Monroe, Marla - Her Biker Boyfriends [The Dirty Dozen 5] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (18 page)

“Hey, Carly. How are you doing?”

“As good as can be expected when you’ve had your life turned upside down.”

“I’m so sorry, honey. I don’t know how everyone found out, but they were talking about it when I came in this morning.”

“I’m sure Jim called someone and it spread from there. I’m just lucky the doctors are giving me a chance before they give me the boot. If they don’t lose patients because of my screwing two men, then I can stay.”

“Oh, Carly. Surely no one outside the office will find out. I mean, why would they?” Lisa tried to console her.

“A lot of my patients are friends that Jim knows. He’ll tell them, Lisa. You know he will. I guess it will all depend on if they don’t want to be associated with me because of it or not.”

They talked for a few more minutes, then Carly said good-bye and hit
end
. When she reached her bedroom, the phone rang again. She saw that it was Drew’s number. She nearly didn’t answer it, but knew that was being a coward.

“Hello.”

“Hey, baby. How was your day?”

“Oh, Drew. I’ve had a bad day.”

“What’s wrong, Carly?” His voice turned serious.

“Jim has told everyone at work about us, and I may lose my job.” She drew in a deep breath to quiet the tears she could feel in the back of her eyes.

There was silence for a few seconds. Then she heard him sigh. She could imagine him running his hand through his hair and pacing as they talked.

“What do you want to do about it, baby?” he asked quietly.

“I don’t know what to do. It shouldn’t matter how I choose to live my life. It’s nobody’s business but ours.”

“That’s right. But people talk and will always talk, baby. You’ve got to decide if you can live with that or not. We want you with us all the time, baby. We want you to move in and the three of us become a family. Don’t forget you’ve got the rest of the gang behind you, too.”

“I know. I want to be a family, too, Drew,” she whispered.

“I guess you’ve got some thinking to do. I’ll let you go. Get a good night’s sleep, baby, and I’ll talk to you later. If you need me or Ranger, just call. We’ll come no matter what time it is.”

“Thank you, Drew, for not pushing me.”

“Good night, Carly.”

She hit
end
, and the tears finally began to fall. What was she going to do?

* * * *

“What the fuck was that all about?” Ranger demanded when Drew hung up.

“That asshole ex of hers has told everyone at her job about the three of us.”

“I swear if I see that prick again I’m going to kill him.” Ranger stomped over to the fridge and pulled out two beers. He opened one and handed it to Drew.

“What is she going to do?” Ranger finally asked.

“I don’t know. She’s hanging in there right now. As for if she’ll move in with us or not? I don’t know.” He ran a hand over his face then took a sip of beer.

It worried him for her to go through it all alone, but unless she asked them to come to her, he didn’t think it was a good idea to push her. He would call her periodically and give her their support.

“She can’t call it quits with us, Drew. I don’t think I can live without her now. She’s all wrapped up inside of me.”

Drew had never heard Ranger admit to anything like that before. Certainly not about a woman. He gritted his teeth. Somehow they had to convince Carly that her place was with them. She didn’t have to work at all. They made more than enough money to support all of them, and then some. Their house was paid for, as well as the bikes. There was nothing they wouldn’t do for her.

“Why didn’t you tell her to forget about work and come live with us?”

“Because she loves her job, Ranger. You’re the one who said if it came down to it, she wouldn’t want to lose her career.”

“Hell, I know what I said. It doesn’t mean I have to accept it. We should be over there right now soothing her instead of standing here doing nothing.”

“I think she needs this time alone to think it through, Ranger. This has to be her choice.”

“Maybe there won’t need to be a choice at all.”

“I think you know better than that, man. Someone is going to start talking. With a rumor like that, it will spread faster than wildfire.” Drew screwed up his mouth in a sneer. “People love to talk about anything or anyone that’s different.”

“Let’s plan on something special for next weekend,” Ranger suggested.

“Like what?”

“Like a road trip to get her out of town. We could go to Austin for the weekend. People are a lot more laid-back there. She wouldn’t have to deal with the stares if we both hold her hand.”

“That’s a good idea. If she’ll go, that is.”

“We’ll kidnap her and not take no for an answer.” Ranger’s smile was contagious.

Drew found himself smiling right along with him.

They settled down at the bar and made plans. First Drew called Cole and filled him in on the news and asked if they could take off Saturday to take Carly out of town for the weekend.

“No problem. We’re nearly finished anyway. Another week and it will be all done. That sucks about Carly’s job. I know Tina gets a lot of ribbing at work, but she’s lucky that no one gives a rat’s ass.”

“Thanks, man. See you tomorrow.” Drew hung up and grabbed a pad and pen.

“Okay, what’s first?”

* * * *

The week passed quickly with only a couple of people cancelling on her without making another appointment. She held out hope that the worst was behind her, but deep down, she knew it wasn’t. On Friday afternoon, she parked her car in her usual spot and wearily climbed out. Her feet ached and she had a slight headache. She climbed the stair leading to her apartment thinking about the weekend and wondering what she was going to say to the men, when the sound of motorcycles caught her attention.

