Fanning the Biker's Flame (Dogs of Fire: Savannah Chapter Book 8) Read online

  “I just thought, since you’ve had some time to cool off, that we could go to dinner. Talk.”

  “About what?”

  “Us.”

  “Oh, my word, Carl, there is no us.”

  “I think if you just let me explain—”

  “You rammed your dick in Monique Batemen, Carl, there’s nothing for you to explain.”

  “Had you been more attent—”

  I let out a frustrated groan and stabbed at the screen, hanging up on him.

  “You okay?” Nolan asked.

  I dragged my hands over my scalp. “Golden.”

  “Okay, I got what I need,” he said, sliding his phone into his pocket. “Sterling will email you with a quote no later than Tuesday.”

  I bit my lip and nodded. “I have less than three weeks to get this fixed. Do you think that’s unrealistic?”

  He shook his head. “Shouldn’t be an issue. I can give you my cell in case you don’t hear from Sterling.”

  “That’d be great,” I said. “Thanks.”

  “Give me your phone.”

  I handed it to him, and he added his information to my contacts, then he walked out the door. I locked the door before heading to my bedroom. I really wanted to take a minute with my vibrator, but unfortunately, I had to work, so I grabbed my purse and keys and made my way down to my car.

  * * *

  Shadow

  I threw my leg over my bike and glanced up at Posey’s window. Jesus, she was fuckin’ adorable. This might be a problem. Mostly because she was the first woman in a while who’d sparked interest, and if her girly and clean apartment was any indication, she was obviously someone who’d be a little more on the high maintenance level.

  She’d also probably want more than a hook-up and I didn’t really have time for anything else, so I put the pretty redhead out of my head and rode back to the club.

  Backing my bike into a spot near the barn, I walked inside and was accosted by a tiny toddler terrorist. I grinned, hunkering down and Chloe squealed, wrapping her arms around my neck as I picked her up. “Hey, baby.”

  Doc and Olivia’s little girl was wearing the cutest little pair of yoga pants and matching T-shirt and I carried her into the great room to find all of the club kids under ten milling around in similar outfits. “Are we startin’ some kind of yoga class?” I asked, setting Chloe down next to her twin brother, Phoenix.

  “There’s a yoga studio downtown offering beginning classes for kids, plus we can participate as well, so we’re all going to give it a try,” Olivia said. “You want to join us?”

  “Ah, no.”

  She laughed at my expression, which was probably a mix of horror and amusement, then shrugged. “Fair enough.”

  “You might like it, bud,” Willow, Dash’s woman, teased. “The teacher’s totally your type.”

  “I’m good,” I said, and backed away. When Willow wanted you to do something, you did it. She had the weird ability to make pretty much anyone do anything she asked them to.

  “She’s also a kickass massage therapist,” Jasmine, Alamo’s wife, chimed in. “I try at least every six months to steal her for the salon, but alas she’s way too popular to give me any of her profits.”

  Jasmine owned a couple high-end salons in and around Savannah, which also happened to carry her skincare line she’d created a few years ago.

  “Ooh, yes, she’s amazing. She really is Shadow’s type. Really flexible and good with her hands,” Quinlan, Badger’s woman, crooned. “You should come.”

  “Nope, I’m good.”

  The women laughed as I shook my head.

  “Mom, I really don’t wanna dance,” Ethan, Caspar’s son, whined. “It’s for babies.”

  “It’s not dance,” Brooke, Caspar’s woman, countered. “It’s yoga.”

  He dropped his head back and groaned. “Why can’t I stay with Dad?”

  “Dad has to work,” Brooke said.

  Ethan continued to whine, and I watched with slight amusement. Jesus, the woman had the patience of a saint.

  “He can hang with me,” I said before I could censor my thoughts.

  Ethan’s eyes widened, and he grinned. “Can I, Mom?”

  “Honey, Shadow’s busy,” she said.

  “I’m just workin’ on the greenhouse,” I said. “He can be my slave labor for a few hours.”

