Riding Hard (Hell Ryders MC Book 4) Read online

Page 3

His eyes widened. “You’re a teacher? Where?”

  Was that so hard to believe? Wearing on her patience, the only thing holding her civility besides his sweet boy, the fact that he was her neighbor and she’d see a lot of him whether she liked it or not.

  “Wadden Elementary. I teach kindergarten.”

  His brows shot up. “Yeah?”

  She nodded.

  He angled his head to look at his son. “Hear that, Cul? Lex’ll be your teacher in a couple of years.”

  Lex? Guess he missed when she said that’s what her friends called her.

  Cullen grabbed another cookie, looked to her, and smiled.

  She smiled at Cullen. “So you’re three?”

  Cullen placed the entire cookie in his mouth and nodded.

  “Meant to ask what else you’re doing to your house.”

  She looked to Dodge and realized she’d misunderstood him before. “My guest bathroom is pink.”

  A smile spread across his lips. Gorgeous. Then again, she expected nothing less from the most beautiful man she’d ever seen.

  He ruined that by saying, “And you’re Mrs. Blue, so you’re getting rid of it.”

  Had he meant that as a pun? Did he think she was boring and down? “Blue” implied that, didn’t it? Why? Because she read books? Because she taught kids for a living? Because she liked masculine blue instead of pink? Not the only problem with what he said. God, how many times could he offend her in one night?

  “It’s Miss. As Sam pointed out, I’m not married.”

  His gaze raked her from top to bottom. “Yeah.” He said it like he meant to say “duh.” Before that insult settled, he asked, “What else?”

  “The backyard’s a mess.”

  Cullen hopped off the couch and headed for the sliding glass door. She stood and followed, stopping just beside him, and flipped the back light on. The yard had a pool, no water since it needed resurfacing. The deck needed refinishing, and the grass needed to be mowed.

  “Good size.”

  She jumped. He stood behind Cullen, close to her side.

  “Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you.”

  She avoided his eyes. “It’s okay.”

  “Want to go explore, Cul?”

  She looked down at Cullen. His father’s hand on his shoulder, rubbing it affectionately. Cullen tilted his head back to look at his father. Smile widening, he nodded.

  “Be safe. Yeah?”

  Cullen nodded again.

  She unlocked the door. Before she parted it, Dodge shifted closer. His arm glided in front of her and slid the door open. Cullen rushed out.

  It wasn’t a good idea for a three-year-old to play in that mess of a backyard. The grass stood tall making it impossible to see well especially in the dark.

  “I wanted to apologize for the way I treated you the other day.”

  Her lips parted. Woodenly, she faced him. “Really?”

  Again, she said this aloud. Something about him made her forget her manners. Not her fault. How many times had he offended her?

  She cleared her throat. “Sorry…I meant…”

  “Cullen keeps crossing the street alone, and it worries the shit out of me. It’s not an excuse, so I wanted to say I’m sorry I was a dick. Cul likes you. Besides, we’re neighbors, so I think it’d be good if we got along.”

  He wanted them to get along, so he decided to buy her a bottle of wine and insult her before he apologized for being a jerk last week. Did this mean next time she saw him he’d apologize for offending her this time?

  She had no clue. What she did know—she liked his son, and they were neighbors. She should avoid him from now on.

  She nodded. “That’s a good idea.”

  He smiled, big. Then she realized very belatedly he stood too close. So close, she felt the heat of his body. God, what she’d give for one night with the most beautiful man she’d ever seen, if only he’d shut up, if only she were that type of woman.

  Her phone rang. Thank God. She’d been staring at him a while. He’d been staring back, but no doubt not for the same reason. After all, he was handsome while she’d been too lazy to bother with makeup.

  Chapter Four

  Dodge shouldn’t care. No good would come of it, and still, he cared enough that he stayed up for hours last night worrying, cared enough that first thing that morning, he looked out his window to make sure she was still there. He cared enough he thought about walking to her place to ask if everything was all right.

