Steel Love: Alpha BBW Motorcycle Romance (6 page)

“Thanks again for inviting me Jessi. I had a good time, and I definitely learned a lot. My number is on the contact sheet. Call me sometime ok? I definitely want to hang out.”

She stepped away from Jessi with a wave and quickly headed out the back door and into the fading light of the day. It had been bright and sunny when they’d gone into the class and now four hours later the day was finally starting too dim. She took a moment to dig her keys out while she stood near the back door to the Dojo. Once she had her keys in hand she walked toward her car scanning the back parking lot.

Maggie stopped when she saw the black motorcycle. The man she’d seen in her neighborhood leaned against the bike with his arms crossed over his chest. She was shocked. He wasn’t even pretending not to be watching her. He literally sat there and stared at her with not an ounce of apology in his eyes. It felt like an hour passed, but really it could only have been seconds, before she blinked and realized that she too had been standing there stock still staring at him. So Maggie shook her head, closed her mouth, squared her shoulders, and marched over to the biker.

“What are you doing?” Maggie demanded stopping about five feet from his crossed ankles. Maggie couldn’t help but notice how attractive he was. Even leaning against the bike she guessed he was about six feet tall, with dark close-cropped hair, his beard trimmed since the last time she saw him, and the brownest eyes she’d ever seen in her life. Not black brown, and not light brown, but a true hazelnut brown that looked so deep she felt like she could fall into them and never get out. When she moved her eyes to his body she couldn’t help but notice how his broad shoulders and thick biceps. He wore a fairly tight t-shirt with a leather vest over it. The vest had patches like she’d seen on TV shows about motorcycle clubs. She noted the one claiming he was the vice president unsure if she should be impressed.

“I’m sitting on my bike waiting for you Maggie. What are you doing?”

She was so focused on checking him out it took a moment before she realized he’d used her name. This was the perfect opportunity to utilize that strong voice they’d practiced in the dojo. “One. Why are you following me? Two. How the fuck do you know my name?”

He smiled and leaned back slightly on the bike’s seat letting his eyes run up her body. His scrutiny gave her goose bumps. She was surprised that she didn’t feel like a piece of meat, but more like a painting or a beautiful view he was enjoying. She took a step back. She needed to get control of this situation and close proximity to this man who was
stalking
her, and far too attractive, was not helping the situation.

“I asked you a question.”

“Two actually.” His deep smoky voice, nothing like Reefs, rolled over her.

“What?”

“You asked me two questions.”

Maggie blinked at him. Was he trying to be funny? “Are you trying to be funny? Yes, I asked you two questions. Why are you following me? And how the FUCK do you know my god damn name? I’d say those are two pretty straight forward questions don’t you?”

“Yeah. Well…” Ash cleared his throat. “The answer to your first question is that your father asked a favor of my club, and I’m here to fulfill that favor. The answer to your second question is I believe obvious after the first.”

“My…. What? My father?
MY
father asked you to follow me? How is that even possible? I mean, first off he’s dead, and second there’s no way you knew him.” Maggie shook her head, trying to understand what was going on here.

“I really need you to start explaining yourself. I really don’t want to get the police involved but I will if I have to.”

Ash shrugged his shoulders at her. “Seamus Quirke was a friend of the club. Before he passed he asked us to keep an eye on you. If you want to know more than that you’ll have to take a ride with me.”

Maggie jerked at her father’s name. Who was this guy?

“A ride? What, on your motorcycle? Is this some kind of joke? I’m not going anywhere with you. You’re a complete stranger, who has been stalking me, and now I find you sitting out here waiting for me after my class and you want me to go on a
ride
with you? What am I supposed to say to that? I mean how do you honestly expect me to respond?”

“Well when you put it like that… I guess I expect you to say yes, get on my bike, and let me take you for a ride. I promise I’m not here to hurt you Maggie. Your father
did
ask the club to keep an eye on you. And if you go for a ride with me I’ll be able to answer all your questions.”