  Olivia had gotten a bee up her ass about having fresh veggies and herbs at her fingertips, and since Doc lived and breathed for his woman, he’d approved the build of a greenhouse at the back of the property. Doom and I were working on it together in our off time.

  Brooke raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure? I don’t want him in your way.”

  “I won’t be in his way,” Ethan promised.

  I chuckled. “It’s all good, Brooke. He’ll be fine.”

  Brooke cupped Ethan’s chin and leaned down close. “You behave yourself. I want you to be respectful and if Shadow asks you to do something, you say, ‘yes, sir,’ got it?”

  He bobbed his head. “Yes, ma’am.”

  She smiled, sweeping her thumb over his cheek. “Love you, baby.”

  “Love you too, Mama.”

  Brooke stood straight again and faced me. “This is a huge help, Shadow. I appreciate it.”

  “No problem.” I grinned. “We’ll order pizza in for lunch, so you just take your time.”

  Ethan pumped his fist and let out a whoop.

  “He’s going to want to be your helper every day now,” Brooke warned, and I grinned.

  “Bring it.” I gave Ethan a chin lift and he made his way to me. “I’m gonna change real quick, then we’ll get started.”

  “Okay, Shadow,” he said, and I headed to my room.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Posey

  “YOU KNOW HOW they say never work with kids or animals?” Jane asked.

  I chuckled. Jane was not only my best friend, but also an instructor at my center, and she was not the biggest fan of kids. I, on the other hand, adored kids. I wanted six of my own, which usually made Jane break out in hives anytime I mentioned it.

  She and her husband, Frederick, had been married for two years and both had decided not to have kids, so she was living her best life. Of course, I thought Frederick was a dick, but I kept that opinion to myself and tried to be as cordial as I could when I was in his presence. I’d done my best to point out the red flags when they were dating. She ignored every single one, so now that they were married, I shut my mouth and did my best to keep my opinions to myself.

  Of course, when Frederick and I were alone for any amount of time, I was pretty open with my disdain and he delivered the same back to me.

  “Don’t you have a kitchen to fix?” she continued.

  “The guy came by to check it out and is going to get back to me with the numbers. You know how contractors are. It’ll take a while, and I need to make some money.”

  “With children?” she scoffed.

  “Definitely.” I glanced around the room. “Look at all of the cuteness, Janey. They’re adorable.”

  “How did I let you rope me into this?” she grumbled.

  “You love me, and it gets butts on mats, that’s how. It’s the perfect marketing plan.”

  “At what cost?” she cried, dramatically.

  I grinned. “Move your bootie, chickadee. We’ve got a class to teach.”

  “I swear if one of those gremlins pukes on me, I’m going to hurl in your direction.”

  “When has a kid ever puked on you?” I challenged as we made our way to the check-in desk.

  “Kids puke. It’s a fact. I’m preemptively warning you.”

  I rolled my eyes. “You do check-in, I’ll help herd the masses.”

  “Deal.”

  As Jane stood at the front desk and helped navigate new students through the check-in process, I helped everyone find mats and props.

  “I’m Kinsey, and this is my bestie, Alfie,” a pretty little girl said, reaching her hand
out to me.

  “Well, hi there, Kinsey. It’s nice to meet you. I’m Posey.”

  “Kins, how about you and Alfie help Posey?” Kinsey’s mom, Quinlan, suggested.

  I knew Quinlan from high school. She was a senior as I came in as a freshman and she’d been my student mentor. She was the nicest person I’d ever met, but we’d lost touch when she’d married her first husband, so when I saw her name on the sign-up sheet, I was excited to see her again.

  I grinned as the girls helped pass things out to people, and we almost ran out of mats. Luckily, one of Quin’s friends, Lyric I think her name was, had brought her own, so we squeaked by, but I made a mental note to order more to be safe.

  “Welcome, everyone,” I said, doing my best not to yell too aggressively over the crowd. “Jane and I are so glad you’re here. We’re going to start the class with some stretches. I’ll come around and help your kiddos while Jane demonstrates on the dais. Ready?”

  The group gave an affirmative ‘Yes,’ and Jane started her routine.