  He didn’t know the whole story just what he heard from a one-sided conversation when she picked up that call. Her pregnant sister was in the hospital. Lex had been talking to someone, he guessed her sister’s man, and while she talked, she paced, picking up her purse and keys like she planned on taking off. He thought about driving her, but then, whoever she’d been on the phone with convinced her not to. He wanted to stay and keep her company, but she didn’t look like she wanted him to, so he grabbed Cullen and they left. He stayed up late peeking out his window, making sure she didn’t leave, hoping if she thought about it, he’d catch her in the act so he could offer to drive her.

  He fell asleep around one, woke up at six when Cullen came into bed with him, and then he instantly shot out of bed to check if her car was still parked outside. It had been, and still, he had the urge to go there and see for himself how she was.

  He shouldn’t, so every time he thought about going, he listed all the reasons he shouldn’t.

  A biker, a single dad to a three-year-old going through a rough time, he didn’t have time for a woman. Cullen’s mother fucked with him so bad, he didn’t think he could ever trust one. Besides, Alexa, the perfect woman, wouldn’t be interested in him. He could tell by the way she looked annoyed with him like he was some sort of insect bugging her. Maybe he had been. In his defense, he’d only been trying to make conversation. She was anyone else, he’d tell her to take a hike. He couldn’t though, not just because she was his neighbor, but because he knew Cullen liked her and she liked his boy, and especially because Cullen needed women like her around, women who were strong, successful, smart, and nice, to Cullen at least. Cullen especially needed a woman to pay attention to him, listen to him. He didn’t have any of that from his mother. Though he had it from a few of his brothers’ women, it wasn’t the same.

  After listing his reasons, he kept going back to the same thought, the same urge—crossing the street to check on her. He kept looking out his windows, must’ve done that close to twenty times by midmorning. At noon, he peered out his living room window for the last time and caught sight of her.

  That beautiful hair loose and swirling in the wind. Her body plastered against a man’s, and her lips pressed to his.

  Seeing that, his stomach rolled. He dropped his head, stared at his feet, and breathed deep. After a moment, he shut the blinds and walked away.

  The rest of the day, he kept busy and fought the urge to look out his windows.

  Chapter Five

  It had been a long week, and it was only Wednesday. Lex could blame it on her ex, but that wouldn’t be fair.

  Mitchell was an engineer, smart and good-looking, great on paper but in reality, the worst type of man. He made her fall for him, made her think they wanted the same things, and then four months in, he wanted a break. She gave him his break. A month later, he told her he made a mistake, that he loved her. She forgave him. Everything’s great until another three months later when he broke up with her. Again, he came back and made promises he had no intention of keeping. Every time he left her, she said she wouldn’t take him back. Every time, she did. She wasn’t naïve or stupid. She knew what he did during those breaks, and still, she loved him and took him back time and time again even when he stopped making promises. This went on for years, three years.

  Five months ago, he broke up with her for the last time. That day, she decided she wouldn’t settle anymore. She’d move on with her life, do all the things she put off doing for him, and she had.


  It’d been two months longer than he’d ever gone before, but still, she should’ve figured eventually he’d come back.

  Sunday, he showed on the doorstep of her new home. The minute she opened the door, he kissed her. Maybe he thought she couldn’t say no after a kiss, but that wouldn’t work, not ever. She’d moved on, so she shoved him away and told him if he didn’t get off her property, she’d call the cops.

  Mitchell took off, thankfully, but he hadn’t given up. He’d be back. Seeing him brought back a lot of painful memories she’d fought tooth and nail to forget over the last five months.

  Monday, she went to work and stayed after school redecorating her classroom. When she arrived home, she spent a couple of hours looking up contractors in the area and making calls. It had been after hours by then, so she left messages. Later, she graded papers. Before Lex knew it, dinnertime. She microwaved a frozen meal, ate it as she finished reading a book then showered and headed for bed. Tuesday had been more of the same except instead of making calls to contractors, a couple returned her call. She planned to meet with one Thursday and with another Sunday morning. This time around, she’d check references, lots of them.

