nodded, and she was glad to see some of the light back in his eyes. She picked up her tea and carried it into her bedroom, prepared for a long night of worry thinking about what the hell she had gotten herself into.