  For the next hour, I got more of a workout than most of the class as I helped moms show their kids how to do the beginner poses while trying to wrangle the younger ones.

  Particularly, the cutest pair of twins I’d ever seen.

  “Jesus,” their mom hissed under her breath. “Chloe, Nix, come here.”

  The twins squealed and ran the opposite way while I tried to bite back a smile.

  “I’m so sorry. They’re terrorists,” she complained.

  I chuckled, catching Phoenix as he ran past me, and lifting him high as he let out a howl of laughter. “Gotcha.”

  Olivia caught Chloe and closed the distance between us. “I think we should call it a day.”

  I shrugged. “I can carry him around for a bit if you want to try again.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Absolutely,” I said. “I love babies.”

  “Your funeral.”

  I chuckled and we worked on the next set of poses with Olivia holding Chloe. Phoenix was content being carried around the room for approximately six minutes, then he decided he was over it all. Luckily, the class was pretty much over, so I handed him back to his mom and we started cool down.

  “Good job, everyone,” I called out once we were done. “Please make sure you get some water if you don’t already have some. Jane will be available for sign ups and has class schedules at the front desk.”

  “Mama,” Kinsey said to Quin as she rolled up her mat. “Can we do Posey’s poses again?”

  I nearly burst out laughing. How fucking cute was that?

  “You bet, baby.” Quin grinned over to me and I smiled back as I took her props and put them away.

  I had another class starting in twenty minutes, so I took a few minutes to spray everything down with disinfectant, leaving it to dry while I went back to the desk to say goodbye to everyone.

  “Family night Saturday night,” Quin said, as she helped Kinsey with her coat.

  “Congratulations?”

  Quin chuckled. “My husband’s club. The Dogs of Fire. They have a family night once a month and you are welcome to come if you’d like some good old-fashioned BBQ.”

  “And several hot bikers,” Jasmine piped in.

  I’d rather BBQ with several hot fire fighters.

  No… one.

  One firefighter.

  I sighed. “I’m not sure about Saturday, can I let you know?”

  “Of course,” Quin said. “I’ll text you the details.”

  “I appreciate that.”

  She hugged me, then took her children and followed her friends out of the studio.

  * * *

  Shadow

  “Do you remember what I told you?” I asked Ethan.

  “Measure then cut.”

  “Measure what,” I prompted.

  I was currently on my knees, nailing the baseboard to the bottom of the walls now that the floor was in.

  “Measure twice, cut once.”

  I grinned. “Exactly.”

  “Why?”

  “Because if you cut the board too short, you’ve wasted supplies, and you don’t want to waste anything.” I nodded to my toolbox. “Hand me that hammer.”

  “But you’re using the gun,” Ethan pointed out, even though he grabbed the hammer and handed it to me.

  “Sometimes, the nail gun’s too big to get into tight spaces.”

  His eyebrows drew inward, and he cocked his head. “Dad says he has to deal with Mom’s tight spaces. Do you think a hammer would help him?”

  “You should ask him,” I said, turning away in case the kid saw me biting back a shout of laughter.

  Jesus. When Caspar heard about this, he was gonna bust a gut.

  “Ethan?” I heard Brooke call and I smiled over at him.

  “Go see your mom, bud. I’m good here.”

  “Do I have to?”

  I chuckled, standing and dropping the hammer back in the box. “Yeah, bud, you have to. Come on, I’ll walk with you.”

  He let out a sigh, but because his parents raised him right, he turned and walked out of the greenhouse. I followed.

  “There you are,” Brooke breathed out as she grinned. “Did you have fun?”

  “We nailed trim,” Ethan said, proudly.

  “Good job.” She raised her head to me. “Thanks for everything, Shadow. I owe you one.”

  “Anytime, sweetheart,” I said, and Brooke walked Ethan back into the barn.

  I headed to my room, stepping into the shower before I had to crash, or I’d be in a shit state when I started my shift tomorrow.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Shadow

  WEDNESDAY NIGHT, DOC had called an all-hands church meeting. This typically happened once a month, but he’d called a special session for an announcement that would affect the club. As ominous as that sounded, it didn’t worry me. There could be all manner of reasons as to why the meeting was called.