  Now, the end of her Wednesday, she had no parent-teacher meetings. She planned on going home to unpack more boxes, but when she turned on her car that morning, her check engine light went on. She hadn’t had enough to deal with with Mitchell and worrying when he’d be back, because she knew he would, but now, there was a chance depending on how much her car repair cost, she’d have to postpone remodeling and live with her pink bathroom.

  She locked up her classroom and drove to a mechanic shop in town she’d looked up online that morning. Huge and busy, the front lot filled with cars, trucks, SUVs, and motorcycles. Five large metal garage doors open revealing a ton more cars, SUVs, trucks, and motorcycles. On the top of the building, a large sign with the name of the shop, Ryders’ Custom Rides. She climbed out of her car and headed toward a door off to one side. Over it, a small sign signaled it was the office.

  She pulled open the door and froze under the scrutiny of five pairs of eyes. Closest to her, a man in his thirties with dark hair wearing a black tank, the length of his arms covered in tattoos. He looked like he’d just come in from a side door that could only lead into the shop. A second man stood at the dark counter that lined the entirety of the office. His hand buried in a paper bag, he had dark hair tied in a ponytail, and a black, sleeveless shirt stretched across his chest. Both men wore black leather vests with the Hell Ryders Motorcycle Club insignia and emblem.

  Two bikers with the same vests from the same club, Dodge’s club, was not a coincidence. The shop must be run by his club. Just her luck.

  Taking a deep breath, she looked behind the counter.

  A stunning blonde with hazel eyes, who looked like she belonged on a runway instead of working behind a counter anywhere, stood. Mid-twenties, she wore a pair of jeans and a black tank. Over it, she had a black leather vest like the bikers except hers fit her petite frame and inscribed on one of the sides under the Hell Ryders inscription, it read, “Ripper’s Old Lady.”

  “Miss Millen!”

  She shot her stare behind the beautiful blonde and met Della’s, seated at a desk lining the back wall behind the counter. Beside her, another little girl, a blonde with a set of striking, blue-green colored eyes.

  Lex approached the counter. “Hi, Della. Nice to see you again so soon.”

  “Did you come to see me? Am I in trouble?”

  She shook her head. “You’re one of my best students. You couldn’t possibly be in trouble.” She smiled and met the blonde woman’s eyes. “I came to get my car fixed.”

  The blonde grinned. “Guessing you’re Della’s new teacher?”

  She nodded.

  “She’s been raving about you.”

  Stare sliding to Della, she softened her smile.

  The woman extended her hand. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Em.”

  Lex took it and shook. “Call me Lex.”

  “And this back here is my Bree.” Em angled her body and reached for the blonde girl. “She’s in Pre-K. You’ll probably have her as a student next year.”

  “Nice to meet you, Bree. I’ll look forward to having you in my class.”

  Bree smiled.

  Em turned away from Lex completely. “All right, girls, back to homework. Then you can go to the playground.”

  They turned, facing the back desk, and went to work immediately.

  Em spun fully to her. “So you’re having car trouble?”

  She nodded.

  “Aren’t you goin’ to introduce us?” This came from the man with the ponytail standing next to her.

  Em rolled her eyes. “This is Trick, and behind you is Dash.” She looked between the two men and lifted a brow. “There. Are you two happy? Now, get out of my office before Bryce comes…”

  The door behind Alexa parted. She looked over her shoulder, realizing the door did, in fact, lead into the garage. In strode another biker, he was wide and tall with dirty blonde hair, stubble along his jaw, and the same striking colored eyes as the little blonde girl, Bree. His gaze went from Trick to Dash and then went feral. Body tensing, jaw clenching, hands balled up. Attractive, but that look in his eyes, that stance completely changed him.

  “What the fuck?”

  How Lex didn’t pee her pants, she had no idea. The man was scary. That mad, he was chilling. Thank God his anger wasn’t directed at her.

  “You fuckers listen to anything I say?” His stare shooting from one man to the other. “I said my old lady isn’t your fuckin’ chef. She isn’t your fuckin’ secretary. She isn’t your fuckin’ maid. She isn’t your anything. She does shit for me and my kid, and that’s it.”

  Pulse spiking at the base of her neck, Lex stood frozen, staring, terrified of moving, yet thinking cursing had to be part of some biker code.