Maggie turned away from him and walked a few steps. She didn’t know what to do. This man scared her. He had definitely been following her, but he knew her name, and knew her father’s name. Reef could have told him that information though. She absolutely would NOT get on that bike with him. Period. Decision made she turned back to him.

“What’s your name?” She asked.

“Ash Moreno.” Ash held his hand out. “Pleased to meet you.”

Ignoring Ash’s hand Maggie kept her distance. “You can’t honestly expect me to get on the back of a motorcycle with a complete stranger who’s been following me around for weeks. However, I would be willing to follow you in my car. If I am uncomfortable at any point I will leave. Is that acceptable?”

Ash stood for a moment and considered her, then nodded, turned away to place his helmet on his head, and swing a leg over the bike. “Ok. Follow me.”

Maggie turned and raced back toward her car. She rushed to start the car and drive to the entrance of the parking lot where Ash waited for her. She followed him through downtown and around the park where the library sat at the edge of the duck pond.

They passed the barbershop that her father used to get his hair cut at and made their way into the seedier part of town. Ash slowed down, put on his left blinker, and pulled into a parking spot at the end of a long line of other motorcycles in front of a bar.

Maggie chose to park across the street from the bar in front of a small catholic thrift shop. The little old lady that peaked out of the window as she pulled into the spot made her feel slightly better. She wasn’t sure what she expected the old woman to do, but at least someone saw her face before she entered the dark bar.

She waited until Ash was off his bike and standing by the door before she made her way across the street. He held the door open for her, but she stood back and waited not wanting to have him at her back.

“Oh no. You go first.” She said as she smirked at him and waited.

Ash shrugged and walked inside. He let Maggie catch the door behind him and walked about ten feet into the bar before stopping and turning back to see her standing just inside the door, letting her eyes get used to the dimness. When Maggie was ready she moved her eyes back to him and nodded following him toward a wall at the back that was covered in photos. She stepped up to the wall, keeping several feet between herself and Ash.

“What are we doing here?” She asked after a long moment of silence.

“Answering your question.” Ash nodded to the wall.

“What am I supposed to be looking at here? You’re pretty pictures? They’re great, but they aren’t answering any of my questions.”

Ash lifted his right hand and tapped a finger on the glass of the large central most image. It was an old photo of a group of rough looking men all standing in a line in front of their motorcycles. Maggie frowned at Ash and moved forward. She squinted in the dim light and leaned in close to the picture. Maggie moved her eyes across the picture focusing on one figure after another. All she saw were a bunch of old grisly dudes with long hair and beards. What the hell was she doing in this shitty bar, with this creepy guy, looking at this picture of a bunch of old rough necks?

“Ok. I’m going to ask this again, and I’d appreciate a more direct answer. Do you think you can manage that? What. Are. We. Doing. Here?” At the end of her rope Maggie enunciated each word trying to emphasize the frustration and annoyance she was feeling.

“I’m trying to show you how I know your name, and why your father was able to ask a favor of this club. If you don’t recognize any of the faces, why don’t you check out the names on the plaque?” Ash gestured to the list of names on the metal plaque affixed to the frame. As she skimmed the names the fourth one jumped out at her. Seamus Quirke. Her eyes darted to the face fourth from the left.

“Oh my God.” Maggie’s breath left her body in a rush. She felt like she’d been punched in the gut. She turned and looked at Ash who stood leaning his shoulder against the wall with his hands in his pockets watching her. Maggie took a step back, then turned and ran full tilt for the door.

Chapter 7

ASH

Ash stood for a solid minute watching Maggie’s retreating back. It was difficult to surprise Ash. He tended to be a bit cynical about life in general. Shit he’d definitely seen enough to deserve that cynicism. Maggie had done nothing but surprise him since the moment she opened her mouth at the dojo. The very fact she was even taking classes there was enough to peek his curiosity. Maybe she wasn’t as helpless as he’d initially thought. At least she was taking some measure to try to protect herself, and she was definitely observant. He’d been careful to not let her see him over the past few weeks.

He pushed off the wall and walked up to the front of the bar ignoring the stares from the other club members along the way. It wasn’t often a strange woman came in the bar, let alone with Ash, and then ran like a bat out of hell.