Carly couldn’t help but smile when she saw her two men ride into the parking lot. They parked next to her car and looked up to where she stood at the top of the stairs. Neither man saw her standing there, so when they started up the stairs, she waited at the top for them to look up.

Drew saw her first. He grinned from ear to ear before nudging Ranger with his shoulder. At a jerk of Drew’s head, Ranger looked up and broke out into a bright smile.

“Hey, baby.” Ranger hurried up the stairs to sweep her up in his arms.

Carly giggled and let him swing her around once before she popped him on the arms to let her down. When he complied, Drew immediately picked her back up again and kissed her hard on the mouth.

“We missed you, baby. Things any better at work?”

“Not really. I don’t want to talk about that right now, though. Come in so I can get out of my uniform. Can you stay long?”

Ranger grinned over at Drew. They were up to something she decided and frowned. What could those two have up their sleeve?

“Actually, we have tomorrow off and we want to whisk you away for the weekend. How about it? Want to go on a little trip?”

“A trip? Where?” She wasn’t so sure about that.

“We thought maybe Austin. Not that far away, but somewhere relaxing with great food and fantastic music.” Drew took her hands in his. “Say yes, baby. Let us take care of you this weekend.”

“Aw, Drew. You guys take care of me every weekend.” She wasn’t sure going somewhere with them was a good idea.

“That’s what we like to do,” Ranger said in a quiet voice.

Carly realized that Ranger expected her to dump them. Wasn’t that what she’d been struggling with all week? Looking into his eyes, she realized how much that would really hurt him. Maybe a weekend away would help her clear her head and think about what she wanted out of life in the long run.

“Come on, Carly. You’ll have a good time. I promise.” Drew pulled her into his arms and kissed the top of her head.

“Well, when you put it that way, I guess I can’t say no.”

Ranger pulled her out of Drew’s arms and gave her a sloppy, wet kiss before licking her lips. She chuckled and realized she hadn’t really laughed or even smiled much over the last week. It felt good to be able to again.

“Okay, let’s get you packed up and ready to go. All you’ll need is a change of clothes. We’ll leave early in the morning and spend the night before riding back on Sunday around lunchtime.” Drew had everything all planned.

Ranger swept Carly into her bedroom where he began to undress her. She shook her head with a smile and let him. He quickly stripped her and wrapped her in his arms.

“I love the way your skin feels. I like it even better when my skin is naked against yours.”

“Okay, you two lovebirds, we’ve got to get going. Dinner reservations are at seven, Ranger.” Drew clapped the other man on the shoulder before dropping a kiss on Carly’s nose.

Ranger groaned, but let go of Carly so she could dress. She quickly put on jeans, her boots, and a button-up blouse that she knew the guys loved because it hinted at her cleavage. She picked out an outfit to wear the next day on the trip and another one for Sunday on the way back. She could wear the same jeans provided she didn’t get something on them.

“Okay, I’m ready.” She lifted the backpack and a zipper bag that held her toiletries.

“Great, let’s load up and head to the restaurant. I hope you like Italian. I don’t think we’ve had anything other than steak or fish outside of what we’ve cooked at home.” Drew tossed Ranger the backpack.

After locking up the apartment, Carly followed the men downstairs to their bikes. She climbed on Drew’s bike with Ranger’s help. They waited for him to get settled with her pack on his back then pulled out of the parking lot. She enjoyed the short ride to where they were eating and was sorry when they stopped. That was fine, though. They would have a long ride tomorrow. She hoped she was up to it. That would be a lot of miles on her ass. She couldn’t help but grin at that, though.

“What’s so funny?” Ranger asked, squeezing her hand while they waited for the waiter to seat them.

“Just thinking that my poor ass will be numb by the time we get to Austin tomorrow.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll massage it and make it feel all better.” Ranger waggled his eyebrows with a leer.

“You’re incorrigible.” Carly laughed and followed the waiter to their table.

By the time they had finished their meal, Carly was feeling much better and glad she’d agreed to go with them. They had kept her entertained with stories about the gang. She learned they were called The Dirty Dozen. When she asked why, they both grinned and shook their heads.

“What? It’s so bad you can’t tell me here?”

“Yep. We’ll tell you when we get you home.” Drew moved a strand of hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear.

“Ranger, what does it mean?”

“Not getting it out of me till later, either.”

Carly pouted, but even that didn’t budge them. She mused over it the entire trip back to their house. As soon as they walked in the garage door, she pounced on them.

“Okay, now you can tell me. What does it mean?”

Chapter Fifteen

Ranger grinned over at Drew. He loved seeing her smiling and full of curiosity. She’d been depressed when they’d first shown up at her apartment. Now she had color in her cheeks and a sparkle in her eyes. God, didn’t she realize how happy she was with them?