  “Bryce. We have company.”

  Oh God. Why would the blonde shift the attention to herself or her? A death wish, maybe?

  She stopped breathing.

  The scary biker’s gaze sliced to Em. “Why you do shit I tell you not to do, babe?”

  Em lifted her chin. “I offered.”

  He took a menacing step toward Em, and in doing so, a step closer to her. “Why you do shit I tell you not to do, Em?”

  Em let out a frustrated sigh. “Because I can.”

  The scary biker planted one hand on the counter and launched his whole body over it.

  Impressive. And terrifying.

  He wrapped one arm around Em’s waist, yanked her against him, and kissed her. A short but deep kiss. When he pulled away, he chuckled. “Gonna pay for that, babe. Where’s my food? I’m starved.”

  Em smiled, drew away, grabbed a paper bag she had on her desk, handed it over then looked to her. “Bryce, this is Alexa, Della’s teacher. More than likely, she’ll be Bree’s next year.”

  Scary biker lifted his head and angled it to her. She involuntarily, probably for self-preservation, took a step back.

  His lips twitched like he was fighting the urge to smile. Then he placed the bag on the counter. “Only Em calls me Bryce. Name’s Ripper.”

  He turned to the girls. “Hey, Della. Bree, baby, you gonna give your dad a hug?”

  Bree stood and circled her arms around his waist. He lifted her off her feet, hugging her tightly and pressing a kiss to her cheek and another on her forehead. “Missed you, baby.”

  Bree giggled. “Missed you too, Daddy.”

  “So you were saying?”

  Ripper released Bree, grabbed the bag of food, and pulled out a foot-long sub.

  Her gaze shot to Em. What had she been saying? Where was she? An alternate universe? A moment ago, she’d been petrified of the scary biker. Now, she was dumbfounded. How could a man go from livid to affectionate to his woman and daughter in seconds?

  She had a new understanding of Em, whom she just met—ballsy, fearless, and definitely
biker babe material.

  “I…um…my car.”

  Em’s smile widened. “Right, your car.”

  She swallowed. “The check engine light is on, so I brought it here.”

  Ripper tore the wrapper off his sub, bit into it, and chewed. “We’ll get it checked out for you.”

  ****

  “Brother, we got meat. Hot, sexy, librarian meat with red fuckin’ hair.”

  He heard Hash over the music, over the shouting and talking and everything, and his body locked. Simultaneously, his stomach knotted and hollowed out.

  No doubt it was her.

  After a split second, despite knowing he shouldn’t, he moved, fast.

  Sliding out from under the Chevy he’d been working on, he stood and spotted Hash immediately. His brother, gaze aimed at Blaze and Bud, stood with a hip pressed against the side of a yellow Camaro.

  Dodge closed the distance between him and Hash and glared. “Don’t think about it, brother. Do not even go near her. Else you and me, we’re gonna have fuckin’ problems.”

  Hash threw the towel he’d wiped his grease-stained hands on onto the hood of the car, lifted his arms in surrender, and smirked. “Got you, brother.”

  Then he ran, skirting brothers, toolboxes, cars, bikes until he reached the other end of the garage. He parted the door to the office. His stare involuntarily and helplessly moved from the top of her head to her toes. Not one thing told him librarian; it told him lots of other shit but not librarian.

  That strawberry hair, mostly loose, hung three inches past her shoulders. She wore a dress, blue—of course—fitted on the top, cinched in the middle accentuating her tiny waist, and fell around her hips in a way any man within a quarter mile could tell she had a sweet, round ass and a body shaped like a coke bottle. And he hadn’t even gotten to her face. He couldn’t see the freckles he loved meaning she wore makeup. Eyes ice blue, her lips rosy, plump, and flawless. Fucking perfect, so whether his brothers saw her in shorts and a tee fitted to that beautiful body of hers with no makeup on, they’d know just how perfect she was. They’d make their move. Maybe she’d dump her man and start dating one or the lot of them, and he’d be in hell. Living across the street, he had a front seat to watch that shit play out. He couldn’t allow it.