Ash pushed open the door and stepped outside to find Maggie bent over, hands on her knees, taking deep lungful’s of air as if she were trying not to vomit.

“You ok?”

Maggie swallowed a few times before standing up; eyes closed, and lifted a hand with her index finger pointed up in a ‘one minute’ gesture. “Yeah. I just need a second.”

“Take all the time you need.” Ash walked over to his bike so he could see her face and sat at the edge of his seat. While she stood there with her eyes closed he took the opportunity to scrutinize her a little more closely. She wore black yoga pants that hugged her hips and thighs and a tank top. This was the clearest he’d ever seen her figure and he was not disappointed. For Ash this was the perfect figure for a woman; full heavy breasts, soft round belly with a slight pudge, thick thighs, and a round ass. Most would describe Maggie as overweight, but Ash thought she was perfect. Once again her hair was up in a tight high bun. He wanted nothing more than to walk behind her, run his hands from her shoulders to her hips, and push his nose into her neck.

Finally Maggie opened her eyes and looked at Ash. He could only assume her frown was initiated by the heavy lidded look in his eyes. Her hands went automatically to her hips. Which of course just drew Ash’s attention there.

“So obviously my father was at some point in his youth involved with this club. That’s a given, I get it. But, he couldn’t have been involved for a while now. I mean my mother passed when I was fairly young. For nearly eight years of my life it was just the two of us before I went to college. I would have known if he was involved in any
extracurricular activities
” Maggie aloud her frustration and confusion to seep into her words.

Ash nodded. “You’re right. He hasn’t been involved in the club for a couple decades, but he was actually one of the original-founding members, which holds a lot of weight around here. I don’t really know why he left, or exactly when, but I do know that he left on good terms. So when he came to the club a few months back and asked for a favor from our president…. Well Jack couldn’t deny him. So he put me on it, and I’ve been watching over you pretty much since about a week before your father’s funeral.”

Ash watched Maggie silently. She slowly nodded her head. “Ok. I get it. It does make sense. He was so worried about Reef the last few months. It makes sense that he would want to take certain…
precautions
for when he wasn’t around.” She finally looked Ash in the eye. Assessing him.

“So you’ve been following me.” Maggie said cocking her head to the side.

“I’ve been watching over you, there’s a difference.” Ash felt mildly put out by her tone.

“Have you seen him around at all?” For the first time since meeting Ash face-to-face Maggie’s voice held a slight tone of fear. This more than anything he’d experienced so far with Maggie surprised him. She wasn’t even remotely afraid of Ash. She had walked right up to him with fire seeping from her pours and cursed at him. Repeatedly. At him. The big bad biker dude. But just the thought of her ex-husband made her voice quake and her shoulders tense.

“Your ex? No. I haven’t seen him around town at all, but honestly I’m just one man. I had been considering asking Jack, our president, for permission to bring on another guy. A second pair of eyes wouldn’t hurt.”

“You’ve been keeping your distance though haven’t you? I mean, I only saw you really that one day outside my house. When it was raining. But I definitely have felt it. You know, like someone has been watching me.”

Ash watched as Maggie shivered slightly, rubbing her hands up and down her arms to clear the goose bumps. He desperately wanted to reach out to her. He wanted to put his hands where hers were and rub her arms for her. He wanted to pull her against his chest and wrap his arms around her. What the fuck was wrong with him?

“Yeah I’ve kept my distance. I didn’t want to scare you.” Ash stretched his legs out in front of him and crossed his ankles then put his hands in his pockets. If he didn’t trap his hands he was liable to touch her and he had a feeling she probably wouldn’t be ok with that. Plus once Ash finally did touch Maggie, and he definitely would at some point, he wasn’t sure how easy it would be to
stop
touching her.

Maggie looked up at Ash with hope in her eyes, “Ok. So this is good. I’ll be honest I really have expected Reef to show up by now. Obviously I’m hoping for the best, but it’s not like him. Stubborn is probably the nicest word I can think of right now…” She paused and looked away from Ash.