  Traffic was light and I made it to the barn in record time. Since I was early, I thought I’d slip into the meeting room while it was empty to look at the club relics which adorned the walls. A biker’s clubhouse wasn’t unlike a firehouse. Both were filled with markers and memorials of brothers who’d gone before us, and I never missed an opportunity to give my attention and pay my respects. I opened the meeting room door and was surprised to find Doc, Doom, and Rabbit seated at the table. It was twenty minutes until church, but the three of them had clearly gathered for a private meeting of their own.

  “Oh, sorry. I didn’t know anyone was in here,” I said.

  “Don’t worry about it,” Doc said. “We’re almost done. Go ahead and grab a beer and we’ll be out in a few.”

  I did as I was told, closing the door behind me before making my way to the kitchen.

  “She wasn’t that ugly,” I heard Alamo say, followed by laughter. I entered the room to find our Sergeant at Arms, Alamo, resident crazy old guy, Gator, and new recruit, Dylan, shooting the shit and drinking.

  “Yes, she was,” Gator challenged. “She was ugly as fucking sin, and you know it.”

  “How dare you,” Alamo said.

  “That bitch had bug eyes, crooked teeth, her hair was falling out, and she had the worst breath I’ve ever smelled.”

  Alamo paused briefly before saying, “Her breath was horrible. I’ll give you that.”

  I had no idea who they were talking about, but it sounded like whoever Alamo had dated before marrying Jasmine wasn’t nearly as good looking as she was.

  “Plus, didn’t she shit on your cut once?” Gator asked.

  “An ex-girlfriend took a shit on your cut?” I asked to uproarious laughter all around.

  “We’re talking about my old dog, Alice,” Alamo said, gasping for air.

  “Jesus,” I hissed out on a laugh as I grabbed a beer.

  “How’d it go with the arsonist?” Alamo asked me.

  “I sent all the specs to Sterling. I doubt I’ll hear from her again unle
ss she hires him to do the job.”

  “Did she really try to cook a cardboard box?” Gator asked.

  I chuckled just as Rabbit walked into the kitchen. “Yeah.”

  I gave him a chin lift. It looked like Doc’s private pow-wow was over.

  “Sorry, man. I hope I didn’t interrupt anything important,” I said, handing him a cold one.

  “No, not at all,” Rabbit replied, looking preoccupied.

  “You okay?” I asked.

  “Yeah, yeah. I’m good,” he replied, unconvincingly.

  “Hey,” I said, changing the subject. “I scored tickets to the Roses for Anna acoustic benefit at Johnny Mercer next month. I thought maybe you and Parker might wanna come with me to the show. My treat.”

  “Aw, hell,” he said, frowning. “I’m sure Parker would love that, but I won’t be around.”

  “What’s up?”

  “I’ve gotta go out of town for a bit.”

  “The show isn’t until the end of next month,” I pointed out.

  “I leave next week.”

  “How long are you planning on being gone?”

  “Six weeks,” Rabbit replied.

  I cocked my head. “Where the hell are you going for six weeks?”

  Rabbit was a computer genius. In fact, he’d been in trouble as a kid for hacking, which is how he found the club. Doc and the guys kind of adopted him and he was now married with two young sons.

  Rabbit and I were pretty tight, and the fact he hadn’t said anything to me about this out of town business didn’t sit well with me. Not that he had to check in, or get permission, but we’d come up together in the club, so it was unusual he hadn’t mentioned it.

  “I’ve got some…family stuff to deal with,” Rabbit hedged.

  “Family? I thought you were an orphan?”

  “It’s Jette. She needs my help with a personal matter, so I’m gonna go spend some time with her.”

  Anjenette, or Jette as we all called her, was Rabbit’s foster sister, and they were closer than most blood born siblings. She’d moved out of Savannah a few years ago but I had no idea where.

  I nodded, even though I was fairly certain Rabbit was feeding me a line of bullshit. But if he was, I figured he had his reasons, and I wasn’t gonna pry.